FoosTalk Live | Ep 246 | The Milwaukee Foos Group

[00:00:01] The following is a presentation of Foosball Radio. It's FoosTalk Live. Are you talking to me? Compelling and lively banter. Are you going to talk to us? Talking Foosball. Foosball was how it measured my value as a man? You took that away! Players and fans, promoters and pros. Unedited and raw. Talk, talk, talk. Living in the moment. We have a lot of important things to talk about. All while practicing social distancing. Cool. We'll talk. No big whoop. Let's get this thing started.

[00:00:31] Foos Talk Live. Hi, this is Tom Robinson, and I want to personally thank our Patreon pillars for their support of Foosball Radio and Foos Talk Live. Here's to our newest members, Dan Packer. Also, Brad Lorene of Rodlock.com. St. Louis Foosball. Also, thanks to Randy Raposo. Thomas Dyke. Mike Veidt. Rob Cutler. Ernie Bischoff. James Sparky Castillo. Carl Fleischer.

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[00:01:50] Visit www.original-leonhardt-usa.com and use promo code FOOSTALK to save 10% off your purchase price. Hey there, it's Tom Robinson. It's episode number 246 of Foos Talk Live and thanks for joining us tonight on Twitch TV. Looking forward to a big night tonight.

[00:02:13] First of all, I do want to send out sincere condolences to Randy Raposo, who is not going to be able to be on the show tonight. He's attending funerals this weekend at his hometown. He's lost a couple of very close and dear friends and family members. So we send our best out to Randy. He will be back in the mix in the not-too-distant future. But sorry to hear that Randy is having a pretty rough weekend so far.

[00:02:39] Meanwhile, tonight we're going to be featuring the guys from Wisconsin State Championship. We have the Milwaukee Foos Group queuing up to be with us tonight. And we're looking forward to talking to those guys about the upcoming tournament next weekend. But, of course, that's going to be another conversation. Meanwhile, you may recognize our own Mike Green, who's on with us live from Costa Rica. Hello, Mike. And how do you get that lucky man to be in Costa Rica?

[00:03:09] How did you do that? Well, I've enjoyed myself, but I don't know. It's like 120 degrees here. 120 degrees, man. No, it's been a blast, actually. My wife's been together 29 years. And I said, hey, there's a tournament in Costa Rica. She says, I'll go. She's never been to one, never went to a tournament. Oh. Unless she already had to be there because of work or something, you know, in that area. Right. Imagine that. She wanted to go to Costa Rica. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:03:37] I mean, I got to say, I think my wife would probably jump to that, jump to the job as well. I think she'd be all over that. It's a... Tom brought his wife Leslie and we made a little vacation out of it. Yeah. Excellent. It's simply an interesting country, that's for sure. So is this the first time you've been to Costa Rica? Yeah. First time. Wow. And so you're playing in the, what they call the Summer Beach Tournament there.

[00:04:06] So it's actually summertime in Costa Rica? Yeah. Full blown. It's like Florida in the worst part of the summer. Oh. Oh, that's saying something. Right there. Man. And the place is an open air bar. Oh. There's no AC. And this year they were actually supposed to have upstairs in the casino. Mm-hmm. And a lot of people like me, I made sure, I'm like, are you sure? Because I really wasn't going to come playing the heat, you know.

[00:04:36] Right. I'm glad I did. But at the last minute, I guess the bar owner just said, no, I already... Something else you're going to have to do it downstairs. Okay. But you know what? It was still... Even with the heat, it was fun because it was like their culture, you know what I mean? Oh, sure. Understood. All those gringos were sweating like pigs. And they were like, you know, they're not even... They're like, you need a towel or something? Oh. I wouldn't...

[00:05:00] I can see why people would be playing in, you know, just shorts and sandals and no shirt. Just because it's that. Yeah. I usually had a bathing suit on and my flip flops. Yep. And a real light shirt. There was guys that I actually played with no shirts on. Right. It really reminded me as a kid growing up in Florida because we'd play out on the beach. And it was just an open air place with foosball tables. Yeah. Yeah. If you're a kid, you'll love it. It doesn't matter. You know. It's different.

[00:05:28] You start reaching a little older in life. You want the comforts. You know, free school. I will tell you, Mike, I don't care how hot it gets. I will never take my shirt off in a foosball tournament. Plain and simple. Ain't happening. Yeah. There was a couple guys, you know, I respected everybody around me, so I didn't take mine off. There's a couple guys that probably shouldn't have either. Yeah. It's something. And a couple girls. Some things. Well, it's different. But some things we should never see. Yeah. But, hey, look. Yeah, it was a.

[00:05:58] Go ahead. I was just going to say, you know, it was different. I mean, honestly, yesterday was pretty bad. We played like, I don't know, I think six or five, three out of five matches in a row. Oh, wow. The heat. And then we had to come back today. And, you know, you're thinking, oh, early day. It was worse than yesterday. I mean, I just. Oh. I couldn't even grab the rods. I mean, it's just sweat dripping off my hands. But, you know what it is. It is what it is.

[00:06:27] Everybody played under the same conditions. Okay. Well, it's. I mean, it is what it is. And so what's the turnout like this weekend? I guess a lot of people were going to come. But didn't because of. What is it? Spain. Oh. World Series. World Series. It is Spain. So, I mean. I mean. Cobra Rica is a. You know, it's an international trip. Right. It ain't cheap. You know. One of the things you hear about. South America or whatever is.

[00:06:58] Definitely not here. It's pretty expensive. But. Anyway. So. But still their local scene was crazy. Like. It's weird. In Costa Rica. They just basically call it. Costa Rica time. Yes. Costa Rica. There's no one there. And. That term is supposed to start. And suddenly there's 60 people in. Open single. Interesting. Okay. Well. You know. Like today. We had a match scheduled for 11. Started about one. But nobody cared. Yeah. You know what I mean?

[00:07:28] Yeah. You'll get to it. It wasn't. People complaining about the time. It's just like. Whatever. Whatever. You know. That's just how they kind of. For sure. I hear. Yeah. And I think they wound up having about 25 or so teams. Okay. Not bad. And. And you. Guys. Everybody here. Is just good. Right. Everybody. Everybody. I understand. Billy Pompas is there this weekend. That's unfortunately for me. We played him for. Yeah.

[00:07:58] I played with Tom. We played for the winner's bracket. And. He did a straight straight. But we were. We had a chance at every game. I mean. Billy. Right. Got it. Yeah. Just incredible. His five bar. You know. His shot. You know. Everything he was doing. I mean. He was just Billy. Billy. You know. He was on. Mm-hmm. Doing himself. That's. You know. He's actually been down here for a few months. Living down here. Oh. He's been living down there. So. That's unfair. So. He actually. You know.

[00:08:29] Came here a couple years ago. For a foosball tournament. I guess. Kind of fell in love with the police. Right. You know. I understand that happens. Billy's like. Oh well. What's up. I'm going to Costa Rica for a while. So. Here he is. There you go. And. I mean. He's coming back stateside. Obviously for the Hall of Fame Classic. Because he's being inducted into the Hall of Fame this year. Along with Tony Sprademan. Which is really exciting. So. It's good to know that Billy is getting practiced up. And it sounds to me like he's doing it in the right place. Because he's got to play in such. You know.

[00:08:57] Extreme conditions as the heat. That he's going to be more than prime and ready to go. Maybe he'll lose some weight while he's there. And prime and ready to go. When he steps up to the table at the Hall of Fame Classic. Tell you right now. Billy looks better than I've ever seen him look. Really? He looks great. Wow. My wife even said. Man. He looks. You know. Like buff. Like he's in. I guess he's here. He's been playing basketball. He's like lost. He lost some weight before. But he looks very healthy. Okay. He's looking good. In good shape. So yeah.

[00:09:27] Probably helps with his game. Yes. More energy. No doubt. Of course everybody. Like me and Tom are sitting there. We got freaking. And the beach towel is trying to wipe the sweat off of us. He's just sitting there like. I'm like. Are you even sweating anymore? Yeah. Here's a guy. Was he from? Massachusetts. From Boston or somewhere. He's from Massachusetts. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's a Northeastern guy. But he's acclimated himself. He's gone there well in advance of the tournament. So that's why he's doing so well. And I mean. It's just.

[00:09:57] He's got the durability. You know. It was fun having him here. It was fun playing him. I mean. When you lose to him. It's fun. Oh sure. Oh no question. It's like. He's so much fun to play with. And don't complain. It is what it is. You know. Mm hmm. So this is really her home turf. Guys that we played. We started playing this one team. And I don't know who they are. Everybody knew who they were. Obviously here. But. I was starting out. I'm blocking this guy really good. They have to switch. I'm thinking great. I got the goalie up front. Oh no. Just have another incredible Ford. Uh oh.

[00:10:26] Also plays goalie up front. The guy. Everybody plays at a high level. Yes. For sure. Now what. What. I understand that. Uh. This is you know. Brandon Munoz. Uh. Home turf. Uh. So. And uh. His family. Uh. Are around the area. So. Who else do you meet from the Munoz family? I've met a few before. Uh. We actually lost to Joel Munoz for third. Joel. Yeah. Okay. And uh. Played incredible. I swear.

[00:10:57] If I couldn't. If there was a wall up where I couldn't see. I would have thought I was playing Brandon. Yes. I mean. I just. Just been incredible. And uh. Watching this kid play. And the kid's just playing singles like. At the next level. He's got the. He's actually using a three rod to pass to his five bar. Never missing a pass. Wow. And the guy looks. Just like Brandon. But a younger Brandon. Interesting. Especially the match. I go. Gotta be Brandon's brother obviously. And he says yes.

[00:11:27] Resimulance? I said yes. Resimulance. But uh. So I met him. Really good player. And kid from Peru. I don't know who he is. Like I said. Brandon. I don't know how old he is. 16, 18. Everybody looks young to me though. You know what I'm saying? Oh. Of course. Yeah. You and me both. So the kid from Peru looks like he's maybe 18. Okay. And the guy just sits in the back. And shoots the smoothest dead bar. Like wall to wall. He also hits all these tuck shots. Shorts. Oh boy.

[00:11:57] And he shoots a pull out of the back. Like. It's like watching Ryan Moore shooting pulls out of the back. You know. Even smoother. Wow. Just. Serious talent here. Yeah. And. And. I suspect that. Many of those people that you're meeting this weekend are going to be in Las Vegas. Is that correct? I know that. I was talking to. Brandon's brother. And he said. Yeah. There's going to be a lot of guys coming there. To Vegas for this tournament. So. Good.

[00:12:27] Good. Good. Yeah. No. They're predicting as many as 600 players. In Vegas. When it comes to. The level of play there in Costa Rica. Like the. Let's say the beginners. The rookies. The amateurs. What are they like? You're just saying that. Like. Amateur singles or doubles. There really wasn't that many. Okay. Okay.

[00:12:57] The opener pro events started. Everything above like expert. Just packed out. It was almost. I don't know. Just none of our. Huh. I'm not really sure. Yeah. But. Oh. I mean. The talent here is incredible. I mean. Right. Because. You figure the conditions they play under. They play a different style. Yes. You know. I mean. Quite honestly. Me and Tom beat a few teams. Only because like. I did it such a totally different. Slowed it down. Did passes. Slow passes. That. Mm-hmm. They were spinning around the ball. Like 500 times.

[00:13:28] Wow. Trying to hit it. You know. Because they just weren't used to it. They were looking up like. Come on man. Hit the ball. Yeah. You'll be a man. But. It's just a different style. I mean. Yep. I mean. They sit on that ball. A lot of them shoot fast. And then they'll just sit on it. I mean. But every. The whole time. As soon as it's pinned. Their eyes are just directly on the hole. They're just looking for where to just take off. Right. If you're not there. It's a long day for you. Wow.

[00:13:56] What happened to me with Joel Buneos. Well. He just like. He was playing great. Hitting the ball up. And he's just going. Winging. You know. I'm just. I'm down. Hoping for the best. We took them five games. But. Okay. We had a chance to put them away. I think. But. It was. It was a great match. I just wanted to go take a shower at that point. I didn't even care. Yeah. Somehow I can't blame you. So. As far as you're concerned. I mean. You're going to be there in. Costa Rica until when?

[00:14:29] In the morning. Oh really? Tomorrow morning? Yeah. We've been here since last Tuesday. Oh. Got it. Okay. So it's. And we stayed in a different part. And. Really interesting place. Like. One of the things I noticed here is. Like. They don't have like. You know. You go into a pharmacy. Right? Mm-hmm. We think of Walgreens. They just have a pharmacy. Right? That's it. There's like. You don't go in. You don't buy soda. You stop at a gas station. Nice gas station. So I go in. You know me.

[00:14:58] I want my big gulp. I'm an American. Right? Give me my big gulp. Yep. Nothing like no coffee. Nothing like that in these places. It's just gas. It's a few snacks. And. Even restaurants. It's all paper. No styrofoam. Interesting. It's really hard to find. You don't find like a diet. So it's very hard. Okay. No sugar free stuff. You know. To be honest. Everything. Tastes much fresher. Yes. I don't know. Maybe they don't allow these things here.

[00:15:28] Well. Very possible. You know. Yeah. I'm going down to interstate. We keep stopping. They go with colognes. They call colognes or colognes. Okay. I have no idea. I'm just tapping the thing with my credit card. Hope of the best. I open that bar. And I'm like. I want to have a drink. And I go. Like. I take these colognes. And I'm like. Is that enough? I don't know. I might have gave them like $500 for all I know. It's like. Yeah. That'll work. Yeah. No problem. Come back anytime you like. Of course.

[00:15:58] It's definitely. You know. We went on some. We went out and. I got some pictures. My wife has like. The monkeys. The monkeys are standing on her head. Oh. Touristy stuff like that. Sure. I really enjoyed this trip. But I got to tell you. Don't be in a hurry. Because there are too many highways. Too many highways. You're behind tractors. Oh. Watermelons. Like. Yes. So. An hour trip may take you three hours. Or it may take you an hour.

[00:16:30] Wow. Just don't be in a hurry. To go anywhere here. That's right. Okay. Well. I think that makes sense. Maybe that's why they're on Costa Rica. And you know. Just hanging out on the beach. Is probably. Preferable anyway. So. No need to go anywhere. Cool. Where we stayed at. We just go down. A little. It's a. Really nice hotel. And then there was like. This whole. Like a marina. Mm-hmm. So everybody goes down. They call it a monkey line. Where the monkeys come in. In the morning. In the afternoon. And they're basically. Looking for food.

[00:16:59] Mm-hmm. Like. Walking through these places. And. Your backpack or something. They smell it. And they'll come to try to take your backpack off of you. Really? To get the food. But. Definitely a totally different. Different world over here. But. It was interesting. It was a lot of fun. Yeah. I'm glad that you made the scene. And that you were able to connect. And let us know what's happening there. I mean. I think the rest of us are quite envious. About being there.

[00:17:29] I know here in the. Upstate New York. It's just. Every once in a while. Getting a little bit above 60 degrees. But. Mostly at night. It's still down in the 20s and 30s. And so. Yeah. We're. We're definitely envious of you. Being there in Costa Rica. It was a lot of fun. I have to say. Jake Barnett was here. He played incredible. Oh did he? Okay. Okay. And. How about. Any of the ladies that we know? But.

