FoosTalk Live | Ep 309 | Mario Ariganello and Kane Gabriel
Foosball RadioAugust 10, 202601:44:3571.85 MB

FoosTalk Live | Ep 309 | Mario Ariganello and Kane Gabriel

Send us Fan Mail

Mario Ariganello and Kane Gabriel are the official defending world champions during the WFT 2026 World Championships in New Orleans. Here's a glimpse of how they are planning to defend their title.

Become a Foosball Radio Patreon: Patreon.com/FoosballRadio


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

    [00:00:31] FoosTalk Live. Hi, this is Tom Robinson, and I want to personally thank our Patreon pillars for their support of Foosball Radio and FoosTalk Live. Here's to our newest Patreon. Thanks to Randy Raposo.

    [00:01:13] And our friends from the 716 Buffalo Foosball Club. Thank you. Your support brings continued and expanding content from Foosball Radio as we cover the greatest sport on earth. Visit patreon.com forward slash foosball radio to find out how to become a Foosball Radio Patreon. Foos Talk Live is brought to you by original Leonhardt.

    [00:01:40] The Leonhardt tournament model is the most popular foosball table at the ITSF World Cup. Designed and handcrafted in Germany, order online and have it delivered to your door. Visit www.original-leonhardt-usa.com and use promo code FOOSTALK to save 10% off your purchase price. And we are live on FoosTalk Live. Hey there, it's Tom Robinson.

    [00:02:08] Welcome to episode number 309. And, yeah, we're going to talk about foosball like we always do. And, of course, if you're going to talk about foosball, it's always great to have somebody nearby who wants to talk about foosball, who loves the sport passionately. And that, of course, would be Chase Pennell. What's up, Chase? Oh, I thought you were talking about someone else for a minute, brother. I don't know. Everything's great, man. You know, life's still good. Back here on the channel. I love it, man. Yeah, man. Yeah, yeah.

    [00:02:35] It seems like it was just yesterday we were talking to Ryan Moore and getting psyched. Getting psyched. That was a wild podcast, my friend. It was. Cameos from everyone and their brother. It was something special. It broke out into a party. And there were some comments passed back and forth between you and Tommy Yore. And I'm wondering, the next time you see Tommy in person, is he going to hurt you?

    [00:03:03] He's going to straight up punch me in the face is what he's going to do. That's what I would do if the other guy was him. Like, damn, I'm going to punch Chase right in the face. He totally deserves it. Oh, man. But it was good times, got to say. And thanks again for Ryan for joining us and getting us ready for the big one. It's the 2026 World Championships in New Orleans. But you know something? We've got to find out what's going to happen.

    [00:03:26] Because, you know, there was an extraordinary event last year, the 2025 World Championships in New Orleans. And boy, I tell you, the Open Doubles match was just extraordinary. And it just so happens we have to have the winners, the title champions of the Open Doubles from the 2025 World Championships. First Canadians ever. First Canadians ever. To win it. To do it. To win Open Doubles. And they've actually graced our presence this evening.

    [00:03:55] First of all, welcome to Mario Ariganello. Mario, is it Mario or Mario? It's, people call me Mario. It's Mario. Mario. Mario. It's all good. It's all good. Gotcha. And of course, I can pronounce Kane Gabriel. I think I got that one down. Is that cool? Yes, sir. What's up, guys? Thanks for joining us. Yeah, thanks for having us.

    [00:04:25] Thanks for having us. Well, as we mentioned in the green room tonight, we discussed last year, right after you guys won the big championship, we sat down for an interview on Foosball Radio on the Road, and we had a technical faux pas. And I just wanted to say, guys, you know, thanks for your patience on that, but it's just one of those weird things that occurs.

    [00:04:46] But it was a great interview nonetheless, and since then, I'm sure things may have, I don't know, you've probably had a lot of time to reflect on that weekend. So we'll definitely get into that. But first of all, please tell us, you're both going to be playing this year at Worlds together. Yes, we are. All right. Don't mess with me now. Just making sure. No, no, we definitely are. Cool.

    [00:05:18] What team do you fear the most stepping into this 2026 World Championship? Kane? I think I fear ourselves the most. That's actually the best answer ever. Yeah.

    [00:05:38] I mean, if we're, if we're like level headed, we're not too eager, but just in the moment, I feel like we could be the most dangerous team out there. It's just a matter of just being consistent and being positive. I think last year when we played, we had some tough times during the matches. Nothing was easy. Of course, it was single elimination also. And we did some things that were different from the previous years.

    [00:06:08] But I like that. So it's, we were down in some matches. And I, what I did as a goalie, which was something different, was I wasn't too hard on my partner because I believe in him so much. But I used a different approach. I was more positive even when we were down. Actually, I was more positive when we were down in matches than when we were up in matches. Huh. When I was up in a match with him, I just let it flow.

    [00:06:39] When we were down, I found every way to channel positivity towards him and to make him feel more confident while I knew he was losing some confidence for certain moments. And I just figured out ways to make him feel as confident as possible. And literally, when we came back from a timeout, it was like a night and day difference from what had happened in the previous years.

    [00:07:07] Hey, don't be telling all of our secrets already. Hey, look, Chase has already got his pen out. He's writing them all down, all right? That didn't happen, Chase. He was yelling at me in the corner, bro. You can write it down, but it took us 21 years to learn that. Right. So it's easier said than done. You know what I mean? Yeah. So, I mean, we knew this.

    [00:07:33] We knew this in the previous years, but it was so hard because of our determination to win. It was so hard to actually be correct in the moment. So, and this was a big moment. This was like we did not let the payout bother us. And it's weird because we've let $4,000 and $6,000 bother us before. And this was $20,000.

    [00:07:58] And for some reason, it did not even phase me in moments that it would have prior, you know? And I think that's what made the difference because we already had the skill, the mindset. Mario, how about you? What say you on that? Well, to be honest with you, like Last Worlds going into it, I had no idea who we were going to play. You know?

    [00:08:24] So, whoever it was, you know, I know that the fear works both ways. You know, we're going to be in fear of them and they're going to be in fear of us and let the fear battle each other out, you know? Well, I mean, you think about the guys that you were facing. Paul Smith, to me, and I told him this on air this last year when I got a chance to talk to him. I told him straight up, man, you're the most intimidating player I think I've ever met.

    [00:08:54] You're always, like, very intense. I mean, I feel like he's always in the on mode at all times. He is a giant, you know? Standing, I think, 6'5", it's definitely intimidation right there. Yeah, and the scowl. He's got that built-in attitude. It's like, you know, he wants to step on you.

    [00:09:18] But beside that, I mean, then you've got Terry Rue in the pit, who's probably one of the greatest goalies of our generation. I mean, how do you deal with that? That's intimidation all the way around, between the forward and the defense. How do you cope with that? Well, you know, it just comes down to giving your best, right?

    [00:09:43] You know, when we give our best, you have to be okay with whatever outcome you get. And you just kind of, you battle it out, and good things roll your way, you've got to take them, you know? If bad things go your way, you've got to take them, you know? It's just rolling with the punches, so to speak, right? It's, you know, there's no perfect way of getting to where you need to get to.

    [00:10:13] You know, you have to kind of, you know, get beat up along the way and kind of find a way to get through, you know? Like, I wish I could just beat everybody 5-0 and win the championship. But, you know, it's very difficult for that to happen, you know?

    [00:10:35] I think there is something to be said for the fact that, first of all, this is the first time Canadians have really, you know, stepped up. And I know you guys from Canada. There's, in fact, quite a few players that come down to play with us in New York State on a regular basis for our smash downs. And certainly played a lot of state tournaments with Canadian players. Very nice people, first of all. Just saying. But second of all, fierce.

    [00:11:05] Everybody from Canada. Everybody's a disciplined player. I don't think there's a single Canadian player I haven't seen who wasn't disciplined and really, really excellent player. So, and you guys are the cream of the cream. I mean, just, you're the top of the heap. So, that's saying something right there. Yeah, well, you know, foosball has been pretty rampant in Canada the last, I would say, 10 years with the Canada Foosball Club. Yes.

    [00:11:35] You know, there's a lot of regulars that get out and go, you know, two, three days, sometimes four days a week. Wow. And the fact that they're playing so much foosball and playing with different levels, you know, it definitely, the learning to adapt with one another and, you know, learn from each other is a big part of foosball. Exactly. You're in the crucible all the time. Mm-hmm.

    [00:12:05] Being developed. Right. So, like, you know, when I was growing up, starting around, you know, 18, start playing passing, you know, we were playing, you know, five, six, sometimes seven days a week. Wow. And, you know, playing five, six hours a day, you know, you're going to get good quick. Mm-hmm. But then, you know, there was a feeling, you know, Kane and I had a ceiling all the time.

    [00:12:31] And if it wasn't for me, him, Malavo, Sean Lee, like, pushing each other to constantly move the ceiling up, you know, Canada foosball would never be where it is, so to speak, today, you know.

    [00:12:47] We're constantly pushing the envelope, you know, learning from Americans, bringing it home to Canada and bringing it, you know, like, kind of, you know, throwing all their techniques and finding ways to help better situate us. Yeah. Finding fire with fire, for sure. Wow. Yeah. Well, there were nights where we would play from eight in the evening until eight in the morning. Whoa.

    [00:13:17] Now that's, that's damn, huh? And with, like, maybe, maybe three breaks. Man. A lot of yelling throughout the night, but, you know, what's foosball without a little bit of yelling? What, Canadians yell? I had no idea. I don't believe that at all. Uh, you guys have no idea. Only at other, so what it is, is they only yell at other Canadians. Oh. They don't yell at Americans, just other Canadians. Okay. Yeah, we, we, we yell at Canadians because we know they don't got guns.

    [00:13:49] No. He said it live. We're recording this, just saying, but, no, it's, uh, it's, uh. They know it's love. They know it's love. So, so, so, Chase, you, you've watched these guys play. I mean, what. For a long time. Yeah. For a very long time. What, uh. I'm trying to remember what the first term it was where we all met. And. I'm. Was it. It wasn't 2005. Was it? It had to have been either Kentucky or Dallas.

