Topic: It's still about personal direction

[Old Meister]

Wow! Since I came back to this game, how it's changed. BBtuna and others have tempered my take on todays game for sure and rightfully so'
BBtuna proposed that I was suffering from American Idol influence. Gawd I hate to admit he was right but he was. When I quit playing in the early 80's I felt I was on a cusp with the best,,,, and then it died. ,,,,,,,, 30 years later this "Od Meister" felt he knew something about the game,,, and then learned a bit more,,,. So if I have anything more to say of anything significance I'd better be able to back it up. I'm hopefully going to, at some time, going to find you guys and play.
We will play and see what is what. What i'd like to know is where you play and when so when I get the chance I and get that opportunity. Life is good. Win lose or draw, I value the chance to play you guys.

[bubbyman]

your right old foosers never lose their talents, they just learn more. I finally after 30 years realize the importance of the 5 bar. slow learner i guess?

[bbtuna]

OM,

Here is what I wrote...I was Not saying you had the Am Idol thing, I was just saying it is hard to self evaluate like those in American Idol...

I have been 4 solid years working at my game now and I think I have a very good handle on where I am at compared to like talent around the country but it has taken almost all this time and I have averaged probably a hour plus practice a day for 4 years...not fast growth but continued improvement

now a year after this conversation, how do you rate your "come back" your capabilities compared to where you were when you quit playing in your frist life - using percentages how close are to what you used to be...skill, speed, reflexes, mental game

overall how do you think today's players compare to the first generation (not just top players but bottom up)?

what do you think of the Tornado and its hollow rods now?  have you lost speed



----------------------------------discussion started about palm roll, rod type, and speed


http://www.foosball.com/forum/index.php?topic=1365.0

sorry OM, I was just stating fact, it is nothing personal...we have a older pro-master in our area who slowed down, way way down, a number of years ago and his lateral speed and pop on the ball are, well, lets just say you could set up camp, build a fire, and roast some marshmellows before he moved from one side of the goal to the other...however, he is a very fiesty and tricky player and still beats all of us 90% of the time

you may not fall into that category and good for you if you haven't however a lot of people fall into what I call the American Idol syndrom...you know on AI when they do the intial interviews and these people come in who think they have a shot and they can NOT sing a note but they think they are really good...I find this true in almost every area of life...very difficult to self-evaluate accurately...if you dare, you should ask someone who you trust understands foosball to evaluate you...or not

anyway, if this isn't an issue for you, then terrific...part of the evaluation process for your game as it comes back is that 20 years does more to your physical game than you may think at least it did for me and others I have seen try and come back...mentally I remembered things but my body could not cash the check...in some ways I was amazed at what I could still do but there was so much lost it was overwhelming

with this in mind, I think the issues you are facing are more driven by your layoff than the rod style or weight...your body should have made adjustments by now if it was really just the weight or density difference in the rod...it hasn't made that transition because there are so many things it is trying to rediscover

well, this is all just my opinion based on my experience and others, yours of course could be totally unique but I doubt it...as time goes on, I would love to hear how you feel about my evaluation...either way, good to have you back and again, have fun on the Journey, it can be rewarding but like the first time around, it won't come without hard work

[Old Meister]

Bbtuna, the older I get the better I was . I'm a Norwegian and you know what they say,"You can always tell a Norwegian but you can't tell him much." So while the game seemed etched in my mind all those years it wasn't etched in my muscle memory like I thought it would be.You need to realise that the "American Idol" comment actually did me a lot of good. Besides I keep seeing guys, just like me, coming back to the game. 5 more in the last month alone at our Wed. nite DYP. There they are, all ready to play the way they did 25-30 years ago and then they find that the Tornado tables have to be learned, just like me.  And I now see why you said it the way you did because that is how it is, coming back to today's game. Things to learn,,, So my friend, when I mention the "American Idol" thing I do it with a smile and a promise to my self that some day I will make it to KC and play my friend Charles and have a weird green drink with him also.

[papafoos]

...we have a older pro-master in our area who slowed down, way way down, a number of years ago and his lateral speed and pop on the ball are, well, lets just say you could set up camp, build a fire, and roast some marshmellows before he moved from one side of the goal to the other...however, he is a very fiesty and tricky player and still beats all of us 90% of the time

Glad to hear Kent still plays.  But if he's slowed down any, better grab a stethoscope.

[bbtuna]

here are a few quotes I have picked up that seem to mean more and more the older I get

Pain is just weakness leaving the body.
I have weakness pouring out of me all the time, I should be superman by now


The older I get, The faster I was.
No really!  Its funny, I know what I think when old players are coming back or some guy steps up at the bar and tells me how good they used to be...I get the same, "Whatever dude" look if I talk about how fast I used to be...nobody, and I mean NOBODY gives a rip

you know I ran a 4.4 sec 40 when I was in highschool, did a standing broad jump of 9 feet, I could leg press the entire machine, and I could bench press 310 pds at 5' 9" 175 pounds, blah, blah, blah...all true and I can feel you all yawning right now, you know who you are...who cares, you are a 51 year old 400 pound fat man now and what you did "once upon a time" belongs in the fairy tale book of "Stories No One Cares About"