[00:17:59] The one that. It's Jake's girlfriend. Oh. Okay. I think I know who you're talking about. Yeah. I can't remember her name. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. But. Basically. To be honest. It was pretty much. Costa Ricans. And. People from Peru. Some other places that were here. This weekend. But. It was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun to see the different style. And how good these guys play foosball. Pretty interesting. Now have they finished the open events? The open singles and open doubles yet? Yeah.

[00:18:29] Tom Yorra won open singles. Nice. And there's a. I couldn't tell you the guy's name. But he got second place. Okay. Watching this guy. And I'm just like. I'm not trying to be disrespectful. But I'm thinking. He really doesn't. Plays that good. Huh. The longer you watched him. He realized he really. He realized that it was just his style. You know. Right. He's just different. He played. He went overtime with Tom. Wow. In the first set. So. You know. Tom had to actually come back in the set to beat him. So he.

[00:19:00] Interesting. Jake got fourth. Third. But. Anyway. The whole thing. It was. It was definitely a lot of fun. And. So. Did Billy Pompas win open doubles? Yes. He won open. Joel. And his partner. Who I'm not sure his name either. The kid from Peru. To play so good. Got second. And me and Tom got third. Gotcha. Nice playing by the way. That's. That's great. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah. I was very happy.

[00:19:30] I mean it was very. Honestly. I was aggravated. Only because I. You know. I just wish. I had enough. I couldn't even grip the rod. I mean it's not an excuse. But it was just. Yeah. But it is. I'm not going to let it ruin my whole weekend. I mean. Yeah. I got you. We had a good time. We got third. We beat some really tough teams. And you know. Oh yeah. It's like when people come play Tampa Bay in football. Guess what? We have the advantage of the heat. Exactly right. So yeah. So it's good to know that you had a nice vacation.

[00:19:59] And of course you got a chance to hang out. And really enjoy the. Enjoy the. The. The climate there. So what's. What's your next tour stop this year? Where are you planning on going next? Probably just Florida State. Because it's so close. Okay. Got it. Got it. Got it. It's like May. Okay. And any chance of seeing you at. Tornado World Championships? Yeah. That's a good possibility. Yeah. I really want to. I thought about Vegas.

[00:20:28] But I can't do it. Right. It's just too close to this thing. And you know. And to be honest with you. As much as I'd like to see the show. I mean. I've been to Vegas like 40 times. So. Right. I really wanted to go to Murray's World Series. Or whatever. But. Me and my wife were actually. There was two. There's. We did our bucket list thing. And Costa Rica just happened to come along with it. But we're going to go to. Alaska. Oh. Take a like an Alaskan cruise. Nice.

[00:20:57] Then we're both going to get like six jobs. We can retire. That's. Sounds like a plan to me. But. Hey. I really appreciate you taking the time out from your vacation. And your foosball tournament there in Costa Rica. I'm so glad you. You reached out. So we could get an update. And wish we could be there. And. Maybe next year. Maybe we can all go together. We can all make a vacation out of it. I'll. I could easily talk my wife into it. I'm sure. Oh yeah. Well I want to say. You know.

[00:21:27] Shout out to Carlos. Yes. Great tournament. I don't know Carlos's last name. I know it. But I can't say it. So. Okay. Yeah. I think we all know Carlos. Yeah. Carlos. Yeah. Or something. Yep. But I apologize in advance. But. Anyway. Super nice guy. Everybody here was super welcoming. It was friendly. You know. There was a lot of fun going on. When Tom was playing the finals of open singles. All the Costa Ricans were all cheering. Oh yes. Yep. So I'm like the lone guy going. Come on Tom.

[00:21:57] You know. They're all laughing. Like shut this crowd up. You know. But everybody was just. It was kind of reminded me of the old TS Dynamo days where you could do it and have fun. Yep. Exactly. And nobody was offended. Yep. I think that's. Hopefully Ryan Moore will do a whole lot more to bring that to the World Foosball Tour as well. He's encouraging that kind of behavior. So hopefully we'll see that. And for the record. Brandon's brother. His name is Andre. Andre. And he's corny. Oh nice. Okay. Oh very cool. So a rising star.

[00:22:25] I'd like to see him at Vegas and playing some of these guys and see how they adapt to his style. Yeah. That Munoz is a rough family. Oh no question. No. They are forced to be reckoned with. No doubt about it. But Mike it's great to catch up with you man. Let's talk again soon. Don't be a stranger. Come on back. But we really appreciate you taking the time out to give us the update from Costa Rica. Mike Green with Foos Talk Live.

[00:22:49] And stay tuned because well we've got our gang from the Milwaukee Foos Club coming up. And yes through the magic of digital technology we go from the beautiful place called Costa Rica to the middle of America. And the state of Wisconsin. Milwaukee to be specific. And tonight we're in luck.

[00:23:11] I think this is the closest thing we've come so far to having a true foosball roundtable on Aaron Foos Talk Live. And if you're watching Twitch TV tonight thanks for tuning in. And you can see now that we've got four professional foosball players who look like professional broadcasters. Go figure. Wow. Who would ever thought we'd get four of them in the same room. But we've got Roman. We've got Jeff. We've got Rob. And we've got Greg. Greg.

[00:23:39] So guys welcome to Foos Talk Live. Thank you. Good to be here Tom. Oh and the sound is good too. Wow. So good. Professional help. Yeah we've got to put a shout out to Cream City Music for getting us this equipment. You know we don't get on the radio too often so we're pretty excited to have this equipment. Man they hooked you up. Our boy Jimmy B works there. Yeah. Jim Brzeziewski. Okay and this guy that sets you up with the equipment does he play foosball at least?

[00:24:10] Yep. Okay. Yes he does. And playing forever. You know it's literally even if you meet him and he is a fantastic golfer but you meet him on the golf course and you talk to him about what is his thing. What is his sport. What does he have a passion for. It's foosball. Got it. That's super cool. He scored a game winner in the back to beat Teddy Krieger's team and a bringer partner last night in Appleton. Ooh. Nice. So he's the real deal. A block and a kill wasn't it? A block and a kill. Well a jar block and kill I heard. Jar block and kill. That's right. Jar block.

[00:24:40] Can I quote you on that one? Jar block and kill. I like that one. The jars debate them. It's a pro jar I'm sure. No doubt about it. So guys this is really cool. I got to say again I'm sure Randy Raposo would love to be with us tonight. And we do send our condolences. But he will be back around. But guys I think we've got a lot to talk about tonight. I mean next weekend is Wisconsin State and Appleton at Mad Apple Billiards.

[00:25:09] Rob you tell me you're the first on the left there. Why don't you tell me about Mad Apple. What's so special about that location? Yeah first of all just a good group of people to put on that tournament. Brett Nguyen and his team. Karma Burfield's always there. She does a great job running it. Just a real player centered promoters up there. And Mad Apple's a great location. They've got a wonderful restaurant right in there. Lots of room for foosball. Kind of spread out. There's lots of tables and seating.

[00:25:36] So if you want to watch your favorite players play it's easy to do. Hotels connected with a nice pool. So wow. And Appleton's an unrated city. It's a smaller city but there's performing arts centers up there. Lots of events. Minor league ball team. Easy location wise right off the freeway. Yeah. Like a quarter of a mile. Maybe a half mile. But they got a great audio video room. So the play by play is fantastic. Cool. And it's pretty cool.

[00:26:05] The really unique thing that I like is actually watching it online because they have two feeds. And one of the feeds is a top view. One is the traditional view that all of us see. But how about the top view is typically like a couple seconds delayed. Okay. So you actually see the shot. And then all of a sudden you can look at the other feed and see exactly what happened. Oh that's cool. Wow. And who does the feed? Who does the equipment for that?

[00:26:33] Well this weekend Teddy Krieger told me he's going to be in the box doing commentary all weekend long. So you're going to have some expert commentary. Teddy Krieger is a pro player. He's a pro doubles national champion from a couple years ago. His goalie carried him in that event. But he still has the jacket. I'm guessing we know who that goalie is now. But Teddy is really fun to listen to. And he's going to have color guys up there all weekend long. So lock in.

[00:27:01] If you're not able to attend the tournament, log into the live stream. You're going to really enjoy watching it. It's going to be a lot of good foosball. I'll jump in there once in a while. Or Eric Weishar. Or Roman. I think Jeff's been in there before. I've been in there also. Lots of Wisconsin players are not shy to go in there and do good commentary. Yeah. Have some good sidebar going on. And have a good time. Sometimes we get called out of the booth to make a call. Did you guys see it? Yeah. That doesn't go so well. But you know.

[00:27:32] So Roman, you basically reached out to us a couple of weeks ago to get this whole thing together here. So Roman, you've had time in the booth. So you've clearly had some experience. And you know, I've got to say, you look pretty good with headphones on. I can tell you that. Well, thank you. My favorite part about Wisconsin State is, and more places need to take this inside, is you can look at the tables on north and south.

[00:27:56] You know, too many times they have the tables and your modern foosball guys, they take one side of the table, the south end, and we get the north end. And you're looking, you know, you get there late, you're looking at the sides of the players. At Wisconsin State, they have a bleachers on one side. And you can stand, you can sit on a round table with a burger and a beer and watch a game. I mean, on the other side. Oh, that's great. I mean, even under the booth, you know, where Teddy sits, that's all, the cameras are up in the ceiling. They did it professionally with, because of the pool billiards they have there. Oh, got it. So again, the seating is just exciting.

[00:28:26] Just to sit and watch a match. And, you know, you can have friends come out. Hey, they can come out. Usually you don't invite them to a tournament, because they can't really watch you from the side. But at Wisconsin, I've had friends come out, and they sat behind a little round table and watched a game from the north-south side. Wow. That's one of my favorite parts of the Wisconsin foosball. Yeah, it makes it an ideal venue, no doubt about that. Jeff, I understand that this weekend they're going to be doing some inducting for the Hall of Fame of Wisconsin State. Hall of Fame. And you are going to be inducted.

[00:28:55] Let's hear about that. Give us your first impressions of when you found out. Where were you? I was actually at Greg's house getting my hair cut. Okay. Greg's kind of good at the haircut. And I was over there and got the call from Karma. And I know that there's a committee that votes on it. A lot of it is past Hall of Famers and then other panel members.

[00:29:22] And it just so happened that this year they voted me in, and she gave me the call, and I was sitting there. It was pretty cool that I was with one of my best friends. Yeah. Caught me by surprise. I was almost in tears. Kind of was maybe a little bit. He got off the phone, and I couldn't see his face. And I said, was that a Hall of Fame call? Was that Karma? And he goes, yeah, that was Karma. And the tear just fell right down his cheek. And I was like, man, that's awesome. That is so cool. All the years we put in together. Was this something?

[00:29:51] Was this a surprise? I mean, you had no idea it was coming? So they talked about it a little bit last year. They really did about, hey, there's people that have been talking about you. And I thought that was really cool that they were talking about me. And then it got me thinking, gosh, that would be awesome. I really, I didn't play this game ever thinking something like that. I mean, why would, who would ever think that? Or even think that Hall of Fame is something that is, anybody would ever be worthy of.

[00:30:20] And I still don't know if I'm necessarily worthy of that. Well. But all of a sudden it did, last year it did get the gears turning going, God, that would be cool. What would it feel like? And it's pretty amazing. It really is. I believe your words were, you just made my week, Karma. My month. No, you just made my year. That's exactly what I told her. That's awesome. I think we can give Aaron Gilmore a couple of credits too, because last year he was inducted and he's like, oh man, there's other people before me. Like Jeff should be in there.

[00:30:48] And, you know, so there's, again, it's a, there's a lot of, a lot of good people. And Aaron had a lot of good things to say about you for that. Well, there's the people that have been inducted already. Tony Spreedeman. Aaron Gilmore. I mean, you know, Gilmore, you know, those, those people are Randy Van Aas, right? I mean, these are legends of the game, not just in Wisconsin, but seriously, you know, nationally and world. Oh yeah. And Jeff's a big reason why a lot of us are still playing this game.

[00:31:14] One of my first tournaments I ever went to, Jeff played with me and I was just so flattered that he asked me to play. Maybe he was really desperate that weekend or something. It was a pro-am and he was pretty amped. Wow. But we, we won our first three matches and I looked at him and said, Jeff, I actually think we have a chance to win this. And he's like, of course we have a chance to win this. I've never played, I've never played a football match. I didn't think we were going to win. But that was the first time I realized, man, maybe a partner like Jeff, I could actually win an event once in a while. And Jeff, you're a, you're a ranked a pro master.

[00:31:43] I am ranked a pro. A pro. Actually. Oh, interesting. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. It's a. You know, I did win a world championship back in 2005 with Ron Olson, actually. Oh, no, Ron. I know Ron really well. Yeah. He's the best. Yeah. And he was a fantastic partner. Excellent. Oh, I believe that. I believe that. Ron is, is, is, he's one of the biggest people, but he's also got one of the biggest hearts I think I've ever seen in a foosball player. The guy's got just. No doubt. Yeah. No doubt.

[00:32:13] And when he was going through some health issues back, you know, like 2006, 2007, it, it, it really, I, I was his partner, but he was my friend and it, it hurt me, you know, in physically and mentally too, when he was going through his struggles. Right. Yeah. He's, he's such a sweetheart of a person. Oh yeah. Just terrific. We were very lucky.

[00:32:38] He was, um, uh, this is back in probably the 20 teens, uh, when he was in the, in our area, uh, driving truck and he would come around for our, our local DYPs once in a while. And also our, our smash downs, which happened now a few times a year. And man, what a, what a, first of all, what a fantastic player. Uh, but also just a great teacher and just, you know, you get, you get to know the guy immediately. It's like, you don't, there's no, there's no break-in period for Ron. You get to know him right away. It's like, you talk to him and he's, he's already a friend.

[00:33:08] So great stuff. He's one of the few people that can give you a slingshot to win when they're already up four to nothing on you and then start laughing. You're not mad at him. A little bit. A little bit, a little bit. So, uh, traditionally speaking, I don't know if you guys are aware of this, but whenever we have new people on our, on our show on Foos Talk Live, we, we like to find out about your background. So I think we should go around the table.

[00:33:37] Uh, let's start with you, Rob. Rob, um, what was the, the first time you ever saw a foosball table? How old were you and what kind of table was it? Yeah, it was, uh, 1994. I was 18 years old and I was in college and went down to student union, kicked everyone's butt and ping pong and thought, what other sports can I dominate in? Yeah. Still working on that. Saw these losers over on the foosball table and I thought I'd go beat them up for a while too. And, um, that's where I started playing the game.

[00:34:06] And I saw this flyer one day down in the student union for, uh, beat the pro night. Oh. And the media and Aaron Gilmore showed up my little college and, uh, that was, I thought, man, we're going to whoop up on these boys. And, uh, that was the first time I ever saw professional foosball. Yeah. And next thing you know, I'm, uh, I'm into the, the tour scene, going to tournaments and stuff like that. Jeff's teaching me how to shoot. It still hasn't worked. I still haven't learned how to shoot, but. True story.

[00:34:34] But, but that's how I started playing. Nice. First time I saw a table was a tornado. Tornado. Nice. And, uh, Greg, how about yourself? What was the first time you saw a foosball table and how old were you and what kind of table was it? Um, I was probably fourth grade roller skating and there was six foosball tables lined up end to end. Ooh. And I just was drawn to it. Somebody had a toy foosball table in their basement and we used to, you know, listen to the cars and drink soda and play on this crappy table.

