FoosTalk Live | Ep 312 | Tony Tocco NOLA

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[00:01:56] And use promo code FOOSTALK to save 10% off your purchase price. And yes, we are live on FoosTalk Live. Hey there, it's Tom Robinson. It's episode number 312. And it's a very nice night here in upstate New York, just outside of the FoosTalk Live studios.

[00:02:17] Looking forward to this next week because, well, lots of big things happening, especially when it comes to the World Foosball Tour 2026 World Championships. And we're looking forward to that, by the way, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Meanwhile, I just want to mention that Randy and Chase are both getting ready for the big week. So they couldn't make it this evening. But that's okay because we are definitely going to be talking about foosball.

[00:02:44] And we're definitely going to be talking about New Orleans, of course, because that's where we're going to be spending our time. Looking forward to that. I think that it's important for us to know that, first of all, last year, the World Foosball Tour hit the Hyatt Regency. And it was an amazing time, amazing setup. But the most amazing part of it was New Orleans itself, getting out and seeing the local scene.

[00:03:11] By the way, I had a chance, an absolute pleasure to visit a local restaurant run by a foosball player who, by the way, is joining us this evening. Let's welcome Tony Tocco. Welcome, Tony. Tom, thank you so much for having me. Oh, man, it's an absolute pleasure. You know, first of all, you're going to have to pronounce the name of your restaurant because every time I do it, I mess it up. It took me three months.

[00:03:40] It sounds like a sneeze sometimes. Atchafalaya. Atchafalaya. There we go. Atchafalaya. Atchafalaya. And incidentally, you treated us like royalty last year when we showed up. It was a Monday night. Those y'all are, man. Oh, man. We're too small in this world. We need every bonus we can get, you know? Well, you know. But yeah, it was called Atchafalaya. I joke it's the only 5A restaurant in New Orleans. It just means we have 5A's in the name.

[00:04:11] 5A's. That's it. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It truly meets the expectations. I think that, you know, when it comes to great food, you know, a city like New Orleans, there's a lot of it there. But I just felt like I hit the jackpot when walking in and, of course, tasting the cuisine. Shrimp and grits and fried green tomatoes, man. I mean, first of all, hey, I know you're a foosball player, so we're going to talk about that. But tonight, we also want to talk about what you do.

[00:04:39] So how long have you been at Atchafalaya? Atchafalaya. I have been in hospitality for 40 years. 40 years? Yep. I went to, I'm from St. Louis, Missouri. Missouri. Oh. Proud St. Louis. Gotcha. Go Blues. But I went to Tulane University Bar and Grill and never left. Yeah.

[00:05:08] And I just love food and music, and that's kind of why I stayed. I started working in restaurants immediately. I was a freshman and kind of fell in love with the culture. Mm-hmm. And just, you know, food, music, that's just in my blood and hospitality. So I stayed and I traveled the world a little bit, but came back during a Mardi Gras. Not planning to put on my roots here after a couple of years, but I did.

[00:05:38] And then I started working in some really great restaurants for great chefs. And then I bought a bar when I was 27 called Snake and Jake's Christmas Club Lounge. So you were way ahead of the curve, and you bought a bar at the age of 27? Well, I had been drinking a lot and putting a lot of money in other bills. And I'm like, I'm thinking, I think I'm going to pay myself. I get this. I get this.

[00:06:05] So Snake and Jake's Christmas Club Lounge was, if you look up, it's basically a fire trap with a liquor license. Nobody should go there. It's terrible. Interesting. Like rock and roll or every famous person. It's in the middle of a neighborhood, like house, house, house, fire trap, house, house. It's crazy. Got it. And it'll be open for everybody. I sold my half to my partner, but I'm still a very proud patron. So it still exists then?

[00:06:36] Yes. So if you're at Worlds, if it's four in the morning and you need a drink. Oh. And you need some very curious company and fun company. You go to Snake and Jake's. Done deal. Done deal. Well, you know, foosballers. Oh, you know. You know, foosball people. We don't go to sleep at night, especially during the world championships. We just don't do it. We're not necessarily overly rested.

[00:07:05] But we still compete, nonetheless. So now, when did you decide, you know, when you were coming up that you were going to have a world-class restaurant like you have now? Was there a moment in your life where you said, I got to do this? Well, I mean, even when I had Snake and Jake's and I had another music club and blah, blah, I was, I'm just competitive, you know, like anybody. And if I'm going to do a restaurant, I want to do it right. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

[00:07:33] And I have real, real commitment to service and hospitality. I mean, service has to be perfect for me. Yep. And so when I'm, it used to be called Cafe Atchafalai, and I joked that I didn't have enough money for the whole name, so I dropped the cafe part. I could charge more without the cafe. I see. But the point is, my last dime went into it, and it was a failed restaurant. It was a disaster. The guy that had it before me ran into the ground. Huh.

[00:08:03] And the only time more than 20 people would come into the front door was Sunday brunch. I'm like, that's what we have, Sunday brunch? Nobody buys a restaurant for Sunday brunch. I'll tell you that right away. Yep. And, you know, I sleep, I'm partying until six in the morning, right? So I've got to play through. Mm-hmm. I've got to play a boy. So I have to rehab this terrible, terrible name, reputation. Sorry about that. That's okay. I'm working right now, technically. Yes, you are.

[00:08:34] We, you know, we just had to make brunch. So much fun. We had inappropriate loud music. We had a Bloody Mary bar, which is a salad bar for vodka. We had a lot of fun. And nobody was in the brunch space at that time. This is 17 years ago. And we just threw it down, man. Wow. So, but then as we were, you know, slowly able to grow and grow in ambition, we could afford better chefs. And we have an incredible staff right now. And I just want to, you know, this is a hard, New Orleans is what we do, right?

[00:09:03] So it's hard to rise to a place of respectability when, you know, one little increment at a time. Yep. And I had, being in the business for so long, I had a reputation as a really solid waiter. And so I was able to drop on that, especially the Snake and Jake, you know, I knew a lot of people. And just, I was just fortunate. And just, they clawed our way to a position where we could be where you're today.

[00:09:26] Now, this is kind of an interesting point in the sense that your experience, first of all, you had to go through, quote, unquote, the trials and tribulations, right? The success, the failure, all these things that happen to foosball players, by the way. You learn to fail. And then you learn from failing and, of course, succeed ultimately. So you must be pretty tenacious. I mean, when it comes to just moving forward, man, not accepting defeat. Would that be correct? No. Yeah.