    [00:14:19] It would have been Kentucky, I think. 2005, I think it was tour kickoff. And I remember, I was competing, I think in rookie, and you guys were already amateurs at that point or something. I think. We would have been, I would have been either semi-pro or pro by then. Well, if it was Kentucky, it would have been Mary's. Yeah. And you got. Because 2000, 2004, I won rookie doubles.

    [00:14:46] And then I was a double pro right, right after that. Mary, you would have been a amateur or something, right? Because Mary's points were different. I have people. You're thinking USTSA points. Maybe. Maybe. Because I think you guys, we, we won something. You guys won the one above us. And I was going, gosh, I want to beat those guys so bad. Because you guys molly whopped us in that event. I remember it vividly. Mario was playing goal. Kane was up front. And we couldn't stop anything you guys did at all.

    [00:15:16] And I'm just like, oh, this is fun. Couldn't stop Kane's lane pass to save my life. Thwopped that big old swat that you used to have. That thing was awesome. Yeah, I've been working on it for the Worlds. And then quite a lot of lane passes. And I've been just working on the whole game. My wife's actually good enough to like, she tells me, go practice.

    [00:15:45] Because, you know, I want you to do good. And that makes me actually have some free time, you know. I mean, I'm practicing four nights a week. Four nights. Which is huge for me. That's huge. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Because I'm not allowed to play the ball at home. Because I got my nine-month-old baby over here. So she says, go out and practice. I was going to say, you know, you've got a new child. I mean, the baby was born nine months, you say? So after Worlds occurred.

    [00:16:13] And what an amazing event. So congratulations on that. Thank you. Thank you. It's beautiful, man. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. It changes everything, doesn't it? It changes everything. But I'm... Oh, big time. Go ahead. No, I focus a lot on my four-year-old too. I mean, she's turning four, but I got her in gymnastics. I got her swimming four days a week, five days a week, depending. She's in the pool in the back over here.

    [00:16:42] Or we're always at the beach. And she's learning how to swim. And well, she swims with no floaties on and stuff. But I'm constantly working on her with gymnastics. And I do it with her. Nice. So I stay in shape that way too. And yeah, I put a lot of effort into the girls. I got girls. I'm a girl dad. So... Good for you. So, Manny, a quick question. When exactly do you remember playing with Kane for the very first time?

    [00:17:11] Do you remember the event and how it went? Well, the first time I ever played with Kane is in Toronto. Okay. We played... Most of the time, whenever we played in Toronto, we played against each other. Ah. So I've always been a guy in Toronto to say, like, I don't want to win easily. It's just not fun.

    [00:17:35] So anytime, like, Kane and I would pair up, you know, we would pretty much dominate the tournament. You know, it wasn't... You know, a lot of the times it wasn't even close. There was only one. There was one tournament. There was one tournament that was close, yeah. Where we were down, I think, 4-0. And Kane scored five goals from the back to win the... Well, I... It was us against the Vietnamese.

    [00:18:06] And they were really good on the Fabi table, the red and blue tables. Okay. But we were the best. And for some reason, they were having a good night blocking Mario in the front. And I said, we ain't going down like that, dude. You know what I mean? It's just not happening, dude. So I just waited until the ball got in the back. And I just... For some reason, I locked in. And it was... I shot tornado shots on the Fabi table. And they were blistering. They were just... They were just gone. And I was like... Yeah.

    [00:18:36] And we're not losing Mario. This doesn't matter. It's like... But we were... They had us on the ropes. And we were a little nervous, you know. Yeah, yeah. I had his back. And... So we've gone through some... We started playing on the Fabi table. It's a red and blue players with glass tops. Mm-hmm. And telescopic rods. So it's primarily a fastball table where you kind of hit the ball like once.

    [00:19:06] And you're constantly hitting the ball. It's always moving. It's an Italian style play called the Volo. So we played that for quite... We played on that style table until about 2003-ish. And then that's when we were introduced to Tornado. So I think Kane and I didn't start playing with each other until like 2005 when we went to Kentucky State.

    [00:19:35] I played with Sean Lee. He and Jason... And Jason in my first tournaments. And then from then on, I've been playing with Kane. Wow. That's a... That's quite a career between the two of you. That's truly amazing. Very few people that I can think are very few partners that have stayed together that long. I'm trying to think now. Maybe Spreideman and Rob Morris certainly have...

    [00:20:04] Yeah, Dave Thomas and Tracy McMahon. Yep, exactly. But very few. Very few teams have stayed together that long. So I'm really curious too, when it comes to what you guys won last year, the grand prize, it's actually going to be bigger this year. What was the first thing that you bought for yourself after winning last year in the championships? Anything come to mind, Kane?

    [00:20:36] I don't really remember buying myself something. I basically took my wife out on like a little vacation. There you go. A little vacation. Nice. I don't really buy myself a lot of things anymore. It's either my daughters or my wife. Uh-huh. You know, I don't really find... I mean, I really don't get the same happiness as in buying myself. I still love buying shoes and stuff, but... Sure. I don't really get the same happiness in buying it for myself.

    [00:21:03] Right now, I get the happiness in buying it for my daughters and I get the whole thing like you're spoiling them. Right. You know? Right, right. But... Yeah. Mario, what about you? Did you buy something for yourself? Absolutely not. I've always been the type of man that when I see money in the bank, it's a lot more freeing than buying something. Right. Got it.

    [00:21:33] So, you know, like Kane said, you know, went on vacation with the family, went on a cruise, and that's pretty much it. Several years ago, we were chatting with Todd Lafredo, and of course, we had to ask him about 1977 when Todd won the championship that year. I believe the purse was $35,000 for that championship that year.

    [00:22:00] And of course, $1977, that's a whole lot more money than, of course, today. But, he did admit, he said he went to a mall with $1,200 in his pocket and didn't spend a dime. Didn't spend a single cent. So, I think he has the same philosophy. I think he's like, you know what? Maybe this money would be better spent in the bank. That's right. Well, you know, for me, you know, freedom is having money, right?

    [00:22:31] Yes. And to me, it's an important part of, you know, what do we need in life, right? I have all the essentials already, thank goodness. Mm-hmm. You know? So, what do you know? Just to give you an idea, $35,000 in 1977 is $192,000 now. Whoa. That's right. Yeah. You could have bought a house with that money. Yeah. Dang.

    [00:22:59] Just to give you a general idea of the difference. Right. No, of course, that was TS days, you know, tournament soccer. They had tournaments, so they're giving away cars and... Porsches, Corvettes. Yeah, Porsches and stuff, right? Yeah, yeah. Porsches and Corvettes, yeah. Remember when Doug Ferry and Jim Wiswell were playing, I think they gave away Porsches. Yep. Yep, they won the... And it was like $30,000. Wow. Yeah. Yeah.

    [00:23:26] Now, do either one of you think that we'll ever get back to that level? So, it's very difficult, mostly because I think that in order for foosball to really get big, it needs to be... Like, if you look at most sports, you have to go somewhere to watch it. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

    [00:23:51] So, you know, watching it on the TV is great, but it's not as lucrative as a stadium. Right? And that's where foosball will always, for me, have a little bit of trouble in terms of growing because it's not very easy to, like, be in the bleachers and watch a foosball game live, live. Like, watch on the table. Right. You know?

    [00:24:21] So, that's the difficult part. But if we can get enough foosball players, you know, because, you know, watching it on TV and watching it, you know, on the computer is an easy thing to do these days as well. Yep. Very true. If there's a lot of people that love foosball, you know, then there's always that possibility to go that route. Now, if you had the opportunity, and I'll throw this to Kane first, but if you had the opportunity

    [00:24:51] to do foosball full-time, in other words, a touring pro, would you do it? Was that something you would aspire to if you could make a living? What the sponsorship is, what the payouts are, and what just depends on the whole sponsorship. If I could make, because I like making money. Yes. Yes. I like making a lot of money. Let's put it this way.

    [00:25:21] If you could make, essentially, more than you do at your current day job, right? Or an equivalent to your current day job. 100%. That's the real question, right? Yeah. Like, that's the real question we want to know. Would you just say, I'm in? Well, it depends on how many tournaments a year, you know, that you're kind of obligated to go to. Sure. Right?

    [00:25:45] If it was worth it where I could take my family with me and not keep leaving them at the house, that would mean something to me then. That would be, because it's more fun when I take my kids. Yeah. We need foosball taking. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Right? We just need a foosball daycare. Yeah, we do. We need a separate room. Drop the kids in. There's a couple of tables. They've got the tubes on there so they can't hit themselves in the heads, and we're good. Perfect. Well, right?

    [00:26:14] And they've got other kids to play with. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Five bucks to drop off a kid. It's a new revenue stream. We'd figured it out. Yep. We'd be in. And from, you know, prior experience, I can say that the play area has always been perfect right in front of the foosball radio booth. It's always been great. Yeah. Right there. Just saying. No, it's been. That's where all the kids hang out. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. So, no, I mean, you think about other major sports.

    [00:26:43] I mean, I don't know. I always use golf as a comparison. But the golf pros, the tour, they're out probably, what, 15 times a year, 15 different stops. And the rest of the time, they're practicing. If foosball had a similar kind of schedule. Mario, what do you think about that? If we're making money like a golfer would, it's hard not to say no to that.

    [00:27:11] And I think that what it boils down to, like Kane said, is being with family as much as possible. But, you know, like you have to look at the trade-offs, right? If I'm making $2,000 and $3 million a year, I don't think my wife is going to have a complaint in regards to that. But, you know, if I'm making $100,000 a year, she's going to say, well, I think you're leaving the family too much. Ah, yes. Right?

    [00:27:39] And I kind of agree with that, too, you know? Like, you know, like. What's your number? Like, let's style this in. What's your number? Honestly, I think my number would be. Sorry, let me rephrase that. I think my wife's number would be around $500,000 at least. That's the right answer. That's the right answer. Half a mil. Okay. So what's your wife's answer?

