FoosTalk Live | Ep 310 | Music City Nashville Foosball Worlds Warmup

[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.

[00:01:18] 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. The Leonhardt Tournament model is the most popular foosball table at the ITSF World Cup.

[00:01:46] Designed and handcrafted in Germany, order online and have it delivered to your door. Visit www.original.com and use promo code foosball to save 10% off your purchase price. And yes, we're live once again on Foos Talk Live. Hey there, it's Tom Robinson. Thanks for joining us for episode number 310.

[00:02:15] And yes, we're going to be talking about foosball as we always do. And lo and behold, I was so shocked when I thought, you know, I was going to see a familiar face. And suddenly I'm seeing the face of Randy Raposo. Randy Raposo, who's, well, has been recovering, I have to say, for quite a few weeks here. Randy, welcome back to Foos Talk Live, man. It's great to see you. Hey, good to be back. I love anesthesia.

[00:02:45] You love anesthesia? You've become accustomed to anesthesia? Is that what you're trying to say? I think I understand now what Michael Jackson was, what he had going there. It's wonderful. I love anesthesia. Okay, well, as long as you're not addicted, that's all that matters. But are you feeling? I can't afford to be addicted. Yeah, I hear you. Are you feeling better? Like 85%. 85%. Okay, well, that's a thing.

[00:03:15] That's a thing. Yeah, I'm okay. It's still, I'm still not there, but it's definitely better than it was. So that's good. Okay. Well, hey, we'll take that progress report, man. We appreciate that so much. Oh, by the way, before I forget, we've got to wish a happy birthday to Adrienne Pennell. That's Chase's wife. She's celebrating a birthday this weekend. And Chase is with the family celebrating, and I hope they have a great time.

[00:03:43] But our thanks to Chase for hanging out for the last couple of weeks and doing this thing. Yeah. Yeah. Unfortunately, Randy, I don't know if you noticed, but there has been a lot, I mean a lot, of regional tournaments labeled World's Warm Up. I know at least six that I can think of right off the rip. They had one in North Carolina two weekends ago, and then they tried to squeeze one in in Georgia yesterday.

[00:04:11] And then there's a good one coming up in Nashville next Saturday. And I know you guys just had a smash down. World's Warm Up. Yep. Yeah. I think my guys in the 508 are doing something next weekend. And again, that's just a cut. They're everywhere. They're happening everywhere right now. Everybody's trying to get ready for Worlds. Yep. It was a hot topic yesterday, I have to say, at the smash down.

[00:04:40] Lots of people, you know, and I probably asked almost everybody I talked to, hey, man, you going to Worlds? And 50%, almost 50% of the people I asked said, yeah, yeah, I'm going. Yeah. Yeah. I think there's one actually happening in Mississippi right now. Okay. I think Shannon Coley has one going on at the back porch right now. Yeah. Dude, I'm going to tell you, the ESPN thing, I think it really got people hyped up. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. We definitely have to chat about that tonight.

[00:05:10] That was awesome. I don't know if you noticed, but I'm wearing my official Music City Foosball T-shirt tonight. That's why you look so handsome. Yeah. Well, and I have to- Yeah, but we got to get one for you, Randy. And I'll look just as handsome as Tom. There you go. You will. So, and we want to thank Mike Kelly for joining us once again on Foos Talk Live. He provided me with a smile. I'll turn around and show you the name on the back here. Ha, ha, ha, ha. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

[00:05:40] So, this is his personal T-shirt, by the way. This, he gave me- Nice commitment. Yeah. Nice. I like it. Well, we exchanged T-shirts, I have to say. We had the New York State, the National Cup shirts made for our team. And I gave, of course, Mike has his copy. And I'm surprised you're not wearing it tonight. What's up with that, Mike? Just thinking right now, what a miss. I should have worn it. Ha, ha, ha, ha. Well, it's okay. I understand. I realize.

[00:06:09] But hey, welcome back to Foos Talk Live. I see you're there. You're at Moxie's tonight. Yes, here. And there's- Yeah, yeah. Lots of matches going on still behind me. We just finished the singles event an hour or so ago. And this is a monster. I don't know how far they are. Nice, you know? Good group of folks. Nice. Nice. And I understand- Blake there? Did Blake show up? Yeah. He did.

[00:06:38] It was great to have him here. You know, we played handicap, and that's your most unfavored event, right? Randy? It's probably Blake's and the other two or three pros that were here tonight, too. I injured Blake in the first round. I thought, man, this is going to be fun. I'm going to learn a lot, you know? And it's not fair, man. He's got to score too many points.

[00:07:04] So I beat him in the first round on match ball, which he's got to score nine points. Wow. Wow. Yeah. So I can claim that I've taken Blake Robertson down now. That's cool. That's saying something, right? That's news right there, by the way. Well, you know, I don't think I've ever played a handicap event. I don't think. Maybe. Randy, you don't sound like you're too enthusiastic about that kind of format.

[00:07:34] No, see, so handicap events are just that. And so this is the thing. If handicap events are specialty events and they're fine, right? If people play, I've won handicap on tour. Expert, I think expert's like the sweet spot for handicap because you got to go to five, pros go to six, you got to go to five, masters go to seven.

[00:07:59] And at the handicap, I mean, at the expert level, like you can, you can pass and score. It depends, you know, if you're not scared, but, but when you're playing some stand bagging rookie or beginner, like Mike Kelly, and you got, and you got to, and you got to spot them for goals, you know, so it's, it can be, it can be rough. It's a lot of, you know? Yeah. It's a lot of goals, man. It's a lot of goals. It is a lot. It is.

[00:08:29] Yeah. It is a lot of goals. So. I played good though, Randy. I played good. I scored on him really well. I passed on him really well. So. Of course you did, you sandbagger. Of course you did. Yeah. Of course you did. You're getting, you're getting ready. You're getting ready for worlds. You're practiced. You're playing good. Like it's, you know, yeah, I get it. I get it. Yeah. Well. Yeah. We had, obviously we had Blake.

[00:08:56] The two or three other pros who were still playing behind me. Jonathan's here. And Scott Doan is here. Yarborough, who's not a pro, but he's a, he's really playing good. So. Blake went out. Rose went out. John went all the way through to the winner's bracket. I fought my way all the way through the loser's bracket. And John and I played in the final. So pros gone and the local boys playing in the final. Nice. Nice. Yeah.

[00:09:25] We, we, uh, we certainly, um, need to experiment. I think when it comes to, uh, new events. I know yesterday we did, you know, your typical DYP and then open singles and doubles, but I'm, I'm getting the impression that people would like something maybe a little more challenging, something different and maybe a handicap or maybe a, oh, I don't know, maybe a Goldie Wars or something just to, to spice things up a bit. We'll see. But, uh, you seem to have had success with that, Mike.

[00:09:55] You've, you've, uh, tried a lot of different formats. Yeah. We try something, you know, I try to mix it up every time. And this time, Randy, you'll, you'll get a good, I'm glad you're coming for singles because you'll get a good flavor for this thing. I learned from Mark Matterace when he was doing this, uh, I don't know what he calls it. It's a multi-game singles event. So it's two out of three. Um, you play three games, you play forward shootout, you play goalie war, you play handicap

[00:10:23] singles, uh, goalie war and shootout are straight up. The handicap is what it is. Um, and we did it last time around and it was a smash success. People wanted to do it again. So, you know, obviously when, when people are interested, but you'll see Randy, it's a, it's a really fun event. I'm excited. No, I'm looking forward to it. So I'll just be honest with you. I suck at goalie wars.

