FoosTalk Live | Ep 260 | Randy Raposo at the 2025 WFT National Championships

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[00:01:51] Visit www.original-leonhardt-usa.com and use promo code FOOS TALK to save 10% off your purchase price. And here we are live yet again. Well, actually, we have the last week off. And you'd think at this point we'd be totally rested and ready to go, ready to rock this thing.

[00:02:13] However, some people, well, you know, they're on the road and they got other things going on, like, I don't know, playing foosball at the national championships. And, of course, it's always fun to have somebody around that you want to talk about foosball with. And that would, of course, include on location from Nashville, live from Nationals. It would be Randy Raposo. Hello, Randy. Hey, Tom. How are you this evening? You look a little dazed, confused. Are you, like, looking for the tournament room? Where are you? What's going on?

[00:02:42] I'm out in front of the building. I'm looking for my five bar. And, yeah, that's about it. But I'll give you a little walkthrough here. Yeah. Here, let me flip this can. Do a little flippy, flippy-doo. How do we do? There we go. Here's the button. All right. So here's how you walk into the building. All right. This front. Hotel's been nice. Yeah, it looks great. Everybody's been enjoying themselves. She's coming. This is a nice lawyer here.

[00:03:11] And then there's a pull-out back. Front desk here. Nice. Very nice. There's a little restaurant. Lots of space. And then a foosball room. Yeah, foosball room's down this way. Got some foosball players. They're giving some knuckles. Later, guys. Drive safe. Good seeing you. Got some mountain boys from Tennessee there. And then we got some Louisiana folks here. They did really well. They won. They had both of their teams in the team event in the finals. Say hi to Tom. Live on the podcast.

[00:03:41] What's up, guys? So they had three rooms of tables. So this is one room. They're packing them up now. Oh, yeah. They're starting to tear things down already, huh? Oh, yeah. And then a little place here to sit and eat. People were hanging out. And then they had another room of tables here. These gentlemen are working diligently to wrap up tables. Damn. Yep. They're not messing around. Nope. And then they had another room over here.

[00:04:10] They had 60 tables, Tom. It was pretty good. 60. Nice. What was the... 60 tables. And they got another room here where they're breaking. Wow. What was the... Yeah. What was the total of players? Do you know? Say hi to Tom. Live on the podcast. Wind up. What's up, guys? Awesome. National was awesome. Yep. It was a good time. Tom said hey. All right. And then you see they got tables. They got boxes stacked up here. Kelly Parrott. Buy yourself a dog. Nino. Dejan. It's Tom. I got Tom right here. The guy. What's up, man?

[00:04:41] You're nuts. No, I'm on the podcast. Numbnuts. I'll talk to myself. I'm not crazy. All right. And then here's the tournament room. Opens up nice. Look at this. Wow. Nice layout there. Yeah, a lot of tables. 60 tables. And it's been... It's been bumping all weekend. And of course, here you got... You got Mr. Donald Wilson. Ryan's been up here running stuff all weekend. Yeah. Nice. It looks like it is... Miss Donna Carroll.

[00:05:12] I can't hear a thing you're saying, Tom. I'm sorry. I'm just going to walk through here for you. Arthur Mitchell. And then Foos Gear's got their booth. Noah, how you doing, buddy? They got their booth here. All their good stuff. Scott Riley's here. Podcast. Podcast. Nice layout. Say hi, Miss Tandy. What's up, guys? Okay. I want to tell you something cool, Tom. Check this out. The new rules book came out. Look at this new rules book. Who's that handsome guy on the rules book?

[00:05:41] What is that? That's right there. Is that you? That is the new rules book. Yep. Yep. That's you on the front cover. We got some matches going on. Man. Tables are bumping. I think we got some lucky doubles happening here. Lucky doubles. This is a lucky doubles list. Look at that. That is cool. Lucky doubles. I know there's extra money for lucky doubles, and it's all by chance, correct? Yeah. They did a digital wheel. They spun it.

[00:06:10] It was all by chance, and then it's a one-game handicap, and then the money's all right here. It's what the winners get. Nice. And this is a whole list of teams from every event. So that's happening now. And then I'll show you the trophies back here. Trophies, trophies, trophies. Look at them. I'm going to say, I like her. And then we've got, these are the trophies. Wow. Those are lovely. Nice awards this year.

[00:06:39] Is that cowboy hats on the trophies this year? Yes, sir. Cowboy hats. Yes, sir. Dig it. Definitely got the Western theme. Modern Foose guys are back here elevated. They're up high this year. Nice. I see you. Podcast with Tom. Admin Clay, what's up, dudes? What's up? Hi? I can't hear you. We're having a good time, Tom.

[00:07:08] So I've got to ask you, what happened with the flight system this weekend? I know that if you had an A flight and a B flight in some of these events, how did that work out? Let me go out here where I can hear you and we can talk about it. Yeah, sure. Say hi to Tom, Mike. What's up, Mike? Michael Stahl. What's up, dude? Yeah, it looks like a really nice turnout. What are the number of players you know? Mr. Davis having a drink? We got some guys wearing Red Sox jerseys here.