    [00:28:07] I said to my son, I said, you know, Joseph, should I go to the World Championships? Because my wife was like, no, I don't want you going this year. You know, just retire now. You got the championship. And I said, Joseph, what do you think? Should I go to the World Championship? He goes, you have to, Dad. Ooh. That's the right answer from a kid all day. Oh, yeah. You know what I mean? And I'm like, that's beautiful. I love that, you know? It's like he wants to see the competition.

    [00:28:36] He wants me to compete. He wants to see if I can do it all over again. And that's, you know, that's a good thing. That's good for you and for him. Hell yeah. Yeah. Hell yeah. And what about your kids? Do you think that they'll get into the sport of foosball? My little one loves it, actually. My three-year-old loves it. But I'm trying to...

    [00:29:04] So I don't mind her playing, to be honest. But I want her to be... I want her to put her in tennis. Oh, tennis. I want her to play tennis. Nice. Yeah. Florida's got some of the best tennis schools. And currently, we're working on her fundamentals, which is gymnastics. So get the whole body strung, core strength. And who knows? She might... She's really good at gymnastics. So she might take that to the next level.

    [00:29:30] I'm just going to kind of guide her into gymnastics and tennis as of now. And if she wants to come with me to her tournament and blow my brains, so be it. You know what I mean? So I'm going to let you know a secret. As a dad that has kids a touch older than yours, but not drastically older than yours, they're going to tell you what they want to do when the time comes. I did all that with my boys. And they all decided, like, oh, we hate all of this.

    [00:30:00] We're not doing any of it. And now they just... Most of them do karate, and one of them is running cross-country. And I'm just like, do you? I don't know anything about either of those. They want nothing to do with those tables over there except, like, to walk up, spin the rod real quick, and then leave. So... Yeah. If I put Ava on the table right now, she won't stop playing. Oh, that's awesome. Very cool. Yeah. Very cool. Yeah, she looks cool.

    [00:30:29] Well, you think about the second-generation foosball players that are out there these days, not the least of which would be Jacob Balkos or Sam Dijon. I mean, that was the environment in which they were raised. And it just seems natural in so many ways for them to do well. And, you know, of course, Sullivan Rue, of course, is in that same category. Her dad, of course, and her mom, fantastic players,

    [00:30:57] and have come along, and she is now probably going to be one of the top women players in the world. No doubt about it. If she's not already. Oh, yeah, no question. Yeah, no question there already, yeah. It makes a huge difference when your parents put in the effort and let you do something like you really love and support you and pay for your trips. And Mario and I used to try to hide it from our parents. Right? Mario's mom.

    [00:31:27] My mom would freak out every single time. Yeah. Freak out? Mario, you no go to this stupid bullshit, okay? You have a family. You don't need this no more. You're not a 20-year-old no more. That's amazing. Oh, that's good. Yeah, it was amazing. What are you doing? Yeah, nice to try again. So my father played.

    [00:31:54] Yeah, my father played, so he understood the bug. You know, he only played fastball, really, and he was really good at it. And so we would play tournaments and stuff like that. I used to try to get him out as much as possible. Cool. But, you know, eventually the older he got, the more he's like, no, I don't care for it anymore. I'm 65. I'm 70. I don't even give a shit about this stuff no more. Oh, come on. It's your turn to be a champion, he said. Not me. I'm done.

    [00:32:24] Wow. Well, tell him for me that I'm 67, pushing 68. I'm still at it, man. That's the great thing about foosball. Yeah. You can literally, like, I was playing with my dad when he was 80 years old. Yeah, no doubt. You know, I'd play with my two brothers, and we would play against each other, and we would get underneath each other's skin. I still have the video. You know, us laughing at each other. Oh, yeah, it's fantastic.

    [00:32:50] You know, so the memories are incredible when it comes to, you know, doing things together with family and friends. That's awesome. No doubt. So, all right. You guys used to live very close to each other for the longest time. You don't anymore. You ended up winning last year despite, like, you know what I mean? Despite that. Now, coming into this year, we're doing it again. There's been, I'm guessing, no tune-up tournament.

    [00:33:19] I'm sure there's been conversations and game plan thoughts. Well, we played Vegas. Okay. I'm missing you guys were at Vegas. Yeah, we did play Vegas together, which was good. So, we learned a lot about that. Like, you know, it's good to not. So, Kane knows everybody quite well, right? Because he sees them quite regularly, and they talk and stuff. I don't.

    [00:33:45] So, you know, I have a disadvantage and an advantage at the same time because they don't see me and I don't see them. It's a battle of who can figure out each other faster, you know, and adapt to each other quicker. So, that makes it interesting. And I, you know, have some, you know, you know, I go over to Kane and be like, yo, what's this guy's favorite? What does he like to do? This and that.

    [00:34:12] And, you know, that helps out huge for me because to have an outsider's perspective, you know, like I can't tell you how many times Kane did that for me last year at Worlds in singles and in doubles to help me figure out what I need to do in that match. You know, like I gained third place and a lot of it was, you know, Kane, what do you think about, you know, Munoz? What do I got to do with Romero? What do I got to do with, you know, Kane, with Romero?

    [00:34:42] He's like, I can't tell you. He's my boy, bro. You're going to have to figure it out. What you jerk. But I get it. I get it. Well, I coached him because I thought I registered for singles and I didn't get in. So, I was like, that sucks. Oh. So, I'm going to make sure to register this year. But at the same time, it's like, if I'm not in it, I want my boy to win, you know. So, it doesn't matter. There you go. And I was watching matches.

    [00:35:12] You know, I just have – I'm a student of the game. I love watching matches and paying attention to small details. Yep. And that's how you learn. So, the last time I played the top guys was in Florida. And I haven't played since Florida State in a bigger tournament. I was playing in a bigger setting. Okay. But I kind of put it on them over there too, you know. I played – I was mixing it up with Munoz playing goalie and forward. I didn't get to play the singles again because of my kids.

    [00:35:42] But I did go play the doubles event. And we were like one ball away from making the finals. We made a mistake over there. We came back from 4-1 down against Jacob and Eric Oetner. Very good team. Yep. And we were up 5-4 and we had a shot to close it. And we made a bad choice over there and they had gained momentum and came back and beat us. But I still felt like not going out on tour as much as I used to.

    [00:36:11] I still feel like my brain is in a better spot, like better location altogether because of my kids. Interesting. And my wife. My wife puts the heat on me. As she should. That's their job. That's it. Just in general though. That's their wife's job. I think going into this right now, I'm not really thinking about not having enough practice time with Mario.

    [00:36:38] Like I said, we're our own best friend and worst enemy. So it just depends on our headspace going in, our belief system. And getting some warm up before the tournament because we always do that. But just like I said, staying positive the whole time and boosting each other up in a positive way. Not an egotistical way, but more like in a warrior way, you know, like and not giving up. Right.

    [00:37:06] Because we have been a team that's come back a lot from being down in matches. And sometimes in the heat at the moment. But when you go back and actually replay those matches, those are matches where we don't say anything negative to each other. It's like sometimes we don't even say anything to each other. It's just fight and cheer for the right things and stay focused. Like keeping the loose balls out. That's when we're fighting the hardest. Like as a goalie, I'm fighting the hardest at that moment.

    [00:37:36] Sometimes it takes, you know, somebody like Tony or somebody like Tommy or somebody. It takes you to – it sucks, but it takes you to like 4-1 down in the fifth game to figure something out. Figure out some small titles. And then next thing you know, you gain momentum on three points. Now it's 4-4. You know, and – but if you just are hard on each other at that point, it's 5-1 at that point. You know what I mean? We've already given up. Yep.

    [00:38:00] So just those small changes and adjustments will make the difference I feel like because we know we're going in for the war. You know, it's going to be a war. We're not going in thinking we're going to three straight these guys. Yeah. If anything, we're thinking we've got to be in shape mentally and physically because it's going to be a 7-7. Yep. You know, some matches are going to go above an hour. We're not even realizing it's taken an hour and 30 minutes, but it has.

    [00:38:27] And, you know, we come out still feeling good and still feel not fatigued, which that's huge because, you know, you're going to go into the next match probably pretty soon after that. Yeah. Very true. Especially with the new flight system. Yeah, exactly. And then what's important is eating correctly, not getting sucked into the party too much, not getting sucked into all that, and just staying disciplined.

    [00:38:53] And that's – I feel like I've made those changes in the last recent years, and it's mostly because of my kids. And it's made a world of difference in the outcome. Awesome. So I guess that brings up the question then. What do you guys think of the flight format compared to the championship format where you guys won? I don't like it. You don't like it, okay. Did you lose your – I'm going to ask why. Are you speaking about the last format?

    [00:39:22] Yeah, in Vegas. The format in Vegas. The format you guys played in Vegas, the flight format. I don't know. For some reason, I really don't – I don't know. I just don't really think much about the format. That's fair. Like if it's like – If it's like an A and B side, winner's side and loser's side, I'm okay with that. If it's a single limb, of course you know we're okay with that. It's – you do the round robins and then you do the Swiss system.

    [00:39:52] The Swiss system kind of bothers me a little bit. Just a little bit. Because sometimes you'll play all these matches and win all these matches and a team just has to beat you once in that. Last round. Right. And you haven't lost one at all. And it might not be deserving of it, but it's like loose balls going and stuff like that. And you're just like, what just happened over there, you know? Yeah. Now you don't have a chance to come back or – but I think the world's format – I think the world's format was fine.

    [00:40:22] I'm okay with the flight A and flight B. I'm not really too worried about that. The reason why I don't like flight format is you could potentially be playing the same team twice. If you went through like the B – yeah, you absolutely could be. Very true. It's just like the A and B. It's the winner's side bracket when somebody comes back to double dip. Yeah, I know, but it shouldn't happen in a single elimination tournament. It's valid. Yeah. It's definitely valid. Good point. I had to do it at tour kickoff.

    [00:40:52] I had to play one of your fellow Canadians, Eric Dunn, to qualify in flight A. He qualified in flight B. I had to play him first round in the elimination. So, yeah, that's not necessarily fun because – Plus, I don't like – It's not easy to be in the second time. I don't like the fact that once you lose, you're out now. Now there's no possibility for getting third place. True that. Yep. Okay. Good point.

