Change is good
Welcome to Flick2Kick! The blog about subbuteo table soccer in the USA. Check back regularly for articles from a broad cross section of people involved in the game. As with all things on the web, this will certainly be a work in progress. If you have something to contribute, please get in touch.
Keep Flickin! Paul
It has been a long time since there has been a post on this blog and a fresh entry is overdue. A topic that has been on my mind lately is the tournament activity of the ASA.
Perhaps it is just me, but it seems as though we are not organizing as many tournaments this year as we have in the past. If my math's right, there has been 15 tournaments played this season. Of those 15, there were 3 double header weekends where a tournament was played on Saturday and another on Sunday. There are only 4 more tournament weekends on the calendar as I type this, including the National Championships. Maybe my perception is incorrect, but my memory leads me to believe that we have usually hosted 1 or 2 more events by this time of the year in past seasons and that the calendar had more events booked for the remainder of the season.
This leads me to the debate of quality v. quantity. What do people prefer - 10 tournaments with 8 people or 4 tournaments with 20 people? Personally, I'd like to see both.
I remember when the ASA only had 20 or so players in the entire association (as recently of a timeframe as 2001-02 or thereabouts). The National Championships usually had around 16 players, a big tournament was 8-10 people, and an average turnout was 4-6 people. The ASA has grown so much over the last 5-6 years that it is common to see 20 player tournaments with tournaments having as many as 50 competitors.
The growth has been tremendous, but at times it feels as though we only want to participate in the biggest and best events. It is common for tournament organizers to seek out of town participants, and if there are no takers then the event is called off. There's also a fear or intimidation of being ridiculed as an organizer for only having a 4 or 5 man tournament because that number doesn't compare to a lot of other ASA tournaments.
My advice to clubs and players throughout the ASA would be to host 2-3 tournament weekends a year. Out of those 2-3 tournament weekends, try to make one a little more special than the other(s) if you want to entice out of town guests. This can be done by having a tournament on Saturday and Sunday, by getting FISTF status for a tournament if you like, scheduling a tournament around a unique social event, or offering free adult beverages to those of age. The other tournaments a club hosts should focus on getting their club together to play an ASA tournament. If it works out that people travel to your event, all the better.
It is very easy to host an ASA tournament. All that needs to be done is: 1) Contact your regional Vice President to confirm that there are no other tournaments scheduled in your region for the day you would like to host a tournament; 2) Give a minimum of 2 weeks notice for your tournament; and 3) Have a minimum of 2 players participate.
I see no reason why, as a community, we couldn't do a good job of hosting those 5 or 6 big tournaments a year in addition to 16-20 smaller events. The more we play, the better. And don't be afraid to turn your monthly club meeting into an ASA tournament once or twice a year, even if it is "only" a 6 man tournament.
Just a few days to go to the big one in St. Louis. It promises to be the best National Championships of all time. With such high expectations I hope that the event can achieve more than some great subbuteo. I know this is also the wish of the organizers.
For the first time since 2004 there is a broad representation of players from around the country. 2005 in Virginia, and 2006 in Connecticut, were for the most part played out by players from the East Coast.
2004 saw the beginning of a boomlet for the game in this country. With the St. Louis club experiencing a period of growth from three to fifteen members in three years. Texas and Maryland have also seen significant growth. There are more clubs nationwide than at any previous time.
The period from 2004 to 2007 has been a difficult one for the ASA. The lack of contact between some principal groups within the organization – due to geography – has led to some gross misunderstandings in my opinion. A lot of business, and a lot of conversations, have been conducted via the internet. Forums and email. A form of communication that has its place as a necessity, but easily lends itself to perceptions of sleights that are not there in reality. People have not met face to face in significant numbers since 2004. That will change next week, and it could not come a moment too soon.
At present, we have some taboo subjects in our game. Don’t mention team competitions, don’t mention Mike Ewer, don’t mention FISTF. For some time it has been difficult to put forward any different opinions on our ASA forums without lines in the sand being drawn, and people quickly being categorized. Many have withdrawn from any discussion on the ASA forum.
There are some regional differences being promoted. This group is “all about fun”, that group is more “competititive”, this group is really “serious”, that group plays for the “love of the game”, these people like team competitions, those people do not like team competitions, we are against FISTF, we are pro FISTF. ….
Well I am here to tell you that all of these perceptions are just one big pile of bullcrap!
This event could not come at a better time. Finally it is time to come together and actually meet and play some games. My hope is that there will be some preconceived notions of individuals and regions that are just blown out of the water once people meet. Be prepared for some surprises, in my opinion the top 2-3 most competitive “serious” and “intense” subbuteo players in the event will all be from the Mid West! We will probably ALL have fun! Keith Constable will only play in team competitions from this moment on!
