FoosTalk Live | Ep 305 | Sean Greene & Chase Pennell Pro Doubles Winners

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[00:02:13] I know it's a day late. But nonetheless, I hope you had a great 4th of July weekend. I'm Tom Robinson. It's episode number 305. And, man, we've got a great one for tonight. There's no doubt about that. We're still reeling from last weekend's big tournament. It was the 2026 World Foosball Tour National Championships and North American Cup. And, man, we had a blast. It was so much fun. Really good venue. Really great location.

[00:02:42] And, of course, as has been happening now for the last year and a half, Ryan Moore and company, they have really stepped up their game. Pardon the pun. And it was just phenomenal. Just a great time. So glad we had a chance to be there and to observe the incredible competition that took place. So, nonetheless, it's always great to talk about foosball. But if you're going to talk about foosball, you better have somebody who loves the game and can win,

[00:03:11] which would be Chase Pennell. Or Chase Pennell. Sorry. I keep working. You know, I've been practicing your name. Chase Pennell. Chase Pennell. I keep saying it again and again so I can, you know, kind of get that down. And yet it slips out. What can I tell you? The more red – I say this to everybody. The more redneck you can say it, the more right you actually are. So it's like, hey, panel. That's, like, the most accurate that you can, like, get. That does it. Okay. All right. Well, Chase, panel. Panel? Yeah, that'll work. Yeah, I'll take that all day. Yeah, yeah.

[00:03:41] Okay. Okay. And, you know, here's the amazing thing, that you convinced your partner to come on the show tonight from Pro Doubles. I'm not sure – how much did you have to pay him to come on the show tonight? I'm just wondering. My half. I had to pay my half, you know? Your half of winnings? I still haven't received it, Tom. I see. Waiting – it's in the mail. It's that set. I don't – United States Postal Service is a little slow, Sean. Yeah, I get it.

[00:04:09] So from the Carolinas, you know, you're from North or South Carolina? North Carolina. North Carolina. Great state of North Carolina. It's Sean Greene. Welcome to the show, Sean. Thank you, man. Glad to be here. Yeah, and you relocated to New York City, I see, tonight. Well, you know, you're right. Well, we've already argued if it's New York or Chicago and it's whatever A I put there. It's a beautiful skyline, nonetheless. The sun is setting.

[00:04:37] So, guys, just a quick question. Do you guys have a great Fourth of July? Yeah, absolutely. Cool. Yeah, it was awesome. Took the kids to see some fireworks, hung out. It was great. Nice. A little pool time. And we actually went – my wife and I went to the McCall's house, and we had a low-down country boil. Nice. Very cool. It was a great time. So, explain for those of us who are dwelling in a different part of the country, what is a country boil?

[00:05:07] It's basically crab legs, shrimp, sausage, potatoes, and, you know, a bunch of other things that's thrown out on a table and you grab what you want. Nice. Oh, well, that sounds amazing. This dog, I'm sorry. They're delicious, just to be clear. And would you like to introduce your co-host tonight, Sean? This is my lap dog, Dexter. Hey, Dexter. He's special. Yeah.

[00:05:37] He definitely is in love. There's no question about that. That's my buddy. His head is bigger than yours. Wow. I'm well aware. He's like, all bullshit aside, he's bigger than my wife. No doubt. Now, how does he react to fireworks? He doesn't have any care in the world about them. Nice. Okay. Good to know. Not a care. Yeah. Yeah. No, it's the northeastern part of the country. There was lots going on here.

[00:06:07] There was a lot of fireworks displays in our area. But, you know, something my wife and I are to the point of, eh, whatever. You know, so we had a nice barbecue and just kind of chilled. You know, just kind of relaxed. There's nothing wrong with that. Yeah. Sometimes no plans are the best plans. Exactly right. Yeah. Tell your wife that. Yeah. Oh, she had plans. Oh, she dragged me out of bed this morning.

[00:06:35] She wanted to go out and play pickleball. So I'm like, all right, all right, I'll get up. Dang it. But, you know, pickleball is the orthopedist dream. Right? No kidding. And she took me, what, three out of five. So, yeah. Just lend base to me three out of five. So I have to admit that, you know, I'm just not a very faithful pickleball player. What can I tell you? I get that. You know, I made that mistake once, Tom.

[00:07:04] Actually, on my wife and I's first date, we played ladder ball, and I let her win. Ooh. And then she found out that I let her win, and now she'll never play it again with me. And she even had shirts made that says, like, ladder ball champion in the year that it was. And she will not play me again. So she's kind of a jerk face. Serves you right. I mean, come on. You know. I mean, I really tried. I'm telling you guys, I really tried. And it just wasn't in the cards. So... Yeah, I get that.

[00:07:34] But what she doesn't realize is that, really, in the end, I'm the one that won. Ah. It's true. Very true. It worked. The bottom line, it worked. Well... I agree. I'm going to ask you both this question, because, you know, you walked away with the Pro-Doubles title. And, Sean, you got the single, the Pro-Singles title. What was the treatment when you walked through the door? Was there fanfare? Was there welcome home? And, like, you know, were there friends and family there to welcome you back?

[00:08:03] So, well, a couple things. Let me... Chase is hard. Right? Listen, let me tell you. First off, all of our local people have been fantastic. They reached out immediately after the match. We have a tournament in Charlotte on Friday nights. And apparently they were watching the tournament when I won Pro-Singles. So I got immediate, like, just a plethora of texts, you know, congratulations, which is awesome. Cool. Because I love all my local guys, you know? And on the way driving home, we were actually on the phone with my wife.

[00:08:33] And Chase is like, look, telling my wife, he said, when he gets home, you need to bow. Oh! And listen, it took her... I love this woman with every bit of my heart. And then, you know, so she did not do that, obviously, when I came home. I mean, she was very happy. And she knows that it was, you know, a big deal, at least to me. Right. You know, and she was very, very congratulatory.

[00:09:02] And then a couple days later, she decided to put on all this, like, training equipment and all this stuff. And then she bowed. And I took a picture of it, so I have proof. You gotta have evidence. That's it. It was just... I think she did it out of pure spite, to be honest. I love it. You know, if it wasn't for the wives in our lives, would we be doing this, right? You know, would we be able to get away with it? I'd be a degenerate.

[00:09:31] I would 100% be dead. Yeah, right. No, I hear you. I hear that. Oh, yeah, you would be. Like, literally. How about yourself? He'd actually be dead. Chase, how about you? What happened to you when you walked through the door? So, actually, my boys, like, came out. Well, that's not 100%. One of my boys came out and was like, congratulatory. The other two didn't know. Didn't know? So, didn't know. So, we went out to the back patio. Actually, Sean was there.

[00:10:00] We went out to my back patio by the pool. The kids were in the pool when we pulled in. And we told them that we did this, like, that we won. And the kids are like, nah. Well, at first, they were like, no way. And then they said, did you win money? And Chase said, yeah. He said, can we have $100? Ooh. They didn't drop it for, like, a solid 10 minutes, either. They were like, no, no, no. Give us $100. You should give us $100, for sure. Well, why wouldn't you? Taught them well, I guess.

[00:10:31] You know. Take handouts. But, no. My wife was really happy for me, too. Like, she knew it was a big deal. Okay. You know, Sean and I have been making this running joke. So, let's preface this. Sean, myself, my wife, and his wife all are in a group chat. Like, on our phones. Oh, yeah. There you go. And it's absolutely hilarious. I can imagine. I will say Chase has quickly learned not to try to have a wit battle with my wife. Uh-oh. No.

[00:11:02] You'll do it. She will beat you senseless. She's quick and sharp. To the point. Very much so. Very pointed. And you know what? Sean knows I love Michelle. So, I finally got to meet her at tour kickoff, and she's awesome. Oh, nice. Very good. But, we keep making, like, this joke, like, well, you know, we're the national champions. Like, so we, like, text that back. There's that. Like, messing with our wives, though.

[00:11:30] It's, like, an inside joke to our wives at this point now, where, like, we kind of tease and have fun with it. Of course. Yeah. Well. I agree. Yeah, I would hope they wouldn't let you get away with it. Plain and simple. No. You know? No. Him and I get away with nothing. No. So, Sean, you know, it's customary that when a player first appears on Foos Talk Live, Foosball Radio, it's very important we get those basic questions out of the way. So, okay. Let's do it.

[00:11:58] So, when was the first time you saw a foosball table? How old were you? And what kind of table was it? All right. So, the first time I ever saw a foosball table, I was probably eight years old on roller skates at Skate Haven in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Skate Haven. It was a Rene Pierre table back in the day. Rene Pierre. Now, this is what year? Now, Tom, we don't talk about eight. Let's see.

[00:12:27] That was, geez, that was 40 years ago. 40? 40 years ago. And you were, okay. So, you're eight. Okay. That's believable. Okay. It's been a minute. And then I didn't see really, I mean, we played while we were there and we thought we knew what we were doing. Yeah. Obviously, that, you know, that perspective has changed substantially at this point.

[00:12:50] But then I, you know, then after schooling and all that, when I was in my 20s, I was at a bar with a friend of mine. And Charles McIntosh walked in to service the table that they had there. Oh. Yeah. Tornado. Well, and Charlie and I kind of struck up a conversation. And he had, he was, you know, changing the balls out and doing all that. And he asked if I wanted to play. And, you know, me thinking, oh, I know how to play this. Sure. I was like, sure.

[00:13:19] So, he beat me about 10 games in a row. And I don't think I ever scored a point. Oh, my God. And I don't know if Chase has told you, I hate losing way more than I like winning. Uh-huh. And so, you know, after all this, he told me about a weekly tournament that they have in Greensboro, which was about 15, 20 minutes from my house. And at this tournament were amazing players.

[00:13:45] I'm talking, you know, you had Rick Macias, Charlie McIntosh, Jason Boone, the McCalls, Larry Sproul, Leo Canoy. I mean, I could go on. Wow. I mean, he had a fantastic base. And most of them were high amateurs, experts, and above, right? Mm-hmm. And that was in 2002, in September. Okay. And I'll try to make this short story longer or long story short. No, no. It's fascinating.

[00:14:13] So that was 2002, in September. And the North Carolina State Tournament is in November every year, Thanksgiving weekend. And so, in 2002, I went to my first North Carolina State Tournament and went out two straight in every event I played in, except for the two DYPs. And in one DYP, I drew Mike Yor, who used to tour with Billy. It's Tom's brother. Oh, yeah. Sure. And in the other DYP, I drew Bruce Nardosi. Huh. Okay.

[00:14:42] And they were both fantastic, both very easy to play with. They didn't get down on me, you know. Both took some time to show me some things. And I still see Mike, you know, at tour events now. You know, I give him a bunch of shit about it. Of course. But, you know, and then that was in 2002. And then in 2003, the very next year, I won beginner doubles, beginner singles, rookie singles. I think I won four events. Oh, in one tournament.

[00:15:12] Right. But that was, you know, again, it was the lower rate of rated events like beginner doubles and beginner singles. Oh, sure. To me, that was, you know, quite an accomplishment. You know, that was my goal was to just not go out too straight. Mm-hmm. Yeah. That was kind of the start of it all. So your competitive spirit really kicked in early. It did. Yeah. Well, I've always been a very competitive person. You know, I competed nationally in gymnastics. I did a bunch of other things. Oh, no kidding.

[00:15:42] You know, it's stuck in there and I can't get out. Yeah. Yeah. It seems to be a common thing, as you mentioned earlier. You hate losing more than you like winning. Very much so. Yeah. I think that sums it up. I think, you know, I think Chase can also reflect that too. I've noticed that about you, Chase, that that is abhorrent. Well, he should have held on to that when he was playing Callum.

[00:16:13] Deep. Hey, I got my revenge. I got my revenge. Too soon. Sorry. Too soon. Too soon. It would have been you and me in the final. That's true. Now, is this pairing, you two working together the way you did in this tournament, was this the first time you'd actually teamed up? For pro. For pro, yes. Okay. Um, we, okay. A little bit of a backstory.

[00:16:39] We decided we were going to play pro at, at, or no, was it, was that before TKO? It was before TKO, right? It was before TKO. So we decided we were going to play open doubles at TKO. And so there was a small tournament in Knoxville or, right? And so we're like, okay, I'll come up. It was a bring your partner. And Chase and I literally got our butts handed to us. And I don't, I mean, honestly, listen, it was nothing. The other guys just absolutely played stellar. Oh, sure.

[00:17:09] You know, Thomas Dyke, for instance, um, just incredible play that day. And, you know, we, it was really a blessing because it was the best thing that could have happened to us. Okay. We went out too straight. I'll be wholly apparent here. Or, you know, and we, uh, we went out too straight. We went back to Chase's house and I, and we said, okay, we've got to figure out something

[00:17:33] that we can be on the same page because I don't think it was the lack of ability on the table. I think it was the unsurety of the expectations of each other at the time of play. Okay. So when I was looking for something, he was looking at something different and it just didn't, it didn't align. Right. It didn't click. So we went back to Chase's house and devised a plan.

[00:18:02] I'll just leave it at that to where we could be on the page. And ever since that, it's been a wholly different game. So it's really comes down to the communication between the two of you, uh, and establishing if, if X happens, then Y has to occur. And if Y happens, then Z has to occur. And, and something like that. To an extent. Yeah. To an extent. I mean, if you, if you're not one thing, I will say it, especially in the higher ranks,

[00:18:32] if the two players are not a cohesive unit. And I will say there's only one, like Jason and I work really well together. Jason McCall is, I love playing with Jason because I don't have to worry about him. He doesn't worry about me. We know what to expect. He is just, I love playing with him, you know? And that's just kind of, he's the other guy I play with, you know?