    [00:41:20] Where if you look in terms of speed for the tournament, there's no faster way to get the tournament done than the way they did it last year. The championship format. Yep. Championship format. You win, you win, you lose, you know, you're still in, so to speak. There's the loser side up to third place, and that's as far as you can go. So, my favorite format is still the winner's side and the loser's side where you come back and double dip.

    [00:41:49] Double elimination. Because the double elimination, yeah, because there are going to be times – I mean, just nothing is perfect except for how we played last year. Right. But nothing else is really perfect. We've gone through that so many times. And you get into these matches where, you know, you just know you're better than that. But you get a second chance to come back and win the whole thing, and that to me shows integrity. That to me shows you just never give up.

    [00:42:19] You know, and everybody followed schedule compared to, like, you know, getting recalled for an hour showing up to the table, which I was at fault a few times for that. But you discipline yourself as you realize that this is what's causing the problem. This is why they're having to switch. And I was a part of it. I was part of the problem, you know. Like, I find myself on recall, like, for an hour sometimes, and I didn't even know I got called.

    [00:42:47] Or even if I – like, if I knew I got called, I'm rushing to the table. But a lot of times I didn't because I'm not somebody that, like Mario said, we don't check our phones to see who we're playing next. We're not – we're outside having a good conversation and a good time, you know. So – but I feel like if people are disciplined with that format, that is the best format because you do get a chance to actually have integrity with never giving up. Mm-hmm. There's always that chance. Yep.

    [00:43:15] I know, but when it comes to, like, all sports, all sports are single elimination. Yep. And there's a reason for that, you know. Like, there's something special to say that you won the tournament without losing. Undefeated. You know, and undefeated is, like, something – it's something special, you know. Like, you're the only team in the building that didn't lose. Yep. True that. That was amazing. Absolutely. That was amazing.

    [00:43:45] Right. And that's a feeling that only a select few people have, you know, that have achieved. Yeah. And, you know, when you feel that and you see that, it's like, you know, like, look at the names in Vegas for, like, singles, open world – open singles champion.

    [00:44:07] Tony Friedemann, for the last, you know, 10 years or 20 years almost, it's been his name up there at least 80 or 90 percent. So, you know, you see stuff like that. So, you know, you see stuff like that, you know. Then you got Ryan Moore, you got Brandon Munoz, Tom Vior, Federico Colignone. And then it's like, that's it. You know? True that, yeah. Sometimes Todd Lafredo and whatever, I guess. But, you know, it's a select few people.

    [00:44:35] But, you know, winning – like I said, winning undefeated is a pretty special feeling. Yeah, you know, you've really, really earned the title when that happens, no doubt about it. Well, I wouldn't say you've really earned the title. Like, of course, there's a lot more luck involved because when you're doing a double elimination tournament, you might win the first set against somebody.

    [00:44:59] But to win both sets, you really got to be on your game, you know. Like, and the, you know, forceful – forcing the adaption of your game, the longevity of what you're capable of is super, super critical on a, you know, double elimination tournament. When, you know, once, you know, you play somebody and they recognize, oh, he just likes push side. Oh, he loves the lane.

    [00:45:27] And you shut that down eventually because you've learned and watched them play five games, you know. And then when you play the second set, you dominate them and it's – they're like, what the hell? We dominated that team. How did they just come back and give us a beating? You know, but they learned all your weaknesses and they used them against you and you can adapt. So, you know, when it's single elimination, it's very difficult to adapt in five –

    [00:45:56] Not that it's very difficult. It's a lot more difficult. Or challenging. Yes. Yeah. No doubt about it. I'm wondering – I like both of them. I like both systems. Only because he's one of the most depth players in the league. Well, no, I mean like 2017 when we played world finals, I mean we had a bye. That was first round.

    [00:46:22] And then we played a round against Don Shalifo and Justin Getliff or – what's his name? I can't remember his last name. But we won that one and we lost that very next one to Tony and Devin. And so that was like basically round two. We were in the losers and we came – and there was a lot of teams. And we came all the way back to play the world final from losing.

    [00:46:45] So I don't know which one's better, you know, playing on top and never losing or losing second round. Backs against the wall and now we're playing single limb all the way to the final. Maybe we just like playing single limb. I don't know. I think that's what it is. I think you guys like playing with your back against a wall and that's what makes you so good. I don't think you like double elimination. I think you like your back against a wall. I think that's where – I get that impression too. Because here's the bottom line. You guys went through Tommy and Brandon.

    [00:47:14] You guys went through Billy and Joe. You went through Blake and Kevin. And then Terry and Paul. Not in that order necessarily. I think there was one more team in the mix. But one more high-level team. I just don't have it in front of me. Yeah. Still. Yeah. Yeah. Remarkable. But I mean, first and foremost, Tommy and Brandon were favored by everybody. Yep. Yes. They were the number one rated, right?

    [00:47:44] In Louisiana. No, they were number three. I don't know if they were number one or not. But everybody – Tommy and Brandon? Yeah. I would imagine. Tommy and Brandon were number one seed. Yeah. They were number one seed. I remember talking to Brandon on the way in. This is two days before the actual Open Devils took place. And I just said to him, man, I said, so how does it feel to be even odds, you and Tommy?

    [00:48:08] I mean, there's very few teams that have the kind of panache and the kind of reputation you two have. I mean, as a team, this is like a no-brainer. And he just – he says, don't say that to me. Don't take me there because that will take me out of my game. That will take me out of my – It puts expectations on you. Yeah. Yeah. 100%. Yeah. You don't want to go into any tournament with expectations on yourself ever. Right. Yeah. Right. Yeah. You have that mentality. You're just going to struggle 100%. But you know what?

    [00:48:38] When it comes to sports, especially those of us who love the sport, we just can't help but speculate. Like, hey, what's the dream team? Who's walking in with just such expectation? But also the idea that they have the actual talent to get to the – and get there to the finals every single time. And there was no predicting what happened last year. None whatsoever. You know, it just – it worked out the way it was supposed to.

    [00:49:07] But at the same time, it's like, wow. You know, all these expectations of the fans or other players saying, hey, well, you know, look at these pairings. You know, if you had to choose one, who would you choose? Yes. So, I'm not trying to give myself kudos. And that's not what this statement's about. But I said – so, I had a conversation with a few dear friends of mine. I'm not going to say who they were. And they were talking mad crap.

    [00:49:33] But I'm like, if you don't think that Kane and Mario have a shot at winning Worlds this year, you're out of mind. They've been playing together for over 20 years. Those boys right there can put it on you if you give them even the slightest inch. I'm not saying I predicted it. I'm just saying I knew you were going to be in it. But a part of that is because you guys are comfortable with each other. You guys have been playing together for 20 years. It's not like the first time you guys have played together by any means.

    [00:50:03] You know, you have that history. That's a big deal on the table that I don't think a lot of people understand in the game of foosball. They just see a lot of talent on a table and go, oh, those guys are both so good, they're going to win. Well, that's not always the case. When you guys have chemistry and have communication like you guys do, I'm sorry. There's no way anybody can ever count you guys out, in my opinion. Mm-hmm.

    [00:50:33] Well, the other good thing about Kane and I is that we have the ability of switching and not losing anything. Right. 100%. And that's a huge weapon because, you know, like if you, you know, Brandon and Tommy, they were kind of the same, they were in the same boat as that. They have the ability to switch and not lose anything. Right.

    [00:50:55] And when you have that ability, and that's kind of why, you know, Tony Spreederman hasn't been winning doubles the last 10 years, you know? Like, other than when he's playing with Robert Mares, you know, then he has somebody to be able to do that with as well. But, you know, he does pick weaker players to partner with to give them, you know, a little bit of an edge or sponsorship or whatever it may be.

    [00:51:23] But, you know, if it wasn't for that, then, you know, Tony would always definitely be in the thick of things when it came to doubles, you know? Well, he took third that year that you guys won, if memory serves. No. Oh, yeah, yeah. Yes, he did. He came back on the loser's side, right, with Brandon, yeah. With Rudy, right? Yeah, with Rudy. Yeah, Brandon. He's playing with Rudy this year, too. Yeah. Yeah, what are the pairings this year like?

    [00:51:53] What are the teams? Does anybody know what's going to be happening? You've got Brandon Squared, which is Brandon Munoz and Brandon Moreland. Moreland. Do you guys want to know? I don't think you guys care, do you? We love it. I love it. We've got, obviously, Paul and Terry again. You've got Tony and Rudy. You've got, who was Tommy playing with? Billy and Mateo. Yep, Billy and Mateo, you're right. Okay.

    [00:52:24] I'm forgetting a whole ton of people here. Atha. Yeah. Tommy and Atha. Tommy and Atha. And then Jacob and Eric Holder. Great combos. I'm sure I'm forgetting people. 100%, I'm sure I'm forgetting people. And Kevin Romero and Rob Mares. Oh, yeah. Oh, there you go. That's a great combo. That's an interesting team. Yeah. Oh, I mean, they played at the last one. I think they played Nationals together. Did they?

    [00:52:55] Yeah, I'm sure they played Nationals. I think you're right. Yeah. I'm playing with Sean Green. Sean Green. Yeah, you guys did great, actually. I saw that. Congratulations on that, too. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate that. But yeah, Sean and I have decided we're going to pair up for everything and just start playing everything together. Nice. Sean always had a good game. Yeah. Sean always had a good game. I like Sean, too. Sean's a good person.

    [00:53:25] He's so great, dude. He's four hours from me, so we meet up in Asheville. We just played there last night. I mean, absolutely love that dude to death. Yeah. He's such a nice person. Yeah. His wife is amazing. We love him dearly. Yeah. They're great people. He was always solid to Mario and myself. Oh, yeah. Coming up in the ranks. We had good battles, too. I mean, he was a good player. He's very good. Yeah.

    [00:53:52] Are you guys teaming up for teams for Mixed? Do you have Mixed partners? I'm not playing Mixed. If my wife could play, she was thinking of – she was trying to get me to play with – to get her to play with Mario. But it's because we have our baby with us. Right. Like, Marla's going to be at the tournament.