[00:35:02] Then I played on the, must've been a tournament soccer, I guess, with the blue and red guys. Yes. Oh, cool. I'm guessing. And, uh, years went by and I couldn't find any organized foosball. And then my friend, Kevin Crozier called me up and said, Hey, me and Jack are going to this bar. There's some of the best players in the state were there. One of them was, uh, our future hall of famer to my left here. Jeff Kimmerling. Okay. Came in through quarters up on the table.

[00:35:30] I'm pretty sure a media was there and Jeff and all these good players and probably bud screwed him in probably little Tony at the time. Probably. He was probably like 13 or 14, 13 or 14. Maybe he was even little, like maybe even 12. I mean, he was probably there. His mom showed up once in a while. Wow. And I put my quarters up. Kevin's like, you're going to be ready for this. Right. And I was like, oh, it's fine. Ron Greenwald was there and, you know, all these great players. And I get up to the table. I don't know who my partner was, but probably Kevin.

[00:35:59] And we got up there and it was all over and shaking hands after they pulled the chip, you know, almost in the same motion. And it's kind of a side joke in Milwaukee, you know, like right after you flip the point, just shake your hand at the same time. See you later, son. And I came back every week, every Friday and Saturday night to that same bar. And then I bought a house and then I had a spare bedroom for just me. So that's where the foosball table lived. Yes.

[00:36:26] And I just, Jeff and everybody in Milwaukee just kind of trained me and showed me the ropes and kicked my butt all over the place until I figured it out. Wow. But love it. Loved it ever since. The rest is history. And you still talk to each other. I'm impressed. We are. Yeah. Yeah. Jeff was kind of the catalyst around our city with, hey, what are you doing? Going on? We playing foosball or you guys got some other stuff going on or what? That meant you're coming. Right.

[00:36:53] So then you just showed up at the 81st Street house and. That was a lot of it. Well, Jeff, you are the catalyst. So you are next. What for you? What was the first time you saw a foosball table? What kind was it? And how old were you? Actually, I was 18 years old. It was a small roller rink also in West Bend, Wisconsin. I was I was on the speed skating team at the time. At the time. So I did go to the roller rink.

[00:37:20] And Wisconsin, the drinking age at the time was 19 years old. Oh, so I couldn't go to the bars yet. My girlfriend was also 18 years old. So I'm in there doing the speed skating thing. And all of a sudden, there's this huge crowd just off to the side of the rink. And I went over there and looked. And it was two older guys playing foosball and just destroying everybody. Huh. And I was like, wow, that is a cool game. And why are all these people watching this?

[00:37:50] And I mean, they were doing some neat stuff. And I thought, wow, that's awesome. It looks easy. I put quarters up and got nine old. But, you know, what was unique about it is because nobody that was playing it ever spun, I never thought about spinning. So but these older guys destroyed me. And I just thought, you know what? That's not going to happen again.

[00:38:16] So from then on, for that next year until I turned bar age, I went to the rink every time I every chance I could and just practiced. OK. All by myself. And then all of a sudden, those same guys were there really late. And I was like 19 years old at that point. And they said, hey. And by this time, I'm actually I was beating them. Oh, and you need to go to this bar in Milwaukee. And it was Steve's on Blue Mound. Same place. Yeah, same place. And I went down there.

[00:38:47] And, you know, Greg already mentioned Ron Greenwald. And Ronnie was Ronnie. You know, he eventually became a pro master. And one of the greatest players ever in the state of Wisconsin. Tough as nails on that table. Yeah. And Ronnie taught me a lot, put me under his wing and really taught me a pull shot and then taught me how to win. And that was a big deal with Ron was, you know, me learning how to win. Yes. But yeah, that's how I got into it. In this sport, it's the coolest. It really is.

[00:39:16] And it's amazing how long I've been playing. Yeah. We're lucky to have Ron in Milwaukee for as long as we did. He lives out on the East Coast now. Yeah. Wow. I know there's always someone in the very beginning, especially in most people's careers in this sport, that just said, hey, I just got to show you some things, man. And here's a couple little things that you can learn and easily gain some experience and use that.

[00:39:39] And that helps to, well, feed the fire and, of course, satisfy your addiction for the foosball drug. Like, okay, so. Oh, yeah. Ron did that for sure. Because for one thing, Ron was like, he was almost like angry on the table. You know what I mean? Yeah. Okay. And he kind of beat up on you when you played. So then you wanted to beat up on him and none of us ever could beat up on Ronnie. Nope. You know. Yeah. He toughened us up, though. He did.

[00:40:08] He literally grabbed your hands. He grabbed my hands on the goalie rods and he said, stay right here. I'll take care of the rest up front. That is the Ronnie voice, by the way. Yeah. There you go. Just do it. A good imitation. Well, you never forget those voices, right? Okay, Roman. So how about you? When was the first time you saw a foosball table? How old were you and what kind of table was it? I was late in my 20s when I got into foosball.

[00:40:36] I saw it at a YMCA and I was playing it and I thought I was really good. Beating up little kids. And so then I came back to Milwaukee and I heard there was a bar in Wisconsin Dells that had a foosball table. So we went up there downhill skiing and that night we're going to go beat up on some people playing foosball. Came across Lori. Remember JJ's? Lori Watkinson. Yeah. She had this pole kick and I'm like, holy cow, that's lights out. And she goes, oh, that's nothing. You got to go to Steve's on Blue Mount. So then I go back to Milwaukee and I go to Steve's on Blue Mount where Greg and Jeff are there.

[00:41:05] And I didn't even see Jeff at first. We had a guy named Zorn and Gary. Those guys were fantastic. They hold the table all night and they go, all of a sudden this Jeff guy walks in and I'm like, who's, they're like, he'll be on table all night. I'm like, no way. Absolutely. Your quarters were lined up. There were 10 deep. And so I was always excited to get my opportunity. And sure enough, Jeff would be sitting on that table all night. And then another guy walks in named Amidio. And they're like, oh, he might be able to beat Jeff. I'm like, really? Wow, that's fast, fascinating.

[00:41:34] You know, and it was neat to see some really good talent. And then Dan Dobler got me in leagues and we were playing in the Waterloo leagues. And then Jeff and Kevin got me in Milwaukee leagues. And I think back, I was that rookie beginner on the team. I think that, you know, everyone has their token player. And I think I was that token player on your team. So the token player. So yeah, Jeff certainly taught us all. And Jeff, you know, one of the things that Jeff taught me that I like to share with everyone is that it's a chess game.

[00:42:02] You know, foosball is a chess game. And I remember playing Jeff in your Blatt's condo, the basement. And one of our players shot a five bar for the win and whacked it in. And Jeff was pretty upset about it. He says, you know, you'd make it feel better if you actually did a five bar pass. And then you got on your three bar and you looked for the hole and you hit the hole. I think that would make you feel better as a player versus just whacking that five bar for the win. And, you know, that's, there's some merit to that.

[00:42:30] You know, the game is, you know, Jeff will tell you, it's a chess game. You look at Jeff's pass. It's, it's, it's not exciting. It's a lane or a wall. That's it. But he loves that chess game. He's going to outsmart you. I'm like, well, he went to the wall, went to the wall. He's going to the lane. Like, oh, he went to the wall, you know? And it's, I mean, that's, that's the game he loves and taught us to play that game. That's what he wants us to do. I have a really nice snake, my quick shot, my quick snake. And Jeff hates it because he says, you're guessing. So you're not shooting that hole.

[00:42:59] You're guessing that it's open. And it took me a couple of years to realize he's right. It's, it's, you know, I do it for fun now. It's a novelty shot, but it's, it's something you want to look for the hole and enjoy the shot versus just, just kind of whack at it as a beginner. Right. No, it's, I think there's that, that phase in everybody's life or their, their foosball life, I should say, where they say, hmm, there is a little bit more to this. Than just hitting the ball hard and hoping. It's, it's, and that's where you get addicted really.

[00:43:26] That's where you, where, cause you have to really, really think about what's, what's happening from, from ball to ball. And every player is different and adjusting. I think about, you know, just, just as past Friday evening playing in the local DYP, a good friend of ours came from, from up North. He's in Plattsburgh, Mark Jollett. And he shows up once in a while, but we don't know his game very well. And so when I was playing him in, in, uh, I think it was in the semis, he was doing a

[00:43:56] pull kick and a push kick and, and some other things that I just, I'm just not accustomed to and chewing me up. You know, I can usually block a snake shooter or a good pull shooter, but this guy suddenly I'm, I'm, uh, I'm, I'm looking like I'm just standing there suddenly. So, uh, adjustments. That's what that was all about. And trying to, to, to shoot when we play you time. Yes, exactly. Exactly. And may that happen soon. Um, okay.

[00:44:23] I have to know because you guys, I mean, here's, here's a quick question as far as your, your, your group, the four of you, uh, how often do you get together as a group of the, the four of you just to play, uh, just, just pickups and stuff. So here in Wisconsin, there's probably four main league scenes. So Milwaukee has a league at the Q club in Waukesha. Um, yeah, they play a pitcher's pub in Madison and, uh, the Mad Apple where the Wisconsin state foosball championships are in, uh, Appleton.

[00:44:53] And then Sheboygan has a league as well. And they play at GM, so bar downtown Sheboygan. And so all of those are like once a week, something like that. What's fun is we'll get Sheboygan people come down to Milwaukee and walk people up to Appleton and all the Madison people. Nobody likes them. So everybody's willing to travel. It's pretty cool. What's the matter with Madison? We just went to Madison Wednesday. We were just out in Madison Wednesday. Shout out to those guys, Eric and Brad runner, uh, on. They got bottled there, right? Yep. And Jonas. That's some good players.

[00:45:22] They've come a long way. They go out there. I swear they're getting better every time we go out there. Oh, and then ran into my old friend, Andy from Minneapolis. And then, uh, who else was out there? Eric Osmo, um, might've took first place with Eric. Like, yeah. Yeah. But on top of that, we, we get together at each other's houses and other once or twice a week. And oh, good. Yeah. Just get reps. And it's intense. Actually. It's a, most of the time it's four guys and we play every combination. Yeah. Yeah. For the whole evening. And it's two out of three for the whole combination.

[00:45:52] And it's, uh, it's, and it's overtime too. Everybody's facing a different goalie. Everybody's facing a different five bar. There you go. And you know what? It's, I don't, we don't even put money on it, but there is so much pride in every single match. You do not want to lose. Yes. It's crazy. This game, what it does to you when you're like three foot away from the other dude, you know? Well, I think that the way we started here and, and since it's your hall of fame year, we're just going to keep talking you up, Jeff. There you go.

[00:46:22] You play, you play a new practice, you play to win, like you're playing to win at a tournament. And that's how a majority of the players are. You know, there's, there's fun times. And then there's, I want to play to win right now. So when I'm in the, when I'm in the moment, I have all that underneath my, you know, underneath my cape so I can win on the table with the pressure on. And so we put pressure on each other to be better all the time, all the time, but we always compliment each other's, you know, shots. Oh, sure. Winning is fun. Yeah.

[00:46:50] Well, we all want to win, but at the same time, we do want to have a challenge. So having challenges, um, think about this, uh, you know, Tony Sprademan, uh, many years ago, uh, one of the earlier episodes of foosball radio, he said, you know, guys, it's getting to the point now where we have the same five people at the top of the chain here and we're playing each other, we know each other's game so well, it's really getting a little worn out.

[00:47:15] We need, we need new people and like magic, suddenly we've got new people, you know, Sullivan Rue, Eric, uh, sorry, uh, Eric Balkos and, and, uh, and of course, Jacob, Jacob Maya. And, uh, they'll be at Wisconsin state. They're usually our, our headliners are, they're always, uh, there you go. Making right. You got it. You got a lot of people climbing the ladder out there that are really good and you have to watch out for them. And they came out of nowhere, you know, five years ago, you didn't know who they were and

[00:47:44] now you really do. And it's like, Oh God, I got to play them next with fun games. Yeah. Really fun games. You know, not the boring game energy I do and everything. I mean, stuff where things are getting thrown at the goal and they're thrown at the goal hard. I mean, and then they have imagination like Octu check out Octu's five bar. Seriously, if anybody ever gets a chance for Wisconsin state, if you see that Octu is on

[00:48:09] the table and on the, on the video feed, watch that absolutely imaginative five bar and the execution. It's, it's absolutely a thing of beauty. Tom. Octu, Laura has a really interesting story. If, if you've never heard of him or seen him play, he's, he's probably the player in Wisconsin has the most potential. Like if somebody to become an open single world champion, I know his name on the, on the board a few times for sure. Yeah. He's amazing. And he, he's a, he's a Rohingya refugee. Okay.

[00:48:39] Um, from Burma. So it was a war turned country and I grew up in this refugee camp and, um, fortunately it was granted asylum in America. Um, didn't speak any English, but, um, played soccer in the camp and nobody plays soccer in Wisconsin. So this is the closest thing you could find and, um, man, he just, he's got such a passion for the game. Is it mile on his face all the time? Yeah. And he's happy all the time. And he actually learned how to play by watching YouTube videos of Tony. Really?

[00:49:09] Yeah. It shows everything Tony does. He'll like, can you show him something in a week later? He's got it perfected better than you do. And, um, he's special. Um, I watch him at Wisconsin state. He's the guy I got my money on an expert singles. How old is he? 30. He actually doesn't know. Okay. Um, he, he doesn't know his actual age or the date of birth. Right. Right. Huh? He is, he's somebody, a documentary should be made of this person. Right. He's a fantastic man.

[00:49:36] Slid into our, into our football world one week in Milwaukee and he never left. We are lucky to have him. I like him cause he doesn't speak a lot of English. English. And so you can trash talk and we can talk them down, you know, he doesn't, he just kind of looks at you and smiles. He smiles. And he puts it in the game. He doesn't, you know, five bar pass and does a slingshot on you. And he's a five bar. He's got a hook. Which makes you think that he knew every word you'd say.

[00:50:06] That's what he probably does. He's just not letting on. It's like, yeah, no, you guys are trash talking me. Watch this. Exactly. He puts it in the game. Absolutely. That's great. So, okay. Uh, speaking of trash talking, uh, amongst the, the four of you on the table, who is the, who is the biggest trash talker there? My vote's Rob. Rob. Um, Jay's not here, but, uh, you know, I'm in his table. I don't know. I don't think none of these guys are big trash talkers. Well, Rob just walks up the table and we haven't even played yet.

[00:50:35] And he's guys, you're ready for this pull kick. Cause it's going to go through the back of the table. Hope you're all ready. That's what I mean. There is that one time at worlds we were playing Mike stall and Justin Shaw. And I told Justin not to flinch off the short. And then I scored the short. That's my point. That's the only time I've ever talked trash. It's like Babe Ruth stepping up to the plate, pointing at the left field fence and hitting the ball over the left field fence. Rob always does it with a smile though.

