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INSIDE FOOS Newsletter NO. 12 March 2004
Published By Inside Foos Productions Huntington Beach, California http://www.insidefoos.com
DO NOT REPLY: PLEASE SEND ALL EMAIL RESPONSES TO: newsletter@insidefoos.com
CONTENTS:
10th Annual Hall of Fame Classic
Hall of Fame Classic Results
Inside the Pro Tour
Toro's Corner
Inside the Numbers
Inside Foos Special Offers
Upcoming Events
Foosball Sites
10th ANNUAL HALL OF FAME CLASSIC KICKS OFF 2004 SEASON
The hugely-anticipated 2004 foosball season finally got underway this past March 3-7 as the USTSA and Tornado Table Soccer once again presented one of the sport's most popular and well-attended events, the $65,000 Hall of Fame Classic. For the seventh year in a row the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas was the host venue for this annual tour kickoff, which always seems to provide us with some of the major pro tour season's more interesting and unexpected results. That trend would continue at this year's Classic with an astonishing, history-making performance in Mixed Doubles, and an amazing (but not entirely surprising) sprint through the Open Singles event by one of the tour's most popular and exciting young players.
Canadian super-forward Moya Tielens and her partner Garret Scherkenbach of Colorado shocked two-time defending world champions Frederic Collignon and Cindy Head in a breathtaking final match to become the first team in the sport's history to win a Mixed Doubles title with the pair's female half playing the entire event at the forward position. Moya and Garret played sensational foosball throughout the competition, and defeated Collignon and Head in the winner's bracket to reach the final. Frederico and Cindy, the event's defending champs, then defeated Steve Beine and Christina Fuchs to win the bracket's loser's side and earn a rematch with Moya and Garret. The two-time world champions proceeded to take the match to a second set with a quick two game win (5-3 and 5-4)in the opening two-out-of-three, but could only look on in awe as Moya and Garret completely dismantled them in the second set, winning 5-2, and 5-3, to earn the title and make foosball history. Moya, who is playing the forward position as well as any woman ever has, also added the Women's Doubles title to her list of Vegas achievements, winning for the fourth year in a row with new partner Dusty Bambanek of Ohio.
Future Hall of Famers Collignon and Head did, however, eventually find their way to the winner's circle in Las Vegas. Frederico combined with his legendary partner Todd Loffredo to win their second career Hall of Fame doubles title, defeating 2003 national champs Dave Gummeson and Tracy McMillin, while the ultra-competitive Ms. Head avenged her loss to Tielens with a double-dip win in the Women's Singles final.
Meanwhile, in the Open Singles competition, 18-year-old Billy Pappas of Massachusetts, staged one of the most brilliant runs of recent foosball seasons. Entering the event as the 43rd ranked player in the USTSA ratings, Pappas defeated #5 Todd Loffredo (in 4 games), #12 Scott Wydman (4 games), #4 Trevor Park (3 games), #1 Rob Mares (5 games, 5-1 in the fifth), and #2 Terry Moore (5 games, 5-0 in the fifth) to reach his first-ever major open final.
In the loser's bracket, Frederic Collignon, after an early loss to Mike Archer-who seems to have his number-steadily worked his way back, winning seven straight matches to reach the singles final in Las Vegas for the fourth time in the past five years. "Rico" continued his hot streak in the opening set, Taking just 15 minutes to defeat an overwhelmed Pappas in three straight one-sided games. But in the second set, these two amazingly talented foosers really put on a show. In an awe-inspiring exhibition of how to play one-on-one foosball, Collignon and Pappas went back and forth in a match that saw the huge crowd of spectators responding to every brilliant move they made. Collignon won the first game 5-1, but Pappas answered by going 5 for 6 from his 3-rod to win game two, 5-4. Collignon won a tight game three by a score of 5-4, but young Billy, the crowd favorite throughout the match, won 5-3 to take the match down to one final game. In the fifth game Frederic Collignon, perhaps the sport's greatest closer, elevated his game to yet another level, using his incomparable euro-pin and unmatched hand speed to win the game, 5-2, and earn his first-ever Hall of Fame Classic singles title. Collignon may have won the championship but none of us in attendance will ever forget the performance of "Billy the Kid".