    [00:54:17] So we're trying to get in touch with Iveta and see whether she could bend the system a little bit. But really, she can't. And I told Sophie that we can't really expect that with somebody to, like, try to – you know, it's a professional tournament. You can't just – maybe here and there. Or, you know, because she's – my wife is supposed to play with Cindy Head in women's doubles. Oh, wow. Okay. So, yeah, my wife's a world champion, too. Yeah.

    [00:54:43] So she's, like, supposed to – but I think Cindy might be upset with me thinking that I'm the one that my event's more valued. But I – but it is. But – I got to go. I know. I'm just saying the difference in the money. The difference in the money. It's, like, 2,000, I think, to – 2,000 to 20,000. Which one – you know. But I never said anything.

    [00:55:12] I said, we'll make it happen even if – but they're running both the – She's right there. Yeah. I'm a daughter. But no, I was, like, they're running both the tournaments at the same time. So that's going to be hard. Yeah. So – and Marla is only used to mom and dad. She's not used to being in somebody else's hands. So it could be tough. Yeah. Yeah. Understood. Mario, what about yourself? Are you playing mixed? Yes, I am.

    [00:55:42] And who's your partner? Lindsay from Florida. Lindsay Albert. Lindsay Albert. Nice. I love Lindsay. Yeah. Great choice. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah. That's awesome. Okay. No, this guy. Yeah, because Sophie was either going to ask you or play with Kevin. Romero. What took her so long? Huh? Am I not good enough?

    [00:56:10] Like, I don't talk to you at least once a week? No, it's just the situation with Marlo. That's why. I'm just chopping you. That's funny. Now we're getting him to argue on stream. It's perfect. Yeah, what the heck. Oh, there's a fight already. It's all our fault. We've got to get it out of the way. We've got to get it out of the way. It's all our fault. It's all our fault. Play me. You know what? Just come over to the... If something happens, just come over to the commentator's booth and just smack me upside the head. It's fine. I won't play... I won't even get Matt. I'll just make sure I get it on camera. We're good.

    [00:56:39] Will you guys jump in to do some commentary? Do you think you'll get an opportunity to step into the booth with Chase? Yeah, yeah. Definitely. I did it last year in Vegas. I had some fun with it. Yeah, it was... It was Keith. Yeah, it's fun. I would definitely do it. I just haven't been asked to do it. Here's the thing. I just jump in. Whenever you're around, you're like, hey, bro. If you see me anywhere near the booth and you see a match starting, and I'm not with another commentator, which is Keith or Callum,

    [00:57:10] just be like, hey, man, you need a commentator? I'll even kick one of them out. I don't care. There you go. Let's do it. There's an invitation. It'll be fun. I'll make sure it's a good time. Period. We'll talk about the match, what we see, what we think is going to happen next. I think that stuff's so much fun. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I mean, I'm good with step-by-step playing, and I have a lot of experience with the game, so I know small details and tells.

    [00:57:39] I just haven't been asked to do it, so I just kind of watched Mario last year do it, and it was fun. A touch of jealousy, didn't you? I can see it written all over your face right now. Let's get it. Let's do it. Let's make it happen. Come on, man. I've known you for 20 years at this point. If you can't ask me to step in the booth, then there's a problem. Ooh. That's great. Well, I think ever since you've been contemplating, I haven't really been out on tour. That is true. Yeah. That is valid. Yeah, you haven't been to any of the same events I've been to.

    [00:58:08] I mean, the last few times I came out, it was Clay and Adam Gilson doing it. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So, and I just wanted to focus on, you know, I get to see my boy once a year or twice a year. Yeah. Absolutely. I just like to have as much time. I can bring in three headsets. Three headsets. That would be perfect. It would be fun to deal with. There you go. It would be fun. I think that's actually a really good idea, especially before the Open takes place, you know. I'm making that happen. Talking trash about the other players.

    [00:58:37] I mean, you know, time to do it. Is that my favorite thing to do? Yeah, yeah. I'll definitely do the consolation bracket, you know, because I'm going to be in the final. You know, sorry to do it to you guys, but I'll be available. That's fine. Let's do that other course. Unless they allow me to commentate my own match while I play. That'd be pretty awesome. There's a chance you're mic'd up, so let's see what happens. Let's get your mic'd up. I'm going to have you off to the corner going,

    [00:59:08] all right, guys, this time I'm going to go long. I'm going to do it on seven. You're going to see the reverse. I'm going to pound the out of this thing. I agree. I agree. That'd be awesome. That's funny. What do you think about the microphones on the players? Because that's something that they started doing, I don't know, I think two seasons ago, where they're mic'ing the players. What do you think of that? I had an experience with that. I was playing with Cameron Romero in Vegas at that point,

    [00:59:37] and I actually enjoyed it. I actually, like, it was fun. I think it's going to be awesome. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I think it's going to be absolutely, it's going to change people's perspective on foosball. Because when you hear what somebody's talking about. Yeah, what's happening? Sometimes you don't want them to be in foosball. Well. Guess and no. If you think about it, nine times out of ten, when you guys are off talking to the side, it's specific about a situation or something that you've seen in the moment. And it's not all full general your game plan,

    [01:00:07] because you guys already know your game plan, right? You've seen something, you're like, hey, it's this, it's that, or get back to the basics type stuff. Like, hey, let's get back in our normal zone. Whatever that might be. I don't think you're going to be able to give up enough information to where other people are going to be able to use it against you. Personal opinion. Fair. Yeah. You know what I mean? Or you could work out a system like, okay, play number five, followed by maneuver number 10. Okay. As long as we get to know what that means

    [01:00:36] in the booth beforehand, let's do that. Please, let's do that. I don't actually do that when I go, when I call a timeout, I don't, I try to, I try to clear my mind. I don't, I don't try to overthink anything. I just try to clear my mind and then I get back on the table and I let my, my clear mind do the work. You're weird. There was, there was a couple of times actually, I actually think it was about three different times when I was playing with Kevin

    [01:01:06] and I said something to him on a timeout and I said, he's showing me that, that hole there. I'm going to fake it. If he, if he doesn't bob on the fake, I'm going for, I'm going to pass it to you. But if he bobs on the fake, I'm just going for the shot. And it was three times and all three times I scored on that. That was good. Oh yeah. That would be so good for television. Just to be clear. That's what I'm talking about right there. And,

    [01:01:35] but that's when I was shooting my push from the back. And that was like when it was really hot push. I think it was great. So I was very confident with like, if they just bob a little bit, it's in one of them was actually against Brandon Moreland and Tracy McMillan. Actually, two of them were against him. And I just, it was just like lightning. And, but it was, one, one little movement on the five bar. That's all it took. One movement on the five bar and it was gone. And it was kind of cool. And you rewatch it and you hear it. And it's, that was fun. That was fun.

    [01:02:05] I can say that was fun. Yeah. Yeah. That's what I'm talking about. It doesn't work. It doesn't work. Well, there's that. But it tells the story, right? Like if, if we want to foosball on television, which I know we all do, because we loved it fricking this morning, right? Like truly great to be on foosball. It was awesome. Like, it was like, I'm like looking for myself in the crowd, like the whole time. Like, there are kids, kids get in the room. Like the whole time. So I think that will add to the story.

    [01:02:36] And if we're not telling a little bit of a story, I don't think we're doing foosball justice because foosball is such a family. And we all have such great stories to tell in foosball world. Oh yeah. There's so much history that we all have. That's unspoken. Right. Right. And to build that for viewers and for your fans, like, I don't think there's anything better than them having that little peak, just that little peak in between, just to get a little idea of what's going on.

    [01:03:05] I, I don't know. I just think that that's an awesome thing. This is sport. This was, if they have it at world, I'm open. Yeah. And, and this was the difference. Like when, you know, the, the, the world series of poker first kind of came into its own, they started telling the story, the backstories about the players, you know, where do these guys come from? How, you know, what kind of relationship they have on and off the table, those kinds of little, little details always fascinated me as a viewer. And of course,

    [01:03:34] the other thing that really kind of, I think drew everybody in was being able to see the whole card. You know, each, each person, you know, is hiding a car, their cards underneath and you could see them. So you knew what, what they were doing, what, how they were out maneuvering each other. If there was some way to do that for foosball, and I don't know exactly what that might be, that would be, that would be huge. That would be a, that's better commentating also. Okay. As a commentator, I have to try and be in their heads and be like, okay, he's really been like, like he just said, right?

    [01:04:04] Like every time he does this, he's trying to go for X, Y, and Z or A or B. Right. And as a commentator, it's super hard when you're watching the match, but I have the best view on the table without question. Right. They have the player view, but I've got the real view. So I think it's impossible for me because I'm not good enough, but I think that's the idea. Yeah. Well, it's, if we can work it out. Or the best way to commentate is, is not live.

    [01:04:34] And you watch it. And then you say, Oh, I see what he's doing right now. He's looking for the long hole. Oh, what a good shot. Oh, it's unbelievable. It's like, I've already watched this game. It's unbelievable. Absolutely. That's not a bad idea either. We do record it separately on separate tracks. So I'm not saying that's going to happen, but it's going to happen. It could. You never know. You could fool everybody. They'll be like, Oh my gosh, don't play. What a genius. That Chase guy.

    [01:05:04] We all thought he was an idiot. Wow. Yeah. This guy knows exactly what's going to happen. What, what do you both think of the, the stats? Kane, what do you think of, of, of the stats? Like looking at, okay, my percentage this time was, I cleared the ball 60%. And, and when I shot, I hit 80%. What do you think of the stats? So actually I've gone back and watched all the matches that we played over and over and over again. And I thought that was,

    [01:05:34] that's actually more important than me just being on the table and practicing. And I told my wife, I've spoken to Mario about it. And I'm always, um, I'm never, I never try to be cocky because I'm always like, man, I got so much to learn. Just like so many times I made mistakes over there, even if we won. So people go, but you won. It's, it's just a blank statement to them. Like, you know what I mean? You won. but for me, there's like a stepping stone to winning.