[00:51:04] So it's nice. Nice. Very cool. My favorite trash talking games that I don't think most people seen. I wish it was like a highlight reel up on some foosball site. I don't know where, but, uh, it was, uh, Belkos and Tommy Atkinson. Did you guys see that? I watched that match. Oh, I don't know if you saw that Tom. It was awesome. I mean, if there is anything that was entertaining and trash talking and it was, it was fantastic. And Belkos was professional the whole time. And Tommy was like, I'm going to shoot it short. I'm going to shoot right there.

[00:51:33] And he's shown and he calls a timeout again for the 10th time. Cause he had to buy some timeouts and he shot it short. It was fantastic. Yeah. It was, it was an awesome game to watch. Anybody who watched it, I tried to find that. Yeah. Jacob really held, he held his own that day. Yeah. And won. He wanted that. Yep. In overtime. For Jacob's age, like what he's doing is really extraordinary. His rise is the fastest thing since Tony Spreedman, maybe faster than Tony Spreedman. Yep. Him, Dijon. Classy kid. Right.

[00:52:01] Which is amazing considering his dad is such a loser. But sorry. I didn't mean to say that. I think he's watching tonight, guys. I'm not 100%. I hope you're laughing in your basement right now listening to Foos Talk Radio. Eric's. I saw Eric in the chat. Sorry to throw something out for him. Just to, just to give Eric some props, man. Every time I see him at a tournament, he's just all smiles. And he, he just, he just, he's a great person to talk to and has, has such a passion for this sport.

[00:52:30] You can see it, you know, just, it's a nonstop. Don't, don't play Eric for money in goalie wars. That guy's got so many big shots. It'll do all that. Interesting. Okay. Well, maybe he'll just do it for free. I don't know. Well, so next weekend, you've got probably a lot of folks coming from out of town. What's the, what are the hotel sales like? Do you know what the reservations are like so far for a, there's a, there's a waiting line to get a room.

[00:53:00] So if someone's canceling and you're fourth on the list, you're, you're waiting for three more people ahead of you right now. No doubt. Well, that's at the hotel at the place. Yeah. That's the onsite down to another hotel. There's other, there's plenty. There's several options in the area, but to stay there is nice. Yeah. Yeah. I think I'm staying at a court. Yeah. It's where I am set up for it. And it's honestly, it's like two blocks away. There's a couple. And there's one across the street. Yeah. Yeah. And by the way, if you have a reservation at the hotel, it's attached to the tournament site.

[00:53:28] It just changed ownership. And my understanding, I've talked to a few people. My understanding is that don't worry, you'll get an email talking about this, but your reservation is fine. The price you locked in is fine. The only possible issue is if you were using points, um, through that former hotel, those won't be valid anymore. So that's the only catch there. So just be aware. Well, I mean, and we have Carmo running it along with Brett and they do a really nice job of keeping the tournament on time and schedule.

[00:53:58] So they actually, that's one of the things for Wisconsin. And I don't think we get that many players. So we're not sitting around waiting with conflicts and all that. That's one of the advantage, nice things of Wisconsin. Don't forget about Craig. We're kicking. Craig is always back there too. Okay. Anybody notice the payouts for Wisconsin state? I mean, we are, I think it's approaching 20 grand now. It's 17 or 18,000. That's stupid. Wow. It's fantastic. I know the company that I work for, that I've been working for for almost 16 years

[00:54:27] now, it's their third year in a row of sponsoring. And maybe there's what? 10 sponsors now? There's a bunch of sponsors. Wow. That's the reason. It used to be a $10,000 tournament. Now it's almost 20. They're so good at promoting. Yep. They really are. Teddy is, Brett is, everybody. They're so good at promoting. Yeah. And Teddy does a nice job on the tables. He takes a lot of pride in tables. And, you know, with those table troubles we're having now, I guarantee he's going to level

[00:54:57] them all, inspect them all. Yep. There's tables like nobody's playing on this table. This isn't any good. You know? And he's very adamant about that, which is awesome. Somebody says, this table isn't level. He'll go over there and personally check it and level it. And it takes a lot of pride in Wisconsin. Like 100%. The tournament moves smooth. I mean, it's got an on bar right there, a restaurant right there. They're not yelling at you, don't bring any alcohol in the bar, in the conference room. It's really nice. It's a really nice enjoyment. A lot of people say a lot of good things about the tournament.

[00:55:26] Teddy's the kind of guy that'll put his hand on the handle and say, this handle's from 2016. We got to get this swapped out. Oh. There you go. He knows, man. There you go. Yeah. Incidentally, I got a chance to- The balls would be right. Got a chance to talk to Teddy's daughter, Seda, during the Michigan State or the Great Lakes Classic this last year. What a brilliant young lady she is. I was so impressed. Yeah, Seda's great.

[00:55:56] Yeah. Tom? All the best young women players. I mean, obviously you got Sully and Isabel who are amazing. I'm talking about younger than that. Like up-and-coming names you haven't heard of yet. They're all in Wisconsin. Really? Seda, Vivian Mershke, Elena Kuchera, Maya Balkos is Minnesota, but we adopt her. Yes. She's a Packer fan. I heard. Talent and poise beyond their years. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely.

[00:56:26] And they practice all the time. They're just, they're literally addicted to foosball. Practice is a drug. Yep. Met hours a day sometimes. Little rivers. Vivian Mershke, by the way. I'm calling her right here. Right. You heard it here first. Greatest female player of all time. Really? She's on that trajectory. She has the talent. Huh. She absolutely did. Yeah. I've played Cindy in her prime. I've played a lot of amazing women. Yep. And Vivian has the talent, the ability.

[00:56:53] Tom, if you're playing her and she just goes tic-tac and hits a stick lane, it kind of makes you go, huh? It gets so hard. It's so loud. You're like, I'm like, you're 13. We're pro players. She's a 13-year-old. 13. Who just started. And she scares us. Yeah. I'm fortunate that she is my league partner. Yeah. And I'm sitting in the goal area going, wow. I cannot believe that she just pulled it off.

[00:57:20] And not just pulled it off, but it was a wide open pass. The cool thing is she does a lot of things and they're not blindly done. You know what I mean? She really does a really good read or it's a very good choice. Like her dad. Yeah. Dad, James. Sorry, James. James likes to shoot in three seconds. And I remember one of you guys yelling at him, James, you always shoot in three seconds. He goes, I know. I love it. I want to shoot in two.

[00:57:49] And the problem with that is. Kind of blind, but Vivian hasn't picked up on that. So it's. Yeah. But that's their sparring partners on a daily basis. Probably five times a week. They're playing singles against each other and it's, it's heated. And that's why you can see your game. Yeah. And James. They may be the two most talented players in Wisconsin. Seriously. Very fast twitchy. She's a pole shooter. And James isn't a pole shooter. No. No. No. He told his daughter, she can't shoot a rollover. She has to learn to pull first. First.

[00:58:18] And you can have a rollover down the road when I say. Good for him. Do it right. Good for him. That's, that's really. You think about this because if you're going to develop skills in general, ball control first. And then of course the, the shooting ability, I think the pole shot is the place to go because you get an opportunity to really see holes, uh, the pole shot more than, than a rollover. So that makes a lot. Jeff will definitely like you saying that because Jeff's a big pole shooter. And you are so right. You are absolutely spot on.

[00:58:46] Oh, I don't do a rollover at all. I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm totally a pole shooter. Totally, totally pole shooter. Do you have a blistering long though? I do. Well, all right. Okay. That's all you need. It's debatable depending upon who I'm playing because they, they know where I go. So, uh, but no, if I'm, if I'm playing somebody that I've never played before, sure. I can hit that, that, that long pole. It's a, but it's, it's, it's great because you can see the holes more easily that way. At least that's my opinion anyway. I agree with you.

[00:59:16] I, I, and you know, I don't shoot a rollover. I shoot a pole shot. Um, so I, I do think about every time I've ever tried to shoot a pole, I mean, I mean, I shoot a rollover. I struggle with it though. Yeah. Because with a pole shot, I literally can wait for a hole and split second opens. I can blast it. Yes. Um, and the only people that shoot rollovers that I know that can do that is probably Greg rushing. You know what I mean?

[00:59:42] Because a lot of times, sometimes he does, he does a no rock and he can destroy a hole as soon as it opens. Um, and that's the only thing I, I mean, I don't shoot a rollover, so I guess I can't speak for it, but I do love a pole shot because when I get confused, I can literally stare at a hole and wait for it to open and go for it. Yeah. Yep. I think that's, that's the beauty of it all. And it's, I mean, it's good to have those basics to start with and then move on to your,

[01:00:09] to, to the rollover because I think, I think the rollover is great and it's, and it makes a whole lot more exciting game sometimes, but it just, yeah. It ain't really the, the, the best shot in the world. I think the pole shot is really it. Yeah. It's going to make her more well-rounded for sure. Yep. It certainly trained us all defensively to be good for the real good poles. A couple of times I remember playing somebody and they're like, he doesn't have a Jeff pole. He's not cranking that out all the way there. Yeah. But we did play in Kentucky. Do you remember?

[01:00:39] We lost to somebody that a pole you and I brought, we were playing. And that was a guy that you knew that taught you how to shoot the pole. Do you remember who it was at? You remember where that name was? Yeah. Down South. Yeah. That was somebody else would just beat us with another pole. And I'm like, wow, he's shooting just like Jeff on that way, way out there. So it's once you see it, when the top players have it, there's, there's different poles, levels of it. And we're fortunate to learn to practice. So you're saying when you run into a less than stellar pole, you're like, eh, no problem. But then they got that, they got that fire. Right. On that pole shot.

[01:01:09] Yeah. It's something to. Viv is getting there too. Every once in a while, she really rips out a long actually, but she does such a good job of, of picking holes. I mean, Viv is doing great with it. And it looks effortless. It does. That's it. That's what's hard. You can't see it. Yeah. We have Kevin Walker here on this end of the country, who's a pro master. Oh God. And that's a pole shot. Yeah. You betcha. He's sick. And just.

[01:01:36] You know, Tom, I read somewhere that if you, if you learn a language before puberty or like when you're really young, you can speak it without an accent. But you know, if you're our age and you move to another country, you always have a thick accent. Correct. I kind of think it's the same in the foosball. These kids that start, you know, in their early teens, like Tony Spreedom and Jacob Baukos, they don't have an, it's like the, the foosball rods, an extension of their arm. Everything is so natural. Yes. You don't have to think about it.

[01:02:04] Like Sam Dijon standing on a box and then knowing him today as a young man, you know, like when he was young, he, he, he had done so many reps with those loose ligaments and. Brian Moore, Brandon Munoz, Joey Pappas, all those guys started when they were very, very, very young. Yep. Look at how natural pull shot is to Sam. Exactly. It's going to be that way for a Vib too. Yeah. Yeah. I got a picture of Greg and Rob losing to a guy standing on a milk crate. Isn't that lovely? Sam Dijon.

[01:02:34] What a good. Sam. Well, I mean, Sam is a kid. Sam at the age of eight. Roman is posting it all over Facebook. Yeah. Sam at the age of eight was showing up at our DYPs and, you know, great kid. And just, you know, really determined and had this fire in his eyes. But when he lost, especially at that age, he used to cry, which, which made it. Yeah. We saw it. It was very difficult to do that. And now he's making us cry. Yeah. Right. Exactly. He's, he's gotten his, his ultimate revenge.

[01:03:04] And, you know, it, I think that he and, and, and Jacob Balkos and of course the rest of the youngsters coming up, man. I mean, this is going to be a really cool sport to watch even when we're, you know, well into our eighties because of those guys for sure. Yeah. And then you, then you have, then you have Sully who has won expert singles before teaming up with Sam to John and they're both like 17 and 19. Yep. And it's, it's what a scary team that is. Oh man.

[01:03:34] Unstoppable. Unstoppable. I mean, ladies in general right now are tough to play. Oh, they're not, not to take anything away from the great Moya and Cindy's of the world. Not to take anything away from them. But nowadays, I mean, seriously, they're, they're a major threat. Yes. Now you're not playing to hope to not lose to a girl.

[01:03:59] Now you're hoping to win against somebody that's going to possibly take first place. Yeah. I'm thinking Midori Kimura is probably out there. Hey Midori, if you're listening and she's probably like. Should I come back? She should. Oh my God. The competition is ridiculous. I need to go kick their butts. That's probably what she's thinking, but she hasn't pulled the trigger yet. Yeah. But I think she's going to be a new mom or is a new mom now. She is going to be a new mom. Just got married. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. This in, in April. But I guarantee you, give it a year. Yeah. She'll be back. She'll be back.

[01:04:29] She'll be back. And then her second gen is going to be absolutely fantastic. There you go. It's a, it's, it's interesting. It's, it's all genetic. I can't wait to see what happens with, uh, with Ryan Moore's kids. I mean, they're what, uh, five and three, I think now, something like that. So the signs of foosball should be appearing very soon, probably within the next year or two. Speaking of which, I got to ask you guys collectively, um, world foosball tour is now underway.

[01:04:59] Um, I'm just going to start with you, Rob. How have things changed for you as far as your perspective of professional foosball? Well, I was at the first event, um, the tour kickoff in Kentucky and had a great time. Mm-hmm. Uh, unfortunately lost to Randy Raposo, but that was mostly his goalie. We're coming back for you, Randy. Great D by the way, Chris. I see how you dodged us tonight, Randy. So we'll catch you up in the next tournament. But, um, yeah, yeah.

[01:05:27] It's, uh, I thought the branding was amazing. Um, what Ryan's doing, kind of rebranding the tournament. The room made you say, wow. Yeah. Yeah. And just bringing excitement to it. Um, I was a little frustrated the tournament shut down for a few hours and kind of set everything back for the finals and stuff. Right. Um, I do understand what he's trying to do there to get excitement, get the crowd piled in for the finals. And, um, you know, um, you know, it's, it's an exciting environment, atmosphere, and that's what we need to bring in sponsorship.

[01:05:55] And so I applaud what he's doing and, um, support him a hundred percent and encourage people to go out on the tour and support it. Um, I think, I think Vegas is going to make it sparkly. I think he's going to put some things together and put some different things from the outside in and the inside out. And I think Vegas is going to help put him as the new owner of that tour company and put it on the map and all this youth and all the foods clubs USA. I think this is some years to come.

[01:06:24] I think he's starting the right ship in the right direction. I think he's going to incentivize like becoming great too. Like, you know, the problem with foosball last 20 years is there really wasn't that much incentive to become one of the best, you know, and I think he, he gets that. And I think he's gonna, you know, treat pro masters the way they should be treated and, you know, um, and things like that, make it more of a professional sport. Um, I've seen some of some of what he's trying to do already with, you know, trying to time

[01:06:53] out matches and courtesy texts, letting them know when they're going to be playing and preference for tables and things. I think all that's wonderful. I'm glad to see you. Can I send this over to Jeff? Jeff, you've always had this mentality that, uh, a tournament should be run no matter if it's a state or a regional or a national or a world that, that the, the people that are coming in at the rookie and, and semi pro ish level. Um, there you're fighting your way to the top, but the people at the top have already earned their spot and they should get all privilege. Yes.