[00:09:56] Without a doubt. It's funny. It does kind of parallel my foosball career. So, you know, I played when I was young. I thought, you know, I'm old. And I played in the 70s when it was cool. 70s. I mean, just before video screens. Yeah. And I'm just trying to emulate these badasses. And, you know, I didn't really like the game, but I was in a boring school. And I was at a young age. But I was older than me. And the cool kids play foosball.

[00:10:26] And I didn't really look at it and go, oh, that looks like fun. I'm like, I need to do this in order to be cool. And I had a modicum of talent and leveraged that a little bit and just got good. I'm like, oh, my God, I can't live without this game. Got addicted. Yeah. And then I, you know, then I was just a barster. I didn't know about competitive foosball. And I thought I was just in a bar. You know, you put the ball in a little hole. And I was hoping to come to my three.

[00:10:57] And I didn't really know. I thought the five man was just something to be annoying to the other player. Right. Right. And I had I get to my three man and I would do a push shot. It didn't dawn on me that you could do a pull shot. There was no concept of a pull shot. Why would you do that? And rollover didn't exist yet now. I mean, this is like in the 80s. You know, and and then anyway, the first time I had somebody show me hand me my ass.

[00:11:26] I'm like, oh, fuck. I didn't know. I go, I didn't know. I didn't know about that. And I thought it was a big duck. I'm a little punk. And I felt like I shot away from the fight. So we opened the restaurant and we're trying to be this bare bones operation. And nobody's heard of it is trying real hard. And we take over a space next door and the wife goes out of town. She goes, well, I'm gone. Would you go buy some office furniture?

[00:11:53] I look on Craigslist and there's shelves and desks and filing cabinets and foosball table. I'm like, well, fuck the foosball table. Wow. I like this. And so I got this entry level tornado. Nice. And it ended my passion. I go on Facebook, find out where we play around here in New Orleans. And I go to Mark Medarese's place. Yes. And shout out to Mark. You know, man, he's the coalescing spirit around. He is the community. Mark is the man.

[00:12:23] He is the man. No doubt about it. I can't say enough good things about him. And he maintains us. So I go out there and think, ah, just for now. Show my push shop. Maybe somebody buy me some drinks. I'll sign some autograph. I have my ass handed to me. I didn't know there's a left hand involved. Oh, my God. And so I'm not backing down. I was eight years ago. And just like the restaurant, just kind of dug in and you got to take your lumps. Oh, my God. You cannot have an ego when you're starting out with football. Oh, yeah.

[00:12:53] And have your ass handed to you on the regular. But you just have to. I mean, I don't know. That's the toughest thing about getting people involved in what they think is an antiquated, defunct sport. Right. The ping pong of tennis. You know, ping pong of soccer. Well, I would say that. Marty Supreme would have had foosball instead of ping pong. Yeah, right? No, it's I think that we've started to realize that people are catching on. Hey, wait a second.

[00:13:20] I played this thing back in high school, you know, college, whatever the case. And then they realized there is a whole new dimension because, well, I don't know if you saw it. ESPN carried the 2025 World Championships as a special. I don't know if you saw that. It's not, but I certainly heard about it. Yeah. Yeah. And suddenly it's prime time. It's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So. Really bringing it. And, you know, we're on the cusp of this whole new golden age. I mean, it's underway, really.

[00:13:50] And so now. We're analog in a digital world. And, you know, we had Ryan, his lovely wife, Evita, and Mary, who looks fantastic. Yes. And Jennifer, Ryan says they came for dinner last night. Nice. And what a great time. And we're like, what's it going to take to get foosball, right? To break through, to get, you know, to keep it growing. And the unanimous answer was, well, it's got to be cool. Right. Exactly.

[00:14:19] Well, I mean, that's not an epiphany. I get that. But it's just got to be cool. And that's the challenge because the learning curve is pretty steep. Yeah, it is. You know, when you first get in and all that, he's big ganners. But then to get him to slow down. And I mean, it's a steep learning curve, but it still has to be cool. We have to have the challenges. And I've been working with Michael Stahl with the foosball at WSA. Mm-hmm. The challenge is getting it before people.

[00:14:49] And, you know, Woody Harrelson is apparently a pretty good foosball player. That's the word. I mean, I've heard about this since his days and cheers. They had a table on the set, apparently. Yeah. He did a movie here, and he was kind of legendary for this one bar with a horrible table. But he was just like, he would go late at night and just dominate. Wow. And I think he wrote a foreword in Kathy Bain. What's her name? Book? Oh, right. He wrote a foreword. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, he wrote that foreword. Yeah, yeah, Brainer. Yep. Yes, he did.

[00:15:20] Yes, he did. So why can't we get all, you know? Oh, I know. And now Kelsey Cook, who is Kathy's daughter. Uh, she's coming up in the comedy world. And she, she was hustling foosball, uh, you know, with, with, uh, some of her fans, people that would show up at her show. She would challenge people to foosball matches. Yeah. And kick their ass. And, you know. Well, fortunately, he's ugly, so. Yeah. It really helps. People always ask me about her. I'm like, I don't know her. Yeah.

[00:15:48] No, she, uh, she's, uh, she's got a new, uh, Netflix special and she's really come up on the planet. And I hope she maintains her, her level of awareness with her audience when it comes to foosball, because that's, that's exactly the kick in the ass we need. We need the kind of, we need that kind of loyalty, you know? Like, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, she's, uh, clearly, you know, uh, the, the progeny of foosball players. I mean, you can't help it. It's just, it's in the blood. Right. So, uh, and only.

[00:16:15] How many generational, I mean, when you go to tournaments now, I always joke to my wife, she's like, oh, girl, um, foosball. I'm like, well, we have to grow our own. Yeah. Uh, but you know, like the ruse, you know, I mean, yes. Oh, and Lafayette has become a hotbed. Uh, we have, you know, Callum Oaks and Miriam Alley, they've moved there. Yep. And it takes that kind of multi-generational, you know, awareness and involvement. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

[00:16:44] You have to grow them from a very young age. Like, like any, you know, professional sport, you think about a Tiger Woods, uh, being phenomenal in, in the, the sport of golf is because his dad had a, a golf club in his hand when he was what, three or four years old. So it kind of, kind of makes sense, you know, to, to be that. Well, and to make it cool. It's like, so if you go now to worlds as opposed to three years ago. Mm-hmm. How much, like last year, what Ryan has done, it's so elaborate. It's fantastic. Yep.