[00:10:50] Um, and, and I mean, forward shootouts pretty cut and dry. Uh, so, so I really gotta, I gotta, I gotta come out of the gate hot. Cause if we get to that, that one game of handicap, I'm probably gonna, I'm probably gonna lose. So it's big strategy. I mean, you really have to pick your, your game events. And, uh, the way that I'm doing it is you do it just a regular coin toss. The person who wins the coin toss is to choose the first game and get the drop.

[00:11:18] Loser chooses the second game and gets the drop. And then whatever you need on the third game. So the third one's, whatever is left. That's nice. You know, the sequence is, is really important. So now, uh, I'll, by draw you in the first round and we'll be coming out of the blocks with goalie war. Yeah. Go. Yeah. See the, so the, honestly, if you look, if you were smart, you choose, you choose handicap singles first, put a beating on me, and then I'm going to pick forward shootout.

[00:11:46] And then you're going to, you're going to, you know, kill me and goalie wars in the third game. So, uh, you know, there is that strategy makes a difference, but I don't think people, some people don't understand that, but you have, you have to know who you're playing. Do. Yeah. Yeah. Especially when you're playing a pro player and they're spotting you points, it does like, you know, knowing where they're weak and knowing, okay. You know, like I said, I'll tell you, I suck at goalie wars.

[00:12:13] I got a two rod, but, but goalie wars is a game of strategy. You have to have a strategy for goalie wars. So, um, you know, I don't know. It's going to be fun though. I'm looking forward to it. It's my favorite event. You know, if I could go to every tour event and play goalie wars, um, I just love to play. Me and, uh, Balcos both, Eric Balcos love, love to play goalie wars. Yep.

[00:12:41] So it's, yeah, I just love goalie wars. Fun. Have you ever played, uh, Cody Byrie in a goalie wars? I did. I played him in Vegas a few years ago. Mm-hmm. Um, and I was excited. Obviously when you play a player like that, we were pretty well into the bracket. Um, but, uh, I found my way to the loser side and Cody advanced, but he's a good player. He's got such a fundamental game. Mm-hmm. His defense, he's really good on, uh, on defense. And his bank shots are incredible.

[00:13:11] Just, uh. Yeah. Some of them he does with the rollover, which is interesting. Yep. You know, he sets it up in the middle and, uh, and, you know, it's his hands set up like a rollover, which is, and he hits it. I mean, I can't imagine how he can hit it like that, but very consistent. Yeah. He wins a lot of matches that way. Gotta say, you know, those banks are deadly. No question about it. Yeah. Strategy. Like I said, strategy. I, I've seen, um, a guy, Mark Vanetti. He's really good at goalie wars.

[00:13:39] He uses two shots and, uh, he uses like a push and a push bank. And the reason I know that is because Brandon showed me, Brandon said he played him in the finals of goalie wars. And he said, this is what he does. He said, and it's, you can't like, you gotta be in both holes and you can't be in both holes. And he said, it's, it's tough. So, you know, having a strategy and goalie, it's just like having a strategy going into a, into a match. Right. Right. But goalie wars. I, I, uh, I don't know. I suck.

[00:14:07] I just, I just suck. I just suck. No, but, but again, I'm coming up. I got a room. I'm bringing my wife. We're bringing the puppy. We're, we're super. So I'll tell you the motivating factor is, um, is the fact that Eddie Mubarak won the last one you had. And I don't want Eddie to ever win anything. So anytime, anytime there's a tournament locally or regionally that I can get to and Eddie's going to be there and he starts talking, I'm going to be there to make sure he doesn't win. Even if I don't win, he's not going to win. I'm just throwing. Yeah.

[00:14:37] Well, um, I was talking to Eddie on the phone, you know, and Eddie's got a pretty high level of confidence and he did win the last one. Um, and they played good. Uh, but so Eddie's joking around and he says, you know, you should put a bounty on me. And I said, you know what? That sounds like a pretty good idea. So I put two on him. What a dummy. Right. And he didn't say it to me, but I heard kind of through the backwoods. He said, uh, he's talking to Scott. I think I'm not sure.

[00:15:04] And he said, you know, what's this I hear about Blake Robertson coming, you know, and is he going to play? Who's who's I'm thinking, Hey, Eddie, you've been asking about when are we going to have all the pros come in? So why not have a few masters? And now he's worried. That's his, that's his seed. This is what I mean. It's that's, and I know we're on the radio and he's probably going to hear this and I don't care. I did. I don't, not even a little bit. So yeah, you're going to get what you asked for it. So how does the bounties work? Mr. Kelly, please explain.

[00:15:32] Oh, it's, it's, uh, there I have, I think I have five of them or four of them in, uh, in the singles event, beat a pro you win a $50 bounty. Nice. You knock a pro out on the loser side, you win a $50 bounty. And basically it's the same thing in the, uh, in the limited is if you, like, say you beat Eddie in the first, uh, whatever first two or three matches, you collect the bounty, uh, for beating him.

[00:16:00] And then if you come back later and knock him out, well, then you get another bounty. So, and it's only on Eddie and Robbie. Huh? Uh, yeah. Way to, way to put a bullseye on yourself. You dumb, dumb. So, you know what he's, we're talking on the phone and he says, you should do that. You know, he's kidding. And I said, you know, it was a great idea. And then I've whooped up a little, uh, a little bounty poster and I texted it over to him.

[00:16:29] And he's like, Oh man, are you serious? I'm like, yeah. So, so if I beat Eddie in singles, I get 50 bucks. No. Oh. It's gotta be, it's gotta be low. Like an expert down has to beat Eddie in singles. Yeah. But you know what? Maybe who knows? No, no. It won't be fair. Cause I'm, cause I'm going to beat, I'm going to beat him. I'm going to beat him. You might as well just give me 50 bucks now. Of course not. Of course not. Cause I would beat him.

[00:16:58] I'd lose on purpose. He's afraid to play me because I, I, I'd kill him in goalie wars and then handicap. See, I would beat him. I'd beat him to get the 50. And then I lose on purpose to knock him out, to get the other 50. So, you know, this sounds like two chances. This sounds like the equivalent of, uh, putting a kick me sign in the back of somebody's shirt for foosball. A hundred percent. No, but the problem is Eddie put the sign on himself. Right. That's the difference. Exactly. He put it on the front of his shirt. He was like, just stick that right there.

[00:17:28] Yeah. I love him. You know, I love Eddie. He's a great player. Um, he's confident, but you're not like the most unconfident guy in the world, Randy. So, well, there, you have to have a level of confidence, but, and again, Eddie, Eddie's passionate about foosball. And that's one thing I appreciate about him is he's very passionate about foosball. So that's a good thing. But, um, you know, I'm going to stop there cause I could keep going.

[00:17:55] So, so yeah. What is this thing? You and Mubarak, what is going on here? We are, you know, psychologically you guys are going at each other. No, it's nothing. It's like a lot. If it was psychological, believe me, it's, it's already over, but we could, we could, we could, we could talk about it off the thing anyway. So, um, uh, so I'm glad, I'm glad there's going to be some pros there. It's going to be a good turnout.

[00:18:21] And, and I'm really looking forward to this thing because, um, the last time I came up, we had a lot of fun. You have a great venue, great players. It's always a lot of fun. So I'm definitely looking forward to, this is going to be the last thing I played before world. So I'm definitely looking forward to it. Yeah. Thanks. We're really happy that you're coming. Um, yeah. You're not the only pro though, looking to, to, uh, get a little piece of Eddie, right? We got Scott Doan. It's just chomping at the bit to play. Yeah.

