FoosTalk Live | Ep 296 | Steve and Jim Reunited!

[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 I 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] FoosTalk Live. Hi, this is Tom Robinson, and I want to personally thank our Patreon pillars for their support of Foosball Radio and FoosTalk Live. Here's to our newest Patreon. Larry Davis. Greg Taylor. David Goodwin. Dan Packer. Brad Lorene of Rodlock.com. Thanks to Randy Raposo. Thomas Dyke. Mike Veidt. Rob Cutler. Ernie Bischoff.

[00:01:00] James Sparky Castillo. Carl Fleischer. Jay Teal. Brian Schmid. Cameron Burrows. Jimmy Love. Dwayne Stewart. Judy Schober. Reed Rector. And our friends from the 716 Buffalo Foosball Club. Thank you.

[00:01:23] Your support brings continued and expanding content from Foosball Radio as we cover the greatest sport on earth. Visit patreon.com forward slash foosball radio to find out how to become a Foosball Radio Patreon. Foos Talk Live is brought to you by Original Leonhardt. The Leonhardt tournament model is the most popular foosball table at the ITSF World Cup.

[00:01:49] Designed and handcrafted in Germany, order online and have it delivered to your door. Visit www.original-leonhardt-usa.com and use promo code FOOSTALK to save 10% off your purchase price. Once again, we are live on Foos Talk Live. Hey there, it's Tom Robinson. Welcome to episode number 296. They just keep on a-coming.

[00:02:18] And, of course, we're always getting together at this time of the week, about 9 o'clock on a Sunday night Eastern time, to talk about foosball. And, of course, if you're going to talk about foosball, well, you better have somebody nearby who really wants to talk about foosball and loves the sport, which would be the return of Randy Raposo. Randy Raposo from the great state of Alabama. Welcome back. Buddy, I missed you last week. Yeah, I missed you too, Tom. How are you doing? You know, I'm carrying on. I'm doing the best I can here.

[00:02:47] But I hope everything is okay on your end of things. Yeah, you look great. You look great. No, I'm good. Everything's good over here. I'm just excited for tonight. We got two VIPs, two Hall of Famers. Well, to say the least. Yeah, you know, again, this is going to be a good one, Tom. I'm excited. Oh, yeah. There's so much foosball happening right now. It's crazy.

[00:03:13] I mean, this weekend alone, there's Illinois State and Minnesota State at the same time. I mean, it's getting kind of crowded in the calendar, I got to say. The fact that players have, you know, have a choice now where, I mean, I kind of felt for a little while, a few years ago, you know, like you were waiting for tournaments. Now it's like, which one do I go to? And then, you know, Florida coming up here in a few days.

[00:03:40] And then not maybe, what, a month after that, not even, is going to be a pretty big one in Texas. Yeah. Well, don't forget about the Canadian Hall of Fame. You know, that's also. Canadian Hall of Fame. See what I mean, Tom? There's so many, I can't remember. And then Bay Foos has California State. California State. Holy. Yeah, dude. There's so many. Next weekend. So many. We're surrounded. We're drowning in this stuff. But it's okay. Good problem to have. Yeah. Good problem to have.

[00:04:11] Don't forget about Oklahoma. You got Oklahoma in there the same weekend. There you go. Oklahoma. Thank you, Steve. Steve. And the voice you're hearing, by the way, is one of the greatest players also and one of the greatest promoters of the sport of foosball in history, which would be Steve and Murray. Hello, Steve. What's happening? Hi, guys. Hi, guys. It's good to see you all. You're in Minnesota tonight. I am. I am.

[00:04:38] I'm hanging out with the Minnesota group up here, and they're having a good time running a nice little tournament. And a great crowd, Karma, who pretty much runs Wisconsin foosball, is kind of the tournament director and running the charts and the software. She's doing a great job keeping things run smoothly. Unfortunately, you know, you just talked about having a couple of really good tournaments, good state tournaments scheduled on the same weekend, which kind of hurt each turnout a little bit.

[00:05:07] Sure, sure, sure. Yeah. Because I'm sure that a lot of those guys would have been up here and vice versa. But all in all, it was nice to come up here and meet some people I've never met before. And one of the highlights of my weekend being here, I got to spend some time with the great Doug Furry and Mike Bells today. Wow. Yeah. Got a really cool picture with some of the greatest foosball players in the history of the game.

[00:05:34] I've got Doug Furry, Mike Bells, Dave Gumison, Larry Chesbro. All us old guys were up here, and it was just fun catching up with those fellas. Nice. So, yeah, it's been fun. It's been fun. But I wish that we could figure out, and we will at some point figure out a way to where we don't stack really important tournaments on top of each other so we can maximize tournaments and turnout for every state tournament. Yeah, exactly.

[00:06:01] Well, hey, while we're on the topic of the greatest, we may as well introduce a former member of the staff here at Foosball Radio Foos Talk Live, and, of course, the greatest foosball play-by-play announcer of all time. I get to say that again for the first time in what? I don't know, two years? Jim Stevens returns. You're too kind, Tom. Thank you. Well, look at that. You're in your foosball room, too. I am. I've got a foosball table. I've got, you know, foosball pictures.

[00:06:29] I've got some foosball plaques and trophies, including a couple from Texas. And, yeah, I do want to – there's a couple of things. Minnesota and Illinois taking place on the same weekend. I actually think it's kind of cool from the point of view of – you remember, Steve, back in the day when there were actual state championships that basically relied on a local, regional-type turnout, right? You'd get some of the big boys coming in, et cetera. But it really was a – you know, an Illinois state championship that was mostly Illinois players, Minnesota state.

[00:06:57] It was mostly Minnesota, not reliant or not encouraging necessarily a national turnout. I kind of like that. I kind of like that idea of having those national events or regional events. And then the other thing, of course, where Steve is tonight in Minnesota, I mean, is there – I mean, we can talk Colorado. We can talk Texas, California, et cetera. But at one point, Minnesota was the state for foosball in the late 1970s with a nut-goody program that produced six or seven Hall of Famers,

[00:07:24] including the gentleman that Steve talked about and Jim Wiswell and Ken Alwell and all those great players out of Minnesota as well. So, Steve, pretty cool that you're getting to experience some of that history. And it is great to be back here at Foos Talk Live. It was sort of my home. Your home as well, Tom, for several years. And those were some good times. I just want to share with you a bit of nostalgia. This will bring back memories, Jim. Uh-oh. I can't have sit down or I'll sit you down, courtesy of Steve Murray from Texas.

[00:07:55] This is an IPA of exceptional taste, just saying. But just, you know, kind of reminiscing a little bit here. What's the ABV on that, by the way? This one is a – oh, no, 8.6. 8.6. That'll sit you down. Oh, that'll sit you down. That'll sit you down. But it's empty. Tom, I thought that was totally appropriate. 100%. It was completely appropriate, Steve, and I can always count on you when I go to Texas.

[00:08:23] And Texas State, of course, this year is going to be side-by-side with the ITSF. We're going to get into that. In fact, I think we should probably lead in with that because the ITSF, of course, the European system, has been married to Texas State Memorial Day weekend. What's going to be different this year, Steve? Anything that we can look forward to that hasn't happened before? So, the formats are basically the same.

[00:08:50] We've scaled back a little bit only because it's not a gold final. You know, the gold final was last year where there was an additional amount of money and a lot of special things happening for the winners and the people that qualified for that. So, it's still going to be an exciting tournament. It's going to be a 50 grander. And, you know, we're going to have some traditional Texas State events that we always have.

[00:09:17] But we're also going to, you know, we partner up with ITSF only because we wanted to kind of bring the international flair over to the states. And we've done it for a couple, three years. And, you know, they're trying to get established here. And I just thought that was the right thing to do. But to answer your question, new stuff we have really not much new stuff other than we got the great Jim Stevens coming back to do the play-by-play and the commentary. Nice. So, that's very exciting. I know everybody's excited about having Jim back.

