I started playing Foos about 3 years ago (where I work bought a table for the workers, and we started playing on our breaks).
At first, I could barely do anything! It was embarassing, and a few of the "good" players enjoyed spanking us soundly.
Thus began my odyssey to get better.
Eventually, I found a table on E-Bay that I could afford, and bought it.
After that, my mad skillz increased, until I was the top dog at work. I soon gathered a small group of players, and we started practicing at my home together. It was lots of fun, but something was missing...
I was not getting better! 
You see, it takes playing against better players, to really get one motivated and going in Foos. Once that stops, one stagnates fast. So what was the next logical step to take?
I looked around for a league to play in.
It took me two years to finally find a league that plays nearby. Pretty strange, the sport here in Germany seems to be some sort of underground cult, or something. In any regards, I joined as soon as I could (which was basically immediately, and I brought along some new recruits, which made the boys happy 
)
Tonight was my first Tournament.
Normally I was not scheduled to play (being that I joined up mid-season), but as our Team (KC Tenne Zetel) soundly beat the pants off of the opposing team, it was not really necessary for the last two sets to be played - so they let me substitute in!
We were playing doubles, with me in front (Striker) and Rudiger in back (Goalie). Best of 3 games wins the set.
In the first set, game 1, my game was on! I quickly took apart the 5er of my opponent and proceeded to destroy the opposing Goalie from my 3-bar with european front pin shots (we play on a Tornado table btw). Everyone was pretty stunned, I think, because doing the european front pin on a Tornado is hell (believe me, it is).
After the initial shock wore off (I believe we won that game 6-3), the second game started. We went up early to 3-2, but then my Goalie started showing signs of weariness (he had played most of the tournament, and it was extracting it's toll - tournament play is exhausting!). We lost a close game, 4-6.
The last game was just not meant to be. Our opponents paid off the good-luck fairy, and all they had to do was look at the ball, and it scored. Miserable. My shooting was ineffective, and we just ran out of gas. I think we lost 2-3 to 6 
So it was time to summon up the reserves, steel the nerves, and get back into things. The second (and last) match started - again, I was in front, and Rudiger in back.
Things were different - with gritted teeth, I was determined that we would not lose! We crushed them in the first game (6 - 2), then they came roaring back in the 2nd game, after I had scored 3 goals without them scoring one. We fell behind, 3-4. I got down on the 5er, and dug out some saves on the 3 bar, and just like magic, my shot was back! We went up 5-4...
Then things got tough. We all hunkered down, sweat dripping from brows, into eyes, and there was no quarter asked, nor given. The ball went back and forth, both goalies pulling out incredible saves, and we strikers digging down deep into our chest of tricks and secrets.
It was like some sort of bizarre tennis match, back and forth, back and forth, the ball ripping though the ranks, but not finding a goal to disappear into.
Then I got the ball (one of those quirky things, I just happened to react at the right time, and with the right movement, and I just instinctively clamped the ball in place). One deep breath, then I moved the ball to the center, faked once left, then hammered it home to the right!
GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!
I am still pumped about it!
Looking forwards to the next game!
WebShaman | The keenest sorrow (and greatest truth) is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles
posted 06-18-2009 01:43
....still thinks actual Soccer or X-box/PS Fifa 08/09 is more fun...