This National is going to be the best ever (no pressure guys but we all know it!). Time to get away from the computers and forums, and actually meet one another. Time for the deadly serious business of flicking a one inch plastic figurine at a 22mm plastic ball, with the goal of attaining the ultimate bragging right that you are the best at……flicking a one inch plastic figurine… at …err ... a 22mm plastic ball….
Paul
The website formerly known as SubbuteoUSA has had a change of name and location. The site has now become TablesoccerUSA.com The change reflects a new orientation principally towards supplying table soccer products, and also towards attracting and teaching new players. Previously the site had been focused on the collecting side of Subbuteo. On the updated site, For Sale items can now be accessed via a categorized drop down menu. This makes the site easier to load and navigate than the previous single page affair. Thanks go out to the wonderful Jeff Drake in St. Louis of the SLSL for his work on the logo and graphics. I hope you enjoy the new site, please change your bookmarks!
Gregg shares some clssic methods of advancing playing figures into attacking positions when in possession of the ball.
Keith Constable, founder member of the Lonestar Subbuteo club in Texas has been putting his creative talents to good use. Via the popular Cafepress web outlet his new site selling T-Shirts has a subbuteo section as well as others reflecting the unique style of the Texas flicker. New products and choices are expected soon. Good luck Keith!
ASA legend and 7 time National Champion Gregg Deinhart shares some tips about the art of shooting.
On a recent visit to the Subbuteo Shrine in Columbia, MD, seven time National Champion Gregg Deinhart shared some stories about his well travelled playing case. Please also check out our photo gallery dedicated to this post. Thanks for this Gregg.
What is in your carrying case?
When time permits, I like to come and view Pauls’ blog. He has done so much for the game in recent years and this forum is a breath of fresh air for someone who is looking for some interesting talk about Subbuteo. Paul has been asking me to contribute to his blog for some time now so I suggested a topic. I said if he asked players “what do you carry in your team box” he would probably get some interesting answers. What people carry with them to Subbuteo tournaments, and sometimes the carrying cases themselves are really pretty interesting. He agreed, as long as I made the first post. So, here is my blogging debut: Gregg Deinhart’s Subbuteo Gear.
Carrying Case
Before I get to what is on the inside, I’d like to talk about the carrying case itself. I won the case in an auction from a great Subbuteo collector in England named Paul Lloyd. He was selling off his entire collection and players had to send a one-time bid to him. He took the highest bids and sent out the gear. I got a few duds, but the case is great. It was made by someone in Denmark and is the perfect size to carry just about everything you need for Subbuteo. It came with a Sticker from the Danish Subbuteo association and I have since added stickers from friends from across the USA and around the world. The inside of the case has a place for 36 figures and then four other compartments for extras. With a few X-acto knife cuts I now have the space for about 5 teams and some other stuff. Let me start with the teams:
Bases
C8 Blue Profibase (USA) – For a guy that has bought and sold more bases than most clubs combined, I sure play with this team quite a bit. They are very heavy so they lack touch but they are great for chipping. I bout them from Marco de Angelis back in 1998 but didn’t use them for another year. They have been my bread-and-butter ever since.
C8 Red Astrobase (USA) – These I bought some years after trying to match the blue ones but they never quite did. It might be in my head but I gave them a chance in the National last year and I couldn’t manage a goal in my loss! Recently I have been knocking them around a bit and they are pretty good after all. I might give them a chance again soon.
C8 White Profibase (Beatles) – These are as close to the Blue ones as I have. Right now a Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band team in on them. Ever hear of them? They are the 3rd team from Liverpool.
Various Teams: I also like to tinker with bases and now I have a set of Zuego bases, a set of Orange C8 bases, and a new set of Yellow C6 bases. The orange ones are going to get the Beatles and the yellow ones are going to get a Buffalo Sabres (hockey) team on them. I might put a red white and blue DC United on the white bases to show off all my hand-painted teams.
The USA strips were painted by a Dutch player named Chris Schaffer. I didn’t even meet him until after he had painted them. They are a fantastic paint job. My Sabres team was painted by Maryland’s own Larry fryer. He did me a special favor painting this team and did an amazing job! Larry is proof that we have World-class Subbuteo talent right here in the USA. Painting is one area of Subbuteo that I almost always come up short and I appreciate my hand-painted teams! I also carry in my case four hand-painted (again by Chris) Beatles Sgt. Peppers’ Figures. These figures actually made it into the Clifford Borg-Marx documentary about Subbuteo.
Other figures include some spare players, whatever bases I am trying out at the moment and one or two spare keepers. I don’t know much about my two rodded keepers but I do keep two in there. One uses tennis grip tape on the handle and I get a lot of crap from the guys about it. The other one I traded with Zach Walker.