[00:18:47] And, uh, Jonathan Chung, who you guys both know, who's a great, great young player coming up. Um, I'm trying to think who else we have coming. We've got, uh, let's see, Jamie Hughes, I believe is a pro. Is he a pro? Yeah. Yeah. Jamie's a pro. Yeah. He's a pro. Who else? Frankie says, uh, tell Eddie I'm his Huckleberry. This, that bounty is mine. That's a Frankie, Frankie roof.

[00:19:17] Is that, uh, I was joking with, uh, with Chris Boyd. Um, okay. He's poking a little, he's poking a little fun at Eddie too. And, uh, so then that bounty is a good thing. He says, you know, maybe you should tell Eddie to double it. And I said, well, you know, maybe we'll leave it alone, but we'll do a Calcutta instead. Ooh. Yeah. Ooh. That would be cool. Wouldn't that be fun? I was going to do it before, but they're pretty hard to manage. If we can pull it off, I'd love to do a Calcutta. I can help you. I've helped. I've helped with them before. They're not bad.

[00:19:47] Frankie roof, by the way, is a Frank, the tank crab tree. That's a, that's Frankie roof. That's his, uh, he's, uh, he's playing with Thomas Dyke. I think. Oh, God. Right. Okay. Got it. Yeah. Another Knoxville team. And, and, uh, you know, Thomas is playing great as well. Thomas game is really solid. Yeah. That's going to be good. Good scene. Scott, Scott Doan. Scott Doan's a guy that when I started playing, I remember seeing his name and then he kind of stopped. Yep.

[00:20:17] And now he's coming back. I saw him in Mississippi. I didn't get a chance to talk to him, but man, nice five good shot. Just, you know, in the last couple of tournaments he's played, he's had some really good results. So I'm glad he's coming back this area, you know, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia. I'm not going to count Mississippi. Mississippi has a really good scene. They got a lot of good players. And then Jessica Sanflaben just moved to Mississippi. So they just got a top five in Mississippi.

[00:20:44] So between Hannah and Jessica, they got two top five women. And then they got, you know, they got a few masters there. They got a bunch of pro players, but Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, like we really, really need some top players to come in and just kind of really help, you know, help our players develop because that's, I think that's where we struggle the most is, you know, I've said it before. Iron sharpens iron. You're only as good, like your scene's only as good as your weakest player.

[00:21:14] Yep. And we need, we need players to come in and develop our, like our pros are maxed out. There's no masters around here to help our pros develop. So we need our masters to help our pros develop so we can help our, our experts and our amateurs and our rookies move up. So I'm glad Blake is, is now in Nashville. And I really hope that he, you know, he participates. So I think that he will, you know, I'm going to do some things to help him out and encourage him to come. And cool. Cool. He's just a very gracious, you know, very gracious person.

[00:21:43] And, you know, I'm, I'm an all right guy too, once in a while. So he's, uh, uh, I told him we're going to take good care of him. Cool. I love Blake. Blake's awesome. I love Blake. He really is. Hey, dude, he's so good, man. He's so good. He's got a great sense of humor too. You know, that, that really helps. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, he, he likes his music. We noticed that. There's no doubt about that. He likes a lot of things. Yeah.

[00:22:10] But, uh, Hey, you know, it's, uh, I, one of the things that I wanted to ask you, Mike, specifically, uh, what, what, and I've probably asked you this before, but what kind of software are you using for your tournaments? What's, uh, what's the stuff that you use? I'm still using kicker tool. Kicker tool. Okay. Kicker tool. Well, and it works 75, 80% of the time without any issues. Okay. Kicker tool is not perfect. It's good. It probably had a, out of the box stuff is probably the best one out there.

[00:22:39] I think I'm not sure. Uh, but you and I talked wherever we were in, uh, well, we were, we were in Louisville, in Louisville, Kentucky, uh, recently. Yeah. Yeah. We talked about, uh, the play software. Yes. And, you know, I'm just chomping at the bit to beta test it, roll it out, do anything that they want to do. And I think, uh, I don't know if Reed, if you're listening, Reed, I know you were trying to get ahold of me.

[00:23:07] So everybody knows how to get ahold of me, reach out and anything you need, I'd love to help. Mm-hmm. No, it's, uh, we, we, in our area, in our region definitely need to upgrade. I'm just saying it's been the same software since what, 2005 or something, uh, Netfuse, which, I mean, it still works. But yesterday we definitely had some issues, some, some moments, some scary moments where we thought the whole thing just crashed, but then it, then it rebooted. Thank God, you know? Yes.

[00:23:37] But yeah, that would have been disastrous with 32 players, not good. So, uh, I don't want to risk that for the future. You know, I want to make sure that, uh, everything's, but I also want to test out, you know, some, some different, uh, platforms to see what works, but play would be great. It sounds like a really, really well thought out, uh, software for, for tournaments. So, uh, agree. Yeah. Well, if it does some of the things that we're already seeing on the tour, it's going to be great.

[00:24:07] You know, Ryan, he tends to, to, uh, I don't know if I get the expression right, but he tends to promise and deliver, you know, some people over promise and under deliver. He promises and usually over delivers. Yep. And you know what he's done, these, these new table side apps, check in, you put your results in. So cool. Recall process. And so evidently on play, even at the local level, the software is basically going to run

[00:24:36] the tournament for you. You put the stuff in, you, you press go and you know, as a promoter, that's great because you get pulled in a lot of different directions, trying to keep things straight. I still will get pulled, but I'm looking forward to a sort of a self-driving software. Well, you want me to, you want me to tell you what the benefits of that particular part of the system is? Okay.

[00:25:07] Okay. Right. And then, and then a match would get called at 11 and it wouldn't start until 1230 because somebody was doing something when the recall process was the, we're going to, this tournament is going to, we're going to really the recall. And then because of depending on who it was, there was always a discrepancy or leniency or whatever. Now this eliminates any human judgment when it comes to that. Right.

[00:25:34] It's, it wasn't, Hey, I didn't put you on recall. The system, the system's doing its job. So automatically it's, and I think that's beautiful because it essentially, it makes it the same for everybody. Right. So yeah. Yeah. So now Ryan doesn't say, well, you know, it was whoever's behind the desk. Let's, you know, like for example, it wasn't Donald, right? It's the system. The system gives you this much. The match gets called.

[00:26:02] You get to the table, you punch in your number, give it three seconds. It'll turn green. You're there. And then from there, everything gets moving. And, and so what I was told was they're going to have that and they're going to have the verifiers at world. So they're really, it's two, it's two layers of protection now to make sure the tournament runs because Ryan doesn't want, he doesn't want these tournaments running late. Right. We shouldn't be playing a pro doubles final at five o'clock in the morning. Well, yeah. Right. Right.

[00:26:31] I didn't see verifiers at nationals. Well, but they must've been there. There was one or two. There was one or two. Yeah. But I don't, I, again, I wasn't at nationals and like, so I miss, I, I, I went to Mississippi on Sunday and they, they ran that system. That's the first time I've seen it. First time I've used it. And I thought it was awesome. You get there, you punch it. And it was great. And the tournament was done Sunday afternoon by like seven, like, you know, the majority of the tournament. So yeah.

[00:26:59] But for worlds, they're going to do like the double layer. They're going to do the system and the verifiers. It just kind of make sure that, I mean, cause when you get a room with a hundred tables and 800 players, things are, things are going to slip. They're going to slip through the cracks. So yeah. Well, 800 or more. Who knows the way the rooms have been selling. I mean, they've sold out what four blocks, four extra blocks of rooms at this stage.