Vegas DVDs: Don't forget, you can witness all of the exciting Vegas action on DVD by going to http://www.insidefoos.com and ordering the 6-hour, 3 Disc set of Hall of Fame Classic DVDs. You can also purchase the economical 2004 Full Season Package and receive the HoFC, along with The Texas States, The Nationals, and the 10 hour World Championships on DVD, all for one low price. DVDs will be shipped 4-6 weeks after each event and in the order received, so place your order early. For those of you who have already ordered, shipping will begin next week.
"Toro's Corner", a brand new monthly column written by pro player Mark Torres, who is quickly finding a home as an expert analyst on the Inside Foos videos, makes its debut in this month's newsletter. Mark has proven to be a highly competent "color man" since first joining Tom Yore and me in the Inside Foos booth at last year's World Championships. His colorful insights and understanding of the game have added immensely to our product and he has kept the video booth laughing on a fairly regular basis. In his new monthly column he offers our readers his unique perspective and substantial knowledge of the sport, making us think, while keeping things fun and, he hopes, humerous.
Foos Radio heard 'round the world: The 2004 Hall of Fame event also marked the debut of Table Sports Radio which brought the sport its first-ever "daily updates". Brad Anderson, the forward-thinking man behind this innovative idea, worked extraordinarily hard to bring all of the Vegas action to listeners "tuning in" across the United States and around the world. Along with the daily previews, updates, and Inside Foos audio highlights, Brad also interviewed 2003 World Champion Tony Spredeman, tour great Louis Cartwright, and an excited Moya Tielens just an hour or so after her startling victory in Mixed Doubles. Mr. Anderson also asked the inimitable Mark Torres and me to do daily reports and we had a helluva lot of fun doing it. Thanks Brad! You can access those entertaining daily radio reports by going to http://www.natsa.org/tsr.
Thanks again to all of our subscribers for your continuing support! The 2003 Worlds DVDs just set an Inside Foos record for single event sales, with foosball followers in more than 25 different countries now able to watch the exploits of Tony Spredeman, Frederic Collignon, Adrian Zamora & Eddy Gartman, and the rest of last season'e biggest Dallas stars in the comfort of their own homes.
You can read my entire 2004 Hall of Fame Classic report in the next edition of Table Talk Magazine, due out in the next couple of weeks...
Jim Stevens
Editor
Inside Foos Productions
http://www.insidefoos.com
YOU CAN ORDER YOUR LAS VEGAS HALL OF FAME CLASSIC DVDs or 2004 FULL SEASON PACKAGE
at http://www.insidefoos.com
ALSO AVAILABLE: THE EXCITING 2003 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DVDs AT http://www.insidefoos.com
6-HOUR VERSION..........VHS $40/ DVD $50
8-HOUR VERSION..........VHS $50/ DVD $60
10-HOUR VERSION........VHS $60/ DVD $70
2004 HALL OF FAME CLASSIC RESULTS
March 3-7
Riviera Hotel and Casino
Las Vegas
Open Singles
1st FREDERICO COLLIGNON2nd BILLY PAPPAS
3rd TERRY MOORE
4th ROBERT MARES
5/6th LOUIS CARTWRIGHT
BRANDON MORELAND
Open Doubles
1st FREDERICO COLLIGNON & TODD LOFFREDO2nd DAVE GUMMESON & TRACY MCMILLIN
3rd FRANK BALECHA & DAN LEE
4th SCOTT WYDMAN & MIKE VANDEN BOSCH
5/6th ROBERT MARES & LOUIS CARTWRIGHT
TOM YORE & BOB DIAZ
Open Mixed Doubles
1st MOYA TIELENS & GARRET SCHERKENBACH2nd FREDERICO COLLIGNON & CINDY HEAD
3rd STEVE BEINE & CHRISTINA FUCHS
4th TOM YORE & DUSTY BAMBENEK
5/6th TERRY RUE & KEISHA RUE
DAVE GUMMESON & LOTUS CHESBROUGH