[00:17:14] We have, it's glamorous, it's glitchy. I mean, it's, it's, it's, it has all these. Yeah. That's the wrong word. But I mean, you have, you know, the, the, from the branding to, to the, to the scheduling, Right. Uh, down to just, uh, you know, screens everywhere and the clinics and, and everything he has done, which my God, he's done such an amazing job. Um, that is so much cooler looking than anything 10 years ago. So, you know, it's got a little glamor to it now. Yes, it is. It's, it's, it's. And so that's part of it being cool.

[00:17:44] Like I want to be a part of that. Well, it's, uh. It's more than just glamour, man. It's, it's legit, right? It's, it's a legit thing. It's, it's, it looks like it's, it's put together. People don't realize how much head space is involved on top of raw athleticism. Yep. Yep. Exactly right now. And we get to see the, the absolute best going head to head. We're actually, I think tonight what we'll talk about is some of the matchings, uh, some of the pairings that are heading, uh, to, uh, to the table this week and see what you think

[00:18:11] about some of these, uh, some of these, uh, uh, legendary groups of people that are going to be competing against each other. But, uh, before we get to that, I, you know, what was when you were playing, you know, back in, uh, what was it? Uh, middle school. 70s. 70s. Yeah. So what kind of table were you playing on those days? Uh, the little boys with the cherub faces on the blue top. Oh, so like a TS, a tournament soccer. I guess it was before the, before it went to Brown top. Yes. Okay. Gotcha. Gotcha. Gotcha. Gotcha. Just before Dynamo.

[00:18:41] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Got it. Um, yeah, it was to me as, as far as I knew it was okay, but I remember when the Brown tops came out, I'm like, Oh my God, this is foosball. Yeah. I was searching those out all around St. Louis. Interesting. Now St. Louis has always had a pretty good scene. What was it like back in those days? So I wasn't, that's what I was trying to say. I wasn't aware of like on a tournament level because I, the only tournament I was ever in, my grandpa just snuck me into a bar in Creve Court, which is actually not too far from me. Snuck you in.

[00:19:10] And, uh, snuck me in and I was in a tournament. I luckily is paired with the best guy there and it was looking, I'm barely, I was kind of small and, uh, we won, but it was my first eye to, but St. Louis traditionally has had very strong scene. Yep. And when I visit there, you know, um, I love visiting there. It was, you get the pink flamingo. I subsequently, I think it's on elsewhere, but, uh, what a great scene they have there. Oh yeah. Yeah.

[00:19:36] And to this day, I mean, you know, people like Paul Smith and Jessica Sanflaben, you know, those guys, they're awesome. Yeah, exactly. You know, really, really top notch players there. So you, uh, so then you went off to, uh, off into the world and, and, uh, and, and found, found food. Um, I'm curious. Yeah. Go ahead. I'll tell you a good story. I was in Sicily. I was looking for foosball and, um, okay. I'm sorry. We're still open. Yeah. Yeah. No, I get it. No, he's not.

[00:20:06] We just put somebody on. Nope. No one's on fire anymore. Oh, I'm sure that's happened. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, you gotta get in line to get a fire on here. Um, which is Sicily and, you know, found some tables, this little tiny Roberto's maybe. Mm. Okay. Anyways, um, we had a layover in Germany and I'm like, I've been with my wife and mother-in-law for two and a half weeks and enough's enough. Daddy needs to play foosball.

[00:20:39] I'm in Munich and we have this unexpected night and, uh, I call Miriam, uh, Miriam. Yes. And she just travels the globe playing foosball. Of course. Yes. And she, of course, knew where to go. Uh, of course it wasn't in Munich. I had to go to, uh, whatever large city in Germany there is. Name one real quick. Well, Pondover or, uh, you know, something, something to that. Maybe Humber. Let's go with Berlin. Berlin. Berlin for a hundred. Yeah.

[00:21:05] Um, I get on a train going the wrong way, get off, find some in the middle of the night freezing. And she says, you got to go to this bar. And I go to this bar and it's in a, well, it seems like a seemingly well-to-do area. Anyways, I finally find it, go down several levels and there's a heavy metal bar. Oh, nice. Five table. And I worked my way finally up to like where, and shit talking in German.

[00:21:33] And they were, they had some strong opinions about American politics. I'll bet. Yeah. Uh, but I've never played on a Lenhart before. Leonhardt? Lenhart. Yes. Yep. One of our sponsors. And, uh, translates well, but, uh, man, by the end of it, it's four 30 in the morning. And after kicking ass, had my ass kicked, they drove me back to Munich an hour and a half. Wow. At four 30 in the morning.

[00:22:02] And we were still in conference. That's the power of foosball. So you still know these people. Yeah. We were all the time on Facebook. We're trying to get over here. That is, that is the best. I mean, that, that really, uh, that tells the story right there. Right. You, you go to a foosball place. Nobody knows anybody. You, you, you walk in as a stranger and suddenly you walk out as friends. I mean, that's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. That's cool. No, no. It was one of the best nights of foosball of my entire life. No doubt. Yeah.

[00:22:29] No, it's a, I think there, that's the, the, the whole attraction when it comes to this sport. When people get, finally get exposed to it, even on a, on a casual level, they start to realize there's a community built all around it. And that community, uh, we, we love new people. Obviously we love new players, but it's the, the, um, nurturing of the, of the new players and bringing people along and, and, uh, getting them addicted like everybody else. Yeah.

[00:22:53] Well, that's, you know, in New Orleans has such a strong culture and I'm so honored to be a part of it. Um, man, we have a great community here. And then the bleed over to Lafayette, slide L, but Lafayette definitely has a very, you can, you know, we can tell their style play and ours, but you can tell that it's very, very, uh, there's a lot of tutelage, you know, a lot of inspeed. Yep. Yep.