[00:27:27] He's he's, I think, I think they're on their, they're finishing their third and they're on their fourth, I believe. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that's a, it's a great turnout. I mean, that's, that's such a nice proxy to how many people are going to be coming. Yeah. Yeah. And it's going to be, it's not just us. I mean, the, the global contingent is going to be, I know there's a, a really large European contingent coming. I know there's going to be a good South American contingent. You know, the, those damn Canadians are coming.

[00:27:57] You know, I love, I love Canadians, but you know, they're, they're, they're good at foosball, man. They're coming from everywhere. Like I said, the ESPN thing, dude, I like it got people, it got people pumped up. I really, it was really well done. It was. I just thought it was so well done. And in terms of like watchability, it'd be, I would think that if you'd never seen it before, you were able to stay engaged. Yes.

[00:28:26] Um, because it moved along quickly enough. Um, and the commentating was okay. I think that we can ladder up the commentating a little bit next time around. But, um, it was, I thought it was really well done. Yeah. We're, we're, uh, we're on the precipice really of, of being ready for prime time. This is, this is it, you know, this, especially this particular world. Uh, this will be, uh, kind of like that, that, uh, that litmus test that will get us to that

[00:28:53] next level of, Hey, we're out there ESPN. Uh, and who knows, you know, from there where it could go. So that's a, it's exciting. Um, especially if that. Some serious money could follow in terms of sponsorship. Yep. You know, the right, the right people or the right network or whatever. It just, there could be a real pipeline that comes out of this. Yeah. And you think about. I mean, back in the day, you know, TS, when, when they were at their peak and there were,

[00:29:22] there were players that were cruising around the country, making a living doing, doing the sport. Uh, could that be far behind? I was cruising around the country, but not making a living. Yeah. Well, there's that too. You know, there was the, those who, who wanted to be making a living, but then there were, there were those who were actually successfully doing it. I look at some of the old table talk magazines and some of the, the prizes and some of the,

[00:29:49] like they would show the winners of the year and, and, and in order of how much money they had won. And some of them were upwards of 40 grand. Right. And at that time, I mean, that was in the nineties. Yes. So that's a lot of money today. I mean, I love reading those old issues. Um, uh, Tony Bacon rest in peace, but, um, he was one of the first great players that I got to play with and he was 17, 18, 19. Mm. So was I.

[00:30:15] Um, but I followed him as his career just skyrocketed. Um, and what a career that guy had. Yeah. Yeah. Tragic that he's gone. Um, but I don't think that there was ever a day that Tony didn't live to the fullest. He, uh, he believed in living life. Yeah. Yeah. No doubt about it. Yeah. It's, uh, and of course, legendary players, uh, like, uh, Terry Moore, uh, who really innovated

[00:30:41] in so many ways, you know, adopting the, the rollover for the first time and, uh, moving forward and again, you know, winning enough to make a living. So, uh, will we see those days again? I think that's the, that's the test really can, could that possibly happen at least for the, let's say the top 15 masters, something like that. I think so. I think it's really possible. Um, a 20 grand for first place in open doubles.

[00:31:09] That's pretty good price when it's not, you know, go make a living and, but it's, uh, right. It's, you know, it's, that's a pretty nice prize. I think it's the same this year. Is it, is it the same Randy 20 grand at first? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The, uh, and then, and then everything else is tables, everything, you know, except beginners are getting jackets. I believe jackets and trophies, but rookie amateur expert and pro singles and doubles are all getting tables. It's a lot of tables. Yeah. That is a ton of tables, man.

[00:31:37] Well, and then singles, women's, women's singles and doubles are getting tables. And then, um, open singles and open doubles are getting, uh, the cash, the substantial cash payout. So, you know, it, it, foosball, I think more than anything else, like, like you're saying, Tom, like the top 15 making a living. I think it's, it's like marketability, right? Like there are like players like Brandon who are constantly marketing themselves. You know, I don't think it's necessarily gotta be the top 15.

[00:32:07] I think it's just gotta be, you know, there are players out there that are living their lives working and taking care of a family and still playing foosball and being successful. I think it's gotta be, you know, there, there's gotta be more than just like, Hey, well, you know, you can make X amount of dollars a year and just play foosball. If that's not the equivalent of what you're doing now, living your everyday life, then, you know, it's, it's a, it's a balance. Right.

[00:32:32] But I think, I think that, um, I think what Ryan, I mean, I think Ryan's got us on the right trajectory, but I definitely, but I definitely think that it's more than just the foosball part. I think it's trying to attract, you know, other avenues of revenue that are going to help put money in the players' pockets, you know? And that's the key. And that's, Ryan's really the first one in a long time to actually focus that energy that, Hey, got to take care of these players. Yeah.

[00:33:00] Way back in the, in the, uh, late eighties, maybe even mid eighties, what Furry and Wiswell, they were playing for hash jeans. Uh, Kenny, uh, Kenny Allwell, um, he had a nice sponsor. I mean, there was a lot of them. Well, the Colorado group, there was seven or eight of them. They were riding around in limousines, Tom and in that, you know, Mike Bowers and that old crew. Those guys. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, they were, they were doing really well at a pretty young age at that time.

[00:33:29] I think they had, they had two things. They called themselves the Colorado all-stars for a while. And then they had that, uh, Aurora sports complex was sponsoring them and they put a ton of money into those guys. Interesting. And there's, uh, stories about them going to the Playboy mansion or something. There was some, some, uh, situation there. They played. Well, the freedom you still see, but in, in Bobby Gibson just went into the, uh, into the hall of fame.

[00:33:59] Um, you know, I met Bobby. Oh, I don't know if he was 15, 16 years old. Um, but that whole gang, Tom, uh, Todd, Bob Maloney, Bowers, Tim Burns, um, Phil Jackson, rest in peace as well. Uh, Tim Buckley. He was just a group of people from, from Denver that were amazing.

[00:34:25] Now there was a little bit of a hint given, uh, Ryan appeared on the show a couple of weekends ago and, uh, he alluded to something that was going to be unique this time for, uh, for worlds, uh, a celebrity. Now he would, he wouldn't get, he wouldn't elaborate. He wouldn't tell us who it was going to be, but I'm thinking of celebrity. Hmm. What, well, if you had to pick a celebrity, Mike, I'm curious, what, uh, what celebrity

[00:34:53] you think would be a good choice? Well, other than me, Tom, I, you know, I don't really know. I don't know how much further you'd go. Um, I would say Schwarzenegger is, is possible because he's a foosball player and he plays that thing up in Ohio. He's, in fact, he's got a, the Arnold, I think he sponsors the Arnold. Okay. Um, that's a possibility. Responsibility. Um, friends, the old show friends used to have a foosball table in the kitchen and those guys were playing now. That's right.

[00:35:23] Yeah. Anybody remembers friends anymore, but. Well, uh, uh, what's her name? The comedian. Uh, Kelsey, Kelsey, Kelsey cook. Kelsey cook. Yeah. That's a Kathy brainer's daughter. Right. Um, well, uh, somebody else also mentioned, uh, Louie T, T 42 mentioned Woody Harrelson, who, by the way, I was going to say Woody Harrelson's a foosball enthusiast. Yep. Yeah. So that'd be cool. Uh, we definitely like to see that. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:35:49] Um, and, uh, I mean, who knows it's, uh, that it's intriguing. And I think he did that just to, to, uh, kind of needle us a little bit, but, uh, he was not confessing. So I hadn't heard. So I think that's pretty exciting. Yeah. I think it's great. Yeah. No, I think there'll, there'll be, uh, there's to be, he's always got something up his sleeve. Um, incidentally, I also wanted to ask you about, uh, this thing called level up.