[01:07:22] As far as tournaments go and payouts and exactly time of day when you play the rookies and amateurs and beginners shouldn't get something. Um, but, uh, they got to get a little something, but they can't get the same as the masters and the pros and the open events. That makes no sense to me. You know, I think Ryan's really running it right. I think he's got the right look at this. You know what I mean? Um, actually, even if you look at the shuffle of the events and what days that they're completely

[01:07:51] being played on, it's changing like what's important. You know what I mean? The open events are important. Um, Rob, I, I love, I love that they shut the tournament down for the open events. They have to. Me too. Those are important. They have to be that way. Everybody should be, the room's gotta be quiet. It's gotta be dark. We gotta have walk up music. We need all that. Yes. It sets the tournament back three hours. I think there's ways and Ryan is fantastic. He's smart.

[01:08:20] He's a great businessman as well. Um, he's going to make the adjustment on that. You know, if it takes that, we need to bump entrance fees, 10 bucks. I don't think that's going to kill people, but, but now you have to play in, you have to choose an event besides of an open event. I don't know what Ryan's going to do. I'm sure it's going to be something brilliant. Um, you know what? I have, I have full trust in him now. You know what I mean?

[01:08:44] I did before TKO, but after seeing TKO and how well it was ran, what did the room look like? And the, and just seriously, the direction. And the hoops he had to jump through with the tables and he made it happen at the last second on his, probably to his, not to his favor, you know, monetarily. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Uh, here's what I would say, like maybe, maybe run two or three matches during the open doubles and singles finals. The ones that are furthest behind, because that just set everything back.

[01:09:13] I know there are people that had to leave and, you know, finished very late. We can't forget. It was the first tournament. Very first. Ryan's. I said, I said the words myself. I'm like, Hey, that's just, it's just, it's a virgin. You know, let's, let's give this a chance. It was not a bad shakeout. You got to say, man, because I mean, I didn't know what to expect necessarily because I thought, well, it's going to be small increments. We'll see improvements, et cetera. But I was just, I was dusted off when I first walked in, like, look at the branding. It's everywhere.

[01:09:43] I mean, everywhere you turn, there's the branding. And those signs are not cheap. I mean, that's, that's a, that's a huge, uh, you know, when it comes to just a capital investment, man. And it was really cool. Yeah. It's excellent. Yeah. It's really, really well done. I call one of the t-shirts, wear it proudly around the house. Yes. Yeah. Mom's impressed. Um, so do you know what I took away from TKO was leadership?

[01:10:11] There was leadership on the floor at TKO. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Yeah. The, the people checking the tables and making sure people were getting to their tables on time. That was top notch. That's the best I've ever seen that happen. But all aspects, somebody watching over everything, you know? Um, and, and unfortunately it had to be Ryan that time, you know what I mean? So he couldn't play. And that was a bummer, you know, to not have Ryan playing, but you know, he probably knew he wouldn't. He's now put people in place for that.

[01:10:40] Seriously, this is going to get better. Every single event this year. I, I, I can't wait for Nashville where it's got, where he's going to have Las Vegas under his belt and he's got Nashville now. And it has all that data from Vegas. This is going to be fantastic. This tour is going to rock. This is, uh, this is exciting times to be in the sport. Um, so Roman, how about yourself? What are you, what were you thinking? I mean, after you, did you get a chance to go to TKO? Uh, I did not go to TKO and I'm not as positive Patty as you guys are about the tournaments.

[01:11:10] I mean, Ryan gives us hope and I'm excited about it. Um, but you know, Las Vegas is coming. Tony's going to be there. Pappas is going to be there, right? Yes. Tom, when are they going to be on? So they're going to be on as soon as we can get them on. Right. We don't know when they're going to be on. Just think if there was an app or an AI that would say, Hey, one o'clock, you know, Tony's on table one or Pappas and Tony, what if Tony and Pappas play? I mean, that's the problem in our sport. We got to recognize, I mean, to be, when you're an alcoholic, you got to recognize you're an alcoholic. We got some problems. I mean, rookie singles is full.

[01:11:40] It started at 10 o'clock. It didn't start till 1230. And that upset some people. Some people say, well, just, you know, go have some fun, right? At your tournament. You know, some people that, you know, I, I don't go to 10 tournaments a year. I go to a tournament and I got to be like, Hey, I, you know, we got rituals by 10 o'clock. I got to have all my stuff. You know, my, I'm feeling pretty good. I get warmed up. And then all of a sudden I don't start till 1230. Right. That's a problem for some people. And it's a concern and, and it's not on, it's not on video.

[01:12:07] I mean, that's, it'd be nice to say Wisconsin state, the open singles championships at six o'clock, sit in front of my 85 inch TV with some popcorn, watch the champion. That'd be awesome. You know how many people, you know how many viewers we could get? That will change our activity. And until we do that, it's, it's, you know, I'd love the championship format. I love that because that makes everyone watch. Yeah. I would get rid of modern foosball on the other side. Cause that's a prime seat and hang their cameras like they do at Wisconsin foosball.

[01:12:35] But it's again, it's, I love the championship format. I think Ryan's on that. He's gives us a lot of hope. Yeah. I'm hoping he will do better. It was his only his first match, right? He's got a whole, you know, Rome wasn't changed in a year. It's going to take a year. I get it. Maybe two years. And I think Ryan's the one that can do it for us. You know, like I, like I told you, Tom, there's, there's a ball crisis. Yeah. I don't know which balls we're going to play with at Wisconsin state. I guess we're playing with another cherry bomb version at Wisconsin state.

[01:13:01] Now, Teddy's a bald Nazi and you know, he's going to be looking what inspecting everyone, you know, and even maybe he might go back to the pink style. I don't know, but we, we got to make sure we got a centralized ball. And I think Ryan's going to have to be that person to say, Hey, this is what we're using on the tour is what we're going to use. I mean, that's, I think if you're important for the tournament, if you're going to take the, the, the reins of the, the biggest tour in, in America, right.

[01:13:28] And you have the most, uh, the most majors of anybody that's automatically something you're going to have to assume that responsibility automatically. And I think Viv was in the finals in, uh, juniors. Right. Okay. And the only reason I knew is because James text us all and said, Viv's in the, on the table one. So we, boom, we clicked, I clicked in there and there were four people in that. I don't know how you guys get 600 million viewers when there was only four watching Viv, but just think of Mike stall and all that work he does for those juniors.

[01:13:54] He could say, Hey, the, the juniors championships at Saturday at two o'clock, all his juniors could get on there and watch and watch Viv play. That would have been fantastic by the end of our game. There was 21 of us watching, but I'm sure Mike stalls got 21 juniors watching. I mean, we're missing some opportunities and we we've got to figure that out. And there's some tools and I think Ryan will find them, but we haven't found them yet. And until then, I wish I would have went to money, but I like Swiss tournament. I think that's fantastic. Oh yeah.

[01:14:24] No, it's, um, the, the ITSF, uh, uh, world series last year in Texas was phenomenal that way because you knew exactly, uh, when you were going to play. Uh, there was a break at two o'clock in the afternoon. You came back after an hour lunch break at three o'clock and that's when the, the elimination round happened and they had the specific finals at specific times, you know, but it's Let me put Rob and Greg on that spot here. What was your favorite tournament? My favorite tournament was Thunderdome. Right. There you go.

[01:14:53] Two tables and 64 players. They loved it. Mr. Torres stood up on the podium and we were at the end of the day and it was the first day of the tournament and it was like 10 45 PM on a Friday night. And he goes, Hey, guess what guys? We're done. See you tomorrow at 3 PM. Done. We were like, wait, what? Let's go to the beach. Let's go have fun. Let's go out to dinner. Let's go enjoy.

[01:15:23] Let's go enjoy the ocean and just go do whatever you wanted and go sleep in and then come back refreshed the next day at 3 PM. Then we were done on the final day of the tournament at 8 PM. Jumped on a plane, flew home. I will say it's an expensive way to run a tournament and to do a Thunderdome correctly. It is. It is one table for four players. Yeah. You know, so, so there's, but it's amazing. All the players are playing simultaneously. Zero conflicts. It's so smooth. You get maximum foosball. Yeah. If all the table, we were just talking about this before we went on the air.

[01:15:53] If once, if one table is not going and all tables are supposed to be going with all the players, Torres would be like, listen, guys, where's the idiots that aren't playing yet? Everybody's playing except you. Now we all know who you are. And they're off to the side, you know, eating or doing something or I don't know, but it was, it was very clear who wasn't at the table and there was no recalls, nothing. Yeah. If you're a promoter looking to start an event, my advice is to follow that Thunderdome format.

[01:16:22] Try something for pros and pro masters though, too. That, that event was, I think, expert and below only. That's a good point. Something like that. That's a good point. And there, and there is obviously a cap on the number of players with that. And there should be. Where TKO, there was a fantastic turnout. It was stupid. Yeah. So, so how in the world are you going to keep things running on time with that? You know? Well, then, and if you had a ton of tables, you could do it bigger, right? Multiply times two. Tom, on your show, you had the promoters from Dallas. Yes.

[01:16:51] And they said they don't allow no conflicts. If you're in a, you're in a match, you can't, you know, you can't play in the next match because you're no conflicts. That's it. And they said that makes their tournament go. Now they're mixing it. I think their tournament's Memorial Day weekend. That tournament interests me because it's, it's no conflict. They're bringing that other, maybe it's a Swiss format of some sort. That to me sounds exciting. Everything will be, I think will run differently than our typical tournaments. Yeah. Yeah. It's so the ITSF is coming back the same weekend. They're also going to be holding Texas State simultaneously. So.

[01:17:21] Right. That's a, that's a unique idea. I'm just wondering. I mean, I'm planning on being there. I can't wait to see it up close and see how that goes. It's, it sounds. And I'm going to hold Mike Stahl on your show. He came on and said, Michigan State might be Swiss. Ooh. He said that in your show. You remembered that. So I'm going to hold him to that. Yes, I did. Bring it, Stahl. Come on, Mike. I will be there. I will be there at Stahl if you do a Swiss format. Yeah. Yeah. Shout out to Mike. Mike is, is, he's one of the best human beings on the planet.

[01:17:50] I think he's, he's got, his heart is in the right place. He's doing the right things. He's doing the best. There's some exciting things happening there with Foosball Clubs USA that I don't know if they're releasing any information yet, but there's going to be some really interesting changes there. But man, they are doing the work. They're out there pounding. He's relentless. Yeah. He really works hard. Yep. They're, they're trying. I think this is something they're, one of their goals is to sign up 50 new clubs every year.

[01:18:20] 50. Wow. Whoa. So vicious. That's a lot. That's a lot. But it's a goal. For a sport that some people don't even know what it is. They're like, Hey, how's your, how's your ping pong leagues going? Right. Like every fooser has heard that. Right. Well, Hey, my wife plays a pickleball and, and I tag along once in a while that, you know, just, just to get up out of the chair. But man, that place is packed all the time.

[01:18:47] And it's one of five or six within, I would say a 20 mile radius. And they're all packed. Yeah. It's really popular. And there's clubs popping up over the place around here. Orthopedic surgeons love it. Yeah. Right. Yes, they do. But I mean, if you can, if you can generate even a quarter of that kind of interest, especially with the younger, the younger generation of, of, uh, of players, I mean, look at what we've got so far.

[01:19:12] I mean, the indications are when you're young and you start, you know, let's say 10, 11, 12 years of age, you develop the skills early. Uh, if you learn to, if you're coached and you're learned to play right and you get addicted, you could be one of the best players in the world. So here's a, here's another point that I, that I missed earlier, but I was going to say when I was coming up as a kid, I had favorite, you know, favorite, uh, athletes like everybody does, right.

[01:19:41] That, you know, certain people they look up to, you have their poster on the wall or whatever. Imagine this someday that, uh, somebody has, um, you know, uh, Jacob Balco's poster on their wall and they say, I want to be that guy when they're, you know, in grade school or, or high school. Um, wouldn't that be something? I like that thought. Right. Jeff has a foosballers poster in the next room with Tony Spreedum's autograph on it. It's true. There you go. It's true. You got to have heroes, right?

[01:20:10] And, uh, to aspire to that, to aspire to that. I, the other thing, I think that this is something that Ron, mine probably would, would certainly back me up on, but he feels that, uh, they need to have not only, uh, uh, extra special treatments, you know, free, free hotels, uh, flights taken care of, but also sponsorship money. And that's coming. That's coming. He's got a couple of really big ones. And Tom, you, you certainly play a big part in this as well.

[01:20:38] I mean, I'm not going to walk up and talk to Tom. You are, I don't really know him, but he came on your show and it was really exciting to hear him talk and talk about his game. And, you know, everyone says, Tom, your games like, uh, uh, Tony's. And he's like, yeah, it is. It is. But, you know, even Tony's told me how to shoot Tony, Tony shots, you know, and, and that's great. And I, you do that with a lot, like Ryan, you know, he was on your show for two hours and some people are like, Oh, what's the new format? I just listened to the show. The foos radio has it. Ryan's on there twice. He explains everything.

[01:21:08] You can hear his passion. You can hear his voice. Yes. Uh, and I, you know, shout out to you for doing that for us. It's been great for our activity. Well, thanks. I appreciate your listening. It's a, it's something I just kind of got to the point now where I just, I don't know what I would do with my Sunday night if I didn't have this to do. I'd be like, Oh, they just put me in the rest. You can recap foosball. Yeah. I mean, um, it's such a weird thing because, uh, foosball is such a watchable sport and people don't know about it.

[01:21:36] I just, it just drives me nuts to, to, to, to realize that it's just, it's man, we need, we need more eyes and, and more, more passion. Tom, I just wanted to do one little kind of shout out to, um, some of the pro masters out there that could go about their way and doing their own thing. But, um, Tony Spreedeman, of course, um, with all the teachings he does and always takes the time during tournaments at Brandon Moreland, um, Terry Rue.

[01:22:06] Um, I messaged, I messaged random pro masters and they'll get back to me and give me things. And then I saved those things and shared them with like my crew in Milwaukee and, um, Tony, obviously I, I was lucky enough to grow up playing around him and learn face first. Um, but Brandon Moreland, I took his, I took his, um, his, uh, lessons online with Rob. We took some lessons with him and he, he looked at our videos and looked at our games and,

[01:22:35] and gave us tips. And there are things I think about all the time. Yes. And Terry Rue, you know, was gave me a bunch of tips and, and I wrote them all down and just shared them and we've all, we've all persevered and gotten better because of those things. You know, I'm like, Oh, I didn't know that. I'm like, well, I didn't know that either until Brandon or, you know, someone taught me or Terry taught me. So thank you to the pro master crew out there that are always willing to give a little bit back. Oh, this is one to another.

[01:23:06] Yeah. I was just going to say, this is essential, right? They, they, there was, I guess, a time in the seventies and eighties when there was a lot less of share, a lot less sharing going on because the competition, there were so many more players and the top guys didn't want, didn't want to give an inch or, or any kind of indication as to, this is how you do it. Instead, they just wanted to, you know, continue to wail on people. But, uh, it's, it's a different era. It's a, I think about the, um, oh, I don't know, the Don Swans and the Johnny Hortons and

[01:23:36] the, um, uh, even the Jim Whistwells and, and, uh, Doug. I'm the greatest in the world. I'll tell you too, if you need to know. But yeah, I mean, I would say generally speaking, not very approachable back in the day, especially when he was on a tear. Agreed. But he would have come on your show and you would have talked to him, I bet. Oh, yeah, no doubt. No doubt. And he has, he has actually, uh, made it appear.