[00:09:47] We've got, for the first time, we're going to have dual live streaming. We're going to have our regular streaming, and then we're going to have streaming in Spanish for the first time. Well, there's something new right there. Yep. And we've been lucky enough to get the guy that does the Spanish play-by-play for the Dallas Cowboys and for the Dallas Mavericks. Whoa. And he is a bundle of energy. You know, we don't know how that's going to turn out.

[00:10:15] It may blow up in our face, but it may be. But I know this guy is highly excited. His brother or somebody knows a lot about foosball, and he mentioned, hey, you should maybe get involved in foosball. So, it just turned out a little bit. Jim and the USTSL guys, they talked to Victor with, I can't remember his last name. The Alba. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. But anyway, somebody knew him, and they said, hey, you should come do some foosball stuff.

[00:10:44] And it just made sense because, you know, there's a lot of foosball goes on in Spanish-speaking countries and live streaming in Europe and stuff like that. So, it made sense, and it seems kind of exciting to me. I don't know how it's going to turn out, but I'm looking forward to whatever happens with that. And, you know, it's just something new.

[00:11:07] We're also going to have Jim and another couple guys are going to introduce the new foos app, which is, I've seen it. It's very, very cool. It's very exciting. And I don't know a ton about it, but what I've seen, it looks like it's going to be a real, real resource for foosball players around the country. And like that. So, you know, basically, Tom, it's going to be the same, but there are going to be a few new little things here.

[00:11:37] And my favorite part is we got Jim back, and I'm excited about this year. So, we'll see what happens. And just to clarify, it isn't me with the app. It's Jim Provost of the USTSL who was supporting that. And John Lindsay wrote this thing, and Jim is part of that. And it's very, very cool. I've seen it, and I think a lot of the foosball enthusiasts are going to really be excited about it.

[00:12:06] It's got a lot of super cool features. And Jim Provost is also in the chat tonight on Twitch TV. And thanks for tuning in, by the way, on Twitch TV. But he also mentions Aaron Croft of Michigan is going to be helping with the Spanish broadcast as well. Yeah. Yeah. He's going to be in the Spanish booth. We're going to have two booths. Nice. We're going to have Jim up the English booth, and then we got Aaron and Victor in the Spanish booth. I think that's how it's going to work.

[00:12:35] At least that's the point. Very cool. Yeah. So I think that, of course, with the onset of the ITSF, you know, the European style, are we going to see the same kind of format? Like the, what is this, a modified Swiss sort of format? Yeah. And the open events, that's what it'll be. Okay. And Texas State events will be traditional double elimination.

[00:13:04] But for the main events, on the open doubles and all the open events and everything on that side of it will be the Swiss format. And that's kind of what makes this event so special, I think. Unlike any other event in the world where you get to this mix of the historic Texas State championships and everything that means and Steve and his history. And then you mix it with this international table soccer event.

[00:13:31] And I know last year when I was there doing the event, I think there were more than 100 international players there. And it really felt like a tournament that I would have worked in Germany or in France or in Italy, where you had this international feel, this international format, different styles of play. And I just think it's a great marriage of the international game and really as traditional historic type of tournament as you could possibly have in the Texas State event as well.

[00:13:59] So I know myself, I love it. I love the mix of the two. I'm a big fan of international table soccer, as you guys know. But I'm a big fan of Steve Murray and what he has done over the years with Texas State as well. Checks in the mail. It's serious. It really is super special. Nice. Will the event be run? Will it be run on Coral on the ITSF software? Yes, sir. Absolutely. Yes.

[00:14:27] And is it going to be just all Tornado? Will there be any multi-table, any mixed tables, anything like that, or just Tornado? No. This year, Randy, it's going to be – the World is Tornado World Series. Yes, sir. Last year, it was the gold final. It was a multi-table event. But this year, it will be exclusively Tornado. And it's the World Series in North America exclusively on Tornado.

[00:14:54] Now, didn't the ITSF talk about doing more than one? I mean, I know this is your third year or fourth year? Third year. Third year. Yeah. They had talked about doing more. Was that something that they're still considering, or is that something that's still in the works? There's been talk of that. I've not really been involved in the details. I mean, the specifics of it. But yes, I think they're talking about maybe in Canada.

[00:15:24] Yeah. I – you know, that's part of North America. So, I mean, that's – Yeah. Yeah. And I know there have been some talk about them sanctioning events, sanctioning existing events in a more profound way than previously. I don't know that they would necessarily come over here into the United States and run an actual event beyond this one. But I think they do want to become more involved in this country, and why wouldn't they, right? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

[00:15:52] And that's – with World Foosball Tour and ITSF and some of the more independent events. Last week we had Florida State on, and those guys are running their own thing. It seems like there's a lot of different ways to go, a lot of choices here when it comes to being a player, but also when it comes to being a promoter. You don't necessarily have to go one way or the other.

[00:16:18] You can kind of choose your poison, so to speak, when running a tournament. Yeah. No, it's just from a player's perspective, like I'll just be honest with you guys. Again, when we do the show, I feel like it's just us here having a conversation and nobody's listening. And that's kind of how I talk. But about 12 years ago, I made a mistake and got married. So that's really limited my – shut up, Tom. That's really limited my ability to play foosball.

[00:16:46] So I want to go to this tournament every year, but my wife is a teacher, and she's wrapping up the end of the year. So it makes it hard for me to go. Oh, man. Yeah. See? Exactly. Oh, man. So what do I do? My wife's a teacher as well, and she'll be there. Woo-hoo! Welcome to my kids. We're all coming. It's the last day of school. That's right. Is it really?

[00:17:15] It's the last day of school. Wow. So kids are getting out of school, jumping on a plane and heading down. A lot of graduations going on that weekend, too. So, I mean, there's a lot of folks that would be here, but family comes first, and you've got to go to the graduations and stuff like that because you just can't do stuff like that. So that's been a challenge for us for a long time. But Memorial Day weekend has been our weekend for 30-plus years, so we've just got to stick with it.

[00:17:42] And hopefully, you know, the kids, after they graduate, they'll become foosball players and come to our tournament. There you go. There you go. Get them out there. Well, you can talk to Michael Stahl about that from Foosball Clubs USA, and I'm sure he'd be down for that just to make sure that, hey, the last day of school, that means the next day you're leaving for a foosball tournament. That's it. Yep. Those are the rules.

[00:18:05] Now, just not to backtrack, but I've got to say when it comes to the ITSF, I know the last time I was there, we worked side-by-side with the folks from Foosball TV, who we interviewed on the show while we were there. Any sign of those guys? Are they coming back this year? What's the deal with Foosball TV? No, they did work a couple of years ago, a German-based production company.

[00:18:31] The ITSF now has basically taken control of their own streaming. So it is the ITSF production crew that will be there. I had a chance to work with them last year at Julian and team, also at the World Cup as well. They do a fantastic job. And the ITSF's view is the more viewers we get, the better. They'll send it out. Whoever wants to take their streams can take their streams and send them out, which is great.

[00:18:58] So they're going to be on site using cameras, using production equipment in order to bring the best product. And then whoever wants to send it out can then send it out. And I know this one is going to be seen at ITSF, but also the USTSO channel as well. There'll be more information coming up where you can access the stream. They'll have my voice on it and Victor's voice as well moving forward. But, you know, one thing that occurred to me, you know, Steve and I go way back, right?

[00:19:25] Steve and I, from the very beginning, we've been side-by-side in promoting the sport. And Steve was instrumental, of course, in getting me out on tour, getting inside food on tour originally. But I used to tell Steve, I used to say to him, you know, after I first went to the World Cup in 2006 in Hamburg, I said, Steve, dude, you've done everything there is to do in the United States. You're one of the most decorated players ever. You're a legend. You got to get overseas, man. You got to get over there and you've got to play these ITSF tour events in Europe.