[00:36:14] So level up it's, uh, it's in, in, in which you can go to this level up, these level up sessions and get, uh, and get real, uh, real solid advice on how to improve your game, especially if you're a rookie, uh, an amateur expert. Uh, he said, I guarantee you with level up, if you attend one of these sessions, you'll be able to step up your game. So. Yes. I agree with him. Yeah. He did.

[00:36:43] He's done it a couple of times. He did it at worlds last year. He had table 100 at worlds last year. Um, I don't know that he did anything in, uh, in Louisville. He did something as well, uh, in Vegas. He was doing some stuff in Vegas, but he was doing more coaching from the pits kind of stuff. Right. The level up is pretty interesting. You know, he's got a whole curriculum. I think there's 10 different programs. Okay.

[00:37:08] So if you need to work on your pull shot, you know, go to the pull shot program or whatever, whatever element of your game you need to work on. There's a, there's a, uh, an opportunity in, have you seen table 100 Tom? I have. I saw that. That's neat. Yeah. Uh, the worlds last year and, uh, they had a little bleacher set up there around table 100, which I thought was brilliant. What a, what a great idea. Yeah.

[00:37:33] Um, and I sat there a few times just to, just to see what was happening and, and, uh, watching some of the legends step up there and show their stuff, man, that was, that was a lot of fun. Well, if I could just give some input on these level ups, um, you know, I think if you're a beginner, rookie amateur, even an expert player, even a, even a pro player, some of the information that you're going to get from a player like Ryan or any other player that he handpicks to do these

[00:38:03] level ups, I think, I think you just, I'll be, I'll be checking some of these out because, um, you know, foosball is, it's a beautiful game. We all love foosball. It's wonderful. Right. But the nuance and the level and the difference between the guys here and here and here, and there, there's just so much to the game, so much information that maybe some of us never really get the opportunity to come across.

[00:38:31] And if, if Ryan's going to be giving away information for free, then I suggest you go, go sit in on every session you can, you know, and again, speaking from experience, uh, a couple of years ago, um, I did okay. It was like world's 24. I did okay. I had like a top 10 and open doubles and a top five and pro doubles. And I was kind of disappointed in my play. And I reached out to a coach and I started working with Dana Marr.

[00:38:59] And then the next year I ran off like seven pro doubles finals. Yeah. I gained like a thou, I gained like a thousand points in the pro division. So, and that's just basically from getting information and applying that information. So if you're definitely, if you like it, basically what it's called leveling up, if you want to level up, if you want to go from rookie to amateur and amateur to expert, then I would highly suggest,

[00:39:26] you know, making sure that you carve these into your schedule and get to them. Cause they're definitely going to be impactful. The information is going to make a difference. Bring a notebook, bring a pen, write the stuff down. Or just don't bring a video. Yeah. Yeah. Don't, yeah. Don't do that. No need for that. Definitely write the stuff down because it's, it is going to make a difference. It does. It definitely makes a difference. So yes. I watched his two bar, um, whatever tutorial in Vegas. It was cool.

[00:39:55] I mean, boy, can he do some stuff from the two rod? Yeah. Truly remarkable. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, I, I remember one thing he said about that in that tutorial was, uh, you don't look at the, the, the players in between you and the, the two rod of the, the defense. You look at the, the actual defense, what, where that, that, uh, two rod and goalie are sitting on the opposing side and look at that only like, really? So how do you, how do you find the hole that way?

[00:40:25] But he, he seemed to think that, you know, he had a, a method by which he was doing this and it worked. I mean, it's, uh. Well, I, well, I think the way he explained it was most of us, when we set up our shot on our two rod, the first thing we do is we look at the three rod and then we look at the five rod. Right. And basically what he was saying, I don't do that. I start in the back. I look at the back. And go forward. And then I, and then I work my way up and then I, I can determine where the holes better, where they are better that way. Right. Right.

[00:40:54] I don't, I don't think he's saying not, don't look at, at this. I think he's just saying like, in order to establish, because you have to think there's always a hole, right? There's always either, there's always either a pass or a shot. There's always a hole in every zone. So in order to establish that he's starting at basically at the goal, that's where he, that's the end result, right? He wants the ball on the goal. So how can I get there? And then he's working his way up the table.

[00:41:20] So, you know, again, that's, that's top level information that he's, he's sharing. Right now, again, physically, a lot of us, maybe we can't do what he can do, but we can take that information and build off of it. Oh, yeah. Right. Right. No, it's, I think the other thing too, that I, that I just saw, was it yesterday or the day before he had a quick video with him and, and Reed demonstrating the partner finder. Right.

[00:41:50] So you can find a partner just by going to this, into the app and putting your name in and I'm saying, Hey, I'm a goalie or I'm a forward or I'm both or whatever my, and your points show up on the screen and then just, and then just connect with, with other players this way. Great feature as well. Yeah. Really good feature. You know, I won't have to hound you anymore, Randy, to get you to play with me because you're always telling me the next time, the next time.

[00:42:19] It's a, who knows, you know, one of these years we might talk Ryan into doing like a, just a media thing where, you know, we have a bunch of media folks that step up and play each other. Wouldn't that be fun? Just for us. Yes. For bragging rights. All four of us. All four of us. Yeah. Play in a DYB. Yeah. That'd be good. But, yeah. Well, I mean, honestly, I'm, I'm looking forward to the pro-am. The pro-am is going to be fun. Yep. So, you know, who are you guys playing the pro-am with?

[00:42:50] I'm not in it yet. So who are you playing with? I got a buddy from back home, a good friend of mine, who's, he actually just had open heart surgery three months ago, four months ago, but, but he's coming to worlds really once, you know, he's, he's a good guy. I've known the guy for a long time. And I think I know who you're talking about actually. My buddy, Tony, Tony, Tony Cabral, my buddy, Tony Cabral. So Tony's coming to worlds and, and I needed a rookie.

[00:43:19] So he's a, I think he's a beginner in doubles though, but that doesn't matter. He's my buddy. We get along real good and we click pretty good. And so we're going to, we're going to give it a whack. So what about you, Tom? Who you got? I don't, but I'm, I'm open. Let's put it that way. I'm willing. I'm still, I'm still ranked a rookie. So I could probably, we'll see, you know, what, what, what, what comes of that? Maybe I'll use that new, that new app to, to find a player to play with. Yeah. Why not? Yeah.

[00:43:49] You should. There'll be pros looking, you know? So the one thing is, is it's single elimination. That's kind of a bummer. Right. Right. Yeah. Whatever. You know, it's still, it's still unique. It's, it's, it's a, uh, the pro-am events I always thought of, uh, Hey, you know, that does sound really interesting. It depends upon who you get teamed up with, of course. But yeah. Uh, other than a DYP where it's just a random, you know, uh, joining of, uh, uh, of a team. So yeah, no, it's, uh, I'll, I'll put my name in just to see what happens.

[00:44:19] And, and, uh, why not? Yeah. Can I? I think I'll go into, I'm going to try the partner finder too. Yeah. Uh, Jonathan Chung was going to go and then he decided not to go. Um, and I think Scott is playing with, uh, John Yarbrough. So, but we'll, we'll see. I think that I'm, uh, I'll probably play. Yeah. Hold on. Scott's a pro, right? What's what's John? John's an amateur, isn't he? He is. Yeah. He can't play. No, it's gotta be.

[00:44:47] It's master beginner, pro rookie, expert amateur. Oh, wow. Okay. So I thought they were playing. No, Scott's got, Scott's got, Scott's got, Scott's got to play with a rookie, a rookie or below. Huh? Interesting. Okay. Which is funny. Yeah. Which is funny. Cause they call it a pro am, but a pro can't play with an amateur. So. Yeah. Yeah. It's more like a, I don't know, like a hybrid limited kind of what I'm doing here next week. Correct. Right.