[00:23:21] They're, it's a good community over there and they're bad-ass. And it's, and it, you know, the thing is once you have a core like that, more people are attracted to it. And of course, more people move to that area. Like you said, Miriam and, uh, and Callum have recently relocated there for, for good reason, obviously. But, uh, you know, it's, uh, that's what it does. It builds that community and it continues to build. And that's, you know, that's the exciting thing about foosball. And I think, you know, if we can start to look at this, uh, market by market and really

[00:23:50] break it down and, and really make sure everybody gets, uh, the opportunity to attract new players, uh, the, you know, the sky's the limit. I think things can really improve. Um, and start with football, you know? What he's doing with. Oh yeah. I've been working with him. I'm trying to, you know, get into schools here, but what an amazing force he is right now. Putting so much energy. Oh yeah. Yeah. You mentioned McDonald's thing. Yeah. No, he, uh, is in New York city for a month and a half. He'd never been to New York city.

[00:24:20] In fact, I accused him of being a virgin before he got there. Um, but, uh, he goes to New York city. He's never been there. He's, he's, uh, with obviously with Jim provost, who's the president of the USTSO and together they, they do this thing with, with eight tournaments inside McDonald's restaurants. Um, and with kids mostly under the age of 16, seven, 16, 17. And they're, they're winning prizes like $6,000 in scholarship money and, uh, X boxes and free

[00:24:49] food from McDonald's and all this. Clear as hell. Clear as hell. Yeah. There you go. There's an idea for a sponsor. Um, but no, I mean that to, to me, uh, Michael is killing it. He's just, he's taken it above and beyond, you know, impressive. Yeah. I know he's lined up some people who are matching funds and, you know, he has, he has, you know, you go to his website, his curriculum's outlined and, you know, it's very specified. He's it's, it's impressive. Are there any schools in new Orleans that you're aware of that are doing this?

[00:25:19] Well, when Michael gets down here, we're going to, uh, get a little more granular on that and select a couple of schools that we think are, uh, you know, we can gain some traction and, uh, right now, because I'm kind of newly on board, it's trying to decide what type of school, how large of a student body. And, uh, you know, you want variety in there. You want to, uh, all that. And the idea is to eventually create some competition. Right.

[00:25:47] And again, the whole, the point is just, you know, making it cool. You know, and it is cool. It's just like, well, I mean, I've said this many times to Michael, like how many, how many sports can you play, especially in middle school where a, where a kid who might be all of 90 pounds steps up to a football captain and kicks his butt across the table. Without a doubt. Right. Right. So it's a great equalizer. And, uh, Almost like what Tony says in the beginning of foosballers, you know, I wasn't a football player, I was a foosball player. That's it. Exactly. Right.

[00:26:17] But that is an equalizing thing. The ability to have a, it doesn't take a lot of body mass. I have a hard shot and be, you know, and be a force. Well, uh, smarts and all that. Case in point. It's, it's, uh, it's true. You know, you think, Oh, just these people with these big giant hands and forearms and stuff, they can, they're the only ones who can hit the ball hard. That's not true.

[00:26:43] Uh, we actually, uh, we had a kid in our, in our midst, Sam Dijon, uh, started at eight. And by the time he's 10 years old, right. He's got this monster pull shot that is as hard as anything I've ever seen. And yet, you know, his hands are, he was actually a smaller kid. So yeah. Go figure. Don't take a Popeye forearm to a. Right. It's technique, technique and practice. No, it's very, it's almost like a martial art, you know? I mean, it's.

[00:27:11] Some people just, you know, just like everything from posture to, you know, uh, micromanaging just, you know, your, your, your movements to, you know, stillness to, um, all those things that go into a martial art, the timing, the, the dimensional muscular sequence, the, uh, the timing, blah, blah. Oh yeah. I mean, it all comes into play. Um, you know, and, and I think that there is also the element of having to focus. You have to be focused the entire time.

[00:27:40] Whereas you, you know, the youth of today has what? 30 seconds focus at best. You know, they. Is that long? I think that might be exaggerating. It might be more like 10 seconds. Yeah. But, uh, you know, so that had that to, to develop focus and really be in the moment whereas, you know, there's just so many distractions for, especially kids of, you know, middle school age. They're, they're, they're awkward. They don't know what to do there, but they're always on their freaking phones.

[00:28:08] And so now they got an excuse to put those things down and actually face another person across the table and look them in the eye and see, oh, oh, that's what a person looks like. Oh yeah. Yeah. Cool. Right. And then there's the honor and the sportsmanship and there's the, you know, um, yes, the good behavior that goes on with, you know, you know, I think that's what is kind of our end with the schools. And the thing is, I think, I think a lot of educators and parents recognize that this

[00:28:37] isn't a very worthy analog sport and digital world. And this is a way to get people off the phones and just, you know, being very, very human. Yep. Absolutely. You know, build, build relationships that, uh, they didn't otherwise have. So that's, uh, that's huge. Imagine that. Yeah, right. Actually having friends. Overrated. Oh, hey. But I can text you. So you're, uh, by the way, you know, we should probably, I don't want to divert too much from

[00:29:04] foosball, but at the same time, you have some other things going on in your life. Uh, I had a chance to watch something called Rhythm Kitchen on YouTube, which is the, uh, the first episode of a, of a new series you're involved with. Give us a little background on that. Well, I live in New Orleans because I love, uh, food and music. Mm-hmm. And, um, I just wanted to, I mean, people used to accuse me of not even having a home. I was out every night listening to music. Late.

[00:29:31] I had a bar called Snake and Jake's Christmas Club Lounge. I think I told you about it. And we would have music there, but it would go to eight in the morning. Right. And it was just. Wow. That just all, it just, I just loved being part of live music. And, um, with the restaurant, we have music on Saturday, Sunday brunch. And it's really good music. Like sometimes it's national acts and this tiny little stage, but I wanted to put music and food together in a meaningful way in a show.

[00:29:59] And so we came up with Rhythm Kitchen and what we do is we have our culinary team and we approach a band and we say, if your music was food, how would it taste? Oh, that's so cool. And then we sit down with the band and we're like, what did your parents serve you for food? You know, for dinner? What did you like? What do you like cooking? What restaurants have had an impact on you? And then we co-write and co-create with them a menu and it results in a performance and on a meal. So that debuted on PBS and, um, it was okay. Pretty good.