Open Womens Singles
1st CINDY HEAD
2nd MOYA TIELENS
3rd SHANNA LUERAS
Open Womens Doubles
1st MOYA TIELENS & DUSTY BAMBENEK
2nd CINDY HEAD & CHRISTINA FUCHS
3rd LOTUS CHESBROUGH & CARA RICHARDVILLE
Semi Pro Singles BRIAN WILLIAMS
Semi Pro Doubles DARREN KUROSE & TED BROCKMAN
Rookie Singles FRANK ASSAF
Rookie Doubles MARIO ARIGANELLO & SEAN LEE
Womens Rookie/Semi Pro Doubles AMIE LEBO & JANET BLANCO
Womens Rookie Singles VANESSA CAMP
Womens Rookie Doubles VANESSA CAMP & KAREN QUEBEC
Pro Master/Pro DYP FERNANDO ROSA & JAMES CASTILLO
No Pro DYP MONTY MELCHIOR & SCOTT JENSEN
3500 Limited Doubles BEN STONE & FERNANDO ROSA
35 & Over Doubles ANGELUS KARMIS & AMEDIO GILMORE
Forward Shootout TOM ULBRICH
Goalie War FORREST LINDSLEY
Womens DYP CARA RICHARDVILLE & JENNIFER GENTRY
INSIDE THE PRO TOUR...
Clearing out the Hall of Fame Classic
notebook...Frederic Collignon and Todd Loffredo proved that they are still the team to beat on the pro tour with a dominant performance at this year's season-opener...
Rico and "The Duke" won 12 of their last 14 games on the way to a second career Hall of Fame doubles title...
In the Open Doubles final, Loffredo allowed Dave Gummeson, one of the tour's top scoring forwards, to shoot only 24 percent (6 of 25) from his 3-rod while Collignon was scoring at a 52 percent rate (12 of 23) using his versatile and unpredictable euro-pin...
Third place finishers Frank Balecha and Dan Lee were also impressive in Vegas, finishing a full 30 places above their number 33 seeding...
Balecha also played well at last year's event, taking eventual Open Singles runner-up Fernando Rosa down to the final ball, before losing in the winner's bracket final...
His partner Lee reached the finals of the 1999 Hall of Fame Classic playing with Trevor Park...
In a dissapointing start to the 2004 season, 2003 finalists Mike Archer and Brandon Moreland finished out of the money at this year's Hall of Fame event...
However, the fast-handed Moreland did place an impressive fifth in Open Singles, while Archer again defeated the great Collignon, his third win over the great Belgian in the last two Vegas openers...
Archer's win over Collignon was one of only three matches that Frederico lost during the entire weekend...
The other two were to Moya Tielens and Garret Scherkenbach in the historic Mixed Doubles competition...
Frederico, now universally recognized as the sport's greatest player, competed in all three open finals in Las Vegas, the fourth time that he has accomplished this rare feat on the American tour...
With his three open final appearances in Las Vegas, the great Collignon now moves into the number one spot in the USTSA ratings for the first time ever...
His narrow win over a red-hot Billy Pappas in the Open Singles final was one of the more entertainig battles of recent seasons...
Both players shot better than 60 percent from their 3-rods but it was Collignon's ability to finish the job that won him the 2004 title...
2003 World Champions Tony Spredeman, Adrian Zamora and Eddy Gartman also experienced difficulties in their 2004 debuts...
Singles winner Spredeman finished in a tie for 17th, while AZ and Eddy's Vegas efforts resulted in only a 25th place result...
Moya Tielen's performance in Mixed Doubles was definitely one for the ages...
Moya out-passed some of the game's top male 5-rows and used her smooth and well-timed pull shot to score a high percentage in every match she played...
Her partner Garret Scherkenbach, who has always been a solid defensive goalie, scored two in the first game of the final's second set to give his team momentum, and spur them on to victory...