    [01:06:04] And if I was to like, look at those percentages, which I was very closely that if there's anything I'm looking to do this time is adjust those percentages. Like, so like our passing percentage, there was like a match. There was a game between, um, when we played Tommy and Brandon where it was, I sent Mario the ball 17 times. He caught one. Whereas if I shot 17 times,

    [01:06:32] we could have probably gotten further in that match. Cause it would have came off these guys or something. Absolutely. I'm a shooting goalie. I'm a shooting goalie, you know, and either why be tentative, even if it's in a big match, like you, why are you scared to win? I, cause I know I'm not scared of losing, but am I scared to win? You know what I mean? Like, um,

    [01:06:57] do what is what you're capable of and do it and do it in the biggest moments, not, not stray away from it. Just cause I felt like I was being tentative. Cause some of the, uh, there was some big points where I gave up the ball on the three bar. And whenever I went to shoot, there was not one time that anybody could have stuffed me. Cause the shot's too fast. And I shoot with a lot of power. So it's rare that, that I'm going to get them the ball on the three bar,

    [01:07:27] maybe give them one more step, like shoot. And maybe they collect the ball on the five bar if they do, but I still got one more row down. You know what I mean? I'm not giving it to them right in front of the goal. And, um, since Mario and I are not practicing together every day on the table, like we used to do, what's going to work like passing is some of the teams that are, I mean, I'm saying it's for everybody, but when you're playing every day together, the passes, uh, come easier. Um, when you're warming up before the tournament, yeah,

    [01:07:57] you can do passes when nobody's on the other side, but when you're playing against the moving defenses, it's not always the guarantee, but shooting wise, I'm doing that every time. I know the takeoff is really fast. Um, I know I got a lot of girth behind the shot, do what's going to work. Like do, do what the percentage is going to be, which percentage is going to be higher. Obviously shooting is going to be higher. Um, and then when you shoot hard enough, there could be a lot of scrappy goals that go in compared to ending on the ball on the three bar.

    [01:08:27] That, that was something that I could have improved on. Also, a lot of mistakes with blocking. Um, I wasn't, I was on the right side, but bobbing off just by a slight. And that's all it takes for top players like Tommy and Tony or Billy, just to, that's all they need is a little Bob, like a half Bob. And they still go, they squeeze the rubber in and go around you on a half Bob. Yeah. You know, and like Paul Smith, he shoots with power and he can get right around you, especially on that push side, you know, and,

    [01:08:56] um, I'm on the right side and, you know, and I'm still not blocking it. And then when I watched the matches, it's like, I'm trying to put myself in the position in that moment and go, what was like, what was making me like, was it me looking at their hand? Was it looking at the ball? Like what was making me jump just that split second? So working on those things, going into this tournament where, cause I was on the right, so I'm having the right head space with it. I'm having,

    [01:09:26] like, I know I can see tendencies on which side I want to go to. Trusting my hand speed is one of them. So was I going there first and then their little motion, maybe come off or am I going to just show them to the right amount to where I feel like their brain, the ball, the brain actually connects with that, you know, the hand. And it takes about three seconds to four seconds before they actually execute. Wait till that point. Then trust my hand speed. Those are things that I'm trying to improve on for this tournament.

    [01:09:56] That is actually so incredibly deep that I don't think 90% of the players are going to pick up on exactly what you're saying. I'm going to attempt to translate for some of those people, but it's, it's not just that it's, it's having perfect man placement when it needs to be there is, is exactly what you're saying and having trust in your hands to be in that perfect placement when you're saying, Hey, this is the shot. I know this shot's coming. I've predicted this in my brain. I have to be in this spot and, and trusting yourself to be in that perfect position.

    [01:10:26] And I don't, that is so hard to do. And you hear rookies say it all the time. I knew he was going pull side. You hear it all the time. Right. And, and then they can't do it. It's like, Oh, I just couldn't get my hands there. You guys both have incredible hand speed, especially, you know, Cain, obviously we know Cain's hand speed for goal. And I, I don't think a lot of people understand how hard that is to do at such a high level, because you're right.

    [01:10:54] It only takes like this tiny little bit. And if you're not perfectly in position, they're going to hit, they're going to hit the shot. It's crazy. Well, a lot of people know I'm a reactor. So, um, now am I making them, uh, gamble the middle and react to the hole that they're actually going to, or am I trying to get that first and then reacting when they actually go and come off the hole, you know? And, and, and that's where I was making a mistake. I was there first knowing that they're going there. And as soon as they actually went to shoot the shot,

    [01:11:24] I come off it a bit because I'm reacting to it instead of just giving it the right amount of time to, for them to actually go and then trust my hand speed that they can't be faster than me to get out there, you know? And those are little adjustments I'm going to try and make this time. They're going to have to gamble and shoot at my man for the most part and take a chance. And then we'll see who wins the percentage battle, you know? And when it comes down to a big point, that's like being in the casino. So, uh, and we'll see who actually wins the battle at that point.

    [01:11:54] And that's, those are adjustments just from watching it over and over again. I'm like, it just can't be like, I'm on, I'm on the hole. I'm, I know what side they're going to, and I'm literally just going around me and I'm watching it in slow mo and I'm seeing myself as soon as they go, I'm coming right off it just a little bit. And it's just so frustrating, you know, whether I, whether we won or not. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah.

    [01:12:20] Are they using IRA foods for statistics? I believe we are going to attempt to do so. I don't, I have not had that conversation. I'm, I'm having a meeting with Ryan and them later this week, I believe. Um, it's such a vital, it's such a vital part of what we do because, you know, you really need that, especially for a, for a, for a fan, for somebody viewing, it just adds so much to what's happening. Yeah.

    [01:12:49] I'm going to try to do it live or are we going to try and do it in post? Hmm. Yeah. For streaming, streaming the, the match later. I think, I think live is the best. Yeah. Yeah. And I know we're going to try. It's not, obviously we know I ref isn't perfect. It's really, really good. Is it? Nothing's perfect. Um, but, um, I do believe they are going to try and use it. Cool. Cool. Good to know. I'm, I'm curious guys, while we're on the topic,

    [01:13:18] what do you think of the world foosball tour thus far? What's, what are your, what are your thoughts? Mario, what, what, what do you think? No, I absolutely love it. I think, uh, Ryan and Nevada are doing a world-class job and everybody else involved in it is, is just, uh, incredible, you know, like, uh, it's definitely moving forward. And that's, that's all we can ask for at the end of the day, you know, uh, baby steps, but it doesn't seem that way.

    [01:13:47] It seems like bigger steps than that. Yes. Um, the potential is definitely there. And, um, you know, um, you know, world foosball tour is definitely a group of people that, you know, want the best for foosball and are going to do whatever it takes to get it there. So, you know, my hat's off to them. Anything you'd like to see? Anything added? Anything that's missing? Um, you know, of course,

    [01:14:17] as anybody would say, you know, money is what makes the world go around. Um, and, you know, the more money, the more, uh, interest foosball will get. Uh, it's as simple as that really. Um, you know, uh, uh, what they're doing already is, is, uh, already a big step for foosball. Um, it's kind of what people needed to see, um, thus far. And the next step is, you know,

    [01:14:47] money. And then once money gets in there, everybody else is just going to be gung ho about it. Yeah. you know, when you hear, you know, somebody making, you know, $10,000, you're like, Oh, that's, that's, that's a nice little chunk of change, but not something I'm going to devote my life to in order to achieve. You know, when you can try to be a professional golfer and make, you know, two, $3 million, um, you know, it's risk to reward, you know, you know,

    [01:15:17] the, the thing that gets all the people that are passionate about things is sometimes we get used and abused, uh, but you know, anybody who has a passion, you know, musicians, they get used, uh, unless they can definitely have that ability to do something more special than somebody else. And that's just the way the world kind of works. But, you know, I really definitely see the world foosball tour as a positive change for foosball. Um, you know,

    [01:15:48] they're doing the best compared to anybody else that has ever did it, except for the, of course, the seventies with Lee Pepper. Right. Right. Right. Kane, anything to add to that? Anything that you, that you, first of all, do you like the world foosball tour and what do you think we should add? I actually think it's the best it's ever been. Um, I, I see like, it's just gonna, if it stays on the same path, it's going to grow a lot more than what it is right now.

    [01:16:18] But the difference they've made, like Iveta and Ryan and their whole crew, actually, I saw them all working in Vegas. this, he's got a very good crew working to take down tables really fast to put things up together really fast. I mean, the ambience, when you walk in and the main pit area, it just, the whole thing looks so much different. Like, like it's more worth it to play in it. Oh yeah. Like an environment like that. And of course, you know,

    [01:16:44] the money being 20,000 for doubles and 8,000 for singles and all the other events are paying deeper too. Um, they've actually made some real good changes in a very short period of time. So, from what I'm, from what I'm seeing, this only positivity, like in that whole, uh, tournament, uh, right now, every tournament has been, has been paying up more than usual. Um, and I just,

    [01:17:12] I just think there's, you know, there's always room for growth and I think they're doing, they're on the right path for it. That's what you guys haven't even gotten to use the iPads yet at the tables. Right. Those things are amazing. You guys even know what I'm talking about? Yeah, I've seen it. Really? I haven't. So there is now an iPad, a little iPad. It's like this big at every single table. They'll call your match. You get the buzz on your phone. You walk over, you literally punch in your code to like check into the match.

    [01:17:42] You can flip a coin on the iPad. And like, so this way you don't need an actual coin in your pocket. You can call for a ref. You can get table maintenance and they'll come right over to the table, knowing that this table they have to come to, you don't have to go up to the booth, anything to get any of that. I guess the next thing. I saw that in the New York game. Next thing. Now, the next thing they got to do is have it recording. There's, there's a chance that that is the next step actually. Yes.