[00:30:28] But, uh, Tony Bourdain and I are Anthony Bourdain. We were friends. Wow. And, uh, he wrote a chapter about him and I hanging out. Nice. Anthony Bourdain. Wow. That's cool. Madness in the Crescent City. I had just read Kitchen Confidential and I saw him on the street and I said, you want to see the seamy underbelly of New Orleans? Like there you have it. I have my bar called Snake and Jake's, man. It's the worst. It's the best.

[00:30:54] And he was there in 20 minutes and we spent five hours just shrinking our heads off. Yeah. And we just became friends and subsequently we had many meals together and he did a show out of Snake and Jake's. He did a show out of this. He's largely responsible for Echapalat gaining traction. Really? And he put us on a real layover. Yeah. Nice. Yeah. Very cool. And all that. But what was the last one? Well, no.

[00:31:20] It's just when it comes to Rhythm Kitchen, I mean, your concept, you know, music and food together. What a brilliant idea. Oh, he was kind of an inspiration on that. He encouraged the idea. And so I finally got a greenlit and I had to go find some money. Thank you, Pete Yule. My buddy was employee number 63 at Facebook. And he helped fund the first episode. We did OK.

[00:31:50] And the deal was for the PBS station that aired it here locally was they're going to pay for the second episode. But PBS got to go to my show. So the point is, it's a good show. It's a good concept. It has legs. It was fun making it. We'll have a second episode soon. Good. But you're in this business, you know, you know what it's like to have the right thing. Yeah. What's going to play? What's going to sell? What makes sense? And I just think that music included together in a meaningful way is a good thing.

[00:32:17] Well, I have to ask you now what, you know, first of all, what kind of music do you like most? What's your favorite? I got to tell you, it's got to have a guitar involved. Yes. And, you know, Harry Shears every time New Orleans is a piano town or any guitar world. But Lord knows I love my piano. I guess, you know, it's something that moves you. OK. You know, I like jazz as well. But don't tell anybody. Of course, we're on the podcast. But, you know, Dixieland is my least favorite. Is it really? OK.

[00:32:47] But, you know, I like to, I can bang my head and I can, at the same time, I can get real cerebral about it. What about... But we have really great live music here. What about Dr. John and the Neville brothers, those dudes? No, new Dr. John. He was royalty. No doubt. Yeah, he dined here a couple times and we would always, you know, roll the red carpet out. Nice.

[00:33:15] And then, you know, I knew of the Neville's living and dead. Mm-hmm. They are the final word in this town. The radiators. The radiators, yeah. They kind of break not much. The subdues. Subdues. Music is the coalescing spirit here. It's like we are the least racist town that I know of because of music and food. It binds us all. Like, well, it's a second line. It's a funeral. It's a wedding.

[00:33:44] I mean, we're all... We talk about food like other cities talk about football. Like, you guys talk about football and quarterbacks. We talk about restaurants and chefs. And I know when we were in the green room earlier, we were talking about, you know, how many restaurants of your style and your level of quality, how many exist in New Orleans by itself? We're in the thousands. Thousands. Thousands. It's just... Wow.

[00:34:12] When you distinguish between, like, sit down, white tablecloth, or is it a... Yeah. Hard to say, but it's pretty competitive. No doubt. No doubt. Well, I mean... We got our... You must have... We got our Michelin recognition. You got a Michelin star. That's another thing, you know. Now, what is it... First of all, we want to clarify for our listeners, what the hell is a Michelin star? What is... How does that compare? What is that? Well, it's something I don't have. I have a Michelin recommendation. Okay.

[00:34:42] Which... So a star is certainly a certain level. And I think our evening service, we're Michelin star worthy, but we do brunch. And brunch is, you know, a fiasco. So I don't think we'll ever get a star just based on brunch just being kind of so loose. Right. But... So there... And here in New Orleans, we have three restaurants with Michelin stars. Or, I'm sorry, four. So Emerald's... Four. Sun...

[00:35:10] If you guys are visiting and you want something top-notch, Emerald's flagship is... You know, it's as good as it... It's amazing. Right. It's amazing. And then we have... Actually, I'm right. Only two other restaurants that have one star. Emerald's got two. And then the rest of us got recommendations, which means you're recognized by Michelin. Right. So 17 of us in all have Michelin... Okay.

[00:35:35] Well, when Tony's signal comes back, we'll continue with our conversation about, of course, being in New Orleans. And, of course, this week, if you're not going to be there, you're going to miss the whole thing. It's the 2026 World Championships at the Hyatt Regency. If you haven't made your plans already, I don't know what to tell you. But it's going to be an amazing time. And, of course, there's going to be a huge amount of great players coming out to play,

[00:36:03] to be there, and, of course, compete against one another. We'll talk about some of the pairings that are coming up. In fact, for the World Foosball Tour, they've been listing them during the World Foosball Tour's Facebook page, including women's doubles, beginning with Vera Urbanovic and Gina Murray teamed up for women's doubles. Then it's Sophie Gabriel and Cindy Head. Now, there's a pair to be reckoned with for sure.

[00:36:31] Dusty Bambaneck and Mary Moore are playing together in women's doubles, as are Jan Maynard and Joy Mouton, who were here on the show last week. They have returned after 14 years of being away from the table, and they are forced to be reckoned with as well. Lotus Chesborough and Amy Powers are playing together. Should be a great team there. Shelley Langley and Stacey Fowler. Yeah, some really legendary individuals there.

[00:36:58] Also, Jessica Senflaben is playing with Iveta Moore. And Liz Hillmore and Keisha Rue are playing as a team. And, of course, Linda Lee and Hannah Buffkin, defending champs going up against who knows in the finals. But Sullivan Rue and Isabel Stelly also are going to be teamed up for women's doubles this week in the World Championships in New Orleans. Let's see if we've got Tony back. Tony, can you hear me? Nope. Well, we'll continue.

[00:37:29] Regardless, some of the other players we can expect to see, when it comes to men's doubles, this is some pretty deep stuff, including Scott O'Hare and Tom Yore. Trevor Park and Jake the Snake Barnett, that's going to be a great pairing. Also, defending champs Mario Originello and King Gabriel are back to see if they can do it again after winning last year's 2025 Open Doubles Championship. Then, of course, we've got Scott Weidman and Todd Lafredo.