[00:19:55] And he said for about 10 years, he said, oh yeah, I know, Jim. I will. Oh, I will. Whatever. And finally, in 2017, Steve comes over to Hamburg to play in the ITSF World Cup, right? And wins everything that he plays in pretty much, singles and doubles and the team. I think you can win three gold medals, I think it was. Oh. But, and then he said, this is like the greatest experience I've ever had. So tying that into the World Series event coming up, if those of you here in the United States or in North America

[00:20:23] have never been able to get to Europe or internationally to play in an ITSF event, you've got a chance. You've got a chance now to come down to Texas, fly into DFW, probably the easiest airport there is to fly into. The tournament is at the airport. You literally hop on a shuttle. Ten minutes later, you're in the ballroom. So if you've never played an international ITSF event, this is your chance. There you go. Make the plans to be there because this is exactly what it feels like to play internationally and play an international style foosball tournament.

[00:20:53] And Steve, and you know it, Steve, because you remember that we talked about it after the fact. You said that is as good of a foosball experience as I've ever had. And I think that is going to be the case this Memorial Day as well. Yeah, that's no kidding. I wish I would have never found excuses not to go earlier. You know what? That haunts me to this day, Jim. I found excuses every year not to go, but that was a huge mistake and it haunts me all the time.

[00:21:22] I had a great experience. It was the absolute best experience of my life in foosball. So that's why we wanted to bring some of the international flair to North America. And by the way, there's also some really, really nice travel packages that are at stake here at the World Series Texas State Tournament. Okay. Which will give people the opportunity to be able to go to the World Cup all expenses paid.

[00:21:52] So, I mean, there's a lot of stuff at stake. So, you know, that's just a little addition to the prize money and the accolades and all the stuff that goes along with that. But like Jim said, if you can go to the World Cup and just experience it, I highly recommend it. Do it. Yeah. Yeah. Before it's all over with.

[00:22:13] No, I was just curious because I know one of the things that I enjoyed most about the ITSF format was knowing exactly when you're going to play. You know, and then there was a lunch break from 2 to 3 o'clock in the afternoon. You come back, you play some more foosball, and everything is done by what, 10 o'clock at night? That's unusual. Of course, you can keep playing if you want to. There's plenty of tables available. You can play all night if you want to, right? But it is.

[00:22:41] It's nice to be able at 10 o'clock to go have a beer with your friends or just go and relax, go have a late dinner. Definitely the schedule is advantageous to all of that. It's just – and at the end of the weekend, you're not dead. You don't go home thinking, man, I'm just going to take me a week and a half to recover because it is just a great format. And this one, with the mix of Texas State, it just couldn't be any better.

[00:23:10] Yeah, I'll add to that too. The Radek, Dave Radek, who's been my right-hand man since day one, came up with the formula of groupings, which almost completely eliminated any kind of conflicts. So between his scheduling and the Swiss format, you know when you're going to play. You know when you need to warm up. When you're warmed up, you get to go play. You're not sitting around. You go play your matches.

[00:23:36] And when it's time to relax and go have a beer with your buddies or go to dinner or whatever, it's just nice to know that you know when you're going to play and you know when you're not going to play. But David's been a huge part of that before we even partnered up with ITSF and did the Swiss stuff.

[00:23:54] But yeah, the whole point is we like to make sure that we maximize the player experience, make sure that the players have a good time, make sure that we don't have them sitting around for hours at a time and stuff like that. And it happens, you know. I mean, everybody wants to play as much as they can. And if you allow them to do it, they'll do it. And I can tell you that my wife, Gina, she's the biggest culprit. If she's allowed to play 25 events, guess what? She's going to play 25.

[00:24:25] And that creates a little bit of a quag on the charts. So anyway, so we've got some pretty good formats and all that stuff. It's just nice to know that you've got some downtime if you need it. Yeah. And it's a beautiful hotel. I mean, it's back at the Westin again this year, which is my favorite hotel that you've run the tournament at. And, you know, great restaurant, great bar, spacious, really, really nice venue as well.

[00:24:55] It's, you know, Steve Murray's going to do it. He's going to do it first class. And, you know, over the years, we've seen the improvement. We've seen Steve constantly tweaking, making things better, the tie-in with the ITSF, just making it a more special experience for the player each and every year. So thank you, Steve, and keep up the good work. Even though you've threatened to retire, I think, for the last 10. Please don't. Please don't. That's my idea, buddy. Don't go. Please. Yeah.

[00:25:24] This is my last year, I promise. This is my fifth one. You were on the show last year saying the same thing. Of course. So to be perfectly transparent, I have tried to hand off to David and the crew many times. And David has said, yeah, yeah, man, I'll keep doing it. But if you're not involved, I'm out. So, you know, I would love him. He should be the face.

[00:25:52] I mean, David's really, he's the man with the plan behind all that. I'm just the logistics guy. He makes it all happen. I think he likes being a little bit in the background, though, and letting you kind of be the face of it, Steve. And maybe that's the formula that works best. Yeah. Because he is the best in the business when it comes to actually logistics of running an event, no doubt. You're like Michael Corleone. Every time I'm out, they keep pulling me back in. A movie series. That's my favorite, Tom. Godfather.

[00:26:23] Godfather. Well, so if I do decide I want to go, where can I find the information for this tournament? So just get on either the ITSF site or any of the Texas Facebook pages. And it's floating around. And the player's guide's on there. And it'll guide you where you need to go. There's just an easy click to find hotel reservations. And you can pre-reg. That's open right now. So easy to find, Randy.

[00:26:51] And if you have any issues, just let me know, and I'll get you the information you need. Sweet. But it should be out there all over social media right now. And if not, table-soccer.org, the ITSF site. It's the new ITSF site. Pretty comprehensive as well. So I mentioned I'll be bringing my kids to the tournament again this year. We had the chance last year to go to the World Cup and work that event. I was able to commentate it, you know, for Inside Foods at that time.

[00:27:20] And then also do all the in arena. And it was an arena. It was about a 12,000-seat arena, basketball arena that they held it in. And then I get to do all the intros and everything as well. But my kids both competed. And my kids, you know, if they want to play, they can play. We don't force them. If they want to play, that's fine. And they didn't play a whole lot before heading over there. And, of course, they played the junior events against these young players from Europe and internationally who probably play five hours a day every day of the week, right, and are really, really good.

[00:27:50] But one thing we have done over the years, and whether it's with baseball, softball, basketball, whatever they're playing, we teach them it's about the process. It's about you can be the best you can, be a good teammate, just continue to grow as a player and give it 100%. Because you can't control winning, but you can control your performance, which can then contribute towards those kind of results. And so Kian, my 11-year-old son, went across the room and played junior singles against a kid from France on the Bonzini table and lost 8-1.

[00:28:19] But came back, Dad, Dad, Dad. I scored a goal on the Bonzini. And he was just happy to have scored a goal. And he's happy to go back to school and tell his friends that he finished 52nd in the world, just behind his sister, who finished 51st out of 52 players. But we don't tell him that part. But once they came back, they came back from the event, and we had just the time of our life. It's, to this day, it is the greatest trip, family trip we've ever been on, according to my kids and us as well. It was fantastic.

[00:28:48] They came back and they started playing. They played every day. It's tapered off a little bit now. But they played every day for months and got pretty good, right? Nice. To where they can at least finish maybe 49th. So we'll see. They're coming. They're going to come and compete in Texas. My wife, Amy, who is a pro player, is going to play as well, and a teacher. And so they are really looking forward to it.

[00:29:14] And for me, at this stage of my life and this stage of my foosball, fooscasting career, I've kind of said to myself, I really don't want to go to tournaments anymore without my family. I want my family to be there. Sure. Because it's great for me, but it's also great for them. We always have a great time. And I'm not sure that's always going to be the case. But ideally, I want my family there, and they're going to be there in Texas this year. That's awesome. That's awesome. That's awesome.