[01:24:03] He did a interview with Mark, uh, Mark, Mark Torres at one time. Um, it was, it was good. It's just, you know, um, he's unfortunately not in the best of health. Um, and we do send out the best to Johnny, uh, but legendary as far as his antics are concerned on and off the table. Um, no one could back that up better with his play. Tom, about 25 years ago, somehow I found myself roughing a match between Nathan Winter and Johnny Horton. Yeah. Oh, you're roughing?

[01:24:32] That was the last time I ever reffed a match. So, pray tell. I got paid like $5 or something to reff that match. And I was, I would have rather worked an eight hour shift at McDonald's flipping burgers. Like those guys were, it was a circus. Oh, what happened? But wow, was it, was it fun to watch though? Yeah. Johnny Horton was quoting Old Testament Bible passages and Nathan Winter was throwing balls at his chest and there weren't rules in the book about that stuff.

[01:24:59] So, did you have to call anybody, did you have like, like, uh, warn anybody for their behavior? Oh, I gave so many warnings and, um, you know, yeah. I think they fouled me a few times and jarred me a few times and I was the one roughing the match. Whoa. It was something. It's a, it was a circus. It was hilarious. It was more fun watching Rob's being completely uncomfortable. So, okay. I got to ask you. I just wanted to be over. Yeah.

[01:25:29] Now that, that Horton, I remember going to a, I think it was worlds. Obviously I went there with a media and this was years ago, but I remember Horton having a, in his left arm and hand, like having 10 balls that he was keeping close to his chest and grabbing and then on the pit table, number one, like walking up, putting the ball, one ball down, sliding it over, you know what I mean?

[01:25:56] And setting up in a pull shot and destroying longs and just completely kept walking around the table, walk to the other side of the table, do the same thing, walk to the other side of the table. And he got rid of those 10 balls that he had held in his left arm and hand in seriously 20 seconds. Wow. It was crazy how he walked around the table. That was his warmup method, right? It was crazy watching him. I mean, how fast he could set the ball up and then just destroy a long, and he had the two bars pulled dead bar every time. He's an amazing talent. Yeah. Dang. That's, that's something else.

[01:26:25] So I, my, I want to ask the opinion of, of all of you, beginning you with Rob, if we were to compare the, the players of let's say the seventies, eighties, maybe the early nineties to what's happening today, how do you think that those guys from the seventies, eighties and nineties would do when they faced a Jacob Balcos or, or, or even for that matter, a Sullivan Rue? Yeah, I've got opinions on this.

[01:26:51] And I think, and I think this is true for any sport. Like you put today's football player up against the sixties football players, put today's baseball players up against the sixties and seventies baseball players. You put today's football players up against those. And, and I know they were playing for Porsches back then and all that.

[01:27:13] But yeah, Tony Spreedman, Brandon Munoz would destroy any of those guys back in the seventies. Gotcha. I, there's no doubt. I second that emotion. And, but here's what I will say though. Those guys back then, mentally tough. You meet some of these old school football players. Yeah. The Todd Lafredos, the Dave Gummisons. Mike Bowers. Mike Bowers. These guys are tough as nails. Nothing, nothing rattles them.

[01:27:42] They're great under pressure, but the game's evolved. And the table's different. The table's different too. You know, I mean, the game has evolved though. And it's just like you said, I completely agree. You know, I mean, it's, it's different. These guys are faster now. You know, they have, they have different plan Bs, you know, that sort of thing. Slingshots and the passing options and the, just the depth. Two to five bar passing. For God's sake.

[01:28:12] This stuff didn't exist back then. Yeah. And seriously, and how quickly they process now is even a little different. You know. Table awareness is, it seems to be a huge, huge change. Understanding where you are on the table at all times. Yeah. Yeah. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm always curious because I don't remember because I wasn't, well, I was playing back in the seventies, but I didn't know there was even tournaments. So I had no idea that, you know, that there was pros or, or a place where you could win cars.

[01:28:41] Um, so I don't know enough about that era, but yeah, I often wonder about that. If they would, uh, those old players might adjust. Who knows? When does Tony become an old player? I mean, he's been, how many years has he been playing? He's in his forties. Yeah. He was playing when he was 10. God, that's a 30 year commitment. That's a pretty impressive. Um, how do you feel he's going to be doing? I mean, let's put it this way.

[01:29:08] I got to ask you all, uh, Roman, let's go with this, uh, this question. Um, Tony's going to be at the, uh, the hall of fame, obviously the hall of fame classic. Um, and so is Billy. So I'm wondering, how do you think Tony's going to do that weekend? And you think he's going to, he's going to hold the, hold his own. Well, unfortunately I go back to my, I haven't seen Tony play except in Europe, which he's been doing some really unique shooting. And so when I have seen him on videos, when you randomly see videos or when Jeff says,

[01:29:36] Hey, Tony's on Facebook or on table one, that's the only time we know when Tony's playing. Right. Um, he's doing a lot of different things. And in my opinion, it's, it's not the Tony S game. Cause I, I name every play this. What's a Tony pass. That's a Tony defense. That's a Rob balls. A defense. That's Greg shot. That's, that's a Jeff shot. And Tony, now you can't, he's got a unique game in my opinion, that the little bit that I've seen him. So I think he's going to come to nationals with a uniqueness to them that people aren't aware of, you know, since he's playing in Europe, maybe he's got a little different emotion. Maybe he's got a little different kick in him.

[01:30:07] Um, so I think it'll be again, exciting to watch Tom. I want you to make sure you tell me when that happens so I can watch it. Okay. Okay. Well, I'll be on the spot. I'll, I'll do the best I can to give, give you guys a shout out. Um, Greg, what do you think? What, uh, what do you think, uh, Tony's going to do when he gets there in, uh, at a hall of fame classic? Um, I think, I think open singles, um, is going to be down to like the last, the last four.

[01:30:37] And I think there's going to be some youth involved in there. And well, one thing I know about Tony, if he's trying some new things and that's not working, he's going to go back to his bare bones, like Tony game that we're all impressed with over impressed with most of the time and he'll take it to him. I think first place is on his, on his platter. Even, even with a championship format. Yep. Cool. Cool. Your next ball is like, Jeff's got the inside scoop. You got to go. Yeah.

[01:31:08] The question is predictions for Tony's performance. Yeah. I'm not going to bet against Tony, you know, especially in championship format. Like, um, there's never been a greater foosball player. And there never will be a better foosball player. And, um, he's going to want this one. It's going to be special to him. You know, I think being over in Europe playing there, I think he's learning a lot. Um, they do things differently, different styles. It's a huge advantage. He has bringing that stuff over here. Yeah.

[01:31:36] And he's going to want this one, not playing in the U S as much anymore. Like they're more special now. Yeah. I didn't think about that aspect of like, Hey, I'm, I'm back in the States. Yeah. But in the hall of fame. Yeah. I remember one time I was playing with Tony. Um, I played with Tony at worlds, the very first tournament he ever went to a worlds. This was 2001. He won like six events. Oh, it's ridiculous. Damn.

[01:32:00] I remember one time he, I won't mention his name, but there's a pro master and, uh, who's in the hall of fame. Um, and Tony was just beating him up, taking to the woodshed. Tony's a rookie and just kind of said, just loud enough where I could hear to me. This, this guy's a hall of famer. And you know, Tony doesn't want anybody saying that about him.

[01:32:26] So he's playing the young man like Jacob Balcos or, uh, Sammy Dijon. Tony's not going to let up at all. It's going to be all gas. No break. Good. Yeah. Watch out. Good. Good. Jeff, it's your turn. Oh boy. Okay. Well, obviously the plan B's and options that he's got now with working on those other tables. The problem is he hasn't played on tornado in the last two years, hardly any at all.

[01:32:55] I mean, Eric went over there and played with him on a tornado and did a tornado tournament, which obviously Tony's going to dominate, even if he's not having his best stuff, right? Especially in Europe. Um, the rods feel different. On a tornado table than they do on the European tables. Yes. I mean, I know that a lot too, you know, because I've played enough on the European tables, but, uh, it's just, he's been playing on those other tables, but if there's any person in the world that can make that transition,

[01:33:23] it is him of all people. And then we all know that there's no better closer and, and seriously, there's nobody that can make adjustments quicker than him. And especially being over there, he's playing on tables over there, started playing on tables over there. That he's never played on and yet still winning them. Right. Right. So he's going to come back over here, playing a table that's familiar to him, not necessarily feeling the best at it. He's still going to dominate. I, I, he's going to be in the finals.

[01:33:53] He'll prepare himself. And Tony is all, in my opinion, Tony's going to win this championship format or not. If it was, if it was double elimination, I would, I would put money on it. You know what I mean? Championship format. He's going to win this. I can go put him into losers. He's even more pissed off and comes back and wins anyway. Yeah. Right. Exactly. There's nobody with more motivation than him. Yeah. No, it's, it's the desire he's always had that really took him.

[01:34:20] He's, he's admitted this, that there are better players than he, you know, faster, maybe more accurate shooters, but he's got the desire. He's the one who's, who's, who's got the fire and it just never seems to go out. You know, it's just, he's consistent. What? 30 years of playing and being at the top of the field. That's extraordinary. Just two years in a row without losing open singles. Yeah. Yeah. That's ridiculous. You should have seen him in the basement when we were playing Yahtzee. There's nobody that wants to win.

[01:34:52] It's stupid. He's just got to win. Plain it simple. Okay. So it was matter what we did. Yeah. It was, it was, it was fun in that house, man. Yeah. I can imagine. Guys, he's always going to win. Wow. So I got to ask you about, of course, Wisconsin state. Let's talk about the people that have the most potential for next weekend. Let's go through the categories.

[01:35:19] Who do you think is going to, who's, who's most likely to, to be in the top of the field? Let's start with, I don't know. Do you guys want to predict beginners or is that too difficult to, to think about? I think Rob's got a pretty, we actually went over the list. Beforehand, we kind of prepped. Yeah. We did. Oh, okay. The problem with beginners are like, they've never played before. You know, if you're doing beginners right, this is their first tournament. Right. You know, so I think beginners is completely unpredictable, but. But, um, and there's some really good beginners in general.

[01:35:49] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But I'll say like, you know, for the rookie events, um, there's a, there's a guy playing out of Illinois that he's gotten really good all of a sudden. I can't believe he's still a rookie. Um, his name is Saeed Salazar. Yeah. Saeed from Chicago. Okay. I've heard that name. Yeah. Amazing player. Watch, watch for his name in the bracket. Like he's going to do some damage and rookie for sure. We've got some Wisconsin guys that are playing really good right now to James Marsky, Tim Farine. These are sandbaggers that have been playing for a while.

[01:36:21] Don't play singles very much, but I mean, there's, there's way beyond rookie level. Am I wrong? Nobody's sandbags like the Midwest. There's a guy, Randy Routman out of Sheboygan. Like, um, he just recently retired and I think he devoted his life to foosball. Now he's playing really good. He's playing great. Yeah. There's a guy out of Madison called Eric Peckman. Eric Peckman. Another sandbaggers. He's dangerous. Dangerous. Yeah. Those are some rookie. Watch out, man. That's, that's a tough event to win.

[01:36:51] Tim Farine has been playing fantastic lately. Yeah. I don't, I mean, just suddenly we talk about all the time how you always drop back. You take one step back and then two forward. He's taken some giant leaps lately. I, I picked him to win something this weekend. He's playing like a pro and he's a rookie. So watch out. Yeah. Okay. Apologies. It's not fair. He puts, he puts the work in and he puts the practice in and he's always poking. Hey, let's practice. Let's play. Let's play. Let's play. Yeah.

[01:37:19] He, he works at Northwestern Mutual on the lake and they've got a foosball table in the break room. On the 26th floor. Do they? I feel bad for all of his coworkers because he just goes and destroys everybody every day. What would he like to go to, what's it like to go to work and be able to like take a lunch break and play foosball? I mean, what's that? We ask him all the time, Tom, and we just shake our heads and roll our eyes. And he's like, he just shrugs his shoulders and smiles. But he was a, he was a good promoter. You know, his work friends would come.

[01:37:49] We'd on every other week, we'd have our league week. And then the opposite week we'd have like a beginner rookie open league type thing. Yeah. And Jim would bring his guys from work and it was fantastic. It was, we had a really good base at one point of just rookies and beginners of about 28, 30 players before COVID. That's great. Yeah. Jeez. That's great. Shut that down on us. There's other guys like JTL that just don't have a chance in any of these events. So we should get that out of the way. JTL? Yeah. It's the last name. I started with a T. I don't know. Jay is one of our, one of our favorites.

[01:38:18] He's a Patreon and, you know, we really dig Jay. He's, he's, he, he made some really nice t-shirts last year that I wore with, with pride. I have to say. I own, I own a couple of those because he makes me buy them. Does he? I own like 15 of his shirts. I think they're fantastic. I love the logos and sponsors he gets on them. He does an excellent job with that. 3D foos, baby. Yep. If you need a, a team Jersey for foosball, like Jay will set you up. Yeah. Really good one. Yeah. Really awesome. Yep.

[01:38:47] Um, so what, uh, what pray tell what, what do you think? Experts? What, what, what's going to happen in experts? Or should we do amateur? Amateur, we should probably do amateur next. Yeah. Yeah. Um, there's a young man out of Michigan, Brady Wajowski. Oh, I know Brady. Yeah. Yeah. His pops is, you know, we, we do battle with Mike deal. And yeah, Mike's not bad. Yeah. He's a pretty good player. Yeah. But he'd be like, oh, stop it. And we're like, no, really? Yeah.

[01:39:15] But, but that young man, Brady, I'm telling you, um, he, I think he won, uh, like rookie singles last year at Wisconsin state. Yes. And now he's an amateur and I would bet a lot of money on him. Great execution. Yes. Very good. When he's on the fast track to pro. Fearless. Yeah. Yeah. He sits on that ball and it's like a pro master already. Yeah. Mike, Mike is training him right. Mm-hmm. You know, great, great kid. Great attitude.

[01:39:45] Yes. I mean, obviously he, you knew he was going to be that way because the fam, his family is great. Just like the whole family comes to the tournaments. There's, there's awesome. Yeah. Man. There's another guy out of Ohio that comes to Wisconsin state every year. His name is Jerry Shreppel. Um, he's got a wonderfully nice wife named Brandy. It's Shropel. That Shropel. Thank you. No, that we had that. We had all laughed about that. Cause I was like, Hey Shreppels. And she's like, no, it's Shropel.

[01:40:13] If you lose to Jerry and Brandy in Wisconsin, you tell her you're all your friends. I just got Shropeled. Yeah. I'm talking about it. But, but Jerry, like, he is a scary guy to block. Like I'm always sympathetic to the goalies. I play goalie. Okay. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And yeah. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Yeah. So he's exciting to watch and, and he can certainly beat anybody. Um, but we got some Wisconsin boys too. Uh, Chris Adamski playing really good at Appleton. He won a tournament too recently. Yeah.

[01:40:43] So he's, he's going to be up there in the top five for sure. Chris is great. He, you know what? Chris is that one dude that can beat anybody and once in a while kind of lose to anybody too. You know what I mean? But just because I think at times he's a little undisciplined, but man, when he's focused and really going after it, he is so dangerous. Chris, great shot. Really good five bar. Really good five bar. Yeah. Relax. Stay on the near side, Chris. Yeah. You know, he doesn't seem to get rattled. That's what's really great about him. No, he doesn't.