[00:45:16] What, uh, what day is the pro am being played? Does anybody know? Saturday. Saturday. I believe it's Saturday evening at 7 PM. Oh, good. I have a shot. I'll actually be there. Uh, yeah. Okay, cool. Well, I'll take your guys' advice and definitely, uh, I'll, I'll, I'll dig in and see what happens. Yeah. Yeah. I'll never know. Um, wow. This, uh, this whole idea of, of, uh, the world championship.

[00:45:42] Uh, now the other thing that we've always talked about in the past is the world cup. Now the world cup being, you know, the European style of, of the world championship. Uh, there's now talk that, uh, that the world cup might come to America someday. Oh, let's go. Yeah. Wouldn't that be something? Uh, awesome. Wouldn't, you know, it's, it's hard to say exactly when they might do it though.

[00:46:07] You know, what time of the year, because everything is, the calendar is so, uh, so pre, so occupied mostly. But, uh, yeah, speculation on that just as to what might happen with that. Who knows? I don't know. That'd be good too. Yeah. Yeah. My, my Portuguese citizenship should be in, in about a year. So, uh, team Portugal, team Portugal, give me a call. Yeah. Right. You need it. You need a tornado guy. Give me a call.

[00:46:34] John Garcia, who's, uh, from your neighborhood, uh, is, is actually considering playing with, uh, team Portugal. I think they, in fact, he's got to play on the senior team. Oh, I gotcha. He's, he's old. That guy's old. Don't let all the muscles pull you. Yeah. Yeah. Well, he's very much in shape for an old guy. I have to say, oh my God. Uh, you know, it's, um, I'm a, I'm a poor example of that. Man. He's in better shape than me. Oh, yeah. Yeah. He's, uh, he's incredible.

[00:47:04] Uh, and those guys, he and, he and his, uh, his compatriots there in the 508 are moving up the ladder. They're all doing really, really well. Uh, so. All of them except Richie Costa. Richie Costa. Here we go. Anyway. Poor Richie. I'm sorry, Tom. I can't help myself. You lob me a softball. I'm going to hit it. Every time. Right out of the park. Right out of the park. Every time. Every time. Yep. Every time.

[00:47:34] So. Yeah. Good times. Yeah, no doubt. Um, so Mike, next weekend, uh, what, uh, if somebody wants to get ahold of you and talk about, Hey, you know, how do I get into, uh, music city, uh, world's warmup? What, what do they do? They just call you directly? Easy. Many different ways. There's, they can go to the Facebook page, music city, Nashville foosball. You can message me there. They can just respond to one of the posters.

[00:48:02] They can go, um, on the WFT site and they can find my direct contact information right there and, and come in that way. Um, very easy to come in there. You know, very easy to come in. Gotcha. Gotcha. Gotcha. And, uh, How many spots you have left? Um, we've got 16 teams in doubles right now and we've got 21 players in singles. I don't know that I want to go a whole lot deeper than that.

[00:48:31] Uh, especially, you know, we're doing singles, which takes some time. We're doing the doubles. And then this time around, we're doing second chance doubles, which is going to be really great. Should put, uh, if Eddie goes in the, uh, in the second chance doubles, I should put some more bounties. What is, uh, what is second chance by the way? If you get, if you get knocked out. Okay. So this is double elimination. So if you get knocked out, uh, I'm thinking the first eight teams knocked out will basically start another tournament. Oh, okay.

[00:49:01] And so they'll just run right through. I've got beautiful trophies for them. Uh, the money is they'll get a little bit of money out of the deal. Okay. Um, yeah. So it's a real bonafide, you know, second chance. And so, you know, Randy, you and I've talked about this a bunch. I mean, what is the appeal to get a diverse group of players to come here and structuring those events like the multi-game singles, um, like the limited, like second chance that

[00:49:31] really opens up a lot of opportunities for players to come in and come here, you know, who wouldn't be happy to say, man, yeah, I went down to music city and I, and I won, uh, I won that second chance doubles. Yeah. That's cool. You know, that's very cool. Yeah. Love that idea. It's, uh, you know, the, uh, the typical tournament, especially with a regional, you know, people show up and they, they play, you know, the, the DYP, they play maybe singles and doubles, but, uh,

[00:50:00] you know, if they're knocked out early, they all filter out and they leave. So by the time we have the finals of, of singles and doubles, there's maybe 10 people left to watch maybe. Right. And there's nothing worse than somebody driving three, four, five, six hours. Yep. They come, they play one event, they're knocked out in two, you know, down the road, they go and it happens. I mean, it happens to 80% of the players. Oh, sure. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Having a second chance. I think that's a great idea.

[00:50:31] That's a, that's a, boy, there's a lot of things we need to institute. I think there's a lot of, a lot of, uh, great ideas come in, come out of your, uh, your crew. Um, anything new this year that, uh, you have a lot of ideas? Haven't done before, other than what we've talked about? Um, I think, you know, the, the new twists are really, uh, doing the second chance doubles, um, sort of changing the structure to this hybrid limited. Yes.

[00:50:55] Um, which really opens up, you know, for somebody like Blake can play, um, many people like Randy can play, um, and, and it's not a walk when they go into those matches. It's not a walk. Um, uh, the bounties, uh, I think are interesting. We'll see what happens. Second chance I think is really good. Um, and a lot of it will be similar though, but the, uh, I think last time I called this multi-singles thing, the heartbreaker and it turned into, you know, now John Yarborough

[00:51:24] won it and everybody's like, yeah, you're the heartbreaker. And I, and I, uh, the heartbreaker champion gets a t-shirt. Right. I mean, like who John could care less about the trophy or anything else, but man, that t-shirt he's wearing that thing everywhere. He goes, make sure he wears it next Saturday. Make sure. Yeah. Well, he probably will. Cause I'm going to try to take it off him. So, okay. Well, there'll be another new one. So, um, two X, two X. There you go.

[00:51:52] So if it's the wrong size, we'll get it. But the, uh, some of the stuff came in the other day. And one of the things that came in was the, uh, the heartbreaker champion t-shirt. So I hung it up on a chair and took a photograph and sent it over to John and said, Hey man, your new shirts here, you know? So it'll, it'll be good, but they love the shirts, man. They, yeah, it's cool. Have you seen it, Randy? He's worn it around. Like I saw a picture of it. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah.

[00:52:21] Have that same thing, that broken heart in the, in the yellow man kind of coming out of the center of it. Oh dude. I'm look, I'm excited for, I really am. I, I, I, I want, I want everybody to understand. I'm, I, uh, I'm coming to, I'm coming to win. I'm coming to play hard. This is not, I know it's the world's warmup. I'm coming to warm up on everybody's behind. So, uh, and, and Blake, Blake's going to be there for sure. I'm not sure yet. I think he's probably 50, 50.

[00:52:49] Um, I talked to him again tonight. Uh, he's super intrigued by the singles, right? Cause he's busy now and he's got these commitments. So like today he could only play singles. He's got to get back. But tomorrow's the first day of his program. I think he'll probably play singles. So you, you'll get a chance to play him. And I've got a partner ready for him to play doubles. He's got to play with a big, you know, a beginner, a true beginner player. And he's, he's good with that.

[00:53:14] And I, you know, I've offered him some encouragement to, uh, you know, some, if he, if he comes and plays, it's going to be very good for him as well. Cool. Of course. Yeah. Of course. That's awesome. Yeah. No, I love Blake. I haven't seen Blake in a while. So that's, I hope he, I hope he does come out and play out again. I, I want to play. I won't play that guy. I won't play guys like that. I hope he comes. So you should see him. He showed up today, man. He's all clean cut. Got a, you know, got a business person's haircut on. He's got his beard all green. He's a new guy. He's a new man.