[00:29:42] One of the things I really liked about Texas State the first time I went, this is a few years ago, one of the things I really liked about it was, Steve, you had all those games for kids out there in the outer lobby where they could play video games and the hoop toss. I mean, they're just really digging that. They're out there having a ball. So Texas State has always been great for kids, great for families. Yeah.

[00:30:12] We try to make it a family-friendly event. Everybody, listen, all my kids, all the foosball players now, they're all parents and they have kids. So it's kind of important to make it a family-friendly event. Give the kids something to do. Give everybody something to do in their downtime. Keep it exciting so they don't have to sit around and get bored. You don't necessarily want to watch foosball matches all day long. It'll give them something to do.

[00:30:40] So, yeah, that's been something that we've added for years. And just a little something extra to keep the families together and make it a family-fun event. So, Randy, I think you need to get busy and have a couple of kids. Just saying. Just saying. Don't rush in. It's hard work, brother.

[00:31:10] I'm too old. I'm too old for that. You're not too old. Trust me, dude. You're not too old. No. Trust me. Listen, there was one class I paid attention to in high school. I know I'm not too old physically. But I'm too old. I'm not doing that. No. No. Maybe we might get another dog. There you go. That'll do it. Yeah. No. Jim, what grade does your wife teach? She's a child care provider.

[00:31:40] One to three-year-olds. I'm saying one to three. My wife teaches second grade. It's the best birth control the state can offer. So we're good. I'm sure. Oh, we're good. Well done. We're good. All right. Let's move on. That's hard. I'm just saying. We're good. Gotcha. Yeah. We're just trying to get you to Texas State somehow. Come on. No, man. Look, I get it.

[00:32:08] Look, I'm going to try my best. I want to go. Every year I want to go. We want everybody. Listen, we know there's a lot of folks that are involved with the WFT. And there's some really exciting, fun stuff happening over there. I am super proud and happy for what he's accomplishing. And I'm his biggest fan. So don't.

[00:32:34] But I've also kind of heard through the grapevine that some of you guys don't want to come down there for whatever reason. But I think that's a little silly. I mean, we're all in the same boat together. Sure. Yeah. Get your back there. I want all you guys to come. I would. I don't know. It's foosball at its best. I'm. It's foosball. That's it. It's all foosball. I'm there. I'm going. I want Ryan to be there because he's one of the best players in the world.

[00:33:03] And he just brings so much to the tournament. It's just. Right. As a play. As you know what? Just. He just brings a lot. And I just want everybody to participate in this thing. It's. We all have a common goal, man. And that's to see the growth of foosball. Oh, yeah. So. Oh, yeah. His. His singles match with Tony last year. That final was. That was amazing. Yeah. Really. Yep. So good, dude. No, of course. No, I. I was supposed to have shoulder surgery on the 30th.

[00:33:34] But I hurt my back at work. I've been home. So I've had to push my surgery. It's scheduled for June 4th now. So. I'm. I'm just. I'm. I want to. I want to. I do. I want to. Look, I've been playing like five or six tournaments a year for the past few years. And this year is just. I went to Wisconsin. That's been it. By now, typically, I would have already played two or three. So I'm. What is it? A six hour drive for you across I-20?

[00:34:04] Come on. It's. It's eight hours. Eight and a half. About eight and a half. You think I haven't. You think I haven't looked? Of course I've looked. I know where it is. Oh, yeah. Believe me. That's the thing. Don't think I'm not like trying to figure out how to get there. I promise. I'm trying. I promise. I promise. I want to be there. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It is truly a great time. And any good foosball tournament like this is worth making it to at least once just to see what it's like.

[00:34:34] You know, here's the other thing, too, that we're getting older. And to get to as many tournaments as possible. I mean, I don't know. When you're pushing the gauge like I am, you got to do it now. Right? But Randy, I know you got more time. You got more time. You're coming, right, Tom? Oh, you'll be there, right? I'm going to be there. Yes, I am. Yeah. I'm looking forward to that. Well, you guys saw what the Vegas tournament was off the charts. I mean, it was fantastic. It was fun.

[00:35:04] The whole. Yeah. And those things, his events are getting better each time. And presentation, I've never seen anything better. So, foosball is on the uptick. And you know what? We just want to continue doing whatever we need to do to continue this resurgence. And build the player base any way we can. You know, Michael Stahl, all the stuff he's doing.

[00:35:31] And I mean, we just, we got a lot of opportunity right now. And things are looking positive for the future. So, I have to steer this ship somehow. And Jim used to say, get this thing back on the rails. So, without letting go of the steering wheel there, I got to ask you, Steve, now you're back with Tornado. With Valley Dynamo. And you're probably hearing all kinds of stuff flying at you.

[00:36:01] Maybe every time you turn up at a tournament, you're hearing people saying, you know, things just aren't so great with the table these days. And where the balls and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I mean, how are you coping, first of all? What are your thoughts on the comments people have been making? A lot of it's legitimate complaints. I mean, there's been some issues with the balls, no question. Okay.

[00:36:30] No question about it. I would have been, and I am the first guy to admit that. There's been some issues there, to say the least. And, you know, there's been little issues here and there. I can't pinpoint all the stuff that's caused some of these issues or these perceived issues.

[00:36:50] But the one thing that, the one rumor that you hear and the one complaint and the one talking point out there that I do want to dispel right now is that Tornado doesn't care about foosball and they don't care about quality. I can tell you that is absolutely false. Okay. Good. Good. Okay. There's maybe slipped a little in some areas with some processes on balls and whatever.

[00:37:20] Quality control. I don't think it's quality control. I think when you're manufacturing, you rely on suppliers and, you know, you have to run your company in a way to where you have to be able to buy and purchase from your suppliers and still be able to function at a profit.

[00:37:42] And, I mean, you know, I just – so there's always some experimenting going on with whatever, whether it be rod steel, plastic balls, bumpers, whatever the case may be. I mean, it's just an ongoing process. Okay. Manufacturing is not a perfect science. And especially in the world we live in, it gets a little crazy. Sure. But to your question, yes, there's been some issues.

[00:38:10] And, you know, I don't know how we got there. But what I can tell you is we're working on some things and I'm trying to work closely with the powers to be at Tornado. And they're very receptive and they're, you know, they're willing to work. And, you know, they want the product to be good. They want it to be – let's not kid ourselves. The Tornado table, no matter what, is still the best in the world.

[00:38:40] No doubt. Bar none. Yeah. Okay. But, yeah, I mean, us as players, the player base, we've learned to – we have expectations. I mean, we expect them to stay at the high standard. And, you know, we're with really – I mean, for lack of better words, we're all spoiled rotten. We're all spoiled rotten. I mean, the quality of the Tornado table is better than – it's more consistent than any table in the world.

[00:39:08] And, you know, but they're far from perfect. We're far from perfect, whatever. But the good news is, Tom, we're taking some steps. We're talking about things. They're willing to try different things and, you know, whatever it takes to – I mean, the balls in particular. You know, they're doing some different stuff with some tumbling and some different processes and some protocols and whatnot.

[00:39:36] And not perfect, far from it, but we're getting there and we're making some improvements. So all I can say is don't think for a second that they don't care about foosball and they don't care about their quality because that's not the case. Well, I think the fact that you are now involved with Tornado suggests that they do care. Yes. That they have brought on board one of the great foosball men in the history of the sport to be there to help make these decisions or identify, you know, areas that could use improvement.

[00:40:05] So I think the proof's in the pudding here. They brought you on board, Steve. And I think not much more needs to be said. That shows a commitment. It shows that they do care. And your involvement is going to benefit them just tremendously. Yeah. Good timing. I hope so. I hope so. Well, listen, I mean, they run a really good company, Jim.

[00:40:26] And let's not forget Valley Dynamo has seven or eight really major product lines in the coin-op industry, home pool table industry. That doesn't mean they don't care about foosball because that's one of their premier products in their product line. Okay. But they're a good company and they do care and they're willing to work. And I'm working with Trey pretty close these days. Trey's now running the company.