[00:18:54] And I have a lot of respect for both of their games, you know, and it's just, they are different in their own ways and they both have strengths and weaknesses apart from each other. But as long as we can communicate correctly, then it all works. You know? Now, now both of you have a pretty, pretty mean forward game. So what was it just a decision beforehand that Chase, you were going to, you were going to play the pit? I mean, what happened there?

[00:19:24] That's really simple. Have you seen his two bar? Yes, I have. A few times. In fact, he was showing me some stuff. Yeah. So I would, I would say this. I think defensively, we have very different styles of play defensively. And his two bar is a thousand times better than mine will ever be. And that's, I'm totally okay with that. Right.

[00:19:52] But in the forward position, I feel like my five bar is a little more diverse and has a little, you know, I make adjustments a little faster on the five. And so that kind of lends itself to why not have the firepower in the back and be able to adjust in the front. Right. And that's really what it boiled down to. So we decided that was what we were going with.

[00:20:14] And we did make some switches during the tournament at, you know, pretty key times just to give the other team something to adjust to. Got it. For a prime example, there was a match. I'm not going to say who it was against, but I wasn't blocking to save my life, to be honest. I was getting lit up. And Sean, it was early in the match. And Sean's like, let's switch real quick. And I stayed up front for a couple of balls, scored a couple of balls. And Sean was really confident on blocking this guy and got some really key blocks.

[00:20:45] And I was watching his D and we took a timeout or maybe it was in between games or something. And I turned to him, I'm like, I've got it now. I see what you're doing to him. We switch back. The dude scores like one more. Okay. Yeah. So we actually, we were down 3-0 in that game. And that's when I said, okay, we've got to change this up because, you know, it was just the style of how the guy was shooting and stuff. And I was like, Chase, he won't score anymore. You know? Okay. You literally said that to me. Yeah.

[00:21:15] And we came back and won that game 5-3. And then we switched back. And it was kind of, you know, Chase had figured out, saw what I was doing. Yep. And, you know, I was kind of, and the adjustments really makes all the difference in the world. Gosh. You know, even when we were playing, we were playing Sully and Isabel. Those are so good. They are ruthless. They are. They are so good. They are a cohesive unit.

[00:21:42] And I give all the credit in the world to them. They are phenomenal players. Interesting. It was a really, really interesting match to watch, I've got to say. And I kept thinking to myself, how do you guys do this? Because you know Sullivan is going to get a certain percentage. She's just, she's going to do it. Doesn't matter what you guys do. She's going to score a certain percentage. What was the conversation like when you felt like, hey, this may slip out of our grasp here for a second.

[00:22:11] What was the conversation like in your time out? I don't know what that conversation was. Okay. Well, I got to be honest. I don't think there was ever that, you know, look of it as this is slipping away. I felt, you know, the discussions that we had were like more of, we're in this, let's make this adjustment to give us a little better, you know, I don't want to say advantage.

[00:22:38] But if we make this adjustment, it'll kind of give us a little more time. Right. Right, right, right. You know, and so it wasn't like, I don't think we ever felt we were, you know, in trouble in the match. But I felt like, you know, we had to make adjustments to keep it tight. Right. You know what I mean? Yeah. That's 100% right.

[00:22:59] No, it just seemed like, especially as it got further and further, closer to the end, Sean, you seemed to step on the gas when it came to your three row. So I, and I told Chase actually about halfway through the second game, I picked up on something. I can't really say what it is because it's part of the plan. Yeah.

[00:23:21] I did pick up on something and I kind of just stayed on that, you know, and I felt like until they make the adjustment, I'm not going to readjust. Right. Right, right, right. You know, and I think, I don't know what the percentages were, but it was, I shot a pretty high percentage from the middle of the second game throughout the match. And I just want, I just, and I told Chase, just get me the ball. I just want the ball. Yeah. But I'll tell you what, Sully does not let anybody pass. No. No, she doesn't.

[00:23:50] They were. They were coming back at Chase faster than he was sending them. And so at one point I was like, well, Chase, looks like we're not passing, bud. Yeah. So a part of our game is pass heavy early on, especially. I mean, that's not a, that's a, that's a known fact. That's not some secret that is going to be leaked out. But you have to respect my two rod at the same time. Oh, of course.

[00:24:14] So if, if you don't let us pass, something else is going to open up. Right. And in that match, those girls were all over our passes. They clearly had watched matches of us playing earlier. They knew what we were kind of looking for to some degree. Cause they didn't want that to happen. Like that was apparent in the first game. And about what was it about halfway through the second game, there was a timeout called Sean kind of was like, Hey, I see this. Do you see this too? I'm like, definitely.

[00:24:44] And then he's, and he's just like, dude, don't pass anymore. Just let it rip. I'm like, okay. Okay. Yeah. Trust, trust in yourself. And if it comes off their men, I'll get it. I'll take it off their men. I mean, it's just, but I will say we expected because chase hits the ball pretty damn hard. And throughout the tournament, most of the people that got, you know, a man on his shots, I could reel it in on the three. Isabel. I don't think she let one single ball come back.

[00:25:14] It was one. And it was in the third game. Huh? One ball. I appreciate that one. Yeah. But every other one, dude, she kept unbelievable. Yeah. It's amazing. They play so good. I mean, think about, you know, the, the scene that they have and, and I mean, they cleaned up again when it came to the, uh, the, the, the, the national cup, um, you know, for, uh, Louisiana again, taking the cup this year.

[00:25:44] What a, what a solid group of players. Just, well, they're amazing. I will tell you, it was really funny. Actually. When we finished that pro doubles match, um, Munoz walks over and he says, congratulations guys on winning open women's doubles. Oh, Oh, it was mean. Oh, it was. It was well played. It was. Thanks man. You know, it was. It was, it was funny. I did. I laughed pretty hard about that. Oh yeah.

[00:26:12] Well, here's the thing that, that, uh, strikes me the most recently is that there are women, uh, Sullivan, Isabel, Hannah. I mean, these individuals are as equal to their, their, their male counterparts as any women ever. Um, they're, they're a threat in the open. Plain and simple, right. Um, they're, they're knocking on the door, like, like, uh, like any good pro foosball player should be.

[00:26:42] And I, I do believe there's going to be a very, uh, in the near future here, we're going to see some, some, uh, some major movement from, uh, from all of them. Um, I agree. Whether it be singles or doubles. Hannah has more points. Hannah's going to be a pro master. Yeah. Hannah's going to be a male pro master in doubles by the end of the year, at the end of the year. Okay. Yeah. For sure. Okay. And it's well-deserved. I mean, she's not only is she intelligent, she's a good person and she's a beast. Oh yeah. Unbelievable.

[00:27:09] Um, and, and her husband, Bracklin, um, you know, since I've seen him play, I mean, he's come a long way in a very short period of time. He's, uh, he's definitely playing at an expert or low pro, uh, rate at this state, at this state of his game. Oh yeah, for sure. So I just met him actually at, at, um, at nationals and I went and introduced cause I've known Hannah since she was first started coming out. Right. And, and I've always thought a lot of her and you know, that whole little family and her mom's phenomenal.

[00:27:38] I mean, just a good group of people. And so I went and introduced myself to Bracklin cause I hadn't met him, but he seems like a really nice guy. Oh, really? So nice guy. Very competitive dude too. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Super competitive dude. I appreciate that. It is pleasure of facing him a few times now on the table. Just saying. I've had to play him in a couple of years. I don't think. Okay. Which is crazy. Yeah. It was, uh, I think TKO, I played against him at expert doubles.

[00:28:06] Um, and we were doing well up until that point. So suddenly things came to a screeching halt. Um, he rips the ball. Oh, I will tell you it's, it is amazing how much the, your local scene and the people that you play regularly affect your game. Yep. Oh yeah. You know, it is, it's, it's incredible. It really is. It's, uh, I, I think, you know, especially when it comes to the, uh, the camaraderie, I

[00:28:33] mean, obviously Louisiana, they have, they have the most, uh, they have the deepest squad, but they also support each other so well. And I agree. Well, big time. Oh yeah. We felt it. We felt it for sure. Right? Yeah. Well, I mean, in that final, I mean, they're, they were on both sides of the stands. Like they were in the, they were in the stands themselves. They were at the seats. Like you could feel it on the table. Like we felt like the villains.

[00:29:00] Like we knew that early on that we felt like the villains in that match. Like we had like three people rooting for us in the stands. Interesting. Kudos to those guys. Yeah. Kudos to you guys. We appreciate you. Right. But, uh, does that make you guys play harder? I don't think it changed. It didn't change anything. No. In any way, because I try to play each ball as its own ball. Right.

[00:29:25] And so, you know, external forces, and I don't know if that's just from gymnastics and being judged so tightly for lack of a better term. Um, you, you kind of learn to get past the external influences. Right. Right. You have to focus just on what you're doing at that moment and nothing else matters. So, I don't think it didn't affect me in any way, honestly, because I expected them to root for their people. Right. So, yeah.

[00:29:55] That's a given. Yeah. It's a given.

[00:30:25] Yeah. I think a lot of that has to do with when it was scheduled. Hmm. Got it. It was super early in the weekend. Um, we, we didn't get there in time either. Right. Right. So, I think that had a lot to do with it. Um, because generally, you know, the higher ranked events are kind of staggered later. Mm hmm. Uh, and, you know, a lot of times in, you know, Kentucky, for instance, I wouldn't come till they'd start Wednesday and I'd come Friday.

[00:30:56] Yeah. You know? And so there's, you know, a lot to be said for that. And when it's that early, you don't want to go to play in that and then have to wait a day and a half to play an event. Correct. Yeah. I gotcha. I think there's more scheduling than anything. Yeah. I know, supposedly this is going to be the last year for the, for the national cup, uh, competition. Uh, and next year at this time, uh, for nationals, uh, it will be the United Foosball League championship. Right. Yep.

[00:31:26] And that makes sense. Yeah. So that'll be really cool. I think. Oh yeah. Oh, no question. And I sat in on that meeting. That was really cool. So what, what are your impressions overall? What, uh, what did you take away from that meeting? Um, the, I, and here's the thing. I, the bottom line from what I heard from Ryan is we want you guys to do what you want to do at your locals. We're going to offer this over here. Um, if you want to use this great. Um, but we're, here's going to be the software.

[00:31:56] Here's going to be the information. You can just rock out at your locals so that everybody can use the same software, be on the same system. Um, which is, I think a great idea because it's going to get a lot of these players that aren't in the system, in the system and they'll get their rating started, all that kind of stuff. Um, but will everybody use the league format? I don't know. I think there's going to be some yeses, some nos from people like Knoxville.

[00:32:25] I think it's going to be difficult to run a league. Okay. Um, the reason for that is we have two pros, one expert and everybody else is amateur and hello. Um, and we have mostly beginners for the most part. Like that is the majority of our field. Um, now given it's going to be a handicap system, so it does give them quite a benefit, but I don't think they're going to want to pay to play each week. Our, our weekly is free to come. Oh, it's come in, hang out. It's, it's foosball all night.

[00:32:55] We play a monster. There's really no payout or anything, but it's foosball all night. And it gets anybody that wants to come in and play to come in and play. Right. Um, which is the whole point of our locals and stuff is we want to get the new players. We want to build a base. We want to build up to have more and more players. So for us, I think it's going to be tricky. I think we'll, what we'll have to do is probably run our normal local and then have a match over on table, whatever. Okay. Okay.

[00:33:24] Um, and I think only a select amount of people want to do that, but I'm fine with that. I think that'll be okay. So. You know, my, my only issue in, and this may be something that's being addressed or has already been addressed with the league is in areas, for instance, like Knoxville, where it's a substantial number of beginners and amateurs.

[00:33:47] If they are gaining points in the local scene without touring, it is totally different. Right. Oh yeah. Um, because if you know, they're, they're winning and they're doing, you know, doing well locally, when you go to a national tour stop, for instance, or a larger tournament, the competition is substantially better. Oh yeah. And that's, that's not to say anything against Knoxville in any way, but you get accustomed

[00:34:14] to playing these same people and you learn their preferences. You learn, you know, what they like to do. And so when you go to play other amateurs that may have the same number of points, it just may be a little bit of an uneven playing field is all I'm saying. Right. Um, so that, that's my concern with it. Yeah. I think one of the things to the message that, uh, that Ryan was also trying to get across was he wanted to encourage the locals to do more for beginners, like a beginner night.

[00:34:43] Um, which I think is a great concept. I, uh, I think in, in our situation in, in upstate New York, we have a core of, you know, 12 to 14 pretty steady players. And most of them are probably amateur or better. We have some experts. We have, uh, we have a couple of pros. And of course we have three, uh, pro masters, but the, uh, the idea of getting more, more beginners. Now somebody would have to be, uh, available for another night.

[00:35:12] So right now Fridays are our main night, but we do Mondays for pickups, but it would have to be another night when, when the pros and everybody else is not involved. So not sure how that would work. Yeah. And I get, you know, there's a conversation to just have it on a separate table. Yeah. You know, same night, separate table. Mm-hmm. And that, I think that probably makes more sense than anything. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Agreed. Agreed.

[00:35:38] It really boils down to having enough people to do it and make it, make it sustainable. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, you know, sustainability in any sport, right? I think we're, we're, uh, especially when it comes to the, the idea of a group of people getting together at all levels and somebody inevitably is going to get their ass kicked on a regular basis. Yeah. And, you know, they may not like that and they may not show up again. Right.

