return to foosball.com
Robert Uyeyama, with Jim Waterman
uyeyama@uhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu
waterman@freenet.fsu.edu
Hypertext done by Kevin Hilman, khilman@d.umn.edu
The latest version of this file is available at the table-soccer FTP site conrad.harvard.edu in the /pub/foosball directory.
v3.0 attempts to include cross-referenced information on foosball. For example, you can look at the glossary listing under "newsletters" for more information on available foosball newsletters.
v2.0 first combined the glossary to the charter and welcome, formerly "faq0", and explains what seems to be our (usually unspoken) generous guidelines regarding netiquette to encourage posts from more players, especially those not currently engaged in competition table-soccer.
Welcome to ALT.SPORT.FOOSBALL! A.S.F. is an unmoderated newsgroup intended to provide a forum for ALL forms of discussion pertaining to the sport of foosball, a sport sometimes referred to formally as "table soccer." Anybody interested in the sport is welcome to the group, including the "just-curious", players who spin the rods to nationally ranked "pros", promotors, and persons in the industry. Discussion is welcome from such persons active in any state or country as well as those devoted to play on any of the many brands of table-soccer machines. Such discussions may include, but are _not_ intended to be limited to:
In addition to miscellaneous discussion, A.S.F.'s other primary purpose is to provide a forum for _instruction in the sport_. Since a significant number of players only play in limited local areas, often on a single "home-base" table, many are not aware that there are other types of tables, a wide variety of shots, and various levels of competitive play from local to professional world championships. Hence, toward that end, there are a series of instructional and informational FAQ files available:
NOTE: More "long-instructions for _ shot" FAQs also need to be written (e.g. Push-kick, Pull-kick, Tic-Tac) as well as a 5-rod stick-pass series FAQ. If you are interested in possibly writing a FAQ file, please email the author.
All FAQs are currently available by anonymous FTP at conrad.harvard.edu in the /pub/foosball directory, as well as at the Usenet FAQ archive at RTFM.mit.edu (Read The Friggin Manual). The conrad.harvard.edu site is also intended for files related to table-soccer that are not necessarily FAQs. Also, the most recent versions are always available at the conrad.harvard.edu site; the date of revision of each file is listed in the file "index." The FAQs are always also available from me via email request. Please send further suggestions of changes and additions to any of these FAQs to me also!
We're very friendly. Don't worry about this too much. True, this FAQ's glossary lists most of the terms you will hear, so this is a good first place to go for such a question; if you still don't understand, post.
Read the charter above-- a.s.f. is _not_ a group exclusively for players "on the big Tour". If you haven't heard much about the "Tour", or widespread foosball at the competitive level, go ahead and ask about it. If you're a college-recroom or "bar" player, go ahead and post about that. If you're a Rene-Pierre loyalist, ditto.
And most importantly, the Instructional FAQs are _not_ intended to limit discussion in any way(!). These (how to shoot/how to pass) files are only preliminary guidelines, intended if anything to generate questions, not quelch them. Also some of these FAQs are still of v1.x, and admittedly do not always carry clear descriptions. So if you have a question on game play (shooting, passing, defense, interpretation of the rules) don't think you'll be flamed because it was "in the faq"-- posting a question is entirely appropriate and may even allow you to make use of the instructional FAQ file more completely like a proper reference. If you are interested in contributing to our library of files, please inquire.