[00:40:54] And he cares about foosball and he cares about making sure that things are right and people are happy. And, you know, we're getting there. We're not perfect. We got a long ways to go. Well, at least he's not running away screaming. Thank you, Steve. No, listen.

[00:41:18] If I heard one time, what's up with these balls in Vegas, I heard it 400 times. Right. And everybody has a legitimate complaint. The balls were not good. The balls that went to the TKO were not good. They were bad. They weren't processed properly. And if me, a player that I have to buy those things at $5 a ball, I'm going to be not happy. Okay. So I get it. I mean, that's part of it.

[00:41:48] And I don't blame anybody for that. But the fact is that whatever the reason, there wasn't a proper process. I don't know. Some of that stuff was happening before I got there. And I'm not making excuses. It's just... Sure. So now I'm there. And hopefully I can have an impact on what we do going forward. Well, if you could just check in with us occasionally and just, you know, let us know. Keep us up to date on the progress. And, of course, we'll keep up to date with you.

[00:42:18] As to how people feel, that kind of thing. But you know what? It's a two-way street. We appreciate your honesty. This is a refreshing change. Because things we've heard in the past were kind of less communication going on. So we appreciate you being where you are at the time that we need you most. Yeah. I'm going to be careful, Tom. I will never write you a check that I can't cash. Gotcha.

[00:42:46] But what I can promise you that I'll be in there and try to be involved as much as I possibly can for a positive whatever. You know, just a positive outcome. That's what we're looking for. And it's a challenge. But you know what? We're going to get there. We're going to get there. Yeah. The ball situation, I think it was maybe kickoff last year.

[00:43:12] Kickoff 25 was when it seemed like the balls changed and then it kind of went downhill. And it's really been probably the most noticeable problem on tour. No question. Yeah. Nobody's really been able to give anybody a real answer why. So, yeah. I mean, it's good that it's being addressed. Yes. You know, it's just.

[00:43:39] Well, Randy, I can tell you that the ball has changed. Basically, it's the same material. And I just, I got more information on this last week. Okay. I'm still trying to get educated on this whole process. But there's certain variations of basically the same product. And yes, these balls are harder. They are. The color is different. They're definitely harder.

[00:44:06] And it's harder to get a good finish on these balls. I mean, it's the same material. But it's a different variation of it. I think that the old ball was a Estane 142. And this one is like a 153. But it still falls within the tolerances of the original Tornado ball design. So, that's kind of where it's at.

[00:44:30] And so, there just need to be maybe a little more experimenting with different materials or whatnot. But it falls within the specs and the tolerance. So, that's where they're at kind of right now. And I'll be the first to admit, even with the additional tumbling on these balls, we're not there yet. We're just, we're not. And so, I'm hoping there can be some experimenting with some new materials. You know, Ryan had talked about making a new ball.

[00:44:59] And I think that's great. I think he should. I think it would be fantastic if he came out with a WFT Tour ball. You know, a ball made specifically for the tour. That would be great. I mean, if it's anything like the Warrior ball or some of the older Tornado balls, then fantastic. You know, I hope he develops that.

[00:45:24] But, you know, in the meantime, we're trying to do some research and trying to do some experimenting. And they're open-minded about maybe changing some materials or whatever. And try to get those things where we need to be. And I'll be the first to admit, we're not there. We're not there yet. But we're trying. We're making some improvements. And I hope we can continue to improve.

[00:45:49] Well, you know, you, like Mr. Murray, you, Jim, you guys have been around for a long time. You guys used to play with the, like the cherry red tomato balls, right? It's tomato balls. I mean, these are not. They were slicker and snot. And they would just absolutely just disintegrate in front of your very eyes in a three hour.

[00:46:18] But did they roll straight? No, they did not. But we didn't care. We didn't care. We had handles in our hands. And we had a ball to knock around. We were okay with it. So the tolerance. These are within tolerance just like those then. It's the same. No. No, it's not the same. It's totally different materials back in the day. I know. This was before the polyurethane ball, Randy.

[00:46:45] This is back in the day I'm talking about when I don't even know what the plastic was. But a couple of Todd Lafredo pull shots against the wall and the ball was a freaking egg. All right. Yeah. All they had to do was miss the goal one time and that ball would come back like disintegrating. And yeah, it was crazy. Wow. I got one. I practiced with it. And it's got some flat spots on it. So, yeah. Yeah. I know.

[00:47:15] I know. So listen to your point, guys. The ball complaint, that's legitimate. And the good news is Tornado is working on it. And I'm hoping to have some kind of influence and work with them to try to get where we need to be. And in the meantime, you know, Ryan's going to figure out how he's going to make a ball for the tour. And I think that's fantastic. So at some point, there'll be a good ball on tour. Mm-hmm. That's fantastic. Hopefully by Texas State in Tornado World Series.

[00:47:45] Yeah. Wouldn't that be nice? That'd be great. We just recently in our local DYP started using some Michael Veidt Boise Foosworks balls, these Repops. And they're actually pretty darn good, I have to say. We'll wait and see when it comes to how long they last. But so far, the grip, just the feel kind of reminds us of the old days a little bit. But they are very good. Yeah.

[00:48:15] In fact, up here in Minnesota, Michael, he's supplying the balls. Mm-hmm. And they're playing good. Yeah. There's a few mixed in. He's done some of the newer balls that have been mixed in. But he's got a lot of the old balls in there. But yeah, I mean, what he's providing is a good ball. It's very playable. And so, yeah, he's doing a great job. Yeah.

[00:48:41] But to make sure, I mean, he's got four or five different generations of balls. He figured out how to tumble them correctly. And his formula right now is working pretty good. So kudos to him. He had a couple of stint meters that he uses. He had them in Wisconsin. And he gauges, you know, whether they're A+, A balls, B balls. And I mean, his brain, the way it works when it comes to tumbling these balls, it's next level stuff.

[00:49:11] Yeah. Like he's really, he's all about the man. The man's got beautiful balls. I've said it before. I'll say it again. So, yeah. Yeah. You heard of him first. Yeah. I'm proud of the balls, too. He's a, he's, he's a, he's an engineer. Okay. So. Yeah. So that's the engineer, the way they think. And yeah, he's, he's an interesting character, but, but he's doing a nice job. And boy, I tell you, he played good up here. He's here at the tournament and he's playing really, really good.

[00:49:42] And everybody's using his balls and they've been great. So, yeah. Kudos to Mike. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Mike's, Mike's retired now. So he's, he's all about, he's just playing foosball and. People use his balls. Yes. That's it. People playing with his balls. Midlife. It is. I'm a little jealous. Yeah. Oh, man. It's all these, all the entendres in the world are just now presenting themselves to us. What are you talking about? What are you talking about, Tom?

[00:50:10] Get your mind out of the gutta. Get your mind out of the gutta, Tom. I can't help it. I can't help it. I can't help it. Things never change. Oh, man. Randy's right, though. You guys, here's the thing. And by the way, I do want to mention a shout out to Brad Anderson from Hawaii. Yeah. Yeah. Who, by the way, has chimed up tonight on Twitch TV, is watching. And they said, hey, these are my two favorite old people. He's talking about your old people, too. Yeah.

[00:50:40] So being old. Best to Brad. Best to Brad. Yeah. Yeah. Brad, it's good to hear that you're out there watching and we're thinking about you, buddy. Yep. Absolutely. Love you, Brad. Brad. And being older, I'm interested, when it comes to the evolution of what we now know is the Tornado tournament level table, how long has it taken for that table to evolve to what it is today, that incredible standard? What's been the evolution like? Jim, maybe you can speak to that.