[00:53:44] A new man. Yeah. He looks good. It's tough being an adult. I said to him, I said, man, you cleaned up really good, you know? And he goes, ah, tomorrow is the first day of my program. He's excited, you know, with what he's going to do. So it's great. Nice. It's tough being an adult. What is he studying? What's, what's, what's his program about? Uh, he's a cardiac, uh, I won't get a cardiac pulmonary, some kind of, he's not a doctor. Okay. No, he was, he was, I think he was a cardiac pulmonary therapist in Florida.

[00:54:14] And I think he's, uh, working towards something just a little bit higher than that. Got it. Yeah. I could look it up. Um, it's a therapist or specialist. Perfusion. Okay. He's doing this course on, on perfusion and the first nine months are here in Nashville. And then there's another 14 or 15 months that very well could be here as well. So if he's here for a couple of years. Wow. That'd be really special. Yeah. That'd be awesome. Yeah. Big attraction. Big attraction. Uh, dude, three, three, three hours.

[00:54:42] I mean, I'll drive three hours to go play with that guy again. Like I said, it's, you know, uh, Chris Folsom and I, a couple of years ago, we drove eight hours to Tampa to play him and Scott O'Hare for like six hours just to get warmed up. We played, you know, we went to Eric's house and played with him and Todd. And then we went over to Scott's house and played with him and Blake to get ready. So it's like, you know, three, three hours is that's, that's short. That's a short drive to get to play. Uh, one of the best players in the world.

[00:55:10] So I really, I really hope your guys appreciate what they got over there, man. They do. They, they understand it. Yeah. They, they completely understand it. They're all excited. I put a thing up. I put a post up today, welcoming him to town. I just found out who's going to play. I've been talking to him almost every day. And today I just got him to commit that he would come out and play the singles event. They, they get it. They, they get it. Um, yeah, he's a special player. I mean, he's, he's just a really special player. Oh yeah.

[00:55:40] Oh yeah. So you should get, uh, you should get Folsom to come up. No, no. Unfortunately, Chris, Chris hurt his arm again. So he's going to be, Oh no, I see him wearing that brace. So is he out for a while? Yeah. It just, it just happened this week. He had an accident and, uh, he re-injured himself, unfortunately. So he's going to be out for, he's going to be out for six months. Yeah. Oh geez.

[00:56:07] So who's your, who's your pro partner then for, uh, for worlds? Being cagey. He's going to get on the partner finder. Something tells me no. We'll see. You want me to guess? No, no, no guessing. We'll see. We'll see. I got a good guess. I think I have a good guess.

[00:56:36] Maybe I'll just grab somebody. Who knows? We'll never know. We'll see. It's more exciting that way, really. Um, before we wrap this thing up, I just wanted to give you guys, uh, the latest on the balls. Uh, the last week, uh, the tornado ball, uh, brand new from tornado, uh, the improved, new and improved. And I'll tell you, those balls are pretty good. They roll very slow.

[00:57:05] Um, nice. They're easy to set up. They don't, you know, don't, uh, squib away. Uh, people seem to really like them. So, I mean, it's hard to tell from one tournament, but generally speaking, everybody got a new ball when they, when they walked in. And, uh, I think it passed the test. Nice. Good. Nice. Yeah. We'll have them here as, have them here as well. They're hard to get. So. Yeah. Oh yeah.

[00:57:30] I was fortunate enough to be able to find a way to get, um, 20 that, you know, knock on wood. They're going to be delivered in the next couple of days. Um, and then I'm trying to get a few more, but I'll have enough for every table. Oh, good. I've been hearing, I've been hearing that they're, they're, they're good. I've been hearing that. Well, okay. I've been hearing that they're much better than what we've been playing with. Yes. So they've been lasting. The durability's there.

[00:57:55] Um, the, the material is, I'm not sure it's exactly the same, but the balls don't, they don't bump as hard or as fast. They move slower. They're, they're, they're a lot more tumbled. So they're definitely, they're closer to what we were playing with a year and a half ago, two years ago than what we've been playing with. So that's definitely, that's a bonus. So. Yeah. You can, you can, you can feel the differences immediately as you, you know, when you tic-tac the ball, it's, it's automatically, you can tell right away. Okay.

[00:58:24] This much, much better. Uh, and it rolls. Grippy as well. Right. Tom's pretty grippy. Very grippy. Yep. Yep. Yep. Nice. Um, but yeah, I mean, you know, after multiple, uh, multiple matches, I don't. Didn't really look in to see how things were going, but most people I think would complain. Otherwise we would have heard something, but. Right. It's supposed to last longer, you know, more than a match or two or three. Mm hmm. Yep. Nice. So, uh, I think we're in pretty good shape coming up.

[00:58:51] Well, Mike, uh, was there anything else you'd like to, to mention before we, uh, we, uh, we wrap things for tonight? No, I think Tom, it's great. I mean, we talked about everything. The, uh, I'm, I'm so excited for the kind of the combination of things that are happening. The, uh, what's happening across Tennessee is, is Randy mentioned. I mean, we've got, you know, we had Knoxville is going really well. Kathy Kaler is now got Chattanooga going again. Um, North Alabama is going great. Tucker Creek is going great. Nice.

[00:59:21] Robbie Ray has got, um, Johnson City going right along. They got Asheville going again. It's a little further out of our area here, but it just is, you know, the growth in our area, uh, is, is just great. Mm-hmm. So the, uh, you know, kudos to all of my counterparts that, you know, and we all work closely together. So we're coordinating. So I'm just, I'm really excited with the direction of Tennessee foosball. Valkon would, maybe we'll do a Tennessee state and then not this year, but maybe next year. Wouldn't that be nice? Yeah.

[00:59:51] It would be, it would be nice. You know, there's a group of us that are already really interested in, you know, making that happen. Okay. Um, so, so all that happening, my tournament, obviously, you know, I get, I mean, I'm like a kid. I get so excited with my tournaments because I, um, I just, I put so much work into them and you and I have talked about it. Yep. Um, you know, it's like, I feel like, uh, I'm a decent promoter because I work harder than a lot of other promoters because I try to think about what does the player want? What is the experience that they want?

[01:00:20] What, you know, what is the environment that they want? What kind of trophy do they want? How do you balance, you know, uh, things with money? Um, you know, and we do the, you know, my wife just does this amazing, the pizza lady, as we call her, the pizza lady. She will be there. You'll be happier, Amy. She, she just puts on a spread of, you know, everything you can imagine. And, and people just, you know, love her for doing that. So I get, just get so excited about that. We had a heartbreaker cake that she had made last time.

[01:00:50] Nice. Um, I thought to send you a photograph. Oh, it's a killer. Yeah, it's a killer. Well, excited about that. If you can, uh, obviously, if you could, you know, if I was going to say, if you can get Randy excited about pizza, especially in Tennessee, are you doing something, doing something right? Doing something right. He'll be all right. He'll, he'll, he'll, he'll get that pizza. Well, it'd be some other things as well that you'll, uh, you'll find, you'll find all right. And the last thing, Tom, that I'm just excited for worlds.

[01:01:17] I think that the buildup that has been happening, the momentum, um, I think I've been to every one of Ryan's events with the exception of one, and I had health issues that I couldn't attend. Um, but each one is building. And what we saw in Louisville was very cool. No, I love that two level room. You and I talked about it. That was, that was really cool. But I think, yeah, I think, I think New Orleans, it's going to be great again. It's, you know, the best hotel. Oh yeah. Foosball tournaments are held in right now. It's reasonable.

