Freedom Footbags

I’m always curious to see what outsiders have to say when they report on seeing professional footbag for the first time. I sometimes forget just how lucky I am to live with the 2nd ranked player in the world (Jim Penske) and that I get to kick with him on a (nearly) daily basis. I also have to remind myself that it takes a good bit of time (I guess it’s different for different people) to really be able to follow just what the players are actually doing. There are literally hundreds of fairly well established moves, and picking out the innuendos of an in-out or an out-in dexterity, or spinning vs. inspinning, or gyro can be challenging, even for the seasoned shredder, and nearly impossible for the non-initiated.

The Cornell Footbag Jam 2 just wrapped up last Sunday, October 28th. On hand at the event were reporters from theithicajournal.com, and I was really impressed with their take on the jam:

Small sport, small bag, big talent

Footbagging competition at Cornell showcases world champions

By Aaron Munzer
Special to The Journal

ITHACA — Shredding the air like a blade, David Clavens batted a small bean bag from foot to foot in a blindingly fast dance that only the misinformed would just call Hacky-Sacking.

He spun himself through the air, bouncing the little bag and weaving it through his legs dozens of times before he passed it to the next player in the circle.

Read the rest of the article on at thethicajournal.com.

All in all, I think that the reporter came across with a really positive impression of what this sport is truly all about. With the talent that was there - top names like Peter Irish, David Clavens, Jorden Moir, Gordon Bevier, Sebastien Duschesne, and Ken Somolinos, the reporter certainly got an eyefull of top level, extreme shred.

I’m sorry that I was not able to attend the event, but happy that Freedom Footbags was able to sponsor the spectacle. I’d like to send a special thank you out to Ken Somolinos for making this event a complete success. The job of “tournament director” is one of those volunteers positions that seems to be greatly underappreciated for the amount of time and effort that is involved. Thanks Ken.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 30th, 2007 at 7:14 pm and is filed under Footbag in the Media, Sponsorships, Tournaments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.