The #2 rated Tielens and #1 ranked Cindy Head faced-off in all three open finals with Moya winning mixed and doubles, and Cindy taking the singles crown...
With her win in Women's Singles, Cindy has now won the event at 6 of the previous 7 Hall of Fame Classics...
TRIVIA TIME: Which lady player, and in what event, has achieved the highest Open Doubles finish ever on the Tornado pro tour?
One of the nation's most popular men's magazines, FHM, sent a staff reporter and photographer to Las Vegas to do a comprehensive report on the Hall of Fame Classic for thier June 2004 edition...
FHM Magazine is the 78th most read magazine in the United States with a circulation of more than 1.1 million each month...
New England player (and writer to be) Nathan Thomas deserves much of the credit for bringing in the FHM crew, a move which should result in some tremendous, and badly needed exposure for our sport...
Steve Murray, David Radack and company have released the latest Texas State Championship information at http://home.swbell.net/dradack...
This $25,000 event has become one of the real highlights of the annual table-soccer season...
Check out Susan Yeary's very informative interviews of Todd Loffredo and our very own Christina Fuchs at foosworld.com (http://foosworld.com/site/default.aspx)...
Congratulations to the newest Foosball Hall of Fame inductee, goalie Brent Bednar...
Brent, a product of the huge Minnesota high school program of the 1970s, teamed with regular partner Mike Belz to win some of the sport's biggest early championships...
Among their other titles "Belz and Bednar" won the World Championship in 1976...
To this day, Bednar is considered the greatest "racing goalie" to ever play the game...
Cudos to Jim Waterman, and Stacey and Clint Myers for all their hard work at the new interactive foosball.com store...
Not only did they offer shirts, wraps, DVDs, and other foosball accoutrements, but you could also call up your event's bracket and search the internet from their all purpose foosball booth...
TRIVIA ANSWER: The now-retired Tracy Hill, who finished third with partner Rob Mares at the inaugural Hall of Fame Classic back in 1995 in Houston...
Future Hall of Famer Tina Rhoton, also now in retirement, WON the 1985 National Open Doubles title on the Dynamo tour playing with Gregg "Jeep" Perrie...
NEXT MONTH: More Hall of Fame Classic memories and a 2004 Texas State preview...
Toro's Corner
Another Ancient Foos Mystery
Foosball--Strange sport isn't it? It's a weird word too. You tell the
average person you play foosball and they will say, "What the heck did you
just call me?! Do I look French to you fool?!" Then you will say that word
to others who are more familiar with foos and they will tell you, "Oh yeah!
I can play Foolsball! In my frat in college, if you lost a game 11-0 you had
to run around the block BUTT NEKKID! Want to play a game? We can go get a
table right now at Toys 'R Us for $19.99 and I can show you what's up!!"
Yes, there is no denying that Foosball is NOT in the main stream of the
American sports scene. We are somewhere behind Horseshoes and Chess, but
slightly ahead of Midget Tossing and Star Trek Conventions (they have
competitive events like "Best Klingon Make-Up"' and "Best Romulan Accent").
So what's the draw? What exactly is the allure of foosball? Are we just some
minor population of a sub-culture, confused and mixed up on a game for
dorks? In a word: Yes. However, we all know foosball is so much more than
that. At its roots, foosball is a set of plastic men swinging at a plastic
ball. It's a game of kick the ball into the hole. But at its core, foosball
is the creative exasperation of the human condition. It is the struggle of
the human mind to overcome itself. It is YOU on a mental battlefield of wits
and skill, challenging yourself to overcome your fears and weaknesses and
transcend the matter before you. To bring meaning to matter is really the
point isn't it? At its highest levels, when we have forgotten the self and
the world becomes silent, with the rods in our hands and our opponents at
our whim; we have brought meaning to matter and we have become Artists. In
any sport, in any competitive arena, there is no finer reason to participate
than this.
That is my five-minute diatribe on why foosball is really one of the coolest
sports around. While other mere mortals try to get the ball in the hoop or
smack it around with a stick (is there anything more lame looking than
cricket?), we are engaged in battle of the most vicious variety-Psychological
Warfare. Trust me, you are not having fun until you have metminds with
your opposition and are trading blows like Jet-Li in a Kung-Fu flick. So what
if other athletes are making a few hundred million dollars playing their sport!