[00:36:08] So, you know, and it boils down to your personality, right? Like for me, I hate losing some people. Excuse me. Let me make that stop. I'm trying to, I'm watching the world cup. Sorry guys. Ah, so there is that. Um, I think that there are two different types of people in this world. There are people that take a loss as a challenge and there are people who take a loss and say, well, that sucked.

[00:36:37] I'm not doing anything again. Right. You know? Right. And to become, especially in foosball where the skill gap is such a large area from beginner to master, like it is, the skill gap is humongous. Right. And you have to be devoted and almost to the point of obsessed to really grow in the sport, you know? Right. Right, right, right. Sport game, whatever you want to call it.

[00:37:06] You know, I'm not on either of those fences, but it's something that you really have to dedicate a lot of time to. Oh, it's, well, case in point. I mean, you've got foosball clubs, USA, they're, they're spending their entire month of July hanging out in New York city. And, uh, Michael stall is like just one of the best dudes ever. Yeah. He's a stud. He's just a great guy. You know, he texts, he actually texted me, um, after saying, I think after both actually,

[00:37:36] but he's, you know, if there's one person that I would pick to be an ambassador for the sport, that's the guy. It's Michael. Yep. Well, it's Michael stall, Sullivan rue, Isabel Steli, Terry. Um, I could go on. And, you know, Jacob Alcos, there, there's a few that I think are just kind of on a different level as far as the ability to get people to see the game. Right. Right. Right.

[00:38:02] And once you, once people see the game as not a bar game, it changes everybody's perspective. Oh, it's, it's, uh, it's a competitive sport. It is a sport and we can, we can, nobody is going to change my mind about that. Uh, it's, uh, it takes a lot of, a lot of, um, training and fortitude and you have to have that, you have to really, you have to have the killer instinct to really do, uh, do well in this sport. Uh, which, uh, most people don't have.

[00:38:32] You know, uh, and it's, it's really funny. So locally, um, hopefully another goal school. What was the school? What's it? And who's playing by the way, Mexico and England and Callum I'm sure is jumping up and down because England scored their second goal. Really? Wow. Has been able to score all cups so far. Now they're scoring on Mexico. Good on them. Yeah.

[00:38:58] But, um, I, I honestly, I lost full train of thought there, but you know, where were we? We were talking about the, the, uh, the idea that, uh, you know, getting people to, to, to understand this is a sport like, like, like European football or soccer, whatever you want to call it, a world cup to get to where those people are right now playing world cup. You want to do the equivalent in foosball. It's just as hard, just as difficult. It's very much so.

[00:39:28] Um, you know, I love the game and when I, I took about 12 years off playing tour and, you know, I was focusing on golf and family stuff and, you know, all those things that needed to be done. And the thing I missed the most were the people. Yes. Um, you know, because it, you really do end up with a family, like this huge extended family that you look forward to seeing.

[00:39:57] Like I was so excited to see Shane Darby. I haven't seen that dude in so long. I just ran off the tug to his neck. Cause I mean, we spent a lot of time together, you know, back early 2000s. Right. Yeah. Goodness. And, you know, you just, Shane and I talked for a while and a lot has happened. You know, in that time. So it's just good to see the people that you haven't seen in so long. Oh, sure. No, it's, uh, that has become very, very apparent in the very short period of time that I've

[00:40:27] spent, uh, on the tour stops. Uh, I think this year is going to be the most I've ever gone on out on the tour stops, but you're right. Every time, you know, you get to meet somebody new, uh, and, and, or see people that you haven't seen in, in, uh, several months and it's like old home day, man. Let's, you know, let's catch up. Let's see what you've been up to. What, uh, what's, what's going on. Great. Really? Absolutely. Yeah. It's really nice. You know, it's, I don't know. I don't even know really how to explain it.

[00:40:57] And it's hard when people ask me, you know, why do you play foosball? And I'm like, how do you explain that? I wouldn't, why wouldn't I play foosball? Of course I play. Right. Um, I'm very curious though, you know, because team effort is one thing and you guys are a great team clearly, but John, you, you also took pro singles. So describe. I think Evan took it easy on me. You think? No, I mean, I don't think Evan has.

[00:41:27] I don't know. You know, honestly, I was telling Chase the other day, I went back and watched that match. Mm-hmm. This just kind of reiterates what I was saying, how I play each ball. Right. I went back and watched the match. He won the first game and he was up or two or four, three in the second game. And I never realized it. Huh? You know, and it, which is really interesting, you know, because I never felt that pressure

[00:41:56] of, I have to do something, you know, and, and I think I hit a couple of pull kicks out of the back that were big at the moment. However, I didn't realize how big, you know, because I was, I was just playing the ball on the table. Um, and so like I told Chase, I mean, I couldn't believe I went back and watched that. I, I, he was one ball away from winning, you know, and I made one or two blocks, um, for the, for the match, you know?

[00:42:25] And I just never really felt that pressure because I, I wasn't looking at the score at all. Right. Critical, critical moments that, that, uh, when you, when you pull them off, obviously it tips the, the, the scale in your direction, but the fact that you're not aware of it necessarily, that's, that's pretty extraordinary. Wow. Not at all. I knew that, I knew that until the last ball goes in and the match is over, you're still in the match. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

[00:42:53] So, and Chase and I were down at points throughout the tournament and I was like, dude, we're in this match. It doesn't matter. You know, we're still here. So I think that perspective helps and leads a lot of, lends a lot of credence to it because you know, there's no, I'm, I'm an old dog, right? I'm, you know, damn near 50 and, but there's still no give up in me. Right. No, I don't, I'm never just going to roll over.

[00:43:19] So, although Michelle McCall likes to think, tell me that when we play matches that I feel like we should win, she tells me that I take it easy for the first half of the game until we're down and then I start playing. Okay. Interesting. That's kind of true. She gives me a lot of flack about it, but she's right. She's probably, but is that, you know, is that in your chemistry though? I mean, is that what you, is that what has to happen for you to step on the gas and just dominate?

[00:43:48] I'll be, I will be completely dominate. That's never happened, but I'll be completely honest. I don't know. All I know is that she gives me shit about it. Right. I think for you, it's honestly, in my opinion of this, cause I've seen it from goal for you. I think it's more of, you're trying to find a something, right? Like you're the whole time you can tell by the way he plays is he's looking for a wrinkle.

[00:44:16] He's looking for a something that is consistently that he can read. And the moment he finds that the whole match shifts. Interesting. Um, so it's adjusting. Yeah, it is. But there's, but it's before he makes the adjustment, there's this like searching. It's like, he's searching for something, right? For the first portion of a match. And once he finds what he's searching for or finds a piece of something that he's searching

[00:44:44] for, the puzzle starts coming together for him. Um, cause that makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. To me, that's what I see back there from you. Cause the second you find it. Yeah. Then it changes. Right. It changes. You know, I was actually telling, I was explaining it to my wife earlier, you know, and if I'm, for instance, you know, you go through ups and downs with your shot. Right. Right. And everybody does like your pull side feels great or your push side feels great, but they very seldom feel both great at the same time.

[00:45:14] Okay. Um, for me, at least like they kind of, it waxes and wanes. Okay. And so if I'm feeling really good on my push side, my first seven or eight shots are all going to be pull side. I don't care if you're there or not. Huh. And there's a, the reason in my mentality is I have to make them worried that I'm going over there. Right. Okay. So then I can lean on what's working correctly.

[00:45:43] You know, so it's, I, like I said, I'm more of a mental player than, you know, raw talent or physicality, you know? Right. So it, it's weird. And I don't always do that, you know, so I'm not telling anything that's going to make anybody, you know, I don't really care because, you know, it's, I, I, I shoot the ball very differently than a lot of people. Like my timing. Yeah. I did notice that. The way I shoot is very different.

[00:46:09] Um, and so that, that, that helps, you know, cause most people aren't, aren't used to blocking a roll over that. I mean, I can shoot both sides standing dead still. Doesn't matter if I'm walking. It doesn't matter. It's really just to kind of see what's moving, what movement is I'm causing when I move the ball. You know, it kind of reminds me of, uh, Mike Philbrook because he, I've played a lot with Philbrook. He, he is. That's my buddy. Yeah. I love that dude.

[00:46:37] His, uh, his, his, uh, shot and he sits on the ball. He just sits on it. And he puts it. He is. Let me tell you, that dude is so patient. Body. He also, he also loads that ball with so much tension when it, when it fires, it's, it's incredible. The ball from like here. We all set the rod here. He's got it like here. Yes, exactly. That is a fact. And he also puts absolute death on it. Yeah. Oh yeah. That ball.

[00:47:07] I feel bad for the ball. He's one of the few people that makes a different noise when he does. Yeah. He does. Him and him and Billy and Rob Atha. Actually. Yeah. They all just really, I don't, it's so crisp. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. You know, I'll, and I'll pick on Mike a little bit. Now, if Mike's five bar was 30% better, he'd be unbeatable. Interesting. Interesting. Yeah. I agree.

[00:47:37] And that's out of love and he knows I love him. So, but. Medium red if you're, and sorry about your luck. But he has one of the best five row shots I think I've ever seen as well. Oh, it's gross. Okay. So I have a story about Mike Philbrook's five bar shot. Okay. So it was in Kentucky. This is back many years ago. And Mary was running match play singles. Mm-hmm. Okay. So I had to play, listen, I had to play Mike Philbrook in open singles in match play.

[00:48:06] And you had to win three out of five, three out of five matches. Mm-hmm. So you had to win essentially nine games. Wow. Okay. It's brutal. So I win the first match. And then about four or five balls into the second match. He won the second match. Then we're in the third match. And three or four balls in. He's got it on his five. And all I hear is boom.

[00:48:39] And I looked at him. I said, do that again. Ooh. So 15 more of those later, I lost the match. No shit. Steve Bell. Steve Bell. Steve Bell. God love him. Comes over and he moved my goalie all the way against this wall. He said, if you put it there, he won't shoot it. Thanks. You could have told me that 20 minutes ago. Right? Oh, man.

[00:49:09] So he absolutely obliterated my soul with that thing. I never saw any of them. I never saw them. Yeah. I had no idea where they were going. I was just, I was so stunned that I was, I was in awe. Honestly, I was like, you know, do it again. So sick. I very much so regretted telling him that. Well, I mean, how often do you see somebody that would, I mean, you don't see that kind of stuff. You just don't see that kind of, uh, kind of shot from the five row. It's just incredible.

[00:49:34] You know, I feel like I have a really good left hook, but his is on a completely other planet. Yeah. Yeah. You know, you know, I don't know, man. Crazy. He was supposed to be in, uh, the, uh, the, the national, the national cop, uh, competition, but had to, uh, cancel out the last second. And, uh, we, we send out, I'm sure he was playing golf instead. Yeah.

[00:50:02] I was going to say, although I know he's had some challenges physically, but, but, uh, no, I, uh, I do miss you, Mike. I hope you come out, uh, for the worlds at least. That'd be cool. Yeah. He's supposed to be, he's supposed to be coming down in September. Okay. To do trips. So I'm pretty sure it's September. I'll have to look through the messages, but, um, we have, um, man, it's a great time. I just really think an awful lot of that guy. Yeah. He really is a, he's, he's one of the, one of the finer human beings we've seen that play

[00:50:32] the, play the game. Um, agreed. So I gotta, I gotta know guys. Um, the chemistry obviously is one thing. And, and of course the level of play, uh, who besides the final match, who gave you guys the worst time as you were approaching the finals, uh, in, in, uh, in nationals? Who's the, who's the toughest team you came up against? I'm going to leave that to chase. Ooh. That's tough.

[00:51:02] That is, I mean, we had some tough matches like throughout, but I don't think there were any that we felt like we were the underdog or we were behind. Yeah. Okay. But we, there was, there was plenty of matches that we had to make adjustments. Yeah. Um, or, or something big had to happen for us. You know, I think, you know, AK and Shane were a, were a pretty tough match. Uh, they were.

[00:51:28] So like, you know, I think they're all tough matches until they're over. Understood. I agree with that. Yeah. That, so the, the two that really stand out to me are AK and Shane and, uh, Callum and Alex. Those are the two that stand out to me the most. Yeah. Um, well, no, I mean, that's if you don't include Sully and Isabel, but. Yeah. If I'm not including the finals, of course. Right. Just to get there. Cause that's a whole nother ball game. Mm hmm.

[00:51:56] Um, but, uh, you know, the, in my opinion, the match against like AK and Shane, um, that was a match of, we had some early reads and we kind of lived and died by our early reads and, and just kept rolling with them. Um, and we just took our percentage and just kept running through that match with our percentage. Nice. I agree. Wow.

[00:52:25] The match against Callum and Alex was a little bit different. That was more of getting a key block or a key on the five or on the three at a big time and making a big pass at a big time. Like that was more about like one break, one something to kind of change the match. Um, the momentum, the momentum, the momentum shifts. God, I can't even speak. Yeah.

[00:52:56] The momentum shifts in that game were very rollercoaster ish. And so, yeah, I feel like, you know, we, I stay normally pretty calm through matches for the most part. Now, obviously I want to win. Right. And, but you know, the rollercoaster in that match, I mean, and I told Chase at one point in the match, I said, look, you're just going to have to start blocking him because I'm not touching.

[00:53:25] It's going to have to start a choice. I mean, uh, I'll be completely Frank, you know, I, I, Callum's five bars, beautiful. Yep. It's gross. Yeah, it is. It really is. It's beautiful. It's, it's very, very smooth. Um, I did get a little bit of a read on a couple of things, which I'm not going to tell him about, uh, listen, just know, just know that he's a bell end and he'll know what that is. I know what that is.