[00:07:37] Okay, so let's talk about the flight system. So let me spin this around. Okay, so the flight system has been good. Okay. So Chris and I played Pro Doubles last night, had a bye. We were the two seed, and then we lost our first match. So we were out. Oh, wow. So last night, Philbrook and I played Flight A of Open, had a bye, and then won two matches, qualified.

[00:08:06] So I was done in bed by 10 o'clock last night. 10 o'clock? Same thing Friday. Okay. I played singles. I played the B Flight of Open singles and the B Flight of Pro singles, and I did not qualify in bed by 10 o'clock. Again, this being Nashville, people were going downtown and having a good time. Right. So it really gave people the flexibility to be able to do whatever they want.

[00:08:36] Hold on a second. Somebody's going to come by. This is Marty Fagan. Hey, I'm live on a podcast. Show everybody your ass. Go ahead. Yeah. These guys want to mess with me. Look at these retards. Are you getting mooned? Somebody mooned you? No, nobody's going to moon me. But anyway, the flight system has been pretty successful. I feel like everybody's liked it.

[00:08:58] The only issue we're having now is Sunday afternoon, everything's kind of bottlenecking with the elimination brackets because you have experts qualifying in pro, pros qualifying in open, and everything's kind of conflicting. So they've got to figure that out. But other than that, I feel like the flight system has been pretty successful. Okay. So we're probably going to get some more intel after the tournament. I'm sure Ryan's going to get plenty of feedback to let everybody know. Right.

[00:09:27] But I feel like the flight system, I feel like it functioned pretty well. You know when you're going to play? Once the flight started, they just, it was match after match after match. You either qualify or you didn't. And then it was on to the next thing. So I liked it. The majority of the feedback I got from other people was good. Okay. All right. Yeah. I mean, that's pretty much it, Tom. The only gripe this whole weekend has been the balls. The balls have been trash.

[00:09:55] Other than that, everything's been pretty good. Yeah. I know. The expert, Michael Veits, posted a thing about that. He said the balls were okay. Now, when he says they're okay, they're nowhere near up to snuff. Not okay. They're not okay. Yeah. Now, a lot of people, like, they've been just having balls roll away from them. Not rolling true, not rolling right. So it's been, the balls have been an issue.

[00:10:22] But other than that, you know, some two rods and some three rods getting bent up. But other than that, it's been good. 60 tables. Everything's been flowing. The hotel's been great. Everybody's having a good time. Still some players left over from the World Cup that are still on vacation in Spain. So obviously, they're not there this weekend.

[00:10:49] But as far as the turnout goes, was it about what they expected? Honestly, I haven't heard a number. I've not gotten a number. Don't know. The room's been pretty full. I would imagine there's over 300 people here. Nice. Okay. Just based off of seeing what I'm seeing. Right. But I do not have a number. Well, we'll get that next week. I know we're going to catch up with Ryan and Ivana next weekend.

[00:11:16] And we'll get an idea as far as the total numbers are concerned. And by the way, I know that this weekend, you know, there is the Nationals Cup or the Cup competition. Yeah, yeah, yeah. North America Cup. Right, North America Cup, which you mentioned earlier that Lafayette, Louisiana, basically took the finals because they had both of their teams in the finals. Two teams. Two teams. Correct. Two teams from Louisiana there.

[00:11:43] But there was also a lot of money raised this weekend for Foosball Clubs USA. Foosball Clubs. Correct. Correct. And now Michael Stahl is going to be dedicating himself full-time to Foosball Clubs USA. Nice. Which is outstanding. Good for Michael. Super proud of him. But, yeah, man, it's been good. I saw a kid here that I haven't seen in 20 years. Michael Swagger. I don't want to miss his name.

[00:12:12] But I saw this kid win 17 and under at Worlds in like 2004. And then he stopped playing. He's back out playing. I actually played him in singles. Got a really good game. But he's getting back in. Nice. A dude named Hany from Southern California. Quit playing. Playing again. Really nice game. He beat up on me pretty good. Okay. Super nice guy. It's been a bunch of good matches. Bunch of good foosball. Of course, just, you know, good people. It's foosball time. We're having a good time. Oh, absolutely.

[00:12:39] So, if you didn't make it, you missed out. Make sure to do your best to get to Worlds. Worlds is going to be really good. But, you know, of course, Ryan and Yvonne always working hard, striving to improve the experience for the players. So, like I said, it's been a good time. And we're winding down here on Sunday night. I say winding down. Things are still moving. Matches are still going on. A lot going on still.

[00:13:05] I mean, you still have things like the Open, you know, Open doubles, Pro Doubles. Pro Doubles still happening. Pro Doubles still being played. Pro Doubles still happening. So, yeah. And then they're starting out. They're designated. Expert mix. They still have a couple of events starting. So, it's still moving, Tom. Yeah. But that's it, man. I got to get in here and get warmed up. I'm waiting to play a match. Okay. And that's it. Where do you sit in the rankings right now? What's going on with you and Chris?