We are doing it for free! Could our reasons be anymore pure?? Then again,
many of us play foosball so that we have something to do while we are partying...
THAT is an entirely different column. Until next time...
INSIDE THE NUMBERS...
Frederic Collignon played in three major finals, winning two, at the recent Hall
of Fame Classic. Here are the records of the players who have competed in at
least five open finals since the beginning of the 1995 season:
MEN
Player
Wins
/ Finals Pct.Don Swan 9 /11 .818
Frederic Collignon 18 / 25 .720
Todd Loffredo 17 / 28 .607
Terry Moore 32 / 54 .592
Scott Wydman 8 / 15 .533
Tommy Adkisson 8 / 15 .533
Bob Diaz 12 / 23 .521
Rob Mares 10 / 20 .500
Dave Gummeson 4 / 8 .500
Tom Yore 3 / 6 .500
Adrian Zamora 4 / 9 .444
Louis Cartwright 4 / 12 .333
Ron Sipiora 2 / 6 .333
Tracy McMillin 2 / 6 .333
Gregg Perrie 2 / 6 .333
Fernando Rosa 2 / 7 .285
Trevor Park 0 / 7 .000
WOMEN
Player
Wins /
Finals Pct.Cindy Head 33 / 39 .846
Moya Tielens 12 / 18 .667
Tina Rhoton 6 / 9 .667
Tiffany Moore 9 / 16 .562
Stephanie Dean 7 / 14 .500
Christina Fuchs 9 / 19 .473
Liz Hellstern 12 / 26 .461
Caryn Matassa 6 / 13 .461
Gena Murray 2 / 5 .400
Maggie Strong 4 / 11 .363
Lotus Chesborough 2 / 6 .333
Dusty Bambanek 2 / 7 .285
INSIDE FOOS SPECIAL OFFERS...
Inside Foos has been the official video production company of the Tornado Professional Foosball Tour for more than 10 years. Our videos and DVDs are digitally recorded using a multi-camera set-up and feature the play-by-play of "The World's Only Fooscaster" Jim Stevens, with expert commentary from pro-fooser Mark Torres and four-time tour champion Tom Yore.
Order your 2004 DVD Package, Recieve a Free Texas States and Pay Only $5.00 for Shipping. Stay up-to-date on all the pro tour happenings by pre-ordering the full 2004 USTSA season on DVD. You'll receive the 6-hour Hall of Fame Classsic and Nationals DVDs, and the 10 hour World Championships in the mail 4-6 weeks after each event and you'll pay only $5 shipping for the entire season. By ordering the entire season package you'll save $25 off regular single event pricing. You'll also receive the 2004 Texas State Championship DVD free! To order go to http://www.insidefoos.com and scroll down the homepage to the 2004 Packages pay point. We ship in the order received so place your order now.
The 2003 World Championship DVDs. You can order the exciting 2003 Worlds in either the 6, 8 or 10 hour versions by going to http://www.insidefoos.com. These exciting DVD sets include performances from Tony Spredeman, Tommy Adkisson, Billy Pappas, Adrian Zamora, Frederic Collignon, Terry Moore, Eddy Gartman, Tom Yore, Bob Diaz, Mike Philbrook, Frank Balecha, Louis Cartwright, and others.
The 2003 World Finals DVD--Only $30. This two hour DVD includes the finals from the Mixed Doubles, Open Singles and Open Doubles events, all for just $30. Scroll down to the bottom of the http://www.insidefoos.com homepage to place your order.
Get the 2003 Texas State DVD Free with the purchase of any 2003 DVD full-season Package! Order the entire 2003 season on DVD! Order a 2003 DVD Package and receive The Hall of Fame Classic, The Nationals and the World Championships, along with the added bonus of last May's Texas State Championships, all for one discounted low price. Go to http://www.insidefoos.com/2003VideoPackages.php to place your order and save $55 off individual event pricing.