[00:53:55] So I'll leave it there. Yeah. Um, God love him. Well, it's great. Watching the match between, you know, when you guys played Callum, I really, uh, I felt like that was when there was the most doubt, at least as a, as a, an observer, I didn't know who was going to win. Oh, I really didn't. You know, because he was so on fire. Yeah. He, he really was.

[00:54:20] I feel like, I feel like Callum was struggling a little bit with his pull side, which kind of helped. Um, I think if he was firing on all cylinders, it would have, it could have definitely been a different outcome. Right. Right. Right. But, um, again, you know, he's a solid player. He's a great, he's a smart player. He does make adjustments when needed to be. Um, and he's a good guy. So, you know, even when I'm playing, even when I'm playing against him, I almost am kind of rooting for him, which is really dumb.

[00:54:49] You know, it's like, I don't even know how else to really explain that, you know, but, um, it's just, you know, you have to respect every part of his game. Oh yeah. And if you don't, he's going to absolutely just eat you alive. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Seen it over and over again. Just, just how, how effective he is. Um, you know, and that's the other thing that the relationship between people on the table,

[00:55:16] you know, uh, technically speaking, you know, you want to destroy them. You want to make them, you want to humiliate them, you know, that's your goal. Uh, but like, that's why we dink. That's what you think. That's why we dink. The dink. Um, it's, it's, but you know, the, the funny thing about it is too, you can sit down with, you know, with Callum afterwards and have a, and quaff a beer, you know? Oh, sure.

[00:55:46] You know, it's, uh, and talk about, uh, you know, other stuff, uh, aside from what's happening on the table. Although I will say Callum, after we played, I'm pretty sure we both heard, I hate you. We did. Multiple times. It's just who he is, you know, he's just. There was, it was immediately.

[00:56:11] So I stuck a pass on, on Sean and it was, I think in that moment, he literally said that. Yeah. He's like, I hate you. That's okay. Cause we know he, we know he hates us out of love. So it's all love. Yes. It's all love down, down deep. And we love, we love Callum a lot. Speak for yourself. And, uh, and, and I understand he joined you guys in the booth a few times, uh, during the, during the tournament.

[00:56:40] Uh, and you know, Chase, uh, kudos dude, you and, uh, Keith Galan and, and, uh, Callum were doing a fine job of, of, uh, giving us the, the overview of what's happening. Uh, how'd you feel about the, the whole, the whole tournament? Uh, I'm, I loved it. Um, personally, I thought that venue was probably my second favorite to worlds. Okay. Um, I just thought not venue and it's tired. Like I don't like the casino part, um, but the, the room looked amazing.

[00:57:08] That giant foos guy up on the wall looked fantastic on there. I thought it looked so cool, uh, with the American flag on the opposite end, um, the ability to go upstairs and, and look down on the, the whole thing. Like all of that was really cool. You had a really cool setup up there for the record. Like you could see the whole place, like from up there. That was really neat. Um, I felt like my commentating Thursday and Friday was pretty solid.

[00:57:36] Uh, my Saturday, was it Saturday? Saturday was eh. Yeah. I didn't get a lot of great sleep. And then Sunday I brought it back. Right. For the, for the big day. Um, I mean, the big stuff. Yeah. Right. I thought the casino was great. Yeah. You loved it. Are you, what, what do you like to do in the casino? What, uh, what's your favorite game? Uh, I play hold them. Oh, do you? Okay. Texas hold them. I'm with you on that one.

[00:58:02] I mean, if, if I'm going to play anything, uh, I don't dig, uh, the slots at all, but, uh, definitely hold them for sure. Well, like I explained it to chase, I said, you know, if I go to a casino, I don't want to play the game where the casino has the edge. So I play idiots. Drunk idiots. You should add. That's really. Nine times out of 10. Yeah. Yeah. That's, I'd rather play against other players than the casino. Yes. Cause you know, they don't build those casinos by paying people.

[00:58:33] So I got to say an interesting layout. I love the, you know, the fact that we had a beautiful room to play in. It was just awesome. The way it was set up, but, um, the, the hike back and forth, what was the, like a half mile one way, something like that. It was a long way. It was a hike, but if they didn't have those people movers, that would have been miserable. Exactly. Exactly. Right. One thing I would say about the venue that I did not agree with is the way they had the,

[00:59:01] uh, food court inside the, you know, where like, you know, if you weren't 21, you couldn't even get back there to the food court. Correct. So I think that's kind of, um, poorly designed and, you know, for an event like that, you know, the kids need to eat too. Right. Oh yeah. Yeah. They had to have somebody go get food for them and stuff. So I think there could have been something done with that, but overall it was a good experience. Well, even just to, uh, just to leave the room to, to use the restroom. Um, Oh yeah. Have to have an escort. Did you hear that?

[00:59:33] You're what? Wait, what? Anybody under the age of what was it? 18? Yeah. Had to have an escort just to leave the foosball room. They didn't want them like just leaving to go to the bathroom and coming back. Right. Yeah, I did that. So, but I mean, yeah, I didn't know that was a thing. Oh yeah. Yeah. I didn't take anybody that was, you know, 18 years old with me. So I would have taken my kids to that event. Like I would have been miserable.

[01:00:00] Well, you'd have had to be angry, would have been challenging for sure. That would have been tough. And, uh, speaking of younger players, I mean, uh, there were some amazing performances. Uh, junior doubles was killer. Uh, Jaden Loehris just tore it up, man. I mean, yeah. Are you talking about the kid we were watching chase? Dude. There was a young kid and I don't know his name, but I think he's from St. Louis. Kay grizzle. Kelton. Very, very well. Kelton grizzles.

[01:00:30] He was on a table, like warming up or practicing whatever he was doing. And he was absolutely crushing longs out of the back with his two bar. Like super deep, just coast to coast. The rod is at the same height as his shoulder. Yeah. It really caught my attention. And I just sat there and watched him for like 10 minutes. Yeah. You know, it's incredible. It really is. Kelton and his sister, uh, Cora made it to the finals of junior doubles and it was a battle.

[01:00:59] I mean, it was a really, really good. I got a chance to watch and, uh, wow. Kelton is, uh, he's going to, he's going to be a monster very, very soon. Uh, he's, uh, he's 13. He's 13 and he's, you know, he's playing at that level. Um, two years. He's going to be untouchable. No question about it. I just hope, I just hope he keeps the same humility that he has now. Oh, sure. Yeah. He was, I mean, we were saying nice things to him when he was on the table. We're like, do it again, do it again.

[01:01:28] And like, and he's just like looking at us like, okay. He just gave like this little wry smile. It wasn't cocky. It wasn't, you know, anything like that. So kudos to his parents and to him, um, for keeping him humble and understanding that, you know, no matter how good you are at something, there's always somebody better. Right. Right. It's, um, it doesn't matter what you do. They play at, uh, Crane's Clubhouse in St. Louis. Uh, and, uh, they, they have this great, you know, great bunch of people there.

[01:01:57] Of course, uh, Jessica Sanfelbon and, uh, and Paul Smith are part of that crew and clearly are bringing those guys up. Eventually somebody is going to say her name, right? I know. I've, I've, I've, I've actually apologized to her, I think maybe five times now for, uh, for mispronouncing her name. So. Yeah. Is it Steph Laban? No, it's, it's Sant Flavin. Sant Flavin. Sant Flavin. Sant Flavin. That was close. That's my understanding. You're correct. You could be wrong too.

[01:02:27] No, it could very well as well, but you know. I have no excuse. I've never heard anybody's name get butchered as badly as hers. God love her. She's the sweetest thing on earth. She is the best. She really is. She's very, very nice. Very, you know, but it's just funny because she just, she just rolls with it. She's like, yeah, whatever. I can't hear her talk. Literally. You can't hear her. Oh, that's right. We have that conversation. And you're like, what? What did you say? I cannot hear her. Something about the frequency of her voice.

[01:02:56] This thing I've ever seen. I mean, we were in at the concession area, like getting food and her and Sean are talking and I'm just like, I'm asking Sean to tell me what she said. I've never had a person that I cannot like audibly hear them. Like if she turns and talks right at me and I can like look at her lips while she's speaking, I can understand what she's saying. Other than that, I have no clue.

[01:03:26] It's really funny. It's kind of hilarious. Can you imagine if you were married to Jessica and that were the case? I mean. Sounds like he found a perfect wife. I think so. Oh, yes, dear. Yes, dear. Of course. Of course. The smile and nod. That thing gets you. Yeah, just smile and nod all day. You can't do that. That'll get you so much trouble. So much trouble. Don't get me started here. Oh, man.

[01:03:55] So what's up with Worlds for you guys? Are you both going to be there? Yep. That's the plan. Nice. Yes, sir. Pro doubles? Yep. That's the plan. That's the plan. Again, defending champs. I mean. That's the idea. We'll see. We haven't won any Worlds. Well, I'm still going to say, you know, it's on the tour. You're now, you know, defending a title. You've got to see if you can double it up. Do it again. Yeah, next time.

[01:04:22] Next time, I'm going to not hope that Stella and Isabel win that semifinals. Ooh. Yeah. Ooh. I'm good. I'm good. I'm good. Like, man. Man, it's really, you know, there were, I will honestly say this. There were times in that match where I found myself watching. Yeah. Yes. And I know that sounds really stupid, but I found myself being an observer and I had

[01:04:51] to like kind of snap myself out of it. Oh, sure. And because the, I mean, Sullivan hit some shots. Oh my gosh. Yeah. That I did not think were there. Mm-hmm. There's, I can think of three middles off the top of my head and that's not without even like remembering the match much. There were three middles. I'm just like, nope, I don't, I don't know. I don't, I didn't think that was possible from that position. Yeah.

[01:05:20] It was incredible. Absolutely incredible. And, and then they're nice on top of that, which makes it even worse. Cause like, of course, you know, you know, you're like, I really want to hate these people, but you can't know. And that was like, even all the calls that we like, we're like, Oh, was that a jar? Was this or this? Like everybody was super cool about everything. Yeah. And I would say that thanks to, to Miriam. Cause you know, she didn't have what she did when we had a question to call, she would come down and watch the video and she'd make the call. Yep.

[01:05:49] And you know, kudos to her because it's one, it's a thankless position to, she didn't have a dog in the fight. Right. Which kind of made it even better, I guess, but. Oh, sure. The fact that she was willing to do that for the betterment of the sport and the game, you know, says something about it. She's again, her and Callum both are just great people. Yeah. You know. They, they do a lot for their scene. They do a lot for foosball. I'm curious what you guys think about for the future when it comes to the instant replay.

[01:06:18] Is that going to help enhance the, the sport? Hey, okay. I think the instant replay is going to get abused. To get free time. Okay. It has been, it has been abused in the past without question. And I think if they figure out some way to keep it from being abused, it's a great idea. Okay.

[01:06:39] Um, I think it should be more that the, if there's a ref at the table, they decide when they go to the instant replay and not the players. Right. Understood. Um, because I, I think there has to be some similance of order with it. Oh yeah. Well, isn't that the official's duty? I mean, it's their job, right? I mean, if a, if a player argues to the point where, okay, let's settle this thing. Let me, let me take a look at the, at the film and, uh, and then finally settle it.

[01:07:09] But I mean, in professional sports of other kinds, I mean, it's, it's reviewed by the, the officials. Correct? Yep. Yeah. Well, most of the time. Yeah. Okay. But, but this, keep this in mind too, right? In football, the challenges are called down from the booth because somebody has already reviewed it. You follow what I'm saying? So it's not a, Hey, they watch it. And if it's nothing there, they don't call for a review. They, they have people in the booth.

[01:07:38] That's their job is to rewatch all these clips and snippets. Right. And say, okay, this is the one we need to challenge because it's clear and obvious. Mm-hmm. And then they call it down to the coach and he throws the flag, right? You're never going to really have that in foosball. Right. Okay. So that kind of, that argument is kind of out the window for me. You know, I liken it more to a volleyball instant replay to see if a ball or tennis to see if a ball was inbounds or out of bounds. Okay.

[01:08:05] I think that kind of simulates or, you know, resonates a little more with that. Well, it was a conversation about if you want to go to a booth review, it would cost you a timeout. But if you want to review, then you get your timeout back and vice versa, which that makes sense because then you only get two challenges, right? Okay. But if it's a tight, but, and the argument was like, I get it.

[01:08:33] Like if it's going to go and you're going to do this a lot, just get a dang ref and let's call this a day. Well, of course. But here's the question with the timeout situation, right? Let's say we, you've burned both your timeouts and then you have a very questionable call. Are you able to then challenge or are you not able to then challenge? Because then the other team can actually use that against you. Yeah. Exactly. Good question. There's many, there's too many unanswered issues. So much games, gamesmanship that can be taken advantage of.

[01:09:03] Okay. Agreed. Okay. Agreed. All right. I mean, I think at the end of the day, get a ref. Plain and simple. Yeah. Well, you know, to me, to have more technology at our fingertips that actually does what it's supposed to do, makes the game more compelling, makes the game more understandable, and slows it down enough for the general public who might be just interested to see how this game is played.

[01:09:29] I think what they need to do, what they need to do is do like hockey did. Hockey had like the blue tracer for the puck, right? Right. It's a small object in a large field, and it's moving so quickly. It's hard to watch hockey on TV because you can't follow the puck, right? Yeah. Same thing with football. You're hitting a ball 35, 38 mile an hour over eight inches. It's very difficult to see that, especially to somebody that has an untrained eye that doesn't play.

