Tournament 2 Notes: Wisconsin State Foosball 2023

Tournament #2: Wisconsin State Foosball 2023

WI State Foos ventured to Mad Apple Billiards in Appleton, Wisconsin for four days of competition (March 16-19, 2023). Over 200 players from around the Midwest and as far as Florida showed up to compete on twenty-seven T3000 Tornado Foosball Tables.

Here are the Top 10 Journal Notes of the Weekend:

1. Broadcasting a stranger’s livestream.
2. Winning the last match of the weekend. (DYP)
3. Foosball Baking.
4. Roadtrip with foosball drifters.
5. Foosball locker room.
6. Tony Spredeman and Bud Spredeman.
7. Team Balcos.
8. Shot of the Weekend.
9. Tshirts, koozies, notebooks…
10. Jordan Peterson.

1. Taking over a livestream.
Mad Apple Xstream broadcasted the event live from the Mad Apple booth in the billiard’s hall. Annoucers Ron Olson and Teddy Krueger kept the stream and the conversation rolling for a marathon of announcing with some great guests such as Tricky Dick.

Our crew of Zach Hofer and Rob Garrett were not invited as guests, but that did not stop us from getting on the YouTube livecast to bring our own personalities to the party.

In the wee hours of the last day, as the tournament crew was boxing up tables and the last of the Sunday DYP was getting played out, Hofer and myself snuck into an empty, but livestreaming booth to commentate on the DYP 2/3rd place match. The winner of the match would be who I played next in the finals.

At the end of the match and as my partner (Mike “Bulldog” Weyrowske) warmed up, I commentated on how our match would go down. I then signed off for the livestream weekend, took my headphones off, walked out to the table, and then went on to win the match in 2-games.

It was both the first time I took over someone else’s livestream and the first time I’ve commentated a foosball livestream. The match would also be the first event I’ve won this Spring 2023 tour.

2. Winning the last match of the weekend. (DYP)
For three days, I got beat up on the table. I couldn’t get anything going with my partners or in singles. The Bulldog wasn’t going to let that happen in the last event of the weekend.

3. Foosball Baking.
I taught South Dakota drifters and tourney roommates, Zach Hofer and Rob Garrett, how to make foosballs in our hotel room. A trip to Walmart and Michael’s (arts/crafts) acquired us a small convection oven and Sculpey polymer clay.

A video was also made to give other people ideas on how to do “foosball arts and crafts.” About a dozen and a half balls were created, cooked, and given away to tournament participants.

When made right, these “psychadelic foosballs” can be used on the table. They act like a medicine ball for improving ball control and hand/eye coordination. They also bring an element of fun that can be helpful for rejuvenating spirit and performance in matches.

4. Roadtrip with foosball drifters.
Hofer and Garrett came along for the 7-hour road trip to compete in Appleton. In the past, I normally found myself traveling alone by car, plane, or hitchhiking. It was nice to be part of a crew of people.

It was also nice to talk their ears off on the ride home about my foos drifter days of 20-years ago. I have more books to publish regarding these memories in the next few months, so it was good to take a stroll down memory lane.

Hofer “only” finished 1st in Expert Singles as his big win for the weekend. Garrett was not liking that he was the only person of our crew that did not win an event.

5. Foosball locker room.
Though he did not have a top 5 or better finish, Garrett was a winner of the weekend as far as drifting goes. Most likely he showed up with the smallest bankroll of the tournament, but got to stay for free in the hotel room, free transportation, free food/beverage, and was even sponsored for events as a Rookie/Beginner. He also met and smoked weed with a lot of strangers. He had no problem making friends.

Garrett also introduced me to some Wisconsinites that rented a party-room at the hotel. Basically, they had set up a tailgating scenario Wisconsities are known for at Badger and Packer games.

They had 4 crock pots cooking, a full bloody mary bar with liquor, snacks, board/card games, and a TV with the livestream playing. All free to foosball players. If there is such a thing as a foosball lockerroom at a tournament, this was it.

6. Tony Spredeman and Bud Spredeman.
The GOAT Tony Spredeman and his dad, Bud Spredeman, made it to the tourney from Florida. They were happy to see me; it has been a few years!

Not much has changed since I’ve seen…enjoying life and kicking ass on the table. They went on to win Open Doubles. The GOAT also beat Jacob Balkos to win Open Singles too.

7. Team Balcos.
One of my new favorite “teams” from Minnesota showed up and won. Eric Balcos brought his teenage son and daughter, Jacob and Maya, to Wisconsin State. They all had a great showing at the last tournament in South Dakota. They continued bringing the heat this weekend.

For Jacob, the only person that stood in the way of Open Doubles and Open Singles was Tony Spredeman as Jacob lost to him in both events in the finals. Jacob also won Pro Singles and Doubles.

Balcos may have reached his Pro-Master points this weekend.

8. Shot of the Weekend.
I took a lot of video during the weekend with both my iPhone and Hofer’s GoPro. I did not film full matches, but only B-reel footage.

In an Open Doubles match against two pro’s, I was able to catch on film the announcer Ron Olson shoot and make an aerial shot from goal.

Ron’s celebration and the crowd’s reaction was epic.

9. DrifterRadio.com Tshirts, Koozies, Notebooks, Stickers.
Drifter Radio had plenty of marketing material to giveaway and sell. Aside from the homemade foosballs we made in the hotel room, I was also selling and giving away Spring Tour 2023 tshirts and koozies printed by BBGraphics.net, as well as DrifterRadio.com stickers and notebooks.

The tournament registration desk even offered to display and sell the Tour tshirts. I was only able to sell 5 of the 24, but the Tour shirt image got good publicity.

At the end of the tournament, I gave away a half dozen of the shirts. I believe Mary Moore (the lady that hosts most of the large Tornado events in North America) even got one.

10. Jordan Peterson.
Not THE Jordan Peterson sociologist/psychologist professor and motivation speaker from Canada, but the Rookie foosball player from the Minneapolis area, Jordan Peterson.

My Spring Tour “nemesis” from Minnesota, Jordan Peterson, continued to beat up on me on the table. I call him my nemesis not be cause he’s a bad guy, but because I had to play him 3 three times at WI and lost every time.

Between SD State and WI State, I am O and 6 against him on tour.

To be honest, I love his game and demeaner. He’s probably one of the most stoic players I have played against with narry a postive or negative reaction. I wasn’t the only player he was dominating, as he had another good showing at WI State.
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Here’s some video of the weekend with more to come:

It was another fun tournament! Tournament 3 is coming up in 3-weeks (April 12, 2023) in Las Vegas. Stay tuned!

A big “Thank You” needs to go out to the tournament crew, especially Carma Burfield, and our sponsors of the week, Marcus Walgrave and Chad Nunemacher.