The End of an Era for Footbag
I surfed on over to the Footbag.org Forums for the first time in a while this evening and found a post from Eric Wulff about Peter Irish perform[ing] his last routine in competition. He posted about his experience on Chaos Footbag (”generally report[ing] exclusively on the happenings in the world of footbag net”). For those too lazy to click the link, Eric wrote:
Peter Irish performed his final competitive singles freestyle routine this past Sunday at the East Coast Footbag Championships in College Park, MD; the same event where he first competed 20 years ago.
. . .
Peter is the greatest competitive footbag freestyle player of his time. He set the standard for the world both in the shred circle and with his competitive routines, and I don’t doubt he has somehow inspired every player of today’s freestyle generation. Even after 20 years of competition and at the ripe old freestyle age of 36 he is among the best shredders in the world.
So at about midnight on Saturday June 10th Eric ‘Ironman’ Wulff and Tuan ‘Disco Ninja’ Vu briefly came out of freestyle retirement along with Sunil ‘Tsunami’ Jani to join Peter ‘The Executioner’ Irish for one last shred session in honor of his grand finale. These four east coast freestyle legends are also best of friends and they made up the only shred circle on Saturday night. It was a classic freestyle scene in the basement of tournament director Vince Bradley’s house except for the fact that many of the greatest freestyle players of the today’s generation who were present, such as Gordon ‘Flash’ Bevier, chose to sit this one out – instead taking the role as spectator. Perhaps they were simply respecting their elders smile. In any case, for a little over an hour, with AC/DC’s Back In Black serving as the soundtrack (perfect!) and with Vince’s band, Boxcar Collision, warming up with a live drum and bass accompaniment to the driving AD/DC rhythm, ‘The Foundation’ of East Coast freestyle took a trip back in time and threw down with authority and style – partying like it was 1999. I think everyone who packed into Vince’s basement - spectator, partyer, and shredders alike – came away with a similar feeling – it was an epic flashback session. Just a great time!
Thank you for the head’s up, Eric. And thank you Peter Irish for the years of exhilarating performances. I hope we get to kick together again soon.
Peace, Love, and Footbag.
July 16th, 2006 at 2:32 pm
Hey Daryl,
I’m 36 and this hits close to home the coming of age. However, just because of my age does this mean I should retire? Although age limits the ability level and stamina, I still love the game! What is a man to do? Maybe an age class for players who still feel the need to shred/compete without the feeling to enter the open event category? I found the shred later in age but played circle for years. What can be done for players who find the game late in life……just regret not finding the game sooner? Just thought I would send a letter to the elders of the game. Imagine playing until shred is almost impossible but kicking returns to where the game started? COOL
Johnny Baldwin, Unity Footbag Club Arizona