An Inside Foos Classic: The 10-Hour 2001 World Championships. Only $50 at insidefoos.com. This 5 DVD set features one of the greatest matches of recent years as Trevor Park and Louis Cartwright faced-off against Frederic Collignon and Todd Loffredo in a two set final that went right down to the last ball. Johnny Horton's World Singles victory is also featured on this exciting 10 hour DVD set. To order go to http://www.insidefoos.com and scroll down the homepage to the 2001 World Championship pay point.
Please call Toll free 877-833-3603 if you have any questions.
The above offers are good through April 20, 2004.
UPCOMING EVENTS...
April 2-4th
$5000 Rookie/Semi Pro Regional Tulsa Billiard Palace
Tulsa, OK
Rex Bennett
918-261-0101
rex@tulsafoosball.com
April 23-25th
$6000 Upper Midwest Championships
Best Western
Mankato, MN
Loyd Mandel
605-352-5827
April 30-May 2nd
$12,000 Utah State Championships
West Valley Billiards
Salt Lake City, UT
Lee McClure
801-450-7855
leemcclure337@yahoo.com
May 28-31st
$25,000 Texas State ChampionshipsHoliday Inn Select (DFW South)
Irving, TX
David Radack
800-248-2837 Ext.205
FLYER and INFO: http://home.swbell.net/dradack
*An Inside Foos Event*
June 30-July 4th
$55,000 National Championships Hyatt Regency
Minneapolis, MN
http://www.vifa.com
*An Inside Foos Event*
Foosball Sites...
http://www.vifa.com For info on the major pro tour and VIFA leagues. The Official Site of the U.S.T.S.A., V.I.F.A. and Table Talk Magazine.
http://www.natsa.org For complete schedules, results, and Table Sports Radio.
http://www.foosball.com For anything and everything pertaining to foosball.
http://ocfoosball.com Orange County, California foosball site.
http://foosballworld.com/ifp.html Independent Foosball Promotions.
http://foosworld.com/site/default.aspx FoosWorld.com events, results, interviews
http://home.swbell.net/dradack Dallas/Fort Worth foosball
http://www.dfwfoosball.com More Dallas/Fort Worth foos
http://pub86.ezboard.com/bfoosball6358 Foosball EZ Board newsgroup.
http://www.sdfoos.com San Diego, California Foosball site.
http://www.nwfoosball.com Northwest Foosball site.
http://www.ottawafoos.com Ottawa, Canada site.
http://www.britfoos.com U.K. foosball site
http://www.atlantafoosball.com
http://www.tulsafoosball.com
http://www.foosballohio.com
http://members.shaw.ca/vancouverfoosball
http://www.newenglandfoosball.com
http://www.tischfussball.at Austrian Fussball site
http://NYMetroFoosball.i8.com New York City foos
http://www.csfoosball.com Colorado Springs foos site
http://www.cnyfoosball.com Central New York site
http://www.FoosBars.com global, online foosball locations directory
http://www.FoosManchu.com Foosball site featuring a foosball animation short titled "The Adventures of FoosManchu"
http://www.bonziniusa.com Bonzini Table Soccer U.S.A
http://www.warriortablesoccer.com
http://www.MinnesotaFoosball.com
http://www.torontofoos.ca
http://www.ontariotablesoccer.com
http://www.canadafoos.com
http://www.tafelvoetbal.nl Awesome Netherlands foos site
http://www.foozen.com Iowa's Foosball website
-----> To have your site listed, send an email to newsletter@insidefoos.com
INSIDE FOOS PRODUCTIONS
http://www.insidefoos.com
Inside Foos Newsletter:Jim Stevens
Christina Fuchs
LaVonne Stevens
Production Crew:
Jim Stevens
Christina Fuchs
Ezekiel "Iceman" Moore
Richard Hall
Frank Espinosa
Commentators
Jim Stevens
Tom Yore
Mark Torres
Scott King
Brian Harrington
INSIDE FOOS PRODUCTIONS
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