I RSVP’d about a week before this event happened sort of on a whim. At the time not too many people were going so I just expected sort of an intimate jam. I somehow managed to convince Alex, Adam and Johnny to come with me.
I realized at the last minute I didn’t have a functional car to take but luckily my grandma’s friend came through with her sweet SUV. I would have made it somehow but this made things much easier.
Saturday morning I left the house shortly after 7. A while later I was in Toronto meeting up with Adam. We made the foggy but somewhat uneventful drive to Johnny’s place in Paris. From here Johnny would be driving which was kind of a relief.
Next we were off to London to acquire the Alex Venis. When we arrived at his front door it was pretty clear that he had just woke up. He got his stuff together and after a brief stop we were back on the road.
By this point I was super stoked to be in a car with three of my favourite people on my way to a random warehouse somewhere in Michigan to meet up with a bunch of strangers to play hacky sack. Doesn’t get much better than this.
After the usual awkward border crossing explanation we soon found ourselves in Michigan. The awful roads really make one appreciate having good infrastructure. The grass isn’t always greener..
Michigan has Mcdonalds ever 500 feet or so. Alex was seriously stoked that he could get 20 McNuggets for 5 dollars.
Word of the weekend: NUGGET
After Alex had his first round of nuggets and I ate the lunch I packed we were back on the road again. I didn’t mind the drive at all after. Seemed like nothing after travelling to NYC and there isn’t anyone I would rather be in a car with so it was great.
We made decent time arriving in Grand Rapids around 4pm. The directions we had led us to some real sketch area with a bunch of warehouse.
We arrived at the shred warehouse and a bunch of people were already there but had been holding off on shred until we arrived. I got a big hug from Anton who I was really stoked to see again! Lots of hugs from new faces as well.
The warehouse was such a nice setup! The flooring was carpet with like padding underneath which was an amazing surface. They had a bitchin sound system pumping awesome beats.
Shred was soon underway once Canada arrived. My game felt awesome and I had some runs I was really pleased with. As usual I made sure to switch circles often and play with everyone. There were a number of intermediate players present which was kind of refreshing. I’m used to being one of the less experience shredders when I play with the Ontario crew (can’t complain about that too much though
). 
It really bothers me to see people being hard on themselves for dropping and stuff. Y’all need to lighten up a bit
At one point I was off to the side working on Grifter alone. After about 3 or 4 tried I managed to hit it!! My OCD then kicked in and I was determined to get the other side. I was getting close but it just wasn’t quite there. I was a little too persistent. My legs tangle up and I landed on my left ankle with a lot of force and felt my muscle tear. There was no stopping it. I was so mad at myself, how could I do that?! I remember collapsing to a ball on the ground and just thinking the worst.
After a few moments I got up and had to get out of there. I went outside to walk it off all the while cursing myself for doing something so stupid. The girls were worried about me and came to find me and brought me water. Such sweethearts.
After a few minutes I realised that I could walk and even jump without pain. It just really hurt to crank it to clipper position. I could tell it was just a strained muscle which was a bit of a relief. Still super frustrating that I would have to stop playing though. This is the first time anything like this has happened to me. I was determined not to let it bum me out because I knew I could still have a really fun time.
Luckily I got a couple hours of solid shred in before the injury. Afterwards I got changed and drank some beer and watched the others shred.
Tom K who I was looking forward to meeting arrived later in the evening with another newer player Steve. Unfortunately I only was able to have gimpy shred sessions with him this weekend and he said he hadn’t played in months. He has a nice style and it would be cool to play with him some time when we are both in good shape.
It was such a great turnout!! I really wasn’t expecting this to be such a huge event. So many new faces. I was stoked to finally meet Zach Jahner who only lives like 4 hours away from me and yet I’ve somehow never met. He has a real nice style I hope we will have a chance to shred together again soon.
At some point I came out of the washroom to find Alex hanging from the ceiling. I guess my footbag had got stuck up there and I wasn’t the slightest bit surprised that he was the one to scale the wall in an attempt to retrieve it. It was a good effort but they ended up using a ladder to get the bag.
Eventually people were shredded out and other shenanigans commenced. Many variations of throwing things at other things were played. And a lot of balancing was done. I ended up playing a little more on my bum ankle after a couple beers which probably wasn’t the best idea but I gave no fucks.
So much fun was had. Such great people. We ended up just staying at the warehouse and drinking and partying there and it was just an awesome time.
Alex got completely trashed. He had some epically bad poi maneuvers which were just plane hilarious. Some of the guys came back with like 80 nuggets. Alex easily crushed about 20 more. He passed out first.
Near the end of the night some wrestling matches went down. Probably not the best idea considering the lack of healthcare us Canadians (and some americans?) had in the states. Johnny managed to give Anton a bloody nose which may have been broken?
While the wrestling went down I hung out up in the DJ booth with Johnny Sarah who is a super cool guy. We had some good talks and it was real chill. He gave me a bunch of badass music which I’m looking forward to shredding to once I’m healed up.
A few people left to sleep elsewhere and the rest of us passed out in various places around the warehouse. There were a bunch of couches and I managed to score a pretty decent one.
Everyone was up around 10 the next morning and we went out for breakfast. The breakfast joint didn’t do a very good job seating us and the group ended up being split up on two sides of the restaurant. I sat in a booth with the two Johnny’s and Greenwood. While we were waiting for food I visited the people at other tables and chatted with them a bit. The food was pretty decent and much cheaper than back home.
American coffee sucks! Y’all need to get your shit together
Back at the warehouse I held off on playing even though it killed me a little. About 15 minutes before the request contest I threw on my units and started playing a bit. I found that if I avoided my left clipper all together I could still shred pretty well. Did lots of rakes and other low impact tricks.
I made it further than I ever have in request contest! Usually I drop on combos that I know I can do but this time I made it something like 6 or7 rounds in and finally got out on Diving Clipper>Spinning Legover which is a combo I’ve never hit. I know I could though and definitely will once I’m playing again. I ended up getting beat out by Anton to take 6th place.
It was fun to watch the rest of the contest. It came down to Suderman and Greenwood and it was an epic battle that Johnny won in a tie breaking round.
After the contest I kept shredding and actually played pretty well considering my situation. I don’t think I made it too much worse either which is a plus.
Eventually it came time to get going. It’s always sad leaving footbag events but I find that I am able to get some good closure with hugs. I got some serious hugs from everyone. Collect all the hugs. Anton gave me some of the best hugs this weekend and I also hug a pretty good floor hug with Tom.
Once I was all hugged out we made our way to the car to head back to Canadia.
Another Mcdonalds stop later Alex and Adam both acquired more nuggets. Soo many nuggets. He must have eaten at least 60 this weekend. I’m sure his body appreciates that kind of treatment haha.
In the past I’ve had no problems at all returning across the Canadian border. This time was a little different. Johnny answered all the guards questions but the guard was not in a very good mood. I don’t think he believed our hacky sack stories. They made us pull to the side and searched our shit. We weren’t too worried because we knew we weren’t in the wrong in any way.
After that brief detour we were back on smooth Canadian asphault. Before long we were in London to drop Alex off. I got a huge hug from him. I love that kid and I’m so glad he is back in Ontario.
The rest of the travels were fairly uneventful and I made it home shortly after midnight.
So fucking great. I never regret going to footbag events even if I’ve never met any of the players and I have to travel far. It’s always so fucking worth it!!
Amazing.
<3
