almost the same story here, but i'm 52. tho i never played in sanctioned events i played with a few tournament players in the 70's. hung out at some of the same arcades as loffredo and jackson,specifically the brickyard in aurora,co. still remember the day we walked in and the proprieter frank told us that todd and gil took nationals and gil and sharon took 3rd in mixed doubles. anyway i went off on one of those state mandated vacations and when i came back to town around 82 the scene was totally different. i was ready to play(or so i thought) but all the drug infested, blaring rock arcades full of nothing but foos tables and pinballl machines were gone. now the only tables around were in bowling alleys,pool halls, maybe one at the video arcade at the mall with screaming kids running about. so my bud was all excited tellin me about this new dynamo table and this new shot that couldn't be stopped. well he was right. i couldn't stop it and it pissed me off, especially when his girlfriend started smokin me with it. i hated it. wide-ass goals,how can you not miss? freakin hollow rods. i already switched from hollow to solid rods when TS came around and i liked it better so why go back? and those hard wooden handles just did not feel right, so i was foul on foos for awhile. went to community college and married around 89 and found and old DM in the gameroom there and played casually,then found one in the newspaper,played on it til i burned out cuz i really had noone to play that i couldn't smoke. moved in 93 and left it behind. meanwhile the years go by faster,the kid graduates in 97, God calls the missus home in 03,then last year while in a drunken haze(rare nowadays) on 100proof absinthe my buddy says hey there havin a foos tourney at the local small town bar. i get a lucky draw and win the money. i had a blast but realized how many things i couldn't do anymore so i came on here looking for the answers, found bb's buyers guide(thanks!) and the rest is history. i don't expect to be the best by any means, i just wanted to be able to play again without having to hang my head and be laughed out the door. my first dallas dyp i had to defend brendan moreland. sure we got beat but we didn't get skunked and i didn't get stuffed so hopefully it can only get better. damn am i writin a book here,lol.