    [01:18:12] Yeah. Because, you know, the one thing with a lot of foosball players from my experience is they want their matches. You know, you get to play a guy like Terry Rue or Tony's freedom. And, you know, you want to watch it. 15. Yeah, Yeah, exactly. It's a table 15. I want to watch it. I want to see, you know, I want to see that 15. that's right. That's right. I want to see it. Right. So, you know, the rookies,

    [01:18:40] that's like a big highlight for them is to be on the big stage and just to be able to videotape it and, uh, watch it later. Even if it's not live stream, that's okay too. You know, like, of course live stream is the best because, you know, you're playing a match on table 15. It's like, yeah, mom, dad, cousins, you know, come on to playing the best player in the world. You know, it's, that's, it's a huge highlight. It's, it's, we, uh,

    [01:19:09] talked many, many years ago. Um, when we first started foosball radio, we, we interviewed, uh, uh, Tony Sprademan at Pennsylvania state and he was describing, you know, his early career. And he said, uh, you know, the first thing he wanted to do was win a major. He wanted to win, you know, a big tournament. He said, the next most important thing though, was to get onto a, a video being commentated by Jim Stevens. Like, wow, that's, and he said, that was my goal. And he goes, I,

    [01:19:39] I didn't feel like I was a success until that happened. Like, yeah, Jim Stevens was the best. Yeah. I heard to beat Jim Stevens. His knowledge of foosball was, uh, unprecedented. Oh, no doubt. No doubt. It's, it's the media though. It's all about, okay. You know, if, if the reward of being the best, uh, means you're in the spotlight and people know who you are and they watch you, you know, doing your thing live. There's,

    [01:20:09] that's huge. And, uh, that's where, that's where, that's where foosball is going with world foosball tour. This is great. And of course, uh, you got chase here, you know, who's, who's, uh, who's poised to be a part of that. But, uh, just saying, I think that's, I just sit behind a computer screen and talk stuff. Okay. Let's get real. Right. Here's the other thing. I think he's watched enough Jim Stevens videos to learn a little bit of secrets. I've seen a lot of them. Oh yeah. I've seen a lot of them. Oh yeah. Me too.

    [01:20:39] I like, I like chase commentating and I like Keith. Keith's also really good. Yep. I like, you know, the only thing I'm going to say about Keith is he doesn't like to pick sides and I'm not okay with that. All right. As a commentator, you got to pick your side. All right. Do you know? All right. I bothered. I'm at Vegas. Uh, I was like, come on, Keith, who are you going for? Brandon Munoz or Tony Spreederman? He's like, well, you know, I kind of like these guys, both of them. I'm like, bullshit. Come on.

    [01:21:10] I was in the chat for that. I was laughing so hard. It's like, be honest. Come on. Get him to say something to it. Right. Right. Say something, Don't worry. He's not going to hit you, bro. Stir it up. Stir it up. No, I mean, a little bit of controversy goes a long way. No question. Yeah. That's kind of the, the whole personality of the, you know, having that devil's advocate in the booth is an important part. Right. No, I think this is what's going to happen. No, this is what I think is going to happen. And, uh,

    [01:21:40] that creates, uh, some energy, you know? Oh yeah. Of it. Right. So, well, you know, the other, the other, the other part of that debate too, is in the audience because the audience is so damn polite. You know, it's, you know, it's kind of like, Oh, nice shot. Nice shot. Good shot. Right. It's like, wait a second. Damn, that was great. You know, why can't we just do that in, in the, uh, in the audience? I don't, I don't understand. I do that in the commentary booth all the time,

    [01:22:10] but we don't hear that. I actually, it was, uh, it was nationals and it was like the junior doubles final or something. And this kid crunched one out of the back and I go, Oh, and they could hear it on the table. Well, that's could be a bit of a distraction, I suppose, but no, but it's afterwards and that's, that's the whole thing. Like I, I,

    [01:22:40] I remember like so many times I was in the audience and, and watching Rob at Tommy Atkinson playing Ryan Moore, Bobby Diaz. And I was yelling, yelling, Oh, you know, like just being great out there, you know, trying to create energy and, you know, and Diaz love that. He'd love that. Like,

    [01:23:08] although like if you look at Robert Mares and Tony Spreedman, they don't like it. Yeah, exactly. They love it. They love it. You know, like I remember going, I remember going and like, you know, going against Tony Spreedman and saying, Oh, Tony sucks. Tony, you know, Oh, he's going to get stopped or he can't score, you know, like, Oh, sports illustrated comeback of the year, you know,

    [01:23:37] and he'd look at me and it would fire him up. Yeah. And, and that's kind of the way you have to deal with it. You're not going to just, you know, nobody's going to be like, Oh, that's it. I'm never talking to that guy again because he went against me in a game. Like that's, that's ridiculous. And if somebody is going to be like that, I'm sorry. It's like the goal against Ryan, right? You want to get Ryan to where he's doing his Ryan antics. Otherwise you don't think you're playing the real Ryan.

    [01:24:06] A hundred percent. A hundred percent. And like Bobby, Bobby Diaz, I'll never forget it. He was up. They, they, uh, Ryan Moore literally didn't score one goal the whole first game. And he looks, Bobby Diaz looks at Ryan Moore and he goes only up from here, bro. And they came, they came back and won that match. Did they really?

    [01:24:36] They came back and won that match. They actually like dominated after that. Wow. It was, it was crazy. How like Tommy Atkinson disappeared and Robert Atta disappeared and Ryan Moore just fired up. And it was just, you know, you, you see stuff like that. And, you know, like, like I said, I think, uh, the audience is a crucial, a part of it. And, and we have to kind of pick a side and that's okay.

    [01:25:05] Just like, you know, we were in new Orleans and that's Louisiana. All the Louisiana players are there. Oh yeah. You know, we were lucky that we were on top. Most of the, most of the match, if not all of it. So the crowd stayed pretty quiet. Yep. You know, but the minute that they thought they were going to take it. Ooh. No, we did have our Canadians. Uh, we did have the Canadians sharing for us for sure. Yeah. But the moment, the moment they scored a goal,

    [01:25:35] it was like being in a stadium. And yeah, I actually, I actually enjoyed it. I was in my head. I was like, Oh yeah. Like, you know what I mean? I'm going to shut you up now. Yeah. I guess you're fired up. I was looking, I would look over and I would see, you know, Tony's freedom and talking with Paul, Paul Smith. And I'm like, Oh, that's coaching. You're not allowed coaching. I thought to myself, right. And then I'm like, good.

    [01:26:04] I want him to get coaching. Keep getting coaching, you know? And like, you kind of, it's, it's, it's part of foosball. Like we, we need to have that, uh, you know, the fight, the war, the battle. You gotta have drama. It's like, it's just, if the audience is into it, the players get into it. And it just, it just, I don't know. How do you change the culture like that? Cause people, they, maybe they do it once or twice and go, Oh, maybe I shouldn't do that. Maybe that's, that's too much of a distraction or, or,

    [01:26:33] you know, I don't know. I'm, I mean, I've been in a couple of crowds that where people like, yeah, they're kind of fired up at first, but then they sort of get quiet and everyone's like, shh, don't, don't make so much noise. Like what? Yeah. And like, you know, while they're playing, I get it. Yeah. I get it. We want that kind of golf atmosphere. Although I really don't care. Right. I'm not that type of guy. I don't mind. I like it loud. This way. I don't really hear my thoughts. Well, if you think about it, right? Like American football,

    [01:27:04] right? Yeah. It's a thing when you're at, you're the home team that the crowd gets loud, right? That's how mistakes happen. That's they want, especially college football. They're in the student center, the student section, right? It's so loud down there. They're in, you know, they're at the Tennessee stadium where it's, you know, whatever decibels, it's the loudest state. they have noisemakers and stuff. I mean, you know, they carry bells in the whole nine. It's like, you know, they're trying to distract the other team. Yeah.

    [01:27:32] Like that's actually what they're trying to do. Even in basketball and everything. Yeah. You got the little foam noodles every time you're trying to shoot a freeze. Like, there's an aspect of that, that I don't, I don't know if it's foosball is missing it. Or if we truly, truly need that to make it to the next step. Well, all the distraction stuff drives me crazy.

    [01:28:01] All the distraction stuff. there's certain players that like, they hear a noise in the background. They're like staring at them. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. And I know who that does that a lot. And it gets very, it gets very easily distracted. Right. There's more than, there's more than one. Yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. But when it comes down to is, you know, and that's the kind of player they are. Yeah.

    [01:28:32] You know, and that's the level of focus that they have, that they're able to pay attention to little details that are happening, which is a good thing for them at the same time. Um, so they try to eliminate that, that, uh, from happening. But again, um, I think that it's, if you like, if you want the fans to be, you know, excited about it, you, you, you do have to let them, let them go. You know, you have to let them be, um,

    [01:29:02] and that quiet atmosphere. Like, it's kind of like you're playing a match and there's a guy playing the match right beside you. What are you going to say? Hey, be quiet, man. I'm playing a match. Yeah. Yeah. You know, they're playing the finals of singles here. We were playing the finals of, you know, amateur singles here and they're yelling because they won. You're in the middle of a shot. What are you going to do? Hey, I've seen, I've seen a lot of masters or a lot of players. Oh, uh,

    [01:29:31] technical timeout. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Let's hold on to this. Let's let them. Yeah. And I'm like, that's like music, man. It's, yeah. I'm like, I don't really care. All the time. Right. I mean, I think we broke through the fourth wall. No, I mean, think about this. I mean, we, we, we play on our local, uh, it's a, it's a pool hall for God's sake. And there's people coming and going constantly having fun, yelling and screaming, whatever the case. And we're just as focused as ever,

    [01:30:01] you know, and the music is loud. I mean, and you know, it's, it's still, I mean, in fact, the music fires me up, man. It gets me going, you know, especially the right. Yeah. And so I, I'm, I don't know. I guess there's a, there's no easy way to do this because you have to talk. I have to convince everybody. Hey man, it's okay to cheer. It's all right. Right. The other part of that is every, we always all say it, right? The foosball family, right? Everybody's friends with everybody.