[01:41:12] And afterwards he'll smile and shake your hand. Yeah. Cool. Yeah. There you go. Really good guy. And here's my dark, dark horse for amateur singles. Rich, the longest snake shot in the world. Cotter. Rich, Rich Cotter. Wow. He'll be the guy wearing alligator skin hats and matching boots. He has a fashion sense. He's got an underrated game. So I think he's due. He's always working on something new. And if you need someone to DJ your music, he's your guy. There's a guy. Yeah. Yeah.

[01:41:42] We had a conversation. This is at the World Championships last year in Lexington. And we really hadn't had a chance to chat before, but we'd played against each other a couple of times. But Rich is actually a pretty interesting cat. Apparently, he was a promoter in wrestling at one time. No kidding. And that actually makes a lot of sense. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that's how he got his idea for different costumes.

[01:42:08] And it really, I mean, I wasn't shocked, to say the least. Tom, Jeff's cat's about to jump on our webcam. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. That's what we're all looking at right now. Who is stalking it? Like, what is this? Oh, two cats. Yeah. This one was just about to jump on. Yeah. You'd think that their names would be like pull and push or roll over and shoot.

[01:42:37] Call them snakeshots. That's great. Well, I'm a cat dad, so I've got a couple kicking around the house as well. And they don't come into the studio very often. Crisis averted. So, yeah. Very cool. Well, thanks for that. I was always, I was wondering, like, you guys are all turning at the same time. Like, what's happening? What's happening? What's going on? Anyway. So, what about the rest of the categories? What do we got here? All right. So, for expert, there's these two brothers out of the UP, Honor and Cameron Mason.

[01:43:07] And they play together all the time. And I think there's, I think that's an underrated aspect of foosball. Getting to know your partner. Developing zone. It's the only way to develop a good zone defense. The only way to develop good passing series is to play with somebody over and over and over again. And that's a huge edge they have. They practice together all the time, obviously. Well, there's not a lot of players way up north where they're from. So, they play each other. But they're still super competitive, even without playing other people. And watch out for Connor's bank shots.

[01:43:38] He's bank shots, rolling bank shots you don't see coming. Really good. And so, they can be game changers. And he has a knack for doing it. It's just the right time. Change momentum. That's Octuilar's division, though. He's my favorite. I was a really gifted young man out of Minnesota. Tristan. Tristan. Oh. Tristan's always. He's always. Always. Always on our. You won't see Tristan at Nationals, at Worlds. You know, doesn't go to Kentucky or Vegas.

[01:44:07] But he comes to like Minnesota, Wisconsin. Underrated guy. Amazing player. Good dude. Get a chance to watch a Tristan match next weekend. You know, check that out. He's got an incredible guy. He's taken me down many times. And of course, Tim Kiss out of Chicago. Oh, yeah. Who is just playing lights out right now. Yeah, he's great. Everything is clicking with him right now. Like, I believe this is. At this point right now, he's peaked. This is going to be his tournament. Just so consistent.

[01:44:37] Nothing rattles him. He's got his series down. All of his passes look identical to one another. Amazing two to the five series. Just possesses the ball. It's very frustrating to play. Amazing how playing against him, especially his five bar, it's crazy how sometimes he passes at your guy just and you jump. And then you're like, and he knows when you're glued too. And he goes around you. He is so got it dialed in right now.

[01:45:07] And my dark horse for this expert event, these expert events, is a guy out of Chicago. Not many people know him. We call him Tazo the Greek. Tazo the Greek. Tazo the Greek. Yeah. Tazo is a multi-Greek national champion in foosball. Huh. But in Greece, they have tables that are twice the size, guys that are twice the size, guys that are bigger. The guys are thicker, right? And they shoot back pin. So Tazo has the greatest tornado back pin you've ever seen in your life. Huh.

[01:45:37] And if you get a chance to watch Tazo, when he's playing doubles, what happens is, you know, Tazo has zero five bar at all. He's got a beginner five bar. Sorry, Tazo. But if he'll play with a partner with a good five bar and his partner will bring him up for clutch shots. And Tazo will back pin that thing. And you're the goalie sitting there. What in the world is going to happen now? It's like it's going to go through the back of the table. It's and you know what? Go anywhere with it at any split second. It's a laser beam too.

[01:46:05] And he moves the table four inches every time he shoots the ball. You got to pull the table down. It's not an exaggeration or a fish story saying that it's the best back pin. Yeah. There's no doubt. It's the best back pin. It's something you've never seen before. So when you see Tazo and I cannot pronounce his last name, Digicalius or something like that. Digilakis. But when you see his name on the live stream, check out. Wait till you see him shoot that back pin. I want to see him on the speed meter. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

[01:46:35] Right? Oh, yeah. The speed meter from TKO. Are you guys going to have a speed meter at? Oh, yeah. We shot 28 miles an hour. 28. That's that's that's up there. Is there in Milwaukee? He lost Munoz there at Munoz beat him, but he was right there. Yeah. 28. Eric rips the ball. Eric's really good at getting second place. Second place. He's horrible at Call of Duty.

[01:47:04] I was going to say when I beat Tazo last year and one of the things I took Tazo out with in his country, they don't allow five row shots. Oh, so I shot a five row and he's like, he got real frustrating. It's like, we don't allow that in our country. Well, I went right back to it. It was getting frustrated. There's no way to beat him. Jeff's shaking his head. Don't do that. I know. But hey, I had to do it. It takes a win. I think Jeff is part Greek.

[01:47:31] So what, what, what do we have next in our, in our next category? Uh, yeah. So for pro. All right. So last year, um, a guy from Canada came, we had a few guys in Canada, but, but Jeffrey Schneider don't sleep on Jeffrey Schneider. He's got a pole shot that he mixes in a slingshot with and it's non-defensible. Push shot. Oh, yeah. Push. Yeah. Push. Push. Push shot. Thank you.

[01:48:00] Push shot with a slingshot option. Either way. Indefensible. Huh. It's the greatest three bar. When he's rolling with that, there is no shot that's harder to block in foosball. And then you got, then you got Jacob playing goalie for him, playing amazing. Yeah. Okay. Jacob Barnett. Yeah. Yeah. Jacob Barnett, man. Great player. Those two together. That's a pretty deadly combo. Yeah. Mike Bilirakis, of course, he's, he's won pro events in Wisconsin quite often. And he's a Wisconsinite now.

[01:48:29] So he, he moved up from Chicago and he told me he's now officially a Packer fan. So that's good. Or at least he did. That's all he should be. Might as well be. He played in Appleton last weekend. Matt Weber. Right. One. Yeah. Mike Stahl is always dangerous in those pro events. Yes. He's probably the best player out of Michigan right now. Clean and technical. Yeah. But our, I'm going to go out on a limb and say the best player in Wisconsin right now is, is a gentleman by the name of Matt Weber. Matt's an interesting cat. Um, he's a doctor of physical therapy. Okay.

[01:48:58] He owns a golf business. He's very successful from what I understand. Um, but he's an amazing foosball player. And he, uh, he is not afraid to throw a B and C game into a game just for the, for the, for the flow and for the fun. I've had many conversations with him. He's like, I just want to have fun. I don't want boring foosball. I can play a little bit of boring, but I got to throw a little fun in there too. And I've just learned to get good at some of those shots. A lot of people don't know this a couple of years ago at worlds.

[01:49:27] He beat, um, Brandon Munoz and Brandon was still a pro coming up. Did he Matt Weber beat him in the finals? Um, and Matt's, Matt's legit. So don't sleep on him for sure. Um, for open Jacob Balcos. Okay. Yeah. I mean, uh, how can you bet against him? He's a darn good choice. Yeah. I mean, gosh. And he he's, and didn't you say Munoz is coming maybe or no, we don't know. I'll tell you what.

[01:49:56] Jacob is great as Munoz is an amazing player. He's unbelievable. But Jacob is getting faster, better. You know, Jacob is improving faster than Brandon at this point. And, uh, I don't know if he's, he's exceeded Brandon yet, but, um, He's bringing him on lock and neck. Because Jacob's getting back. I might take that Brandon pick. Yeah. Was, um. He's going to crush me for saying. Was, uh, was Jacob at, um, Moneyball this last weekend or this weekend?

[01:50:27] Yeah. Yeah. I, I think Brandon just did just win. I, I can be honest, Tom. I didn't understand the Moneyball brackets. They had like gold, silver, bronze divisions. Yeah. I wasn't sure what's going on there. Exactly. But. Yeah. Unfortunately, I didn't look closely enough. And I, I don't think it was before showtime tonight. I don't think much had been resolved, so I wasn't quite sure how that worked out. But, uh, I mean, I think that, uh, if anybody, especially, uh, for, for Wisconsin state has it, I think it's, you're right.

[01:50:54] I think, uh, certainly Jacob is, is the, the sure bet. No doubt. Brandon and Jacob won at Moneyball. Oh, nice. Oh, very cool. That was an unreliable source though. So it might be right. Okay. Yeah. I don't know. Dry cleaners. Paul Cosa-Lunos took the main event. That's a, thank you for, uh, Nick Fury. Uh, just gave us the, uh, the update. Nick Fury, 415. Thank you very much. Okay. And Munoz. Kevin, you're validated. Yeah. There you go. They're teamed up. So, I mean, it'd be interesting to see when they, if they play each other at Wisconsin,

[01:51:24] like who comes out on top of that, because, uh, it'd be amazing for sure. That's probably the open singles final, I'm guessing. So let's say, let's say you had, uh, this is always a hypothetical, but let's say you had a Tony Sprademan and Billy Pappas, uh, teamed up. Who of the current, uh, you know, players that are out there would even have a shot at those two guys. That's a tough answer.

[01:51:49] I mean, you put that team, scary team, very scary. Ryan and Munoz. Ooh, Ryan. Okay. Because you got Ryan in the goal area. Yeah. Holtner and Dijon. Yeah. Yeah. That's true. There you go. Yeah. One of the best goalies in the world. No, no, no. Tommy, Tommy and Holtner. Oh yeah. For sure. Yeah.

[01:52:17] You got the, the best defensive goalie in the business, you know what I mean? That can get somebody the ball and score really big points when needed in Eric. Yeah. And then you have Tommy who just, seriously, is just up there fighting. Yeah. Fighting to win. He's so fierce. He, he lives with the ball, lives with it. And it's, and it's, he just will not let it go by him. He's, he's so good at catching that, the loose balls.

[01:52:44] Um, did you see when Eric hit that, uh, that, that two row, um, uh, slingshot? Slingshot. To win it? I mean. Ridiculous. He did it. He did one about two points before that too. Yeah. Just took over the game. Yeah. All of us are shooting that shot now in Milwaukee time. I'm practicing it too, by the way. It's, I think it's, it's, uh, you know, you can pull that out of your hat. It's going to be the most commonly shot next year on tour. There you go. It's, it's amazing though. And that was one of your podcast. Yes.

[01:53:13] One of your podcasts with Eric. Yeah. That was really good. That was very exciting to hear. Always a writer and all the history behind him. That that was one of your really good podcasts. And, uh, there's actually another one coming out very soon. We recorded at TKO with Tommy and Eric, uh, after they won. And, uh, we're, we kind of saved that for the Patreons, but we're going to have that out as a public, uh, podcast. To look on Tommy's face when he hit that slingshot. Tommy, his eyes were just huge. Like a, like a cartoon character. Yep.

[01:53:41] They caught that for the, the, the, the video they made from those, uh, those matches that weekend that, uh, uh, uh, Oh God, Noah, uh, Noah from California, who was a video editor made that incredible. Yeah. He, he, he produced that whole video that's on the, uh, world foosball tour, uh, main site. Now, when you go there, you see that video and it's all the different clips of the different, uh, reactions. And that's one of them, Tommy, Tommy. And that, that, uh, his face going, Whoa.

[01:54:09] I'll tell you, I was standing off to the side and I saw it live and that's the beauty of going to a tournament, playing in a tournament and continually going to tournaments as many as you can afford or get to or have the time for. And those of you out there who are amazing players and you're not going to tournaments and you wish you did just go. I'm just saying that right now, just as a foosball thing, it changes your life. Uh, some people don't like being in a tournament room on weekend. And I have friends who are like that and they're amazing, but that's just not their thing.

[01:54:38] But if you go out there and give it a shot, give it, give it two or three tournaments. Yeah. And then you'll know if you, if that's something you want to still keep doing. Cause I can't, I can't stop. I can't stop. I can't wait for the next tournament. Yeah. It's a, I think it's, uh, it's a foregone conclusion. If you're going to play this game and you want to play competitively, you need to get on the tour. You need to get out there. Yeah. I mean, you need to play everybody who's out there because there's no way you're going to grow.

[01:55:03] If you're just stay within the same 10 people every week, you dedicate yourself and you, you run into players. Like you start watching video and doing your homework. And then all of a sudden you, you did the right homework on the right person that might've been in your page and your bracket. And then you're playing them and you know, all their, their weaknesses and their strengths and you beat them, man, there's no better feeling in the world that you practiced, did your reps and you got to be on tour to play enough people to get experience enough to run into all the stuff for you to learn how to win. Yep.

[01:55:34] No question about it. It's it's I think there's, there's every right to expect that there are going to be some people who are, who may have never toured before, who are going to be tempted now and people who used to tour who are coming back. Agreed. You know, Tom, one of the things I like modern foosball does that a short recap where they show the red, green, red, green, and just like a 30 second video. I love those. You know, you're sitting at work and all of a sudden you're like, Oh wow. That's only tool is open. Yeah. And that is, I think that's, that's exciting.

[01:56:04] And that's just, Oh wow. I got to go work on that. Or I really like those. I think those are motivating to get back in practice. And yeah. Thanks Clay. If that's you. Oh, it's Clay. And here's the thing. As they mentioned recently that those clips, they're running them on different platforms, different I think YouTube and a couple other platforms, excuse me, but one of them, one of those clips, I think it's Sullivan and, uh, and Sam Dijon playing and it's had 2 million views.

[01:56:34] 2 million. Yeah. That was ridiculous. Wasn't when you saw that number? Yeah. Like, Hmm. Like that's social media exposure combined with the changes that Ryan's putting the tour right now. Like we could be looking at the golden era of foosball the next 10, 15 years. I'll give credit to some bots, but, uh, I think it's exciting. So the IT guy. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's, there's always going to be a little of that going on, but you think about how many people that are not foosball players watching.

[01:57:02] So there's gotta be, you know, that that's really where the interest begins when people say, Hey, I didn't know you could do that. Oh, Hey, you know, there's a table at such and such a place. Let's go try it. Let's go see what that, if you look at the comments on a video like that, you can tell there's a lot of people seeing foosball for the first time or seeing competitive foosball for the first time. And that's what we need. Oh, desperately, desperately need to, the outside, uh, the outside to come in and say,

[01:57:28] you know, I used to play this when I was in high school or I played when I was in college and I kind of, you know, I, I was, I was the best guy in my bar. You hear that all the time. Like, well, okay, come on back, you know, come on, come on in and step up. Let's, let's do it. Um, guys, I, I'm going to, I'm going to, we are pushing two hours here, but that's okay. Cause I think we have a lot to talk about, but I do want to, um, let you guys, you know, probably want to take a bathroom break and maybe have some more, uh, I don't know what's

[01:57:58] in those glasses, by the way, what that you're drinking. Bourbon. Water. Bourbon. Bourbon. Penelope bourbon. You have Penelope weeded. Yeah. You have Penelope toasted rye. Ooh. I have old elk weeded. And I, That's the same as Greg, right? Yeah. Yeah. Toasted rye. Oh. I used to talk about beer all the time. I know. I know. It's the IPA thing. You know, we, we, we did, but Jim Stevens and I did that every show and I do miss it.

