mc

Keep a diary of what you're hitting, what's frustrating you, and your goals.
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Darkshredder
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Post by Darkshredder » 21 Apr 2008 16:35

I was standing three feet away at the time of invention
Pat Thomsen
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Jorden
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Post by Jorden » 21 Apr 2008 18:16

Sick dawg.

Downloadable version?
Jorden Moir

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Asmus
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Post by Asmus » 21 Apr 2008 21:21

PROPS Matt!

Do you think it is possible from clipper?

I really look forward to reading (and sharing) your article.

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ashleyd
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Post by ashleyd » 23 Apr 2008 18:43

sick move matt.
Ashley Danowski

"As a well spent day brings happy sleep, so life well spent brings happy death."

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Post by mc » 06 May 2008 16:13

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCnNcAFx3ps[/youtube]

just some beastly stuff I was trying out today.
BRICK!

rfa::never give up::
nyfa

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calemccoy
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Post by calemccoy » 06 May 2008 18:32

that sick 3 is tight matt.... you are so awesome. thanks again for showing up to help yogan with ripsteins... he will so have that really soon. also, i wanted to say thanks for all the tutorials youre making.. im gonna have to relearn everything after i heal, and i know ill be watching evryone you make. so thank you very much.. and keep them coming for as many concepts as you can! =]


ps check out my sig ;]
my footblog
bombbags for sale
-cale mccoy-
RVFA footbag

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Post by mc » 28 May 2008 16:08

Karma Police by Radiohead
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awsjfFNgwvU[/youtube]

Legend of Zelda
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B2EuRqLtdQ[/youtube]

Somewhere Over the Rainbow
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tGCU0jf-Qs[/youtube]

recorded these this morning. I'm pleased with them, for the most part :)
BRICK!

rfa::never give up::
nyfa

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Zac Miley
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Post by Zac Miley » 28 May 2008 16:34

Sick poster and nice shoes.

Pretty good gee-tar playin' too. :P
Jay (8:06:01 PM): Bu-bu-buu-buug--Looks up, and the feeling goes away like a sneeze-bu-buuuh-BULLLSHITTT
Jay (8:06:14 PM): *wipes bellybutton*

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zeroman13
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Post by zeroman13 » 28 May 2008 16:47

Sick stuff Matt! Especially like The Legend of Zelda!
Wasabi wrote:Footbag is not materialistic; it's about challenging yourself and having fun at the same time.
Josh M.
My Website
Pm me for details about Munster Bags!

DTank126
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Post by DTank126 » 30 May 2008 13:10

Hey Matt, really cool rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, very chill.
By the way, I saw your write up of T.O. Jam and it was stellar. Thanx for mentioning my name in one of your interviews. :oops: Hope to shred with you soon down in the Square!

Peace
Doug Tank

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Post by mc » 01 Aug 2008 15:36

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWh-qKqZr6I[/youtube]

new song. hope some of you guys like it!
BRICK!

rfa::never give up::
nyfa

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Camilleon
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Post by Camilleon » 01 Aug 2008 18:35

Matt wrote: ...hope some of you guys like it!
Only some of us? :P Um, how about I love it?



Beautiful. :)
Camille Surovy
The Footbag Association of Toronto (F.A.T.)

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Wasabi
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Post by Wasabi » 01 Aug 2008 20:13

Matt,

"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "Silent" have moved me extensively. They made my evening. Thank you.

-Way
Waylon Lew - maker of Wasabi bags
NYFA represent.
"Footbag can be pretty frustrating when it's supposed to be fun. I was partly driven by this forum - practice, practice, practice... As that is true, I think someone can be too focused on progressing and training that they miss the fun aspect of it." - Bander87

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mtoolan
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Post by mtoolan » 01 Aug 2008 20:31

i love karma police. and this new song is really good, i think my favorite of you is so gone, im pretty sure its on my myspace.
Mike Toolan
Penn State Footbag Club

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Jdigges
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Post by Jdigges » 05 Aug 2008 18:09

Matt Cross don't joke when its time to smoke!
Josiah Digges


Embassy Footbag Crew

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slapdash21
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Post by slapdash21 » 10 Aug 2008 09:20

yo matt i randomly bumped into your cousin near the christian science center today while playing bag. he came over and asked where i got the spiky one because his cousin made ones that looked just like it. so natch i asked who his cousin was and he said matt cross so there yah go. he seemed chill.

word up dude
Pete Bowler
B$C
keeps it offah da ground.