There is a big black hole where tomorrow used to be.
dreams of beating the world a little different as you get older...each day, the black hole gets larger


by the way, I am still improving even after 4 years but I am also slowing down...like a boxer, they retain power longest but loose handspeed...I am not snail slow...yet!  but I can see it going there over the next couple of years...I still have plenty of power so I have enough speed, technique, and weight to snap off a power ball but I can be raced if I don't execute perfectly -- and when I was young, I remember, I think, that I could not be raced but who knows, I just may have Idol thing going about my past too

Gummy and Todd have proven you can play at a the highest level well into your 40's so that is encouraging but they had the pro-master world class skill already developed, at my age, my goals and expectations need to be different

I still dream of winning a world title but not at the Open level...I am certain I can do it and hope I get the chance...I would consider my foosball career complete if I can pull off a win at WORLDS, singles or doubles, in any class under Open...now the biggest hurdle is money and time to go to the tournaments

[MR.STEVE]

I think at 51 It gets better I just need to work on my mental game. I get a good chalange from papafoos he makes me step up my game when we play,see ya sat. papa at the Bar unless I kill a deer.then its a cookout.

[foozkillah]

BBTuna,

I'm not quite there, where one remembers the Roman numeral system to represent our age, but I'm pretty close behind ya.

That big black hole might just have the pearly gates with a glowing attendant just on the other side.  The attendant will have a big book (or a heavenly iPod or somethin')....

And that book might just have a points tally:

- How many times you hacked to win at 4-0 in a game, vs how many times you gave up possession on jar.
- How many times you muttered "maggot, waggot, f..." under your breath after a tough loss to a good friend on the table, vs. how many times you congratulated your opponents after they slopped every ball in to double-dip your team.
- etc..

Then you might go off into the light, the entrance to a perpetual trillion dollar tour with banks and ramps and TS balls that glow...

Or you might get the other door, back to life and work, and as a member of the new Obama administration.

[foozkillah]

I think at 51 It gets better I just need to work on my mental game. I get a good chalange from papafoos he makes me step up my game when we play,see ya sat. papa at the Bar unless I kill a deer.then its a cookout. 

Steve,

I believe Life, that little skein of thread we all unwind, is an affirmation.

Life is an affirmation that we're past the brunchtime of our threads when we feel perfectly healthy all week, even feeling great through that late night weekend DYP, and wake up to find we're suddenly injured, suffering from a new strain  of sciatica, a sudden onset of chronic bursitis we've never suffered from before, and those horrible morning cramps because we slept with the AC blowing directly on us.

Life is an affirmation we are approaching the teatime of our foos string, when the young'uns, who just knocked us out of the money, rush up to us breathlessly and pipe, "Nice Game!  Hey!  Didn't you use to be pretty good?"

Life is an affirmation of that medical term, oldfoosfartititis, when all we can remember of a 5-minute match is the handshake and "Good match, guys!," as rheumatoid arthritis of the eyes and mouth set in.  Just as the Bud light and the No-Ache pills fizzle out and stop working...

But then, there's always Wii Golf...

[thebodygroove]

Now here's a bunch of guys getting all philosophical in a foosball forum - maybe some of my prejudices about Americans need to be rethought...

[Syronis]

I mean... if you're going to play golf on the wii you might as well get Tiger Woods 09.

[foozkillah]

Now here's a bunch of guys getting all philosophical in a foosball forum - maybe some of my prejudices about Americans need to be rethought...

This can all be cured with a good woman, who cooks, takes care of the kids, keeps a big jar of quarters, doesn't mind driving around all over the place to this and that DYP or BYP, can play goalkeeper in a pinch, and doesn't mind endless loud banging noises from the basement at all hours of the night.

[foozkillah]

I mean... if you're going to play golf on the wii you might as well get Tiger Woods 09.

Yeah, but I have too much fun with FaceBreaker, (#1 vidgame in the world?) where I upload a picture of my ex-boss or some of my foos friends.  It morphs them into any of several monster opponents and I can spend all hours  bashing them into little bits....  Soooo cathartic...

[MJones]

Hey Meister,

Keep on foosin'!  I'm 52.  I played the glasstops, Deuster Meisters, TS, Bonzini, and now Tornado.  For me it's all about competition and the love of the game.  Screw the rest of it.  I just like to foos and compete.  I will never win titles, but if I can knock somebody else off along the way, I'm happy.  

Take care,

MJ

[foozkillah]

Hey Meister,
Keep on foosin'!  I'm 52.  I played the glasstops, Deuster Meisters, TS, Bonzini, and now Tornado.  For me it's all about competition and the love of the game.  Screw the rest of it.  I just like to foos and compete.  I will never win titles, but if I can knock somebody else off along the way, I'm happy.  Take care,  MJ 

I hear ya... and don't forget the beer, wings, and pizza!  And the baaaahd women... the ones with a giant namepatch on their blouse, tank or tubetop, saying, "Hi! My Name is T, for Trouble.."!  The ones your buddies AND your mommy AND your grade school guidance counselor all warned you about...