[00:37:59] Ah, we've got Tony back. What's up, Tony? I'm sorry, buddy. You're good. You're good. This is modern technology. This is what happens. But nonetheless... So, who's Todd playing with? Scott Weidman is playing with, of course, Todd Lafredo. Those guys, of course, hang out together in Colorado. And what do you say about a Todd Lafredo, man? I mean, this dude, he's 110, still playing? Maybe 120. I think he's 120. He's faking it.

[00:38:29] Yeah. You've got to check his ID. Yeah. Definitely. But that pull shot's pretty ferocious. Oh, unbelievable. Regardless, so now we got you back. I'm really curious now, when it comes to playing, who are you playing with? Man, you know, I won Louisiana State twice rookie doubles. Yeah. And I'm humble brag there. But my partner, Ryan Riebel, who is a badass, he selfishly decided to have some kind of cancerous

[00:38:59] tumor removed from him. Oh, I already heard that. A selfish bastard. A little pissed at him. And he won rookie doubles last year without me, because I couldn't play Worlds, which makes me kind of feel like he was carrying me this whole time. I see. But anyways, I don't play with him, so I'm playing with my partner, Mike Bankston. We should do all right. We should do all right. Nice. Very cool. But we have a great scene.

[00:39:24] You know what I got to tell you, here in NOLA and Lafayette, rookies getting tight, man. We got a lot of cats that are making that leap. Usually you see an amateur, right? But we got rookies that are on the rise, man. They got Gary Keely, and you got Oren, you got Sean Lawson. We got all these guys that are just making a quick leap. And it's not going to be a cakewalk this year. Rookies where you can see who's going to have traction, and amateurs where you really start seeing who's going to get that ass.

[00:39:53] I don't know if you've noticed this, but it seems like amateurs, I mean, as good as a level that is, it's supposed to be better than rookies. I have more trouble with rookies than I do amateurs, it seems. I don't know why that is. Yeah. We're idiots. We'll try anything. We're still getting our feet away. And I think the other thing, too, is just sheer determination. I'm going to put that damn ball in the hole. That's all there is to it. And it doesn't matter what I do, it's going to go in.

[00:40:22] And there's a little of that going on. But no, it's true. The rookies, you're right. There are some really fierce teams coming up, and they're rising through the ranks, and they're determined to get to that next level. And that's where the... It's kind of like comparing college baseball. Those guys are trying so hard, or college football for that matter. They're trying so much harder. They look like pros. Yeah, yeah. That's it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's where it comes from, that fire. You've got to have it to get through the rookie thing.

[00:40:50] You've got to get that rookie stain off your clothes, and now I've got to be, oh, I've got to be an amateur. Bryce? No, no, no, man. And that's a tribute to our community here in Louisiana. Yeah. You know, it's just a level of nurturing and instruction and fostering. You know, I mean, I can rely... I can go anytime to Buffalo's, which is our local thing. Okay. And I can pick up a game at 3 in the morning. Or, you know, my buddy Chris Stills.

[00:41:15] Just, you know, he's so instructional and wise and, gosh, Lafayette, you know? Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. There's a lot to learn from and people are really willing to impart. And I think there's always an awareness amongst all of us that, you know, we're certainly not, you know, growing at exponential rates. So let's foster what we have. Let's nurture what we have. Let's be badass. Yeah. No, it's... Are we having ESPN2? We're ESPN2, man.

[00:41:45] I mean, I think that's... Are we having ESPN2? What's that again? Did I hear that ESPN2 will be covering some matches? Yes. Yep. So ESPN is going to be on the site. They're going to be doing some filming along the way. They're going to be building another special to be aired in 2027 for the 2026 championships. And, man, you know, talk about prestige of getting on, you know, in the finals of any event. I mean, that's probably, you know, likely you're going to get featured on ESPN, for God's sake.

[00:42:13] I mean, that's something worth writing home about. Come on. I mean, look, again, last night I've never really spent much time with Ryan Moore. But I came away with, like, if anybody is to carry the mantle of our sport on his shoulders and bring it to this next level, it's Ryan. I just... He's an impressive dude. Not only... I mean, he had time over the course of dinner to explain to me, you know, what he's doing, what's going on. But I also had tactical questions. I'm like, I have little asides. Like, hey, man. Oh, yes.

[00:42:43] Oh, yeah. You know? I'm just... Just so impressive. And his wife. But just... But anyways, we're well poised with that leadership to break through. Yeah. No, we're very, very lucky at this point, especially in the sport, the way things have been in the past. You know what? None of that matters anymore. It's a new day. We're moving forward. This is exciting times, man. We're... I think so, too. You know, we're poised to go to that next level. It's like, ready for prime time. Damn right we are. You know?

[00:43:12] We got people like Jacob Belkos, you know? Yeah. Like, these young kids. Really. Really making a mark. And Jacob is playing doubles with Eric Heldner, who's one of the best goalies on the planet. Oh, is he? Oh, yeah. I've been putting Eric on video, man. I just love his style. I love playing back. But, yeah. You know what's wild about Eric is he's a novelist. He actually is... I know that. Isn't that wild? Yeah. I mean, what the hell? Yeah, he's got that stoic sensibility about him. Yep. He does, indeed.

[00:43:40] Even when he plays, he's very poised and very, you know, very deliberate. Yeah. It's like his characters in his book. You know, I read his first book and it's like, damn, he's that dude, that lead character in that first book. He's very stoic and he knows his stuff. He's very meticulous about his game. Played some pickups with him. You know? He's just a great guy, too. By the way, I wanted to get into this a little bit because, you know, people are first arriving in New Orleans. They've never been there before.

[00:44:09] You know, it's their first world. What do you recommend? I mean, as far as like, what are the... Give me five of the top five places. Go to Florida. I did not check. Okay. Top five locations that maybe, you know, if you're a brand in New Orleans, what do you have to go to if you can? What would be the top five? All right. Well, I mean, I was looking at the map, you know, and where the Hyatt is. Hyatt, right? Yep.

[00:44:38] You know, there are a couple of good places around there. Willard Jean. There's District Diner. Copper Vine. Daisy Mays. Swan's Flying Burrito. If you want to get a little upscale, Herb Saint. Domenica. Chap House. If you like Prime Rib. Fantam is amazing. B-O-N-T-E-M-P. Ooh. But these are all walking distance from the Hyatt. Yes. You know, the quarter is close. Bourbon Street.