[00:51:11] You know, there's certainly been changes. Tornado has always been an extremely well-built table. It was always, it was the only table, really, that you could put in a location and count on the fact that it was still going to be playable in three to six months. Right. As long as it was taken care of and had a light on it, et cetera. But certainly, the playing characteristics have changed over the years. The game has changed as a result of that, or maybe the table changes as a result of advances

[00:51:39] in playing styles or whatever. But I actually think the changes year by year have been very incremental, small. They're usually little things. And ideally, the focus would be on the improvement of the playability as opposed to trying to make sure that we can keep the cost at a reasonable level by maybe moving some of the work south of the border or wherever.

[00:52:06] However, I think still to this day, as Steve said earlier, there is no better table. And me, you know, when I travel internationally, I'm not an American. I'm not a tornado guy. I have to be, you know, Jim Stevens, Fooscaster for the world sort of thing. But there is no doubt that the tornado table is the best table. It is the most consistent table. You can do more things on it. There is a reason why the Americans have won more World Cups than any other country.

[00:52:33] And a lot of that has to do with the tornado table and the playability of it and the way and the skills you have to learn, have to develop. You have to learn everything. You have to be able to do everything on a table. And it allows you to do that. You know, you look at other tables, a much narrower focus on what you can do. With tornado, it's here. You can't even see my hands. It's so wide, right? Yeah.

[00:52:59] But seeing the evolution of it, and it's had its ups and downs. Sitting behind me here, I have a 2009 table that Amy, my wife, won at the Nationals in St. Louis, I believe it was. An ITSF model table that still plays here. What are we, what is this, 17 years later? Still plays like almost a new table. Right. It has not been in a bar. It has not been in a location. It's been here at our house, but we've knocked it around pretty good. And it still to this day plays.

[00:53:29] When I go to a tournament and play on a table there, there's not a big difference. I can train here and play there. So the evolution of the table, incremental little things. I mean, Randy talked about it earlier, about the slipperier balls back when pinning wasn't really a thing, when banking wasn't really a thing because of the side strips. Once banking came in on the tornado table, I think it opened up a whole other dimension to the game.

[00:53:55] But it has been, despite maybe some dips, it has been consistently the best table in the world now for 30 plus years, right? Going back certainly to the mid to late 80s when it kind of became the predominant table. So, and hopefully, especially now with Steven Valt, that evolution will continue incrementally.

[00:54:19] Just little tweaks, little things here and there, the balls, a few other little things maybe moving forward. And you also have to consider the state of the game and the way the players play now. You know, you want to make sure that Tony can tic-tac on the five row and the three row without having to worry about it. And these other things that have to be considered. And again, I'm going to harken back to Steve now being involved, which when I heard that, I was like, it was ecstatic. I thought, this is perfect. This is great.

[00:54:48] Not only for Steve, but also for the players, for the tour, and obviously for the table as well. Steve, how would you address the progress of the table itself? Well, I think that really the main word probably was consistent. It's been very consistent for as long as I can remember.

[00:55:17] Not really been any changes to it because there really hasn't been any changes that's been needed. You know, they're constantly looking at trying to get better rod steel, better plastic, better rubber, you know, just the whole thing. I mean, it's an ongoing process. But as far as the actual playing characteristics, you know, I know that they did a little experimenting with play fields.

[00:55:44] You know, I mean, it all harkens back to supply, Tom. I mean, you know, suppliers come and they go and then they, you know, whether the prices rise or the product changes or it becomes obsolete and you can't get this, you can't get that. So in manufacturing, there's just a lot of changes that go on.

[00:56:02] But I would tell you that they really do make an effort to maximize putting out a quality product and keeping it consistent because there's really, there's no reason to change it. There's no, as far as the way the table plays and the way it's built, there's no reason to change it. Just need to try to get the little things tweaked. Like, like Jim said, you know, the little, little things like the balls and make sure the steel is good.

[00:56:31] And, and, you know, just little stuff like that. But, but it really hadn't changed. And I don't see it changing. I do think that you're going to see a change here maybe pretty soon. And, and, you know, the, the day of the coin mech is, is just about gone. Oh, is it? In the world that we live in, the world we live in, you're talking about like card readers and tap, tap pay. Oh, wow. Like that.

[00:56:59] So I think there, you might see some of that evolve soon. Okay. We're testing some of that right now. We've, we've got some of what we're calling it. We haven't even really named it yet, but we've got some tables that, that have a tap system on it or an Apple pay system with your phone. And the good news is the, the insides have been redesigned and they're, they're, they're holding up great. They look great. But as far as the playing characteristics, it's the same tornado table.

[00:57:26] They're just making some improvements here and there on, on rods and men and bumpers. And hopefully, hopefully knock on wood, we're going to have some, some really good balls here soon. Well, Steve, I got a hold off, hold off. And I say, well, what am I supposed to do with these $50 with the quarters I got, you know, hanging out here? What is it, you know, what am I supposed to do with that stuff? Exactly. Yeah. I'll go buy a loaf of bread with it. Think again. A couple gallons of gas. Go watch the card, buddy. And that's the whole thing.

[00:57:56] They're all card readers now too. Yeah. Exactly. I mean, I don't know what to do with that. Roll them up and save them for your kids. But that's the whole point. I mean, the players have to walk around at the locals with a pocket full of quarters. That day's almost gone. Well, you still got to flip a coin. You still got to flip a coin at the beginning of the match. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got an app on my phone. I got an app on my phone. To flip a coin? You're right. Shut up. Shut up. Randy, I got that.

[00:58:22] But the fact of the matter is there's not another coin-operated game or pool or whatever that doesn't even have a bill acceptor or a tap card reader on it. And at some point, foosball's got to evolve in that direction. It's just that's the world we live in. And eventually you'll see that. We're testing it right now in a couple of markets and it's working pretty good. Man. I'm just, I don't know. I'm an old guy. Coins are cash.

[00:58:52] I can feel them. I think it's the word. Yeah. I'm seasoned. Me too, Chuck. I'm old school and I will die with the old ways, buddy. Yeah. Well, here's what I do these days. When I go to flip a coin, I use one of these dudes. So, Billy or Tony. Billy or Tony. Choose Billy or Tony. By the way, Billy wins more often in the toss. Just saying. Is that right? Oh, yeah.

[00:59:21] No, if you do it enough times, it's going to be even. If you do it enough. I'm pretty sure I'd probably call Tony. Hey, Tom. Tom, Randy. I know we don't have a lot of time left, but one thing I do want to touch on real quick. Well, let's see. 35 years ago, down in California, I started Inside Foos with Christina Fuchs at that time. And we started it as a newsletter, right? It was just a local newsletter called Inside Foos.

[00:59:50] And then after that, Steve, you know, we started doing a little video. I picked up a microphone, et cetera. And then Steve in 1992, late 92, I think, saw what we did and brought us out on tour. Well, recently, in fact, coming up here in the next month or so will be the dissolution of Inside Foos. Ooh. That's going to be it. That's it. And you may have seen the post of a couple of months ago or months or so ago, a post talking about that, how this was it. This was the end of Inside Foos.

[01:00:20] So I just kind of wanted to reflect on what it's been 35 years. And, of course, the last few years have been less active. But it's been a nice career. And I'm not going away. I mean, I'm still at this point now. I'm actually sort of a free agent. And if anybody out there does want to try to, you know, maybe bring me in for some commentary, I might be available to come out and do that. I'm not really doing the streaming side of it anymore or any of the production side. Okay. But just sort of it's a new chapter.

[01:00:51] Steve has always been instrumental right in the middle of all of it throughout the years. And that's continuing now as we head to Dallas here in about a month. Is it a month from today? I think it might be. Yeah, up a week. Yep. 20 days. And so it's going to continue. It's going to take a different form. I don't think it's ever going to get back to where I'm doing 18 or 20 tournaments a year and traveling all around the country and all around the world doing it. But I just kind of wanted to also thank everybody.

[01:01:17] After I released that post, there were so many kind comments. Yes. And I received a lot of great emails, a lot of great messages, and of course, the Facebook postings as well. And I just want to show my appreciation to the foosball public. And I'm really looking forward to getting out there again here on Memorial Day and seeing my friends and just great memories and getting to do it one more weekend here at the very least. And I'm sure there'll be more moving forward. As well. I'm going to sum this up with just one word.