[01:01:46] Anything you want, you know, they had a real Starbucks in there and nice restaurants. And so I'm excited for that. I'm excited for the international players. I'm excited to draw Randy in the first round of open doubles and send him packing. Yeah. Maybe open singles too. Oh, wouldn't that be ironic? Uh, no singles, no singles from me at worlds. No, so just doubles. Okay. All right. All right. Well, rest up. One step at a time. Don't, you know, don't be diving in, you know, head first here, you know, take it easy.

[01:02:16] Oh, just doubles. Nice and easy. All right. All right. But you're playing singles here, right? You wrote me a note. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. Worlds. Worlds is a different animal though. That's a different animal. Yeah. I know the players are better here. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. I like that. He's, he's, he's got, he's got, he's got moxie. Who's confident now? Who's confident now? I'm confident in, in, in, in, in the group and the venue and the, and the player.

[01:02:44] We got some great players coming. I, you know, like I'm not the top of the list. They knock me to hell out over here all the time now, but we got a bunch of great, great players. Well, we're looking forward to a great success for you. And of course, uh, uh, at Worlds, we can sit down yet again and have our, our usual traditional conversation on the air and, uh, catch us up, you know, let us know how things go. Will do Tom. That'll be exciting. Maybe we'll get Randy up there too, during singles or something. So there you go.

[01:03:14] Committed. We'll get him up there. No excuse. No excuse whatsoever. But, uh, Randy, anything else you want to finish with tonight before we, uh, before we let Mike get back to his, his life. I'm just, I'm looking forward to next weekend. It's going to be fun. Uh, obviously Mr. Kelly works hard to, you know, uh, to provide for his, his crew and a great venue. Um, just I'm excited. The Moxie is a great spot.

[01:03:41] Like I said, we got a room bringing my wife, my pup, and, uh, just looking forward to a good day of foosball and obviously worlds in a couple of weeks. Uh, you know, anybody listening, if you're on the fence, just go book your room, go book your room and go to worlds. It's because you don't want to do it on, on, on Monday morning. You don't want to kick yourself and wish you'd been there. So that's for sure, man. Uh, yeah, I would really echo that Randy. I mean, if you're, no matter what level you play at, no matter if you've never been to

[01:04:08] a tour of it, especially if you've never been to a tour of it, get it booked and go down. And even if you can only get, you know, a couple, two or three days or, you know, just, you just need to go and see what's happening. Energy, the excitement. A hundred percent. It's a, and, and even if there's a hurricane, nope, nope. We're still going to do it. Yeah. The, the, the, the hotel is hurricane. It's hurricane proof. Yes, it is. So we'll be fine. Oh yeah. It's got to get there. Yeah. That's it.

[01:04:38] Indeed. Well, I will see you both there. Uh, and meanwhile, uh, you know, by all means, uh, Mike, if there's anything, just let me know. Uh, give me, give me a shout out if there's anything else you'd like to mention later on, but, um, uh, thank you so much for joining us tonight. Really appreciate it. Oh, thank you. Thank you, Tom. Welcome back, Randy, as well. It's great to have you back. And I, I can't wait for you to be back up here with us again. Yes, sir. Yeah. So Tom, thank you. Thank you for all you do for music city foosball. That, uh, your shirt, man, just looks amazing.

[01:05:08] I mean, it's like one of the nicest shirts you could just ever come upon. I'm sure you have a couple of people from Tennessee going New York. Really? Okay. Did you see the back, Randy? Oh yeah. It's just, it's got your name on the back. Yeah. But he's got, he's got the t-shirt that we gave him. Yeah. Yeah. How many of those you think are out there? I think the only other guy who has one of those is Jim Smith. Did you sign it? Did you, did you sign it? I don't know. I don't think so. I didn't sign Tom's.

[01:05:37] I want Tom to wear his. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But even if you signed it, if you sign it, I'd wear it. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. All right. Well, you never know, man. I got a lot of jerseys. Maybe I'll leave one behind for you at, uh, at Warros. Nice. Nice. There we go. Start sweating. We're just, we're, we're swapping shirts here. That's, that's, you know, it's how we get along. Right. I like the tradition. You, you know, you mentioned if you could start that tradition again, I think that, you know, that'd be cool. Yeah. Yeah.

[01:06:05] If you want, you know, you, you got a special t-shirt, people like it. Hey, why not? You know, share, share it with the world. Do it. Oh yeah. Well, no, I want to, I want a jersey that says Munoz on the back. Oh yeah. I want to win it though. Right. Wow. We'll see. Well guys, I hope that, uh, you have a great week and it won't be long. It's only 15 days away. We'll be together at the Worlds, but looking forward to it.

[01:06:31] And again, thanks to, uh, to Mike, of course, for joining us from, from Music City, Nashville Worlds warmup for next week. And good luck with that. And Randy, man, it's, it's great to see you, dude. Just great to have you hanging out. I miss you. Yeah. Yeah. I miss you. Ditto. Ditto. And, uh, tune in next week. We, uh, we may have somebody very special who had a lot to do with the ESPN airing, uh, maybe joining us next weekend. And we'll, we'll kind of leave that up in wraps for now, but, uh, we'll see. Nice. Nice.

[01:07:01] Yeah. Nice. Anyway, uh, thanks for joining us tonight on Twitch TV and YouTube. And, uh, of course, stay tuned now for the Foos Talk Live tournaments, tournament beat. Time now for the Foos Talk Live tournament beat brought to you and put by foosgadgets.com using technology to create a better foosball experience. And by Boise Foosworks, high fidelity refurbished foosballs. Professional foosball is a game of precision, a matter of accuracy.

[01:07:30] Consistency. Boise Foosworks presents the high fidelity refurbished foosball. Meeting the highest tornado ball standards, high fidelity foosballs are soft, quiet, with a true roll and good durability. Exchange your balls for the high fidelity foosball at the best price with a money back guarantee. Contact Mike Veidt on Facebook Messenger or look for him at your next tour stop. Boise Foosworks.

[01:07:59] Boise Foosworks.com. Boise Foosworks.com. 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.

[01:08:26] Using technology to create a better foosball experience. Foosball tournaments are everywhere. Foos Talk Live proudly presents a weekly update of events near you. With the Foos Talk Live Tournament Beat, here's what's up. Music City Foosball presents the World Warm-Up featuring the Multi-Game Singles Challenge. Saturday, August 22nd, Moxie Vanderbilt Hotel, Nashville, Tennessee.

[01:08:55] The World Foosball Tour presents the 2026 World Foosball Championships, September 2nd through the 6th at the Hyatt Regency, New Orleans, Louisiana. Get ready for the 4th Annual Youper Championships of Foosball. Great Lakes Classic Warm-Up, Saturday, October 3rd at River Rock Lanes, Ishpeming, Michigan. Here comes the 2026 Great Lakes Classic Regional Championship, October 15th through the 18th

[01:09:24] 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, February 4th through the 7th.

[01:09:52] Location details coming soon. The World Foosball Tour presents the 2027 Hall of Fame Classic, April 7th through the 11th in Las Vegas, Nevada. More exciting details soon to come. 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.

[01:10:21] The Foos Talk Live Tournament Beats is brought to you in part by foosgadgets.com. Using technology to create a better foosball experience. And by Boise Foos Works, high-fidelity refurbished foosballs. Foos Talk Live is a product of Foosball Radio. With gratitude, we recognize our Foosball Radio Patreons. Our Foos Talk Live sponsor, original-leonhart-usa.com.

[01:10:51] Tune in again next week for another episode of Foos Talk Live. In the meantime, we'll see you foosin'.