[01:09:58] So until we address the fact of somebody that doesn't play being able to see it and follow it, that's the hurdle. Yeah. Yeah. It's a, that is a huge challenge because, and we get into this all the time. We talk, it's like, look, we're beating this dead horse that the, the, the way to grow the sport obviously is to get more people who are not foosball players to, to get into it, you know, to, to be fans. Two ball rollerball. Yeah. Right. Two ball rollerball.

[01:10:28] Two ball rollerball. But, you know, we have to, we're, we're going prime time. I have a feeling. I have a feeling. I just have this, this innate feeling that, you know, because of what's happening with Ryan and the world foosball tour, what they're doing and how they're making it more presentable. And they've got a lot of sponsors now that, that want to get on board that, Hey, ESPN is not beyond the pale. It's not beyond the possibility of what you guys could be doing. Let's say in your next pro doubles match, your finals. Um, wouldn't that be so.

[01:10:57] Did you hear the announcement about the Ocho eight? Yeah. ESPN Ocho or the announcement. So worlds we are, we have a demo. 2025. The 2025 worlds is going to be recorded. Okay. It is going to be set up, edited and presented to ESPN. Cool. My understanding is they already ESPN already agreed and they're airing it.

[01:11:24] Um, Oh, and they already have the stuff and that 2026 worlds is going to be filmed for air in 2027. Wow. Yeah. Which is really cool. I mean, and I'll tell you, Ryan has put what I feel like his heart and soul into this. And if it's a, if it's a labor of love, whatever the case may be, I think he really is kind of taking it to heart. Um, you know, and that's. It's, it's well needed. Oh yeah. You know, he's done a great job. So.

[01:11:54] Well, now we get the look, you know, we have the, the branding, the look rock solid. It's great. You know? Yeah. Agreed. I love the, I love the t-shirts by the way, which I, you know, I'm like my wife goes, Oh, that's really nice. Where'd you get that? You know, like, well, that this is what they're doing now. They're branding everything and it's, uh, it's great, but it's, it is, that's the first step to becoming, you know, prime time. You have to have the look, uh, before the, the big, you know, they take you, take you, take you seriously.

[01:12:23] You have to, you have to have the look one and you have to, you have to do something to diminish the stereotype. Right. Right. Okay. And the way to do that is with professionalism and consistency until you can get both of those kind of nailed down, then you're really, you're kind of fighting a losing battle. Um, you know, it's just like anything else.

[01:12:46] I mean, anything that's kind of considered a quote unquote bar game has, has certain obstacles and hurdles that it has to overcome to become, I don't want to say publicized necessarily, but looked at on a national scale as a sport or as a game. And consumable. Correct. Right. Um, you know, we, we've, we've seen it all, right.

[01:13:10] Uh, it's now not uncommon to see the finals of the, the world champion cornhole, uh, event or I gotta be honest, I'm totally against cornhole people wearing Jersey. I think, okay. If you don't sweat while you play, you don't get a damn Jersey. There you go. Just saying. One was the surface of the sun. So, right.

[01:13:39] You were not, I think I got caught on stream asking them like, I think it was Callum. I was like, dude, is it just me? Or is it 4,000 degrees under this light? Right. Does it, I mean, you know, and I'm not a skinny little guy, right? So. It's hot. Oh, it was definitely, uh, it was warm. Yeah. Yeah. That, that doesn't help. Um, now do you guys remember, uh, the Vegas tournament, not this year, but the year before, uh, at the West case, uh, the same year that, uh, they had the dart championship across the hallway.

[01:14:09] It was, that's awesome. Oh my goodness. I wasn't playing. Oh, well, here's the thing. They had a big sign right in front of the entrance to the, the dart tournament. And it listed all these things you're not allowed to bring into the, into the hall, right? Into the, into the, into the arena, including guns, by the way. And if you need to remind your players, they can't bring a gun into the, into the venue. Um, but yeah, but then, but then you have the argument, right? Like when my kids leave the house, every time they leave the house, I tell them the same thing.

[01:14:38] Don't do anything stupid. Right. And, and, and they're like, why do you tell us that every time? I said, well, because the one time I don't, and you do something stupid that I'm going to blame myself for not telling you, not doing anything stupid. There you go. Okay. So you have, you know, and then with my real job, you know, I, um, I run a court reporting firm. Oh, okay. And so I know, I know how litigious people are and it's like, you have to cover your basis. Right.

[01:15:06] So understood the fact that the fact that that's on there, I think it's, it's honestly just for liability reasons. Well, I didn't, uh, they probably knew that Randy Raposo was across the hall and wanted to Oh, no, no, no. I beg to differ. I beg to differ. I love just saying. And by the way, by the way, Randy, we miss you, dude. We miss you. We hope that, uh, you know, you're healing quickly. You know, he's, um, you had to have that, uh, he's got the new puppy.

[01:15:36] Yeah. That's a new puppy. Got a new dog. And, uh, dude, it's like, you know, it's like comes in threes. Right. So Randy gets hurt, gets a puppy. Falsam gets hurt. You know? Yeah. It's been a, it's been a rough year for the both of them. Uh, but, uh, yeah, but, uh, hopefully everybody will be healed and ready to go by, by worlds and, uh, we'll see them. That's a team I want to see. Yeah. That's not a team I want to see. I didn't say on our side of the bracket. Okay.

[01:16:04] Let's, uh, let's take a little side bet. If, if they're, if they're, uh, back in the full peak of health by, uh, worlds, uh, what do you want to tell them? You can tell them anything you want right now. What do you want to say to, to Randy and Chris? What, uh, what would you say? I love you. I hope you're not there. If you are there, you're spectating. And I, I hope you root for us. Yeah. Same. But vice versa. If, if we don't make it out and they do, I'm a hundred percent rooting for them. Yeah. Nice.

[01:16:32] You know, you know, I, um, I love all those people and Chris, let me tell you, he's one of the funniest dudes. Oh my gosh. I did meet him once. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Him and Kenny together. It's like Amos and Andy. I'm telling you. It's bad. Sean, the fact that you know who Amos and Andy is, I'm impressed. I'm very impressed by that. Oh man. You know, let's not dwell on that.

[01:17:04] Let's just, let's just move along. I know I'm old, you know, so I'm curious, um, what, no, you guys, uh, obviously, uh, walk away with a big prize, but, uh, what happens to your points? What, uh, how far are you guys from, from, uh, master, uh, chase, what about you? Uh, that's a good question. I'm far enough away. It's not going to affect me yet. Okay. What was I, it was like 43, 4,400. Okay. Before that.

[01:17:31] Um, so I, I'm, I'm expecting a hundred and change something like that, I guess. Okay. So that shouldn't kill me. Uh, Sean's far enough, just far enough away that it shouldn't bump him over. I think I'm somewhere like 47, 50 or something like that. Okay. Um, but, but with that being said, like with the singles, you know, I was the number one seed, so I don't think I'm going to get extra bonus points. Right. You'll get the bonus points, but you won't get seed points. You'll get a couple, but. Right.

[01:18:00] So, you know, I'm hoping that it stays relatively stagnant at least for another year or so. I mean, um, being in, in, of course, stepping up to that, that level of master. It's so, um, it's good and it's bad. You know, it's, it looks good on paper, but then suddenly to win an event. Let me tell you, Bruce Nardosi, God love him. It's been telling me for quite some time that I needed to be the worst master. Really? Okay.

[01:18:30] You know, I don't know how well, you know, Bruce, Bruce is a, he is a hilarious dude, but he's very dry. Very dry. Yeah. Yeah. And he's like, Sean, you need, you just need to go ahead and be the worst master. I'm like, come on, Bruce. You know? So it is, he's, he's a trip. So I, and I get that. So like you move up to master and then now you've got to be, and, and I will say this,

[01:18:56] I have enough faith in myself that I know if I play my best, I can absolutely compete. I'm not saying that I'm going to like, you know, when all this stuff, but I definitely, I definitely feel confident enough that I can compete. We'll just say that. Okay. You know, because, you know, I, my claim to shame with Tony, don't get mad at me. Tony was in North Carolina state.

[01:19:25] This has been, I don't know, 10, 15 years ago. So he came down and I played open mix with, um, a lady here named Michelle, Michelle bird, Holbrook barrier reef. I don't, you know, but we, um, we were the only team and he was playing with, uh, Faye and we were the only team that put him in the losers. We were the only team that beat him a game and we put him in the losers bracket of open mix.

[01:19:54] And then he came back and just double dipped us. Like we weren't there. Right. But the fact of the matter was we did put him in the losers bracket and we won King seed right before we got our butts kicked, you know, and it's like, you know, it just says, you know, you're there, but are you consistently there? Right. So, you know, it's again, those ebbs and flows, right? Cause I don't play, I play like once or twice a month. That's you play once or twice a month. That's it.

[01:20:25] Correct. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And I do, I do like some five bar passes when I let my dogs out. That's kind of, um, but I don't, I've never been one to really practice. I I've always been one that learns more by actually playing and practice itself is like my ADD does not let me just sit on a table and do that. Cause I get bored after about three passes. And, and I'll wholly admit that, you know, but I can go and play with somebody.

[01:20:53] If somebody came to the house, we could play for 10 hours and I'd love every minute of it, but I can't just sit on a table and practice. Okay. Um, everybody around here thought I was practicing until they came over to the house and had to clean the table so we could play. Oh no. But, uh, it's rough. Um, I've heard that about Billy too. He doesn't like to practice. Billy is just, he's got more talent. He's got more talent. Yeah. Yeah. Then, yeah. Oh man.

[01:21:20] I remember when I first started playing, watching Billy in Kentucky doing things with a two bar that I, I would have sworn were not possible. And I think I was an expert at the time or whatever it was, semi pro expert. I don't know what the ranking was called then, but, um, he, he's incredible. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, at his peak, uh, he probably could have beaten anyone. Uh, and which he did. He did. He did.

[01:21:47] One of my favorite matches I've probably watched it 20 times was him and Frederico. Oh yes. That's a fun, that's a great match. Was it like 2002, 2003 or something like that? Yeah. Something like that. Yeah. Something like that. Um, but it was just, it was the juxtaposition throughout that match was incredible. Ah, yeah. You know, I, now that we're on the topic of, of Frederico, what do you think of Jeff Rico? Anybody watch Jeff Rico?

[01:22:14] The funest matches I watched was him versus, uh, Brady Wierowski. It went like 16, 14, or something. It was, that was a fun match. That was awesome. Crazy. And, uh, they're both great players. Right. And, you know, I think Jeff Rico, um, I do air quotes cause I know it's not really, right. Right, right, right.

[01:22:37] So I think once he gets a little more experience, as far as he, he really seemed to value the possessions and take his time. Mm-hmm. But I saw a few little things like defensively, you know, when I was watching that I probably would have chosen a different decision, you know? Yeah. But once he kind of really wraps his head around all that kind of stuff, he's going to be hard to beat. Right.

[01:23:06] Um, it gave Spraderman, you know, a pretty good rubbing, uh, three, nothing. Yeah. But I wonder how much of that was complacency. Mm-hmm. On, on Tony's part? Yes. Okay. And, and nothing against Tony. I just think, you know, what happens is you go in and you have this expectation and then you, you let off the gas a little bit, then crap. Now you're down four or two. And you know what I mean?

[01:23:34] So it's, uh, you're playing from an uphill perspective. Got it. Okay. Okay. So psychologically, that could be a, uh, uh, real handicap in that regard. I think so. Cause I think if Tony goes in and goes, okay, this dude's no joke, I'm going to just absolutely pound this. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I think it's, I think it's a different outcome. Yeah. Well, we see that all the time. I mean, he's, he's, uh, he's, he's taking apart everybody.

[01:24:02] Um, I just, just wondering, you know, I, I actually played against Jeff Rico in an early, uh, round of, uh, rookie doubles. I'm thinking, yeah. Rookie doubles. Okay. Yep. Now here in line is the problem because he plays like a high expert, low pro what's going on with that.

[01:24:49] It's the same thing. And I'm not saying I'm at that level by any means, but what I'm saying is like, if I came in and showed my license, because my first name is not Sean. Oh, and showed my license and signed up as Michael green. And there's zero point. There's a Mike green. There is a Mike green. And I know him. He's a nice guy, but, uh, you know, signed up as an 800 point beginner. It just wouldn't be right. Yeah. You know what I mean?

[01:25:18] So I think there has to be some kind of way with this league stuff that includes, you know, the foreign dignitaries, the, your somehow players, German players, your Australian players, your Costa Rican players. Um, yeah, they're dangerous. Oh, they are very dangerous. You know, Joel is man. What a fun player to watch. Oh, absolutely. You know, him and Brandon at North Carolina state, uh, played the open singles final against each other. Mm hmm. Mm hmm.

[01:25:48] That was, that was a lot of fun to watch that. I mean, what a, what a, an amazing, uh, kind of thing when you think about, uh, especially all the American players can't even hope to be in the finals of a, of an open singles with those two players, uh, in, in the, in the competition. It's like, Oh, okay. If you get to the finals, you've done something. Yeah. Yeah. No question. You know, I mean, it's just, and that's really with any, honestly, that's with any,

[01:26:16] any event at any tournament, you've had to take your lumps. You know what I mean? You, you fought through, you've grinded through spots that, you know, could have gone either way. And there has to be some luck involved at some point. Um, you know, where you get a break here, you might get some, they might drop a pass or, you know, whatever the case may be. There's some degree of luck, but you have to be able to take advantage of that luck. Oh, sure. Yeah. Yeah.