[00:13:34] Sitting in Pro Doubles. I think we're like fifth through eight or something. Nice. Something like that. So, we got to win a couple more. So, we'll see. We'll see. We got to win the next one. That's what we got to do. I saw Sammy was tearing up on Brandon Munoz's brother. Oh, Joel. Joel. Yeah. That was quite a tight match. And it was really well done on Sam's part.

[00:14:02] Man, he was composed and just killing it with that pole shot. Killing it. Yeah. Sam's good. Is he still in it? Is he still in contention? Oh, yeah. Him and Hannah were the one seed. Chris and Hannah were the two seed. So, we're trying to see if we can't have a rematch of the kickoff. But, like I said, we got to win this next one, Tom. That's it. I'll be watching you. I'll be checking you guys out. I hope you make it to the final table, dude. Thank you, sir. I appreciate it. Yeah.

[00:14:30] Thanks for taking the time out just to hang and let us know what's happening. Got a great flavor of what's up there. And, man, next year. Going to be there next year. I keep saying that. Yes, sir. I'll be there next year. And, by the way, debuting the Foosball Radio hat tonight, which yours is in the mail. It's coming to you. Nice. You'll be seeing it. Thank you. But we'll be able to wear the swag next time we get together. How's that sound? Sounds good. Cool, man.

[00:14:59] Well, listen, best of luck in pro doubles. Go get them, man. Don't let that punk push you around. All right? Well, we're not talking about fist fighting, Tom. We're talking about Foosball. So, it's a little different. But we're going to see if we can't figure it out. All right. I'm down for that. But I'll be watching. I'll be making comments on the chat with Modern Foos. And, by the way, Clay and Adam once again doing a great job this weekend.

[00:15:26] And, man, kudos to Ryan Moore and all the staff, everybody there at World Foosball Tour, man, doing a great job. And it sounds like we're going to talk about a lot of successes next weekend. Looking forward to that. I agree. Sounds good, Tom. If you need anything, let me know. Yeah, man. And safe travels getting home. But, hey, I think they're going to be kicking you out of Nashville if you don't go home sometime. What is this, like your second home or something? No, definitely not. Look, I can't wait to be home. Trust me.

[00:15:55] So, I'll be there tomorrow. And, yeah, I know Cookie can't wait either. Gotcha. But that's it, man. You have a good night. We'll talk to you soon. Later, Randy. And thanks again for tuning in on Foos Talk Live tonight. There's Randy Raposo for you live from Nashville in the 2025 World Foosball Tour National Championships. This, of course, is something that we'll be hearing more about next weekend as we get a recap from Ryan himself.

[00:16:22] Meanwhile, we've got the Foos Talk Live tournament beat coming your way. And thanks again for tuning in to Foos Talk Live episode number 260. Time now for the Foos Talk Live tournament beat brought to you by Boise Foosworks. High Fidelity Refurbished Foosballs. Professional foosball is a game of precision, a matter of accuracy, consistency. Boise Foosworks presents the High Fidelity Refurbished Foosball.

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[00:17:16] Foos Talk Live proudly presents a weekly update of events near you. With the Foos Talk Live tournament beat, here's what's up. South Florida Foosball Club presents the 2025 Beachtown Beatdown, July 25th through the 27th. Lilo's in Lake Worth Beach, Florida. Don't miss the 2025 $18,500 Ohio State Foosball Championships and Hall of Fame,

[00:17:43] July 31st through August 3rd at the Crowne Plaza Columbus, Worthington, Ohio. It's the Toronto Foosball Club Summer Epic 2025, August 1st through the 4th at the Toronto Foosball Club, Toronto, Canada. 518 Foosball presents the 2025 Summer Smashdown World's Warm-Up, August 16th at Trick Shots Billiards and Wicked Eatery, Clifton Park, New York.

[00:18:10] Canada Foosball presents the 2025 Vancouver Island Foosball Championships, August 22nd through the 24th. At Courtenay Legion, Courtenay, British Columbia. The World Foosball Tour presents the 2025 Tornado World Championship Foosball Tournament, August 27th through September 1st at the Hyatt Regency, New Orleans, Louisiana.

[00:18:35] It's the 2025 Mississippi State scheduled for September 25th through the 28th in Jackson, Mississippi. More details coming soon. The 2025 Great Lakes Classic is now scheduled for October 2nd through the 5th at the Hilton Garden Inn, Lansing, Michigan. The 2025 Louisiana State Foosball Championship, all set for December 4th through the 7th at the Clarion Hotel, Kenner, New Orleans, Louisiana.

[00:19:04] Each week we do our best to give you the most up-to-date listing of foosball tournaments near you. 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. The Foos Talk Live Tournament Beat is brought to you by Boise Foos Works, high-fidelity refurbished foosballs. Foos Talk Live is a product of Foosball Radio.

[00:19:32] 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. In the meantime, we'll see you at Foosin'.