Other Playing Items
Everyone needs polish and I have the standard stuff. I have an old-school polishing cloth for day to day polishing. I also carry some SSTV polish. Rick Wilcox uses my polish more than I do so I keep it in there for him. When I do use it, I spray it on what is left of a Hard Rock Café T-shirt from London.
I keep 5 Subbuteo balls in my case at all times. I don’t think it is a superstition. I just to make sure I leave with no more or no less than what I came with. I do like to take a ball home from any final that I win (and replace it with one from my box). Currently I have a ball wrapped in blue tape and I think it is from the last National I won.
The last of the real game-related gear I have in my box is a watch and a bull’s-eye level. The watch is my old tennis watch and the band is broken off it. I wear a watch on my left hand (the one I flick with) and so I can’t stand one on me when I play. This one usually doesn’t even make it to the table but it is there if I need it. The level makes it out even less. It has been there for years and I can’t really remember using it all that much.
The Fun Stuff
I have a few items in my box that are not Subbuteo specific but are important to me. I have a picture of my wife and son. I also have a picture taken from the Liverpool locker room of a wooden board (about Subbuteo pitch size) with some motivational words on it. I never wondered until just now if that was a Subbuteo table. I should have asked when I was on the stadium tour where I took the picture. Under my polish, there is a note that I carry from my wife wishing me well. She wrote it for me before I went to the 2004 National in St. Louis. I read it before each tournament. For some reason I also have an old Indian Head nickel (with the Buffalo on the back) and a cross pin that my father-in-law gave me on my wedding day. I guess one is to remind me where I came from and one to remind me where I’m trying to go.
The Other Subbuteo Bag
I have another bag that is my player-maintenance bag. Some guys carry this stuff with them but I usually leave mine home. I try to carry as much as I need and then some. I can’t resist tinkering so if my player-maintenance bag is left at home. I’m better off. I’ll briefly list the contents:
• X-acto knife: This is key for a lot of little cutting needed for bases and stickers.
• Scissors: Handy for cutting base stickers.
• One-hole paper punch: I use this to cut out the center of my stickers.
• Pocket knife with corkscrew: the corkscrew is perfect for taking discs out of bases. I don’t think I’ve broken a disc yet with this technique.
• Double-sided tape: For placing washers in bases.
• A selection of figures, bases, and weights: I am always tinkering with bases and weighting. Right now I have about three teams that I would eventually like to set up. Not too bad for a guy that plays once every two months!
• Polish and varnish supplies: I have a few strange polishing odds and ends collected over the years plus some base varnish from different people. My best memories of cross-country skiing were on the days where I had the perfect wax. The same is true with Subbuteo figures.
I can’t wait to read other posts on this topic. I hope I am not the biggest pack-rat of the group. Thanks again Paul for this opportunity. I’d like to write next about the performance of different style bases.
Gregg Deinhart
Washington Tuesday Subbuteo League
IMAGE is everything� Well, not really. Fun is
everything when it comes to a Subbuteo Tournament.
If you're not having fun you should find another hobby.
With that said, I think I can safely claim that
everyone who attended the first ever Image is Everything
tournament in St. Louis, June 9th had a great time.
The Stefan Corda Company has been hosting events for a while in
England that re-create classic English football seasons using their
"retro" Image II table football base. The Image II base is not
exactly an old school base, but it definitely encourages the fine art
of curling and rewards those with skills beyond the straight line play
of the current game. These ISF tournaments in England got a few of us
in St. Louis thinking about doing something similar with an NASL
theme.
Before long we were in discussions with Neil Lishman at Stefan Corda
Co. and the IMAGE is EVERYTHING tournament became a reality. Neil
would supply the equipment and Jeff Drake would do all the painting
(18 teams). We were going to re-create the 1977 NASL season.
By the time all was said and done we had 15 teams compete for the
coveted Stefan Corda Soccer Bowl Trophy. SLSL player Matt Morice had
to drop out at the last minute to witness the birth of his daughter-Hailey
Ann Marie Morice
8 teams from the host club SLSL, 1 from Lonestar SC, 4 from Maple City SC,
1 from Queen City TSC, and 1 from MSC were there to battle for the trophy.
Some of the people that attended had never been to St. Louis for a
tournament, a few we only knew from forums or emails, and a few were
old friends, but by the end of the tournament I think everyone fit
into the category of friend. And really, that's what's great about
our little game. I had 4 people stay at my house, Jeff had 2 people
crash with him and Mitch kenneled the English Bulldog Constable for
the weekend. I hosted 15 guys at my house all day Saturday for the
tournament and at the end of it all my wife said the house was in
better shape than if the kids had just had their normal Saturday
routine. I have no reservations about opening my home to anyone I've
met playing this silly little game and I'm sure I could email almost
anyone in the ASA and get a couch to sleep on and a place to play at a
moments notice. That's something very special and I hope we all
appreciate what a special group we are.