[01:26:45] Well, everyone is beatable, uh, given the right circumstances. Agreed. Oh yeah. Right. Right. So you can never, uh, assume, especially when you've got somebody who has an unknown, like a Jeff Rico to step up to the table and just do his thing, uh, the way he knows how to do it. And, and nobody can adjust to him for some reason.

[01:27:04] So, you know, well, uh, you know, I, I think everybody adjusts differently, you know, I, and I don't know why I have, I do this, but like the way that when I'm playing a match, my first game, when I'm playing somebody, especially if it's a three out of five, my first game is kind of feeling stuff out. Right. You know, I'm not expecting anything.

[01:27:31] I'm not, you know, I'm literally, I'm putting my men in positions to make them execute, to see what they execute the best. And then the rest of the match, I'm taking all that away. Got it. Oh yeah. You know, and, you know, and that's why a lot of times, you know, even in the singles matches, I'd lose the first game and then come back and win. But it's constant adjustments. Um, and, and I don't always make the right ones, you know.

[01:27:57] As anybody can say, you know, but I, I like to think I try to play from a position of intelligence instead of just raw talent. Right. Well, I mean, everybody has certain things that they have a tendency to do, uh, certain things they have that are, that are their, their go-to shots, their favorite things. And, uh, if you're observant enough, you can see those things in that first, like you say, the first game and then, uh, start taking it away. That's, uh, it's brilliant. Exactly. Right.

[01:28:27] Well, I don't know about brilliant, but it's what I do. But you got to do it. You have to do it. Yeah. It normally costs me a game, but it, if I don't know the player, I'd rather get the blocks late. Mm-hmm. And to happenstance onto blocks early. Got it. You know? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. That's just, uh, yeah. I might be fully retarded for doing that. No, no. I've, I've seen it happen.

[01:28:52] Uh, in fact, uh, our, our master Kevin Walker, he's talked about it many times that he'll use that first game just for information. That's exactly right. Kevin, man. That's another guy. That's a cannon. Jesus. Crazy. That dude, he's incredible. He's also healing. Yeah. He's also healing right now. He broke his thumb. Oh. On his right hand. So he can't, you're not painting or anything now? Oh, yeah. For now.

[01:29:20] Um, you know, how long it takes to heal a broken thumb. I have no idea. Don't know, you know, what's up with that. Yeah. Me neither. He did it, uh, mountain biking and, and Kevin does everything. He just, you know, he's a, just a, a multi, multi-talent. Melodized individual, but, uh, his painting, you know, just, uh, stellar. Uh, he's, he's, he's gotten good very quickly, you know? Um, but yeah, he's, he's been, he's been back on the tour a bit, uh, played with Gummison at the TKO.

[01:29:47] You know, I watched him at TKO playing forward shootout. I think he was playing Balcos. Yes. Um, that was, that was fun to watch. I mean, his Kevin's accuracy, not only does he hit it hard, he's super, super accurate with the holes he picks. Mm-hmm. You have to fully be committed to whatever hole you're blocking with him. Yeah. Fully. And that's hard to do. He will read it.

[01:30:15] You know, he'll, he, he, you know, it's just his, his reading ability is incredible and it does it in the blink of an eye. That's the other thing. It's like, well, I thought I, I had you, I was out in your three quarter out there and then I just came off a little bit and you hit me. Yeah. So there's something to be said for reactionary shooting. Yeah. You know? Yeah.

[01:30:38] And the, like Chase and I have had a lot of conversations about how I actually read defenses, which I'm sure it's very different than a lot of people, but it's, I don't even know how to explain it. You know, I don't, I don't, I don't go in set looking for a particular shot or hole. Mm-hmm. You know, I, I, I don't know how. I really don't, I don't know where I'm going until I'm gone. Okay. Interesting. It just registers and it goes.

[01:31:07] I don't even think about, oh, I'm waiting for the poolside to open. I don't think like that at all. Is that because you're so confident in the shot itself? Is that, is that what it is? Confidence probably not the right word. You know, maybe I'm just, just oblivious enough to think it'll work.

[01:31:29] You know, I don't really know how to explain this except for, I, I try to shoot the holes when they begin to open. Okay. Not when they're, you know, so, and because I want to shoot a hole that's growing instead of one that's getting smaller. Well, there you go. Okay. So there is that. So you're looking at the, how the spaces are, are changing. Very much so. Okay.

[01:31:59] Wow. Yeah. That's, that's great information by the way. Um, and, uh, by the way, uh, Chase, I was wondering any, uh, any new videos coming out for foosball instruction? Are you doing anything like that soon? Not recently, man. Like that's the thing. And I think you and I actually touched on this a while back is I'm really focused on my game right now. Um, and, and even more so on like a game plan that like me and Sean have been working on for a while now.

[01:32:28] Um, to me, like I, I've been wanting to hit that master status for a long time. I know it's going to take me at least another two years to do it. Um, I don't think so. No, maybe another one, I don't know, but maybe longer. I don't know. But, uh, that's, that's really what I've been working on. I know my weaknesses. I know where they are.

[01:32:51] Um, I know what needs to change for them, but, um, you know, like I, I really think that something that Sean and I have been working on can, can kind of push us over that ledge to be honest. So it's, to me, it's the only thing I'm, I'm focused on. What I'd like to see if, if I had my way is the two of you talking about how to, uh, to play as a team, just a quick video, maybe three, four minutes, you know, like how, how do we. We'd give away too much information.

[01:33:20] Oh, I see. That's the problem. Okay. Nevermind. You know, we could talk about what the discussions are like in timeouts. Yeah. Okay.

[01:33:49] You know, if I walk around the table and look at Jason, for instance, my dude, we're gonna have to switch. He's like, I was thinking that too. You know what I mean? And so you have to find somebody that you can play with that thinks along the same lines of decisions. Right. So that you're, you're not arguing over what you think's best for the team. Okay.

[01:34:10] You know, if, because if you can both go in, you know, and I use the word cohesive unit, if you can go in as a cohesive unit and agree that sometimes you might not always agree, but at least have similar ideals. Right. Right. Got it. Of what needs done to make that change. You're way better off. You know, and, and a lot of people I see take timeouts and they're, and instead of them saying, Hey, what do you see?

[01:34:36] You know, like me, if I'm, if I'm getting shut down and somebody is just bricking me and it does happen, you know, you know, it happens for sure. Especially people that sit real still leave really big middles. So, um, you know, if I'm getting bricked when I get to pull out, I'm like either. Look, we got two options. What are you seeing? Right. What do I need to be looking for?

[01:35:02] Or B, do you think it's the right time to switch, to change the momentum and to, to make the goalie make an adjustment? Gotcha. Yeah. So it's really boils down to just simple communication. Yep. You know, being on the same page, I can't tell you how many times throughout the tournament we call a timeout or in between games, we take a step back and it's like, Hey, what do you see? What do you see?

[01:35:28] Um, and it's almost every single one to be honest, or what do you feel about this? Like, what do you, and I'd say, and sometimes I just simply ask the question, Hey, do you care if I do something stupid? Yeah. I am not kidding. That is, huh? That happens. Okay. Care if I do something stupid, you know, and, and it's because like, I won't, I asked that because I need to know the headspace. Yep. Yep. Right. Okay.

[01:35:56] I don't want to, I don't want to change momentum. I don't want to do something that's going to backfire. And then now, you know, it's them go like, why'd you do that? Right. I'm like, look, I told you, you know, and I'm kind of known for that doing stuff stupid, but it's okay. Yeah. One in Nashville. So we played a tournament in Nashville, uh, before this tournament. And there was a ball. We, he called timeout on the three and he's like, Hey, I'm going to do something real dumb. I'm like, please.

[01:36:26] And he's like, I'm going to shoot a rolling pull shot. I'm like, I don't shoot one of those. You don't have a rolling pull shot. I'm like, okay, do it, man. Let's see what happens. He calls timeout. He rolls that ball over, rolls it back and strokes it. We both look at each other like, what? Nice. That was, that was against Eddie Mubarak. Was it? Yeah. I think Eddie is listening tonight, by the way. Hey, Eddie, what's up, dude? He'll remember that. I'm sure. Yeah, he will.

[01:36:54] And I'll do like random, you know, scorpions just because like, I don't know. I think it, honestly, I use it sometimes. Like if I feel like my head's getting too deep in a match, then I do have to kind of bring myself back up. Okay. You know, and it's like, dude, what are you doing? Don't get tight. Let's stay loose. You know what I mean? Have, and remember to have fun. Of course. That's the whole thing. Of course. Yeah. Yeah.

[01:37:19] I mean, so what is the philosophy generally when it comes to, especially on a three round, if you're, if you're down a couple of points and, and you really need it. I mean, obviously you're not going to do a, any kind of a trick shot or dink at that point. You're going to go for your. That's not true. No, not true. That's not true. Okay. It's all open game. All right. Okay. Keeping in mind that I really don't pay that much of attention to the score. I don't look at the brackets normally in tournaments.

[01:37:48] I don't, because it doesn't matter. Right. I'm going to have to play who I'm going to have to play regardless of the fact. Right. So, and the same thing with the score. If I scored cool and it adds a point, I'll find out when the game's over. Hmm. Right. And so like, I don't put necessarily, I try to put equal weight on every ball. And I don't think some balls are worth more than other balls. Now, if I'm up three, if we're up three, two in a game and it's a, and it's a, feels like

[01:38:18] a tightly contested match. Yep. 90% of the time I'm going to take time out just to kind of, you know, taught to chase or taught to Jason and say, Hey, what are you seeing? Because four, two versus three, two is a huge bonus. Oh yeah. Regardless of the fact you're going to have the ball. If you get to four, two, you're going to have the ball twice on your five bar to win the game. Mm-hmm. Okay. Because they're going to, even if they score the next two points, you're still going to

[01:38:46] have those chances, you know, at least three times. Right. So, and I don't know what the statistics are, but I think it's somewhere around, if you get to four or two, it's like a 70% chance that you'll win the game. So it's like, logically, it's an advantage. No question. Oh yeah. It definitely is. And, you know, so with that, I don't really put more weight on the shot necessarily, or that point, but I just try to make a better decision and not rush things on that point. Okay.

[01:39:16] Okay. Yeah. I mean, you've got 15 seconds anyway. Um, how often do you go above 10 seconds when you, uh, never, never? Yeah. We're a team. We're a team. Nobody's calling the time out time on. Ooh. Okay. I don't, I can honestly say I've been playing a little over, I don't guess over 20 years. I don't know that I've ever had a time infraction called on me on any rod ever. Okay. Me neither. Not that I can remember.

[01:39:44] Um, you know, I don't. Um, because I'm reactionary, I think is what it is. And when I see it, I just release. I don't, I'm not like looking for a hole and waiting for a hole to open. So when I see that hole, I can just let it go and not, I don't have to worry about all that other crap. Right. Yeah. Yeah. That's an interesting philosophy. I've heard it a couple of different ways when it comes to the longer you wait on the three

[01:40:12] rod, the more nervous the defense tends to get, or they tend to do things differently. In my, well, for me, at least the longer I sit on the three bar, the tighter my arm gets. Oh, no kidding. Okay. So like, I mean, if I see it, it's, I can just hit it. Like, I don't think when I'm the three bar, you know, depending on who's blocking me. Um, but like, I feel like I have a bigger possibility of missed execution.

[01:40:42] The longer I wait. Yeah. Now chase, he'd probably shoot 90% on 90% of people. If he'd wait past three. Okay. But that's just is what it is. You know, his, and it's like you get into your own, everybody has their own rhythm. Of course. Yeah. And I will change it up where, you know, I'll shoot on one on one ball.

[01:41:07] I'll shoot on negative one on the next, and then I might wait seven seconds, but I'm very seldom ever anywhere close to 15. Yeah. God, I don't think many people are really, you don't see that too often. You know, the, the super, super long. There are some people that play here locally that. But you know, 15, 18, it's pretty much the same thing. But is that more about setting up or is it just sitting on the ball though? I don't know.

[01:41:37] Eddie, what is it? God, I love Eddie, but you know, I, I don't really know. And I think it's more indecision than anything. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I would agree with that. That's, that's kind of where my head is on it. They haven't, they, they're having like an internal conflict of where they want to shoot. Right. So, you know, I think that's what happens with the time. Should the rule change?

[01:42:05] Should it stay 15 seconds or make it 10 because nobody's going 15 anyway? Well, I don't think, honestly, I don't think it should change because I don't think you should change substantive rules at this point in the game. Right. I don't know. I, you know, I think 15 seconds is sufficient amount of time. Okay. I don't, I don't think it should necessarily be changed or anything. Hmm. My only argument would be to have it the same across all rods, whatever that number is.

[01:42:35] Right. I think it's silly that it's different per rod. 10 on five rows. You can, you can have three walls on this rod, but none on that rod. Like now to me is a little silly. Now you're getting into something I'd argue about the, the two to five. I think you should get three walls total. Yeah. Okay. It needs to be consistent. Yeah. Because yeah, the number of, like, I've just wanted to walk around the table and punch somebody in the face.

[01:43:03] Cause they're going to tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. And I'm like, all right, just, I'll, I've done it. I've lifted my three bars. I hear just pass it. I'm not, I'm not chasing you anymore. I'm just not going to do it. You know, and because, and the root, my, my only, my argument to that is not that it really irritates me, but it's, it's not something that anybody's going to ever want to enjoy. You want to watch. No. Yeah. You're trying to go to sport. You need action, right?