[01:01:47] Legacy. For both of you. Both of you guys. Legacy. Definitely, Jim. I'm telling you. We talked about this. By the way, I was talking with Dave Gummison a lot. I had the pleasure of going over to his house, and he's got the absolute most incredible, incredible collection of foosball memorabilia you can ever see. And the way he presents it in his basement is unbelievable. It's like a museum. It's incredible.

[01:02:18] Anyway, we were talking about a lot of this stuff. And we were talking about that very tournament, Jim, in Long Beach. And the first time I saw what you guys did, I went to Dave, who was running the show back then, and I said, Dave, we'd be absolutely foolish if we don't sign this guy and get him part of the tour. And consequently, luckily for us, we brought you in, and the rest is history.

[01:02:44] And this sport would not be the same without that. Damn right. Damn right. I got you. No, no. As a player coming up, it was always a goal to get on Inside Foos, you know? Yep. So I learned so much just from watching videos, Inside Foos videos, matches, all that stuff. I fell asleep a lot of times listening to you, Jim. Thank you, man. That's a compliment. I appreciate it. Thank you. I'm serious, man.

[01:03:14] I've watched so much foosball over the years, so much Inside Foos. And like I said, it was just always a goal. I think it's every player's goal. Every player sets goals. And, you know, I want to get in the pits. I want to get on Inside Foos. That was always a goal. So, you know, we always appreciated everything you did. I appreciate it personally, of course. Thank you, Randy. I hate to see it go. I hate to see it go, man. Seriously. I'm not entirely gone. We'll carry it in here and there. Of course. Well, Texas State in a month.

[01:03:44] That's exciting. Yeah. So before that, a little shout out. Don't forget Florida State next week. Yes. California State next week. Oklahoma State next week. Okay. Three really, really good state tournaments going on next week. All you players, go participate and support those events. Yes. They're going to be awesome. All of them. I wish they were all happening on the same weekend. But you know what? They're all going to be good. So get out there and support those tournaments. They're all good.

[01:04:13] We've got to get to a point where the regional player base can support those. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And can't forget the Canadian Hall of Fame. That's happening in Ottawa next week as well. So, okay. So we got something in the West Coast. We got something in the Midwest. We've got something in the Southeast. We've got something in the Northeast. Realistically, you know, we've got something for everybody. Yes. Correct. Correct. Yep. Amen. Amen to that. Just got to make sure the pie is big enough.

[01:04:44] Yeah. Well, you know, here's the thing. Anecdotally, going to the last couple of tour stops, I've been meeting people that played 20, 30 years ago that have come back. That suddenly said, hey, I've got a renewed interest in this. I noticed it looks different. And it kind of reminds me of the old days. I'm going to play again. Let's go. Not the least of which would be Dave Gummison. You know, back. Tom, I heard a lot. I heard a lot of that this weekend here in Minnesota.

[01:05:12] A lot of the old guys that used to play on TS Tour. Yep. They all came out. Doug came out. Doug didn't play in the tournaments. And Mike Bells didn't play in the tournament. But a lot of the old guys that played back then, they were out here and they're having a blast. And they're all getting, just getting back into foosball and enjoying the competition. And yeah, it was fun watching the guys get in there and competing and just kind of reliving their past. It was fun.

[01:05:40] May I say as well, kudos to Don Shalifo at Illinois State with Ryan Moore taking the open doubles. Yeah, that's awesome. Don. That's awesome. Don just turned, what, 76? Yep. He's a stud. He had a pretty good partner. Well, it doesn't hurt. Yeah, yeah. It doesn't hurt. He was always really good at partner selection. He was one of his friends. Make no mistake.

[01:06:09] Don rock solid, buddy. Even when we played with someone. Sure doesn't hurt having Ryan Moore as your partner. I had some battles with Don back in the day. No doubt. Love the guy. Good for Donnie. Good for Donnie. Yeah. Here's a funny idea. Just kind of popped into my head. What about having a tournament featuring all the promoters from across the country playing in one quick mini tournament?

[01:06:35] If you're a promoter or a media person in foosball, you play in a group of other people of like minds and a bunch of promoters get together and try to fight each other on the table. What do you think about something like that? Best fight on the table? Best fight? Just saying. No, best fight. Fight after. We'll play first. Back in the day. Back in Houston in the day.

[01:07:01] I'll bet you all right now that WFT does something like that. You think? Yes. Wouldn't that be fun? He's a promotions kind of guy, and he's just going to pick up on what you just said. And I got a dollar bet. Says he's going to do it. Okay. By the end of 2007. Yeah. Interesting. Well, the ideas are flowing.

[01:07:27] By the way, and I have to mention one of the most famous photographs of, well, shall we say, back in your prime, Steve, was you standing on a table, glaring. Glaring at a group of people, and the audience is stunned. Mark Torres actually is in the shot looking quite alarmed that you're standing on the table. Tell us more about that moment. Why were you standing on the table, and what were you doing? Oh, my goodness. Yeah.

[01:07:55] Last time I saw that picture, I said, what is this fool doing? That was a, I think I had just beat Tracy McMillan for third in open singles, and we were both jacked up to the ceiling. I mean, the adrenaline was going like you wouldn't believe, and it was a high-energy match. Tracy was an up-and-coming player, and he was tough as nails. And I think I pulled it out somehow, and me, the cocky fool that I was, I jumped up on the table acting like an idiot.

[01:08:25] But, yeah, that's what that was all about. Steve was a beast. I'm telling you, Steve was a beast. All right? I don't know. There's no one I can even compare you to or compare to you. He was a beast. I look at that picture, Tom, and I just go, oh, my God, what the hell was I doing? Well, hey, at least you weren't Johnny Horton. I mean, there's that, you know. You know what, though?

[01:08:50] I miss the Johnny Hortons and the Don Swans and the characters, the Tommy Atkinsons, all those guys that brought excitement. And just everybody wanted to watch them guys play, you know? I mean, there was a period of time where all that, I don't want to call it theatrics or whatever, but because of the strict rules and all the crazy, hey, did you jar me, hey, you know, whatever, just all of a sudden the characters went away.

[01:09:18] And I just thought, man, that hurt the game because Johnny Horton wasn't a perfect individual, but he was perfect for the game of foosball. Don Swan wasn't a perfect individual, but he was perfect for the game of foosball and everything in between. But, yeah, I just missed some of the characters that I used to play that brought additional excitement. I mean, back in tennis, we had McEnroe and we had Connors, right? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. You got to have guys like that. Steve, you were one of those characters, by the way.

[01:09:48] I'm not sure about that, but you were one of them. And, of course, it made my job easier, right? Having these theatrical is the right word, I think. Fireworks. These entertainers who are also great foosball players, to have that side of it as well made my job more fun and easier as well. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. You know, if memory serves, Randy Raposo, I think if he was given half the permission that he needs, he'd be one of those guys, too. Just saying, Randy. Randy can talk, man.

[01:10:18] Randy table talk was always one of his strengths. I would bet on Randy. I would bet on Randy. And he's lost a little bit since he moved to Alabama, you know? Right. No, no, no, no. Hey, prove it. Prove it. No, no, no. It's, I have, you know, it's just a different way of life down here.

[01:10:44] You have to, you know, being honest is being mean. So I have to, I haven't changed. I still, trust me. But you're a country gentleman now. Very much so. Yes, sir. I am a country gentleman. Yes, sir. 100% country gentleman. Mm-hmm. Yeah. That's, we'll stick with that. And he's got a little sprinkle of ginger in there, just saying, from his lady wife, you know. No, no, I've ruined her. Oh, boy.