[00:45:06] Let me just say, as a guy who's been here for 38, 9 years, we don't... Locals don't go to Bourbon, but you have to see it once. Yep. And there is really good music on Bourbon. Don't get me wrong. But just... And I'm not to disparage anyone, but I would not have a meal at Bourbon Street. Understood. I would go elsewhere. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then what I would do is I would go to Frenchman Street. Okay. Frenchman is in a neighborhood called the Faubourg Maronites, right next to the French Quarter.

[00:45:35] And that's where we go. And that's where you're going to find a lot of really great, authentic music. Aha. That's what I want to know. The Insiders Inside. That's what I want to know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, I can send you a list. We can put it on the website or whatever. Yeah. Now, I will say this, too. So, this weekend, first of all, if it's really crowded in Bourbon and it will be for Labor Day weekend, just be mindful of yourself. You know, don't get pickpocketed. Just be... Just...

[00:46:04] Look, I hate to say this. This is my hometown. But anything can happen anywhere. And there are elements that will take advantage of your naivete. Yep. So, just keep yourself tucked away. But see Bourbon, if you haven't seen it before. But if not, off to the side is Royal Street. There's Decatur Street. And there's Rampart. There's a lot of great things going on there. But I especially recommend Frenchman Street and the Faubourg Maronite. It's just a further bit of a walk. Okay.

[00:46:32] Nothing is more than a $20 Uber ride. Just fucking bite the bullet and go there. Yep, yep, yep. If you want music, Frenchman. But if you want to go uptown, and the Maple Leaf is on Oak Street Uptown. And that is as good as it gets. It's authentic. And then I would recommend my bar, old bar, Snake and Jake's Christmas Club Lounge. There you go. It's open from, you know, till 8 in the morning. Nice. But it's just... It's the most colorful.

[00:47:02] Foozers will love it. Tipitina's is a great music place. And there will be some good music there this weekend. I've heard of that. And I will tell you this. Now, I'm going to tell you this. This is called Decadence Weekend in New Orleans. Is it? Decadence is... You cannot be homophobic. Okay. Because it's a big old gay thing. And let me tell you, that's a ton of fun.

[00:47:24] But what Key West is to that sector, the French Quarter is to that sector, this weekend, it's a big, big thing. Nice. But let me tell you, it's good. It's people watching beyond belief. The costumes are going to be outrageous. It will be an iPhone. And that'll be on the lower half of Bourbon Street. And it is a hoot, man. And it's just fun. Yeah.

[00:47:51] Put all your expectations aside and just go check it out. It's called Decadence. And it's nuts. It's nuts. Decadence. Wow. Yeah. It's like a little bit of Mardi Gras. But, you know, anyways. It's always going. Always going on. There's something happening. Does the city close ever? I mean, you know, you're out in two in the mornings. Things are still happening. It's always going. It's just less intense at certain times. Right. Right, right, right. You know, we've got a good Nobu has a sushi place in Caesars. There's Delacroix.

[00:48:20] The Four Seasons has good restaurants if you are just way too rich and you just need to get some money. I recommend getting on the streetcar. The streetcar is the oldest public transportation there is. It's not far. You can walk to it from the highest. And that will bring you uptown to the aforementioned Maple Leaf and Snag and Jake's. It runs all night around the clock. And that is, you know, that is definitely something. Get you where you want to go. It'll get you where you want to go.

[00:48:49] And Magazine Street has, you know, has great shops, good food. That's a whole district unto itself magazine. That's near the restaurant at Chafalaya. Okay. And now if somebody wants to book some time to come see you, they want to go spend some very, very high quality time with you. Of course, you mentioned that you're a foosball player, first of all.

[00:49:17] But second of all, you know, what's a good time to go to the restaurant? Is there a time where it's solid booked or what's going on? No, no. Well, you know what? I've blocked some tables aside for us. And in years past, like after Louisiana State, we've done Monday brunch where we've had a good amount of people. I think we have Monday free, right? Yep. I don't think there are any events. I don't think so either. I think, yeah, I think everything we have is Sunday night. Monday brunch is going to be a great time. Nice.

[00:49:45] I know a lot of foosers have resis already. But please make a reservation. Yep. But if not, and by the way, you can't tell what I look like from the podcast, but I'm more than happy to act as a concierge to this city. So just find me. I will point you in the right direction happily. Yeah. I might even give you a ride. But yeah, I'm happy to help. Wow. That's more than one could ask, especially, you know, from a fellow foosball player, man. We really appreciate that.

[00:50:15] It's an exciting thing, man. I just hope that everything, you know, obviously everything goes well for the guys at, you know, with Ryan and the rest of the gang. And I'm sure it will because, well, you know, things can happen at foosball tournaments. But you know what? He's proven over and over again he can handle whatever comes his way. So we're anxious about that. I feel the momentum.

[00:50:40] I mean, just talking to, you know, him and Harry last night, and I just feel the momentum, the excitement. And that's what Ryan brings to the table is like not only the excitement and enthusiasm, but the ability to back it up. Oh, yeah. No doubt about it. You know, he's got a plan, and he can take care of it. If not, he can delegate. You can tell he's got a good team and he's got a built team. I'm impressed. I'm wondering, how do you feel about the flight format when it comes to playing? I wish I had more of an opinion.

[00:51:09] I'm not overly versed on that. Just because I missed Worlds last year. Right. So most people I know that are talking about it are enthusiastic about it. I know from a schedule point of view that helps us a lot. I mean, especially if we're trying to optimize eyeballs and viewership and being, you know, like how many times we've been in tournaments in the past where it's eight hours between matches. Because somebody, whatever. Yeah.

[00:51:39] So I know that is certainly, isn't that, I feel like that's a part of trying to make this a little more accountable. I mean, as a promoter, I mean, you know, getting things to run right, that's first. But second of all, just, you know, making sure there's not too many conflicts that hold things up. And like I say, you know, having to wait eight hours. You know, he's got it worked out, man. I think things are starting to really flow well that way.

[00:52:00] They've got it down with their new software as well, Play, software that has been developed from the ground up to work for this kind of situation. I know, right? And it's seemingly glitch. I mean, and also like to find a partner aspect of it. I just realized that that's going, that's an amazing asset. Yeah, absolutely. Rather than a sheet of paper that you can't find by Arthur somewhere. Hey, Arthur, what's the sign of sheet? They're on the website.