[01:43:31] You know, people like seeing the haymakers from goal. They like seeing this, but when everything is just so mundane and methodical, it takes some of the excitement out of watching it. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know, and I, I respect the people that do it because, you know, it's definitely a skill, you know, but it's, it's just not something that ESPN is going to be like, Hey, did y'all see that guy? He hit 36 wall passes and then went wall. It doesn't make, it just doesn't make sense in my head.

[01:44:01] Correct. As far as growing. Yeah. That's, that's a, that is another thing to think about because it is a, it, it's such a, a mind game. It's such a chess match for those who are top of the field that that chess match is not going to be apparent for, for the average viewer. No, not even close. Agreed. Agreed.

[01:44:19] You know, and the biggest difference between, and this is just, again, my opinion, and it could be so far off base, but I think the biggest difference between a high expert and a pro master is simply the decisions. Yeah. They have, they have the passes. They have the shots. They have the skill. They have all the experience. It's just simply decisions. Yeah. Yep. You know, unless you're Brandon, cause that dude's an alien.

[01:44:49] That, that dude, the speed at which he sees the table. Yes. So gross. The speed at which he executes at such a high, now he still makes mistakes. Don't get me wrong. We all do. Oh, sure. The speed at which he changes his mind. Yeah. And sees things. Yeah. On a different level. Right. And my understanding is just everybody in Costa Rica plays that fast. So that's what you become accustomed to. Yeah.

[01:45:16] And again, which is, like I said, you're a byproduct of the people that you learn to play against. Yep. You know. Well, let's talk about, let's talk about Tommy Yor. Because if you want to talk about just pure, pure power, pure energy. And we've had, you know, we're very fortunate here in upstate New York to see him up close and see what he does. But I mean, open doubles and singles. Oh, yeah. He's a monster. Yep. Yep.

[01:45:47] The thing I've noticed about Tommy is, and it's not, okay, this is going to sound weird. It's not his skill. It's not his ability to execute. What I see out of Tommy is his love for the fight. Oh, yeah. Yeah. No question. Okay. No question. And that's what I think makes him really stand apart, right? There's so many people, Billy, Rob, you know, all these other people that have the same level of skill. Mm-hmm.

[01:46:16] You know, they have the same desires. They have all this. But just for some reason with Tommy, dude, you can see the fight and the love in his eyes of it. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, he gets really, really, really passionate. The idea that if he's down, it helps him. It just helps him. Yeah, I get that because it makes you want to fight harder. Yeah. You know? Yeah. Just a monster. The way he catches the loose balls. I mean, things I've never seen anybody else do before.

[01:46:46] Just, you know, it's a stray ball and he's got it. You know, if it's anywhere near his run, he's got it. I get that. Yeah. Yeah. I get, you know, it just kind of is what it is. You know, your brain or your mind is so trained on how to reel balls in. Mm-hmm. You know, after tons and tons of playing, you kind of either get that or you don't. And I think it's not just a skill that you learn.

[01:47:16] You either have it or you don't. Yep. Absolutely. So. Absolutely. That's just my take. You know, it may be worth a half of a cent, not even two cents, but that's, you know, that's what it is. I have to say, outside of the main events, you know, I got to say some of my favorite people got a chance to top the field, including Dave Gummison and Tracy McMillan. Senior doubles. I mean, wow.

[01:47:45] Great performance. I was there when they won open doubles. Mm-hmm. I think it was Worlds, actually. Okay. Yep. And, man, I tell you, speaking of chemistry. Yep. Yeah. Like, I feel like they take timeouts and talk, but don't say any words. You know? That makes sense. It's like they just look at each other and inherently know, like, yep, I agree. You know? Yeah. It's really, it's pretty incredible.

[01:48:13] And I had, I did have a chance to talk with Tracy a little bit while I was there at Nationals. And, you know, he's like, you know, these young kids, we kind of had the same discussion of these young kids, and it's just becoming kind of a different game. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So, it's, he's a super nice guy. He's got a good head on his shoulders. And, you know, Gummy, that wall pass, man. Isn't it amazing? Heszy. Yeah. It's, it's fancy. Yeah.

[01:48:39] You know, I remember in Kentucky one year, I remember him hitting wall passes, and we took a quarter. Oh, yeah. And we put a quarter between the bumper and the wall and held it against it, and he was going under it. Like, just. Really? No problem. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Wow. At speed. Like, it wasn't like, let me see if I can do it. It was, huh. It was crispy. Like, yes, this is, it's, and to see at their, I hate to say this, advanced age, it gives us hope. You know?

[01:49:09] Yeah. That you can play at that level, at that age. I agree. You know, I watched a few of their matches. I actually watched, I'm trying to remember who it was. It was Brian Olsen and Callum. Mm-hmm. I'm pretty sure that it was. And, man, that was a hell of a match. No doubt. It was, it really was. I honestly, I don't even know who won the match. But I remember watching. Okay. I remember watching the match and being like, man, this is, this is high level.

[01:49:39] I mean, everything was, was very well executed, you know, and if, there's just very few mistakes made. And kudos to Brian Olsen. I wouldn't want to have to try to block Gummy. Yeah, right? No. Yeah. No thanks. I was just reading the other day that, that a pull shooter, a really good pull shooter like Dave Gummison has so many more options than a, than a rollover shooter. Would that be correct? I think. Yeah.

[01:50:09] Yeah. Yeah. I'll say this, then you can. Yeah. Go ahead. I think it depends on the player. Hmm. Hmm. I mean, really, there's only so many options, period. That are available. No matter what shot you're shooting. Okay. Whether it's a front pin, a rollover, a pull or push, whatever. You have the same options because you have, you have your middle shorts, long, straight dinks. And you're off shots, right? Like into like pull shots. I like shooting a far wall scorpion out of a pull set.

[01:50:40] Right. But I do that same thing out of a rollover. Hmm. You know, so I don't think that it, I think it's only limited by imagination. Interesting. Yeah. He's not wrong. Okay. My, my thing is, I think a snake shot is faster to the hole in general. Mm-hmm. Like overall, right? We're talking generalities. I agree. I think a pull shot is more accurate.

[01:51:07] Like you can, you can hit smaller holes. You can hit, you know, specific things different ways than a rollover can. Um, it's a lot easier to hit like the off speed shots. Like if somebody gets you in a stand or in a reverse, right? And they're posting that two rod out there. Yep. You hit that little slider in between them type stuff. It's a lot harder to do with a rollover. I'm not saying it can't be done. Right. Um, I just think it's a lot easier to execute a lot more accurate, uh, with a pull shot.

[01:51:36] So I think, you know, speed firepower is the rollover. I think a little bit more accuracy with a pull shot. Except for the, then you have to take into consideration. There are shots you can do with a rollover that you can't do with a pull shot. A hundred percent. Yeah. Like Clint Hill. Yeah, dude. Listen, he, they played phenomenal. They did. And Clint is, he's a local player here. Great player. Great guy.

[01:52:02] And he shoots a rollover, but he can go both ways and cut it back from both directions. And he does it. He's very consistent with it. And so after I think the second or third one. Second shot. Yeah. I was like, Hey dude, just so you know, he's doing that on purpose. You know, I just wanted him to know, to be aware, you know what I mean? Yeah. Should have told me two balls sooner. Yeah. You're not, you're probably not wrong. I'm not wrong.

[01:52:31] The fact of the matter is, I think that both of them have their pros and cons, just like anything else. It's the same argument as a brush series and a stick series on the five. Right. Right. They're just different options. You know, you know, there's Brian Jones. And I don't know if you've ever met Brian Jones. I have not. He's a player from North Carolina. One of the, he's, he's got the talent level of like Billy. Okay.

[01:53:00] And you know, he hasn't played in a while, but I could not tell you, he shot a pool and he also shot a rollover. And I don't know if either one was better than the other. You know, most people kind of live one way or the other. Right. Right. He was unbelievably dangerous, no matter what he set the ball up as. Hmm.

[01:53:26] Um, and so, which, which begs the question, he would switch in matches and kind of switch back and forth. And I asked him one day, I was like, why do you switch? He goes, I don't know. Because it didn't really matter which one he was using, you know? But, um, so yeah. So if you have both. Right. Why wouldn't you use the better of the options all the time? You'd think. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so, and Brian, I think he was mad.

[01:53:56] He went to master really, really quickly. He, um, okay. Like he was dangerous. Yeah. And not to mention the most level head of anybody you'll ever see in your life. But, um, always wear the best hats. Dude. Well, back then he really did. He really did. But, um, and he's just a nice guy, but like, you know, I've played with him. I think he and I have never placed worse than third in any tournament he and I've ever played together. Dang.

[01:54:24] And, and it's really boils down to, I think it's house. How calm he stays at all times. Yep. No emotion. Yes. Zero, zero emotion and nothing affects him, you know, which I think, you know, he competed. He was a very, very high level baseball player, you know, like very high level. Oh, okay. So he's very accustomed to pressure, you know, and that kind of stuff. But I think that has a lot to do with a lot of it.

[01:54:54] You know, he's just, and the argument with a pull or a rollover, if you shoot either one of them well, you can be effective. And dangerous. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Rob. That's right. Here's a, here's a hypothetical, um, you know, uh, foosball is, is going to newer heights where we're seeing a big increase in, in the amount of people showing up, even older players coming back. Um, in five years, will there be another shot?

[01:55:22] Do you think there'll be a, another option? I mean, you have rollover, pull, push, kick, pull, kick. I mean, will there be another option that might surface? Do you think, uh, Jeff Rico might be onto something? I will say this. If I don't ever see another push shot, I'll be okay. I'd be so happy. So happy. It's just awkward to block because not enough people shoot them well. Well, right.

[01:55:46] And we're into like, and I'll give, I'll give, well, one, obviously Sully's shot. But Bryce Woolridge was shooting a push series, like a tic-tac rolling push series. It was, it was something to behold. It was. Not only was he like really getting out there and hitting the longs well, but he was picking holes with it really well.

[01:56:11] While he's on the roll and shooting pull kicks out of it, he hit a pull kick that I was well past that bar and went around it. And I was like, it was incredible. Honestly, it's one of those. So again, if somebody that has a really good push shot, because it's not shot or utilized as much, you don't get accustomed to blocking it. Right. Correct. So your mentality is different and you know, it's easier.

[01:56:36] You're, people are faster pushing away from you than you are pulling towards you. Okay. So somebody with a really good push shot is just that much harder to block. Yeah. And I think the straight becomes much more dangerous as well in a push. They can see it so much more easily, you know? Absolutely. Totally agree. The, there was a, just kudos and a shout out to one of our teammates from the New York

[01:57:02] state championship or the New York state team, uh, Keith, who was my partner for amateur doubles. Uh, he played up front the entire time and he's 12 and he shoots, he shoots a push and he was scoring like crazy. Yeah. Make him do something else. Make him quit. Pull shot for me, please. Pull shot, roll over something. Oh, I just, you know, there, God, we used to have a guy, Kevin Reese.

[01:57:30] They played locally that shot a push shot and it was close handed and it was an absolute ripper. Yeah. And I used to, I used to hate having to play that guy. I did. I mean, it was just like, yeah, I was fully in no man's land half the time. Right. Because the motion and seeing it because well, and one of the reasons is when you're defending a pull shot, you can see the man. Yeah. Okay.

[01:57:57] When you're defending a push shot, you can't see the man or the foot of the man. Very true. So it hides a lot of that takeoff as well. So there's arguments on both sides. Right. Um, so yeah, that's just kind of my thoughts on it. Are you familiar with, uh, the name Polowski Stan Polowski? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. And Stan, of course. He was in the wheelchair, correct? Yes. Correct. Yeah. Man. He had a blistering. Yeah.

[01:58:26] I mean, first of all, he's ripped. I mean, he's, he goes to the gym every day and shocker. Oh yeah. Right. Go figure. But, uh, we've, we've seen him so many times come to our, uh, our local tournaments. Uh, he's been less, a little less, uh, present lately, but still, uh, last time I saw him, he was still hitting that shot, man. And it's just so difficult to stop. He shot it open-handed if I recall. Yes. Yep. Open-handed. Yep. Yeah.

[01:58:52] And it was, um, it was a ripper back, back in 0405 when I was actually playing. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I used to really like watching him play. Yeah. He's, he's a, he's a really interesting character and he raised a couple of really good players. Uh, uh, uh, Sherwin and, uh, Luis, uh, who are both, uh, just amazing players, uh, at a very young age. Uh, Sherwin especially. And he's the younger of the two, but he's just, oh my God.

[01:59:19] Um, in fact, he won, I'm trying to think now, this was at, uh, Worlds. And he won, uh, I believe it was, uh, rookies. I'm not mistaken, but you know. That's a legit win. Yep. And, uh. Every win anymore is a legit win. Yeah, no kidding. You know, it doesn't matter what tournament it's called. Mm-hmm. You really have the same player base. Right. Um, and so like, and it, it doesn't matter if you're in Louisiana, Florida, you know,

[01:59:48] wherever you are, you're, you're going to have the same tough competition. I mean, no doubt. I don't discount win anywhere. Yeah. This is, uh, again, encouraging to see these younger kids that are just, they absorb it all so quickly and they become good really fast. And then, uh, of course, if they stick with it, they'll, you know, they become, uh, the future of the, of the sport, you know, with any kind of luck. Look at Jacob. Yeah. Jacob Balkos, great example.

[02:00:17] You know, he's a, and a great guy, just a really good guy. Oh, I love Jacob. Totally agree. Um, you know, and Eric, his dad is just such a nice guy. Yep. You know, I was, I spoke with Eric at TKO for a little while and, you know, I, I've congratulated him on, on not on Jacob's game, but on Jacob's demeanor. Yep. Yep. His persona. Correct. Mm-hmm. Cause I think that speaks volumes. Oh.