[01:58:27] And I've got like 50 cans just that are ready to be put up on display because they're all different. They're all unique. But, uh, yeah, guys, I'm, I'm envious just, uh, you know, but, but, but thanks for sharing a drink nonetheless. I appreciate that. I just, I just wanted to put one more thing, one more thing in and yes. One place where everybody who's listening in Milwaukee will know was Jeff's house on 81st street in West Dallas. And anything that happened there, that was great.

[01:58:54] Like a tournament that started in a bar that the bar closed, but we still had to finish it. We'd bring the whole tournament back to Jeff's house into the basement and finish it. And it was always called the 81st street classic. Eric Holtner, Tony Spreedman, Jeff, Kevin, Jeff, um, Eric Weishar, Kevin Crozier, uh, Tim Farine, Ron Greenwald, Rob sitting next to me, Roman, Aaron, a media.

[01:59:21] Uh, those are some of the best times that all of all of our foosball lives was, was that basement. It was always open. You could just walk in the door and it was the Haven. It was the Haven of foosball. And that's where we all learned our stuff. Do you know that Tony still has the 81st street street classic trophy? We made a trophy. There's a, he does. We obviously took a piece of tape and put it over the plaque and wrote 81st street classic on there because in the basement, every frigging week we had the 81st street classic.

[01:59:50] And, and every pro master, or if you'd won a world championship, got to sign the underneath white part of the tornado foosball table of Jeff's original table there. Um, who's the, who are the names on there? Todd Lafredo. Oh yeah. Lafredo stayed there for a week. And then all said, Brandon was there. Brandon, obviously Ron Olson. Um, um, Rob. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Atha was there. Yeah. There's a lot of great signatures on that table. It's amazing. All the edges are chipped out. Yeah. Jeff's tables always had blown out goals.

[02:00:20] I don't know. It must've been. Oxide. Damn. It's a unique place. It is a great place. And I just bought a house about 20 houses away from his old house. And it just brings back all the memories. Yeah. Wow. That is such a great heritage. You guys enjoy. That's, that's what it's all about, right? Getting, getting the local scene. And of course, uh, just having great memories and great times and, and just getting better at the game every time. Man, there's nothing quite like that. And, and, uh, thank you so much for doing what you guys do.

[02:00:49] Um, I want to go around the table one more time. Just a single sentence answer, answer, if you don't mind. Um, Roman, what is the one thing that you think, um, what you, what, what is the one thing we need to improve on foosball? One thing, huh? Just one thing. I have to improve on me personally. No, no, no. Everything. As a sport. How do we, how do we make this a better sport? One thing.

[02:01:19] Uh, I'm going to stick with, um, I want to see Billy Pappas. I want to see Tony Spreedeman on my big TV while eating popcorn. And I know it's on at six o'clock or singles match, the open singles game. Uh, the championship format, we can do that. I would like to see it in like a, an NFL thing. So the players don't get to dictate the TV, you know, modern foosball is, Hey, we're taking a timeout. Hold on. Don't serve. You know, and then do an instant replay. I want to sit and enjoy. Cause I don't go to as many tournaments. I have other hobbies that I do.

[02:01:48] And I hear these guys talk and I would love to see Billy Pappas shoot the shot live versus the video. I keep watching him on his two bar. That's fantastic. You know, it's that, that if there was one thing, it would be just a static time. And even the juniors finals or the women's mixed final or the women's finals is awesome. I mean, I'd love to see that. And we, you, we could get advertising and views that would allow us to be, I mean, you know, bags tournament finals is on TV.

[02:02:17] It might be on at nine, 10, 11, maybe one in the morning. You don't know. No, you know, it's on at nine o'clock. Yeah. And that's what we need to do. And I think that'll change our activity. So a solid schedule. Okay. Jeff, how about you? You know what? I think stall juniors got it going on with the school programs. Yes. We need to get this in kids' hands early, not just for the game, but for themselves, because

[02:02:45] this game has taught me a lot and it's going to teach them. Yes. You know, we know that school sports programs, you know what I mean? When it comes to team sports are good for the soul, right? It teaches kids. You know, it's helped me in life. I'm in sales now. I did construction for 25 years and I'm in sales. Okay. I have to do events in front of 30 to 50 people all the time where I am teaching something, showing something.

[02:03:15] The first few times, it's easy to be nervous when you're doing that sort of thing, right? But when I look back and go, wow, I won a world championship in front of hundreds of people in grandstands. Yeah. You know what? This is easy. So when you're standing three feet away from your opponent and they're sweating, you're right, and you're sweating and everybody is fiercely competing with each other and you have to figure out if they're going to jump, if they're going to race, if they're in a

[02:03:45] pattern or something like that. You know what I mean? And you have to do that read. It's the same way as reading people in real life. You know what I mean? And you have to at times be calm and at times you have to be aggressive. This game is the game of life. I think it teaches you a heck of a lot more than just the game itself. This game can help people. Yeah. Agreed. That's a great point. Greg, how about yourself? What do you think? One thing that needs to change for the better of foosball?

[02:04:14] I'm not as objective about the whole game. I'm going to probably have to just defer to what Roman was saying. That's something that I want to see because I want to see our sport be big. I want to see it be spectacular and I want to see it be audience friendly and audience excitement. So I will defer to Roman. I thought Roman stated it very well. Nicely done. And finally, Rob, what do you think? Yeah.

[02:04:40] So what I'm yearning for is to be able to sit down on the couch with my kids. I got some young sons at home and watch the finals of foosball. So part of what Roman said plays into that. What Jeff and Greg said, too, plays into that, too. But, you know, just to be confident that you can watch a quality product. You know, every once in a while, like I'm watching foosball, I think, man, this would be cool. I should call my boys in here to watch this. And then there's one of our professional athletes drinking a beer in the middle of

[02:05:09] the finals match. Here's that commenter, you know, dropping bombs in the middle of the match. Yep. You know, and I think we're getting close. And it's certainly a more there's a lot of aspects of what's going on with the broadcast that modern foosball is doing. That's that's highly professional. The camera angles have really like improved that the quality of the Christmas of the video is really improved. And, you know, there's excitement with the fans in the stands. And things like that. And they're they're trying really cool things with microphones in the players.

[02:05:39] You can hear what they're saying. I love those timeout things. Yeah, those are cool. We're getting really close, but it's still not quite. You know, there's a way to go. The professional sport kind of image that. Yeah, that I think we need to project. It's I'm trying to think of the last time watching Jim Nance, you know, commentate a golf match where he dropped the F-bomb. Trying to trying to remember. Yeah. Yeah. Probably. Probably never. Never ever. Yeah. And if he had, he wouldn't be Jim Nance. No, he wouldn't.

[02:06:09] You know, and with that replays, you know, I like watching World Cup where they're basically, you know, there's a ref there. He's got his hand over the table. Basically, don't start. You know, I mean, we need we need five seconds before you drop that ball so we can show the replay of what just happened. I actually when you watch World Cup events, I love that part of it. Yes. Where they show what happened. Yeah. Just real quick. And that means our time mounts are 30 seconds. It's going to be two minutes of commercial and, you know, put some advertising up there. Well, you know, absolutely.

[02:06:38] That's what I mean. And Wisconsin actually does that. We Teddy does that in between some of his videos. He throws up all our sponsors. OK. And make sure that they get a good shout out in between all the matches. I think that's great. That's what they pay for. That's why Wisconsin State is growing. Yeah. Yeah. That's great. It's got a lot of good sponsors because probably does that. That's great. Well, sponsors have to get their ROI. They have to get something for it. You know, they you know, it's nice to have your name there. But if nobody's seeing it, what good is it? So there's there's that.

[02:07:06] I think, you know, maybe if they decided to do this in between games or, you know, you'd do like a one minute break between games. So I know that they experimented with that. I think it was 90 seconds between games at I might have been at Moneyball at one time, maybe last year or something like that. And they had a they had a light like a red light that would come on during a timeout. And it was exactly 30 seconds. And they had to step away from the table when the right red light was on that. I thought that was a great idea.

[02:07:35] So, you know what else they did at Moneyball sometime in the last few years? They had the the handheld funky cameras that no matter where you held it, it was always on. Yeah. Table. Yeah. And they did that. I think Ryan and those guys did that at TKO. They did. Those are amazing. Maybe someone will bring one up to Wisconsin State and just get some close up action and talk to the people and and give commentary on it's usually a foosball player holding that

[02:08:02] camera so they know a little bit so they can get all the right shots of all the right moments that all of us know when we're playing. Exactly. When the heat's on. Yeah. It's the emotion you can catch in the player's face. Is that exciting? That's it. It's a hey, guys, you know, if we can sit for an hour or more and watch them play in the World Series of Poker. And right. Right. Get addicted to that. Click. Click. I know. It's like, no, stop that. Stop fidgeting.

[02:08:30] But no, it's it's if that can happen, this there's no there's no question foosball can be as fascinating, if not more. So. And we have hope. Ryan's our hope. We're we're very, very hopeful and we just got to give it some time and not a month or a year, maybe two years. But I we have hope right now. So that's really exciting. Agreed. Well, guys, I got to say, thank you, first of all, for inviting me into your your group. This I feel like I've been hanging out with you guys for for, you know, for a long time now.

[02:09:00] And it's it's been great, Tom. Thank you. Thank you. Now, it's I think that if if we all meet up at the same tournament sometime this year, by the way, anybody going to Vegas? Nope. Oh, no, no. I'm going to make it this year, sadly. Yeah, I'm going. Jeff, Mike. Jeff's going. I'm going. Tony. Tony texted me on my way, driving to TKO that he was getting inducted. He's like, sorry, you and Julie got to go.

[02:09:29] Well, Jeff, and let's let's let's plan on sitting down in Vegas. I think that maybe if we can grab Tony and hang out with him for a conversation or two. What do you think? That'd be easy. Yeah, no problem. Cool. Awesome. How about let's see the next big one would be Nationals. Anybody going to Nationals in Nashville? I'm going to Nationals. I'm sponsored at all these now. Oh, nice. Nice, nice, nice. Very cool. How about the one in Nashville? Yeah. I'd love to go to Nashville.

[02:09:59] I've heard amazing things about it. Great town. Oh, yeah. Jeff, you got the exemptions for the rest of the year because you won singles. Senior singles. Yeah. At TKO. Yes. Senior singles. Thank you, Ryan. I do appreciate this. Yeah. What did you what do you exactly get? Sponsorship at all the majors and gear. Wow. From Ryan. Yeah. It's really generous. That's kind of unprecedented. You know what? He didn't have to. I mean, he really didn't have to. This is really great that he's doing this.

[02:10:29] You know, it's awesome. Mm-hmm. Better earned it, though. All your games came down to meet that event. That was a hell of a couple matches. You're right. You're right. That was. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we can go into that another time. Of course. Maybe one of the most fun matches I ever played. But yeah. Well, so how about the Tornado Worlds? Anybody going to Tornado Worlds? I'm not sure. Tornado Worlds. Tornado Worlds. Watch out. Yeah.

[02:10:59] We're coming for you, Randy. All right. So in that case. Awesome. You better keep that same defense. Well, then wherever we meet in the next year, consider it an open invitation to sit down and just talk. Let's do the show together. Absolutely. I'd love to do it again. That's great. This is awesome. Thank you. Oh, you're very welcome. I think Rob could do a good Wisconsin recap next weekend if you want to include him. I think he's really good at that. Absolutely.

[02:11:27] Get him on a Wednesday night and he'll recap the whole weekend in 30 minutes. It's great. Dude, I'm down for that for sure. Well, look out because I'll be taking advantage. That was good, Tom. But guys, again, thank you so much for appearing tonight on Foos Talk Live. Next weekend, it's the big week. Oh, man, it's at Wisconsin State at Matt Apple Billiards in Appleton, Wisconsin. And, well, you just never know. There's going to be a lot of surprises, I'm sure.

[02:11:57] And some of the predictions that Rob made tonight may come true. You never know unless you go and watch it or be there and play. All my predictions are 100% guaranteed, Tom. There you go. Take it to the best. More people are doomed. And we'll hold you to that. And that's well documented. Guarantees from Robert. Once again, Rob, Greg, Jeff, and Roman, thank you so much for being on the show tonight. It's Foos Talk Live. And stick around.

[02:12:25] We've got a long list tonight for Foos Talk Live's tournament beats. Foosball tournaments are everywhere. Foos Talk Live proudly presents a weekly update of events near you with the Foos Talk Live tournament beat. Here's what's up. The 2025 Wisconsin Foosball State Championship. March 20th through the 23rd, Mad Apple Billiards in Appleton, Wisconsin. Tavern Players Magazine presents the Hayloft Foosball Tournament.

[02:12:55] March 22nd at the Hayloft Hobbs Tavern Brewery and Restaurant, Ossipi, New Hampshire. The first annual North American Multi-Table Foosball Championship featuring Tornado, Bonzini, and Leonhard. March 27th through March 30th at Three Rivers, Quebec, Canada. San Francisco Foos presents the Vegas Hall of Fame warm-up. March 28th through the 30th at California Billiards, Fremont, California.

[02:13:24] The Norfolk Foosball Club presents the $4,500 Bonzini East Coast Classic. March 28th through the 30th at Sanctuary at the Rail Yard, Norfolk, Virginia. It's the Central New York Foosball Spring Main Events. April 4th through the 6th at Hometown Studios in Cortland, New York. The World Foosball Tour presents the 2025 Hall of Fame Classic.

[02:13:48] April 9th through the 13th at the Westgate Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada. RK Foosball presents the 2025 Florida State Championships. May 1st through the 4th, Holiday in St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Florida. The 2025 Minnesota State Foosball Championships. May 2nd through the 5th, Wyndham Garden, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

[02:14:13] The ITSF presents the 2025 Tornado World Series and ITSF Gold Series Finals. May 23rd through May 26th at the Westin-Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, Dallas, Texas. It's the 2025 Illinois State Championships. June 5th through the 8th at Poplar Creek Bowl, Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The World Foosball Tour presents the 2025 National Championships.

[02:14:40] July 10th through the 13th at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel, Nashville, Tennessee. Canada Foosball presents the 2025 Vancouver Island Foosball Championships. August 22nd through the 24th at Courtenay Legion, Courtenay, British Columbia. Each week we do our best to give you the most up-to-date listing of foosball tournaments near you.

[02:15:04] If you have an event you'd like to add, send us all the details at foosballradio at gmail.com. Tune in every week for the Foos Talk Live Tournament Beat. Foos Talk Live is a product of Foos Ball Radio. With gratitude, we recognize our Foos Ball Radio Patreons. Our Foos Talk Live sponsor, original-leonhart-usa.com. Tune in again next week for another episode of Foos Talk Live.

[02:15:34] In the meantime, we'll see you at Foos'en.