Anyway, back to the tournament. We had a few big dogs in the
tournament (Jon Schultz, Keith Constable, Jeff Drake, Steve Laskey), a
few new players and a big batch of journeymen in the middle. The hope
was that the Image bases would level the field a bit. And I think
they did in the beginning. Many surprise scores happened and close
games that could have been blowouts. The NASL shootout we used to
settle all ties was a big hit with players and spectators alike.
Cheers throughout the house signaled a clutch save or a rocketed goal.
Despite surprise playoff appearances by Larry Fryer from Maryland and
yours truly from the SLSL and some not so surprising playoff spots for
Mitch Morice and Darren Koffman (SLSL), Steven Laskey (QCTSC), and
Keith Constable (Lonestar), in the end though, the cream rose to the
top and a finals of Jon Schultz vs. Jeff Drake seemed a natural ending
to the festivities. Jon's Seattle Sounders beat Jeff's Tampa Bay
Rowdies in the finals, but I think we all won.
At the end of the day the measure of the success of the event was a
bunch of guys sitting around laughing and telling subbuteo war
stories. Invitations to "come and stay at my place" were offered
sincerely. Promises to keep in touch and get together soon were the
norm. "Thanks" was thrown around more times than I can count. And at
the end of it all "I'll be back for the next one" was the resounding
refrain. There were no ASA points or FISTF points on offer, just
friendship, fun, and bragging rights. This was the first of what we
hope will be many Image is Everything Tournaments. Next time we hope
to see you there.
For full tournament results and pictures, go to:
http://www.stlsubbuteo.com/image_is_everything.htm
Brad DeMunbrun
End of Transmission...
I love the ASA. I am truly and deeply in love with it. Maybe that's why I feel so frustrated right now with the ASA as a whole. The more you care about someone or something, the more it hurts when you it annoys, disturbs, aggravates, or discourages you. Perhaps its just little things that have built up since joining the ASA in 1994 that have me so disjointed right now. Perhaps it's the constant bickering, arguing, whining, and general melodramatic malarkey that comes and goes within the ASA. I don't know. I just know that right now is the most disheartened I've personally been with the ASA in my near 13 year membership.
However, this entry isn't going to focus on the negatives. I want to reinvigorate my passion for this game and the ASA. So instead of dwelling on a few sour occurrences, I'd rather look back at some of my fond memories of my time in the ASA and what I have to look forward to the rest of this season.
- I remember traveling all through high school from Seattle to Boise to play in subbuteo tournaments. There were some great games, but creating friendships with people like Jonathan Smith, Chris Siegenthaler, Scot Boyd, Mark Elias, and David and Garin Fuhriman was the best part. This group of guys would become a very important support and social group through my college career when I moved to Idaho and to a large extent still today.
- While this isn't such a good memory for Jon, he has a knack for making subbuteo purchases without his wife's consent. This isn't limited to a simple bottle of Swiss T (which he ordered without his wife's permission and she was none to happy to find out she had to think of a new father's day gift), but also plane tickets. The best, or should I say worst?, time was when I came buy to play some games at Jon's house and I asked him if he had the check for the plane ticket to St. Louis for the National in 2004? His wife overheard and she "politely" asked Jon, "What check for what plane ticket?" I asked Jon if I should leave and he begged me to stay, fearing for his safety.
- Getting my butt handed to me at the 2003 FISTF GP/IO in Washington, DC wasn't too much fun. But that weekend supplied me with enough funny stories to create a stand-up comedy act. It also introduced me to the fishbowls of beer at Generous George's, a theme that would reoccur at the National in 2005.
- I still don't know how I got a $30 bar tab in St. Louis in 2004. It was dollar draft night for crying out loud.
- While it only lasted for one school year, CHSL was amazing to run. It was great introducing the game to the next generation.
- Having clubs sprout up around the Northwest has been awesome. It's always great to go down to Utah to see those guys and catch a Real Salt Lake game to go along with the subbuteo. And Todd in Eastern Washington definitely knows how to host a tournament, even if it's only been one so far. Everybody out here really makes playing the game more enjoyable.
- I'm really looking forward to rest of this season. My plane ticket to St. Louis has already been booked. That weekend will rock, as usual. Plus there's a few more tournaments in the Northwest this season, which is always good. Then there's the upcoming Presidential election, which is an important time in the ASA.
Sorry to get a bit sentimental on here. Sometimes it just helps to write (and in turn to read) positive things (thanks Oprah), something that can go missing at times on discussion boards and forums.
The Independent Subbuteo Forum in England has been having some painting
contests lately and the SLSL have decided to sponsor a North American competition.Club member Brad DeMunbrun is behind this lates initiative from the innovative group at SLSL. Brad states "We know there are some terrific painters over here and this
contest gives you a chance to show off your skills." For entry rules
and details, please visit:
http://stlsubbuteo.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=385
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