[00:52:30] Yeah. By the way, how many, how many, how many, how many world championships have you had a chance to go to? Oh, man. God, three. Okay. Yeah, that's pretty good. I'm a nobie, man. I'm a nobie. I mean, enthusiastic nobie, but only three. I'll, you know, in Kentucky. This will be my fourth grand total. But, you know, it just gets better and better. So it ain't going to be my last, I'll tell you that.

[00:53:01] That's for damn sure. I'll be that. You know, I think he's kind of sold on New Orleans a little bit because not a lot of people want to be here with this temperature and humidity. But it's kind of towards the end, so it's not so bad. Right. And I know the hot weather, treating them right. And I think it works out, you know. Or at the end, it's not as hot as it is in July, you know. Oh, I know. Oh, yeah. It's adorable. No, I know the heat index. I saw that on the weather map a couple of days where you guys were. Don't pay attention.

[00:53:31] That doesn't tell the true story. It's only 110. That's science fiction. That's science fiction. I wish. But, no, I think that this is going to be a great time. And, man, you know, to me, it's so gracious of you to take your precious time to spend, you know, even this amount of time just hanging out and talking, man. I really appreciate it. Oh, it's my pleasure, dude. It's all about food as well, man. Yeah. And food. It's also about food because we can't play on an empty stomach. I'm a little honk.

[00:54:03] And I would, I mean, and to everybody listening, and if you're, if you can, I'd love to see you here at the restaurant. We do really, really good food. I'm very, you know, you're only as good as the people around you, and I think that applies in everything. Right. After 17 years of being, of having this restaurant, I could not be more proud of everyone who makes this their employment and their family. And we put together, we don't, I don't sell shrimp and grits.

[00:54:32] I don't sell, you know, Wagyu and beautiful pork. I sell experience. I sell two hours worth of an experience. Yes. You know, in a dining room and where you get to have the seasonal offerings of this earth with people you love and find out. You know, it's a good time. And even like me last year with a group of people I barely knew, the guys in Canada, but now we're good friends. Yeah, right? We had a blast. You guys are up in the poker room. We can get a private dining room. Oh, man. We had a blast.

[00:55:01] We had, and afterwards we all took Ubers to Bourbon Street. And yes, you know, it was like, oh, I don't know. We got lost. You got to go. We did it. We did it. I get it. I get it. Went to Fritz L's at the end and caught the house band. That's a good place. That's a good place. Oh, dude. That was incredible. And the band was only six feet from us. You know, we're sitting there and they're just right next to us basically playing their instruments. And it was just, oh, you can't, you can't ask for better than that. We all about up close and personal, baby. Oh, yeah. Absolutely.

[00:55:29] But anyway, I got to say, man, it's such a pleasure. And I really wish you the best when it comes to your upcoming next episode of your show, Rhythm Kitchen. Tony Toco, Rhythm Kitchen. Check it out. It's on YouTube. It's on YouTube. Yep. By all means. And let me see if I can get the name of the restaurant again. Atchafalaya. Did I get it right? Okay, I'm getting there. Atchafalaya. Achafalaya. Achafalaya. Achafalaya. Remember the name and definitely get to the restaurant.

[00:55:57] If you're going to be in New Orleans this week, you got to do it, man. It's, I'm... And if you need it, look, and I'm serious. Anybody who's listening, if you want, just come find me. I will steer you in the right direction. Yeah. Yeah. I'm a proud, proud New Orleanian, and I will, I want to make sure that you guys have a great time. This guy, what he said, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. But, Tony, thank you so much for your time.

[00:56:22] And let's, I will frequent your place while I'm in town, if that's okay. I look forward to seeing you, Tom. Nice. I really appreciate this opportunity. Thank you for having me. Oh, and well, this is not, this is not the, we're going to do this again very soon. By the way, if you're at the tournament... I was hoping, yeah. I was hoping Randy was going to be here to come out to me, a little, uh, talking self. I love Randy, he's a good dude. We'll see if we can make that happen when we get to the tournament. He's even better in person.

[00:56:53] I'm talking, I'm sorry. No, no, no, no, I'm just going to say, Randy's even better in person, so. Oh, yeah, no, no, no. He's an awesome dude. And he's going to be with you on, I think he made book-to-booked time Thursday evening. I think he's going to be there with his wife. Thursday. Thursday, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, but, uh, nonetheless, let's, uh, let's get together and hang out a bit. Copy that. Cool. All right. Once again, Tony Toco, uh, wow, uh, spending time with us here on Foos Talk Live, getting ourselves ready now.

[00:57:21] We got to get the, get the flight, get down to, uh, New Orleans for the big, what will you call it NOLA, right? NOLA's best way to put it? Uh, yeah. NOLA's, well, NOLA says NOLA's, we just call it, uh, well, we do a little bit, but, uh, it's just, don't say New Orleans. New Orleans. That's, that's up, up, upstate New York. New Orleans. We don't do that. We'll start down. We'll have an angle on you after that. Yes.

[00:57:50] You got that big red, uh, uh, kick me sign on the back of you. Yeah. Cool. Well, Tony, uh, have a great night and let's talk again soon. We'll see you. We'll see you there. Rock and roll. All right. Tony Toco, once again, on Foos Talk Live. Stick around now. Coming your way next, Foos Talk Live's Tournament Beat. Time now for the Foos Talk Live Tournament Beat, brought to you in part by foosgadgets.com, using technology to create a better foosball experience.

[00:58:17] 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 are soft, quiet, with a true roll and good durability. Exchange your balls with a high-fidelity foosball at the best price with a money-back guarantee.

[00:58:46] 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, FoosGadgets has used innovative ideas to build foosball training tools and accessories. Their goal is to make your foosball practice more fun and effective. Hey, Foosers. The Foos Gadgets Speed Bridge is a great tool for all of you practice-aholics out there like I am.

[00:59:13] 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. Foos Talk Live proudly presents a weekly update of events near you. With the Foos Talk Live Tournament Beat, here's what's up.

[00:59:39] A 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 fourth annual U-Bird 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,

[01:00:06] 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, at the Holiday Inn, Metairie, Louisiana. Looking ahead to 2027, the World Foosball Tour presents the tour kickoff,

[01:00:35] February 4th through the 7th. 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.

[01:01:03] 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. 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.

[01:01:30] 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'.