[02:00:43] So I spoke to Jacob at, uh, at nationals. Cause I actually asked him like, Hey man, how did you get into this? You know what I mean? Like, did your dad get you on the table? Like, what was it? Um, cause I've got three boys that I would be interested in. Like, I'd love for them to play. Sure. You know, they play a little bit, but that's, you know, they're not really into it. They just come up and they'll play a little bit and then they head back downstairs. Um, and Jacob's biggest thing was, he's like, my dad just took me to a tournament and I loved it. Huh? I'm like, okay.

[02:01:11] So I guess I'm dragging out three monsters to a tournament somewhere. So, and that means the same thing for his sister, you know, uh, she's also amazing. So genetically speaking, just saying, you know, um, but yeah. So, um, what do you think, uh, what, uh, what does the world foosball tour need to do to, uh, to step it up? Anything? Um, first of all, Sean, what do you think?

[02:01:41] That's really a loaded question. Okay. It is. And let me, let me preface this answer by saying, I think the changes that have been made as of, as of late are fantastic. You have to get it. First off, you have to get it out of the bar and in the public eye, which Ryan is doing a fantastic job with. Okay. Secondly, there has to be, and this is just my opinion.

[02:02:08] There has to be a reason for people to want to move up in the ranks. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Um, that is kind of a slippery slope, right? But when you can, what it's going to take honestly is publicity outside of foosball for foosball. Mm-hmm. That's my opinion. Yeah. You're, you're a hundred percent right on that stuff.

[02:02:34] I think, I honestly personally think the rules need to be looked at and, and kind of restructured. Okay. Um, the, and the reason I say that is when a new player walks into any local tournament, um, and I'm not talking about like spinning stuff like that, but like three walls and then, oh, you can't pass from this guy to that guy or the ball can't be still like there,

[02:02:57] the, the amount of, of learning the rules is, is so overwhelming for a new player that good point. It's, it's hard to just get into it and understand the game at all. So I get that. I think the rules have to be simplified in some kind of way that makes it appealing for people to enjoy and want to play. Right. Do you think there should be a separate set of rules for say beginner and pros?

[02:03:26] I think so. That would be fine. Yeah. I'd be fine with that. Yep. I'd be totally fine with that. I think that's the only way for it to make sense. Otherwise, you simplify the rules, they're going to get abused. Uh, yeah. Yeah. And no, like, and there's like a couple of things, right? Like the adjustment rule doesn't really need to exist. Like I get it. I get it for Bonzini. I get it for other tables, but tornado, not a big thing. Right.

[02:03:55] Um, I think that like the three wall thing, I could make an argument that it doesn't need to be on the five bar at all, just because you only have 10 seconds. You're only gonna be able to bounce it off the wall so many times in 10 seconds. Okay. Right. Like I can make the argument for it. I'm not saying those are what need to change, but we're trying to simplify the sport for the general people. And if you're going to be on ESPN going, well, he hit three walls again. And now it's the balls turned like, who cares?

[02:04:25] Yeah. But you're going to be commentating. So you're not going to do that. Right. That's true. And secondly, there has to be really hard and steadfast rules. There has to be. Yeah. Not this gray area. There. Yeah. That's, there can't be any gray anywhere in the rules. Yep. I agree. I mean, there's, there is, uh, there is a lot of complexity when it comes to the finer points of the rules.

[02:04:52] You know, beginner night, you know, if you've got a beginner night or a beginner table, um, you might just say to them, Hey, listen, guys, there's just no spinning. Yeah. That's it. Just have fun. When we, when we used to have our weekly tournament, when the beginners came, they asked me what the rules were. And I said, there's two rules. One, no spending to have fun. That's it. Yep. Everything else you'll learn along the way. Yep. And it's, uh, you know, simple as that. Uh, you know, if you get the ball in the hole, it goes in, you scored. Yep. That's it.

[02:05:23] So no matter what, I still remember, uh, back in the 70s, 70s, when I was playing Bonzini on a regular basis, we had no idea whether we were following any rules or not. We were just playing and, uh, playing, you know, five nights a week sometimes, but it, uh, it still was, it was a hell of a good time. And, uh, you know, it's just like anything else. If you have four people that all, none of them know the rules and they're all just kind of doing whatever. Yep. Nobody knows that rules are broken.

[02:05:53] Exactly. So it's just, you know, it takes all that pressure out of it. Um, and it's like anything else though. I mean, there has to be some, some form of structure. Yep. Otherwise, you know, it, there's too much for interpretation. Yeah. I mean, if they want to graduate from that, uh, that, that beginners, you know, beginners thing, just goofing around and having fun and whatever, if they want to graduate, they really want to get better at it. You know, then of course there'd be somebody right there to say, well, here's a couple

[02:06:21] little things to keep in mind or a couple of things you might want to think about for the future when it comes to what really happens in a match, you know, when it comes to, uh, you know, absolutely, you know, more professional tournaments. But, uh, I gotta say guys, man, two hours has gone by so damn fast. Really fast. Wow. Uh, I got, I got shit to do. Well, don't let us keep you, you know? Um, but no, I gotta say, Sean, it's, it's, it's great to, you know, to finally get you

[02:06:49] on the show, uh, get you to sit down and, and, uh, and pick your brain a bit because you have a really unique perspective. And, uh, I'm sure, you know, Chase can back me on this that, uh, you know, we don't often get a chance to get a team together like you two, to talk about your, you know, what, what happens on the table to me, that's endlessly fascinating. And, and I really appreciate you taking the time. Well, uh, no problem. Anytime you need two idiots. Done, done.

[02:07:19] Um, so, uh, first of all, your next tournament will be world. Would that be it? I believe so. Um, I mean, we actually, you know, we have a local tournament coming up next weekend. Gotcha. Charlotte. Okay. We do like a yearly, um, steamers. We call it the summer slam. The summer slam. Okay. And you know, it's, it's not a huge tournament. I mean, it's, well, it is Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Oh, it's three days. It is.

[02:07:47] I wish I'd known how to put it on our tournament list. Well, you know, you have to call Michelle McCall about that. All right. All right. Okay. Um, you know, I love her. And, but you know, it's, we've done it for the last, I think four years, maybe five. Longer than that. Has it been longer than that? Yeah. Cause when I first moved here, it was the first term I saw you back at for, if I hadn't seen you in fricking 10 plus years. Yeah, that's true too. Yeah. But yeah, it's a, it's, you know, it's a good little tournament. It's a lot of fun.

[02:08:17] It's, you know, I don't want to call it low rent tournament, but it's like, you know, low entry fees, a hundred percent payback. And it's just a funsy, you know, summer slam little funsy tournament. Cool. So it's, it's always a lot of fun. Yeah. So we got that coming up and then worlds. Nice. Well, I have, I have a feeling that, uh, we should probably find some time at worlds to, uh, to chill just to sit down and, uh, maybe do an episode of foosball radio on the road, something like that. Sounds like a fun. Cool.

[02:08:47] Yeah. So Chase, uh, anything else you want to say to your partner before we go? I mean, this will be your last chance to really tell him how you feel. I know what's coming. I know what's coming. Go ahead. Go ahead. The octave is getting ready to raise up a little bit. Nothing. I, I, Hey, I get to see you in a couple of weeks. We're going to be hanging out in Nashville. Um, and I'm, I'll be texting you in like an hour. Are you guys are playing in Nashville? No, no, no. We're just going to hang out. Oh, you're going to hang out.

[02:09:16] Oh, I was going to say wives together. Give my regards to Mike Kelly. No, not Nashville, Asheville, Asheville. Oh, I was thinking, okay. I missed the, yeah. Okay. Oh, and just, just as an aside, England won three, two. Ooh. Wow. Wow. Yeah. They, they, they, they come back. No, no, it was not over time. Okay. Wow. But, uh, it was a good match. I enjoyed that one.

[02:09:44] Have you guys gone in person to any of the world cup, uh, activity? I have not, but one of the local, it's really funny. And he's an up and coming player. His name is Ado. Okay. And he's from, he's from the Congo. And one of the most genuinely nice people you'll ever meet. And, um, just a great guy. And so he's gone to all the Congo games. Oh, cool. And, um, I talked to him after one, the first game, cause I called him to like, you know,

[02:10:13] they, they finally, it was the first time they'd scored a point in world cup history. Jeez. And so I called him to congratulate him. He's like, I'm famous. And I said, what are you talking about? And he sent me a video of a shot that went, that missed the goal. And he reached out like this and it hit him right dead square in the face. Oh, he's like, it's okay, man. I'm famous. So I mean, that guy is pretty great. It's, I got to watch the clip. It's awesome. It's a fantastic video.

[02:10:41] I mean, and, you know, so he always sends me the pictures. He's, he's been to all the games and, you know, I'm rooting for the Congo, which is really weird. Yeah. Because, you know, just is. Well, this is back, uh, God, I don't want to say in the early eighties, but they, uh, they defined soccer as the second most physically demanding sport of all time. Second most, uh, most demanding sport motocross. Yep. So that's for sure. Yeah.

[02:11:10] I kudos to those guys and what they're doing, especially when they're playing in the heat because, uh, well, it hasn't been terribly, uh, cooperative as far as weather goes, but, uh, man. So when does the world cup end? Is that, uh, um, all I can tell you is it's after the last game. Okay. Okay. Thanks. I know that the, the, the, there's, uh, the, the German team is practicing here where I am in Winston-Salem. Oh, wow.

[02:11:37] And they're, you know, so there, there's three teams. I think it's Germany, Sweden, and one of the other teams is all practicing here locally. Cool. Um, which is really cool. You know, I mean, I haven't gone and seen them, but the fact that they're here is kind of cool. Yeah. You know, so I mean, the world cup is a big deal and you know, my, all my, my kids played soccer, um, one of my sons was played at a very high level. Um, and you know, so it's, it's fun to watch and I, I played, you know, growing up, but

[02:12:06] not, not at the level my son was at, but, um, you know, it's, it's a lot of fun. And I think I wish they could figure out a way to make foosball more like it. Right. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Agreed. And, you know, well, I mean, you think about the European scene, one of the reasons that, uh, the European scene is so good when it comes to foosball. Because of their heritage and, uh, their, their, uh, their favorite sports soccer or football. Sorry. Yeah.

[02:12:33] I tell you what, in America, if we could figure out a table NASCAR. Yeah. Actually, I think, I think they actually have that, but anyways. Table NASCAR. We are not getting into that. Okay. We'll save that for, for our next meeting for sure. Uh, but, uh, regardless, Chase, any other things you want to ask your partner before we, before we shut it down? No, man. Him and I talk like every day. Okay.

[02:13:00] Just saying, you know, anything you want to humiliate him over, you know, anything like that, but, uh, no, you can't, I already know I'm fat, dude. It's all good. We're good. We're good. We're good. I'm not going there today. Well, it's really hard to hurt feelings when the person doesn't have any, you know? Ooh, there you go. Well, guys, it's, uh, it's an absolute pleasure getting a chance to hang out with you both.

[02:13:27] And, uh, I'm looking forward to the, to, to meeting you all at, uh, at, uh, worlds and, uh, you know, if there's anything, any time you want to jump on by, by all means, Sean, just let us know. Will do brother. I appreciate it. Cool. And, uh, Chase, uh, we'll be back together again very soon. And, and, uh, looking forward to, uh, looks like we may get a full report from Michael Stoll Jr. In New York city in the near future. Oh, that'd be great. I'd love that. Yeah. Yes, please. We're looking at, uh, this next week.

[02:13:55] So, uh, fingers crossed, but, uh, I know he's having too much fun in Manhattan. So what can I tell you? That's all good for him. Good for him. Yeah. Great stuff. Well, guys, uh, happy 4th of July once again. And, uh, yeah. And everybody, thanks for tuning in tonight. If you tuned down on Twitch TV or YouTube, which we're now, uh, simulcasting on, uh, thanks for tuning in, uh, Drifter Radio. And I noticed, uh, we did have, uh, uh, Eddie Mubarak at one point here chimed in, but thanks for tuning in.

[02:14:24] Thanks for, uh, for, uh, using the chat and, uh, guys, we'll, we'll catch you next time, but, uh, stick around. We have 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.

[02:14:54] 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 for the 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.

[02:15:22] Since 2019, Foosgadgets 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. Foosgadgets.com, using technology to create a better foosball experience.

[02:15:54] 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. Here comes the 2026 Mississippi State Foosball Championships, July 23rd through the 26th at Holiday in Pearl, Mississippi. The 2026 Ohio State Championships, July 30th through August 2nd. The competition comes to a new hotel,

[02:16:24] the Ohio Airport Marriott, Columbus, Ohio. East Coast Foosball presents the Duval Foosball Tournament, August 7th through the 9th at the Dart Bar, Jacksonville, Florida. Canada Foosball presents the 2026 Vancouver Island Foosball Championships, August 14th through the 16th, Courtenay Legion, Courtenay, British Columbia. 518 Foosball presents the World's Warm-Up Smashdown, Saturday, August 15th.

[02:16:52] Trick Shots, Billiards, and Wicked Eatery, Clifton Park, New York. 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.

[02:17:22] 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,

[02:17:51] using technology to create a better foosball experience. And by Boise Foosworks, high-fidelity refurbished foosballs. Foos Talk Live is a product of Foosball Radio. With gratitude, we recognize our Foosball 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,

[02:18:20] we'll see you at Foosin'.