[01:11:16] Oh, I can't imagine. Oh, man. Can't imagine. But no, guys, this is, this is, this has gone on for a long time. Cause I just, I love the fact that we can reminisce about these, these times that people like myself who I can only romanticize because I wasn't there. But, but to talk about it, to hear about it, it just, it just, I could do it for a long time. I gotta say, you guys are the best.

[01:11:42] Um, and it's so cool to have you back together in the same place, uh, at the same time. This is, uh, this is cool. Amen. One thing, you know, one thing, Tom, I know when we were doing the show, we would have, um, some of the aforementioned players from, from Minnesota or players who played back in the 1970s. And it was amazing how vivid their memories were of that time period. Yep.

[01:12:04] They couldn't remember what they had for breakfast yesterday or couldn't remember anything from maybe the nineties or two thousands, but they remembered everything from the 1970s, early eighties. When they were out on tour, they would remember specific balls and specific matches because it was such an amazing part of their lives. Right. Yeah. And I think for Steve and I as well, we can do that maybe in a different fashion. I don't necessarily remember every ball I played.

[01:12:26] I don't remember every match I commentated, but there are certain things that stand out in our memories from, especially the early days of the nineties, um, on into the two thousands for me going international, et cetera. But foosball just creates such great memories for all of us. And, and hopefully, uh, lots of players can, can show up in Texas, uh, and create some new memories as well. So Randy, I'm going to, I'm going to ask you to, uh, to ask anything you want at this stage. What, what is it you'd like to ask these two before we let them go?

[01:12:56] No, I've got nothing to ask. Uh, um, I've asked everything I've wanted to ask. I'm just thankful. Uh, I'm thankful they were able to come on and give us some time. Uh, I'm going to do my best to get to Texas this year. Anybody listening, uh, if you have a chance, uh, be there, obviously, uh, it's going to be a great tournament. I've been to one Texas state and it was amazing. And, and every year I try to get back. It's, uh, you know, Steve Murray does a wonderful job. His crew's amazing. Texas state is a tournament.

[01:13:25] It should be, uh, just an every year thing. If you can make it, you need to be there. So, uh, Jim Stevens going to be there. It's going to be wonderful. Uh, definitely not an event you want to miss. So, uh, thank you gentlemen for coming on tonight. Thank you for your time. Always appreciated. You know, the doors are always open. So. Thank you guys. So I just want to just go ahead, Jim. No, I just want to say, we'll see, we'll see Tom in Texas. And maybe the three of us and maybe the four of us, if you show, could do this again there. Absolutely. Wouldn't that be cool? Absolutely.

[01:13:55] Yes. I hope we do that. I hope we can do that. So I just want to just throw in some key takeaways. Mm-hmm. Uh, Florida state, Oklahoma state, California state, all coming up next weekend. Local players go support those events. Get out. Have a good time. Be great events. They're, they are very good titles. You're going to want to wear those jackets and carry those titles and, uh, Texas state world series. Uh, don't need to add anything for that, but I will add this.

[01:14:25] We got Jim Stevens back. We're going to have a blast in Texas. I hope everybody comes out. And, oh, the last thing is congratulations, Don Shalifo for winning open doubles at Illinois state. That's awesome. And Ryan too. Who? And Ryan. Who? I didn't say that. I, I just, Donnie. That was good. Yes. That was good. Very cool. All right, fellas. Thanks for, for, uh, letting us get on. Thanks for having us on guys. A lot of fun.

[01:14:55] Jim, it's great, great to, uh, to, to know you're still out there and you're still doing this thing, man. Thank you so much for that. And yes, we'll, uh, we'll, we will cross paths again very, very soon in Texas and looking forward to that. And, uh, who knows, we might even share, share an IPA like the old days. You're going to, I'm going to have you a brand new one down there, buddy. I already got it picked out. You'll find out. Okay. Nice. Okay. Looking forward to that. Well, that's worth the worst, uh, worth, uh, the, the, the price of the, the airline ticket, whatever it might be.

[01:15:25] So we'll see anyway. God bless you. Yeah. Thank you. I really appreciate it. Thank you guys. Randy, thank you so much. And, uh, we will be back. We'll be back together again next week for another edition of Foos Talk Live. This being episode number 296. Our thanks to the great Steve Murray and great Jim Stevens for being with us today, man. This is one for the ages. And thank you again for tuning in on Twitch TV tonight.

[01:15:51] Stick around because we've got a big list when it comes to the Foos Talk Live tournament beat coming your way next time. Now for the Foos Talk Live tournament beats brought to you in part by foosgadgets.com using technology to create a better foosball experience and by Boise Foosworks high fidelity refurbished foosballs. Professional foosball is a game of precision, a matter of accuracy, consistency.

[01:16:17] Boise Foosworks presents the high fidelity refurbished foosball. Meeting the highest tornado ball standards, high fidelity foosballs are soft, quiet, with a true roll and good durability. Exchange your balls with a high fidelity foosball at the best price with a money back guarantee. Contact Mike Veidt on Facebook Messenger or look for him at your next tour stop. Boise Foosworks, saving the planet one ball at a time.

[01:16:46] Since 2019, Foos Gadgets has used innovative ideas to build foosball training tools and accessories. Their goal is to make your foosball practice more fun and effective. Hey Foosers, the Foos Gadgets Speed Bridge is a great tool for all of you practice-aholics out there like I am. From the Foos Gadgets Speed Bridge to the Tornado Gold Guard to the Gold Guard Plus, visit the site for a great selection and pricing. Foos Gadgets.com, using technology to create a better foosball experience.

[01:17:17] 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. Make plans to attend the 2026 Florida State Championships, sponsored by Roscoe's world-famous Chili Challenge, April 30th through May 3rd at the Huffington Suites Clearwater Beach, Florida.

[01:17:43] Ottawa Foos presents the 2026 Canadian Hall of Fame, May 1st through the 3rd at Tailgaters in Ottawa, Canada. The 2026 Oklahoma State Championships, May 1st through the 3rd. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. More information on the way. Bay Foos announces the 2026 California State Championships, May 1st through the 3rd. California Billiards, Fremont, California.

[01:18:11] Wyco Foos presents the Spring Tournament at Farmcraft Brewery, Saturday, May 16th at Farmcraft Brewery, Strikersville, New York. The 2026 $1,000 Arkansas State Championships, May 16th at Little Rock, Arkansas. The ITSF presents the Tornado World Series and Texas State Championship, May 22nd through May 25th at the Westin DFW Airport Hotel, Dallas, Texas.

[01:18:38] 518 Foosball presents the Jammin' June Smashdown, Saturday, June 6th. Trick Shots Billiards and Wicked Eatery, Clifton Park, New York. The World Foosball Tour presents the 2026 National Championships and North American Cup, June 24th through the 28th. Caesars Casino and Hotel Elizabeth, Indiana.

[01:19:00] Don't miss the 2026 Mississippi State Foosball Championships, July 23rd through the 26th, Pearl, Mississippi. Stay tuned for more details. It's the 2026 Ohio State Championships, July 30th through August 2nd, Columbus, Ohio. More details coming up. Canada Foosball presents the 2026 Vancouver Island Foosball Championships, August 14th through the 16th. Courtenay Legion, Courtenay, British Columbia.

[01:19:30] The World Foosball Tour presents the 2026 World Foosball Championships, September 2nd through the 6th at the Hyatt Regency, New Orleans, Louisiana. It's the 2026 Great Lakes Classic, now scheduled for October 15th through the 18th. We'll keep you posted on the details. The North Carolina State Championships, scheduled for November 26th through the 29th. More details soon to be released.

[01:19:56] It's the 20th Annual 2026 Louisiana State Championships, December 3rd through the 6th. Stay tuned for lots more details. 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 in part by foosgadgets.com,

[01:20:26] using technology to create a better foosball experience. And by Boise Foos Works, high-fidelity refurbished foosballs. Foos Talk Live is a product of Foosball 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.

[01:20:54] In the meantime, we'll see you foosin'. Foos Talk Live. and we'll see you foos snoring.