    [01:30:31] Nobody wants to make anybody mad at the other one because they were cheering for Kane and Mario and not for, you know, Tony or for Tommy or for whoever it might be. Oh, Tony's going to be mad at me later. Like, come on, come on. Let's get over it. Yeah. Yeah. Let's get out there and have some fun. By the way, this is, I'm going to be fan boy now if you don't mind, but I got to show you this. This is something I, I got in the first edition of me, the,

    [01:31:00] the player cards. Amazing. It's a Mario card. Look at that guy. You know? And, I love these. And by the, by the way, I'm going to bring myself a silver Sharpie and this card when I come to worlds. And I'm just, just, yeah, perfect. If you could, if you could sign this for me, man, I would be, that would make me a very happy. $75 per letter. I'm only signing a couple of cards, you know, thousand dollars a card.

    [01:31:32] Okay. Well, it's, it's, no, it's, I've got a whole, the first series. I'm not, I don't have all the cards, but there are a couple that I would love to have signed. And that's one of them, Yeah. I'll definitely sign that for you, Tom. Thank you. Appreciate that. Appreciate that. No problem. But no, it's, it's a, it's a thing. And I think that this is where we should go. I think there should be everybody who's, who's playing at your level, you and Kane and everybody else has to have their own card, man. I think that's, that's, that's key.

    [01:32:04] Yeah. It's a, it's a pretty cool aspect of it. Football. It's, it's definitely one of those things that, you know, it gives a little bit of prestige where prestige, you know, earned, you know, which is a nice thing, you know? Oh yeah. You know, I, I thought it was a fantastic idea when it came out. And I still think it's a fantastic idea. Yeah. I think they've only been, I'm looking forward to the next edition where they can put, you know, world champions. Yeah.

    [01:32:35] World champions. Yeah. A little bit missing there. Too many seconds over there. Oh man. So, you know, when it comes to your own personal prep for, for playing, what do you guys, is there anything that you change when it comes to your diet? Kane, do you do anything for yourself? Do you, do you change your diet? Do you do anything different when you're about to go out and compete?

    [01:33:03] I just try to do it all the time. I just try to eat good, eat clean as much as possible. I hit the gym. I go to the park with my kids. I do calisthenics. I'm always kind of training. Okay. Stay in shape. What about the day of a match? Do you, do you typically have a, like a routine? Do you eat small meals, that kind of stuff? Um, I can't, I can't really say,

    [01:33:33] um, I eat small meals. I, I eat a lot of protein for sure. But, um, I try to get in a, a lot of calories in a day, to be honest, because, uh, my metabolism is really fast. Gotcha. And it moves fast. And, um, and actually my diet right now has been, um, I've been really focused on, focusing on high protein. Um, and, um,

    [01:34:02] I do a little bit of creatine for the day. Um, I feel like it helps, like with my mentality and everything, just, um, brain function. But, uh, I just try to stay in shape mentally, physically. Um, and when I'm at the tournament, I think this time I'm going to hydrate more. Oh, um, I'm going to bring, uh, my, uh,

    [01:34:29] that way I stay away from a beer or something like that. I feel like, I think like one beer is okay, but the more you go, like, you know, you have that old deer or something like that. You got two and you three and you suddenly, the whole doesn't look the same. And, um, I just want, I just don't want to, I want to get away from all that and just be as focused as possible. And it's not just for this tournament coming up. It's just for the, any tournament. If I'm going to invest the time,

    [01:34:58] um, I want to do it to the best of my ability. And, um, that's, you know, do the right thing physically, mentally in shape. Yeah. Mario. Um, so I, I do a little bit of fasting. I do like a 24 hour fast. Okay. Um, so I eat once a day. Um, and I usually eat bowl because you know, you are when you eat. Mm. Mm. Yeah. Beautiful. Beautiful. Yep.

    [01:35:28] You know, I, for the most part, you know, like, um, I eat pretty much whatever I want to eat. You know, I'm not, uh, as long as I eat once a day, I'm good. I can eat whatever I want as much as I want. Um, but you know, usually that's, that's my go to. And then, yeah, no, I've heard that, uh, this is, I don't know how accurate this is,

    [01:35:58] but I've heard, uh, the legend of, uh, Todd Lafredo at times would fast for a couple of days. Uh, during the time he was playing, he, he would eat nothing, which seems a little counterintuitive because you'd think you'd run out of energy after a period of time. Yeah. No, it doesn't. If, if anything, I think it kind of makes you more hungry and more starved. Right. Okay. Yeah. You know, like in terms of, uh, being tired,

    [01:36:27] um, you know, as long as you have your electrolytes, you'd have some salt, sea salt, you know, and you're good. Your body is very capable of going 40 days without eating. So. Right. Understood. Makes sense. Absolutely. Well, Chase, I think these guys probably want to get back to their lives, but, uh, I say, Kane's like, I've got to eat dinner, bro. I'm actually eating a protein bar right now. There you go. Power of suggestion. What can I tell you?

    [01:36:57] it was well done. So Chase, what would, what else would you like to ask before we, uh, let these guys go back and get back to their lives? One, you guys both know, I love you. I mean, we've, we've known each other for a long time now. I really, really happy for you guys that you won last year. Um, I'm really looking forward to see what you guys can do in the field this year. So just keep grinding. I'm looking forward to seeing you guys here in a few weeks. Um, other than that, guys, uh, just keep doing what you're doing. We appreciate that. Thank you.

    [01:37:27] Yeah. And, and of course you are the team to beat you. You, you have the, shall we say the target on your backs? Just, just say reigning world champions. That's right. Yeah. We definitely, we definitely have the target on your backs. Um, and you know, that's, that's the, what comes with being a champion. Anytime, uh, that happens, uh, you know, I could remember, uh, but, uh, again, that could,

    [01:37:55] that could help somebody or it can actually mess them up too. Right. because, uh, a lot of the times, you know, you can, uh, out psych yourself going into a match. Oh, this is the current world champion and all this and that. And then again, there's people out there that like to be the underdog, um, that aren't normally the underdog and that could also benefit them. So, uh, definitely gonna, you know,

    [01:38:23] fight anybody that comes on the table. Um, and you know, give our best and we'll let it, let, let whatever happens happen. There you go. Cool. Kane, anything else you want to add? No, I'm just going to try to stay as positive as possible. Not overthink the world championship from last year. Just be in the moment. Um, not let anybody swell our heads up too much or, um, you know, not, I just want to keep it neutral.

    [01:38:53] I actually want to just have a good time with my boy. Um, and I see him and, um, I have to be, we usually have really good conversations and stuff and that's what's important to me. And then, uh, the winning will just come autumn automatically as long as we're in the, like I said, in the right state of mind. There you go. Very cool. Hey, we'll, uh, we'll be set up there at the, uh, the tournament as well. And if, uh, if you guys have some time to stop by together or separately and want to sit on the mic and, uh, and catch up, we'd love that, uh,

    [01:39:23] love that to be the case. Cool. Awesome. Definitely take some time to do that. Yeah. And I promise it'll work this time. Just saying. I'm sure it will. Like that. Don't make promises. Yeah, right. He'll say those things. You know what's going to happen when you do that. I just jinx myself. But yeah, nonetheless, it's, I'm determined that this will, this will always work every single time, but no, uh, meanwhile, it's been a great show tonight. And you've been listening to episode number 309,

    [01:39:53] 310 coming your way next week. Foos talk live. And, uh, Chase, dude, you, uh, you rock it. Appreciate you being here. Don't rock anything. I'm just here to be here. I enjoy talking. The only thing he rockets is a bull shot. That's all that matters. That's all. It's all that matters. Things happen, bro. Yeah, I agree. So once again, Mario Oreganello and, uh, Kane Gabriel with us tonight. Uh, really great to talk to you guys. And, uh,

    [01:40:22] here we go, here we go. World championships coming up in just a couple of weeks. And, uh, we will see you both there. Yeah. See you there. All right, guys. Thanks for having us. Yeah, you bet. Uh, once again, Foos talk live coming your way tonight, live, uh, on Twitch TV. And of course on YouTube. And thank you for, for tuning in. Uh, stick around now. We have the, the, foos talk live tournament beat coming your way next time.

    [01:40:47] Now for the foos talk live tournament beats brought to you in part by foos gadgets.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. Boise Foosworks presents the high fidelity, refurbished foosball meeting the highest tornado ball standards. High fidelity foosballs. High fidelity foosballs are soft,

    [01:41:15] quiet with a true role 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. Since 2019, foos gadgets has used innovative ideas to build foosball training tools and accessories.

    [01:41:41] Their goal is to make your foosball practice more fun and effective. Hey, foosers. The foos gadget 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. Foosball tournaments are everywhere.

    [01:42:09] Foos Talk Live proudly presents a weekly update of events near you. With the Foos Talk Live tournament beat, Here's what's up. Canada Foosball presents the 2026 Vancouver Island Foosball Championships. August 14th through the 16th, Courts in a Legion, Courts in a British Columbia. 518 Foosball presents the World's Warm-Up Smashdown. Saturday, August 15th, Trick Shots, Billiards and Wicked Eatery, Clifton Park, New York.

    [01:42:37] Music City Foosball presents the World's Warm-Up featuring the Multi-Game Singles Challenge. Saturday, August 22nd, Moxie Vanderbilt Hotel, Nashville, Tennessee. A World Foosball Tour presents the 2026 World Foosball Championships. September 2nd through the 6th at the Hyatt Regency, New Orleans, Louisiana. Here comes the 2026 Great Lakes Classic Regional Championship.

    [01:43:04] October 15th through the 18th at the Doubletree Inn by Hilton, Grand Rapids, Michigan. The North Carolina State Championships, scheduled for November 26th through the 29th. More details soon to be released. It's the 20th Annual 2026 Louisiana State Championships, December 3rd through the 6th. Stay tuned for lots more details. Looking ahead to 2027, the World Foosball Tour presents the Tour Kickoff,

    [01:43:33] February 4th through the 7th. Location details coming soon. 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, using technology to create a better foosball experience.

    [01:44:02] And by Boise Foos Works, high-fidelity refurbished foosballs. Foos Talk Live is a product of Foos Ball Radio. With gratitude, we recognize our Foos Ball Radio Patreons. Our Foos Talk Live sponsor, original-leonhart-usa.com. Tune in again next week for another episode of Foos Talk Live. In the meantime, we'll see you foosin'.