617 FOR LIFE

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Post by mc » 10 Aug 2008 18:55

Thanks a lot for the nice comments on my songs, guys. It means a lot to me to get approval on my music from my footbag friends :)

see some of you at Funtastik!
BRICK!

rfa::never give up::
nyfa

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Post by mc » 07 Sep 2008 14:54

So, I wrote this for Asmus's page, Shamble Footbag Magazine, but we had publishing problems, and it never really worked out.

so, here it is, in blog form :) enjoy.

-------------

The binding belt enclosing me; a sample in a jar...
SHRED LIFE with Matt Cross - Episode Two - T.O.Jam 2008


The drive to Toronto was short, easy, and uneventful; the best kind. As the laws get stricter at the border, the guards seemingly become less tolerant of dealing with bureaucracy, and I cruise through faster each time.

Arriving at the house of Mosher in Oakville brought me no Tom. I stood in his driveway playing Beat It on my acoustic guitar for two hours and meditated on the wonderful weather, the birds singing, Tom's beautiful neighborhood, and the weekend ahead of me. With a stomach full of coffee behind me, a footbag tournament in front of me, and my guitar in hand, I was feeling pretty blessed and happy to be alive.

Tom was stuck in traffic with Jim Penske. Jim was our treat for the weekend, courtesy of Mike Faille's generous personal investment into the tournament.

After delays and mishaps, we missed our train into Toronto from Oakville, and drove in to find the event. One overpriced parking lot and one underripened banana later, we found ourselves at a cute little spot on the harborfront with flat concrete, benches, and tree cover on all sides.

Just a few notes on some of the players... Cassy Taylor's game continues to sharpen and expand, and I think she'll be an open competitor within a year or two if she continues to work. She has a lot of potential, and I saw a lot of new concepts come to her quickly over the course of the weekend. Alex Venis's consistency and cleanliness has gone way up since I saw him at his first tournament just under a year ago. Mike Faille continues to improve steadily, and has obviously been focusing on maintaining rhythm as he plays. Andrew Grant's style looks as sharp and beautiful as ever. Zach Forth has a LOT of energy. Jay Boychuk and Ben Roscoe are definitely leading the pack of Ontario's real-deal up and comers, both with great form, smoothness, and ambidexterity. Also, Penske is good and hits hard tricks. I regret not taping a whirr tutorial with him.

I hit a few cool strings, this and that. Backside blurrage in front of Jim, 2nd or 3rd try. I had a great time playing with Dan Murphy and Sam O'Donnell in their first circle of their first tournament. My game has suffered from a lack of attention, but it has hopes to be tolerable again.

After some submarine sandwiches, Penske, Mosher, and I broke off and headed home. The whole time we were together, Jim was saying all this great thoughtful funny stuff about his game and other freestylers and footbag in general, and I got really psyched to do our interview.

We decided to stop for a quick brew when we got back to Oakville.

This is where the night started to become interesting.

We were sitting and having one of those classic all-encompassing discussion about the freestyle lifestyle. The doors opened, I looked down, and saw a pair of modified camouflage G-Units walk in the door. It was our friend Piers, another Ontario footbagger. He bought a pitcher and a round of top shelf tequila, and invited us back to his place to see his collection.

We drove a short drive. He sat us in his room and produced boxes upon boxes full of jars upon jars, each containing different (and sometimes multiple) strains of the finest of the fine, the rarest of the rare, the greenest of the green.

As Piers' friend took Jim and Tom on a tour of the jars, Piers took me on a tour of the house. A few of the things I saw: a chair and silver set once belonging to the British royal family, a very old chinese jewelry box chock full of interesting things, and a LARGE fur collection. I tried on a now-extinct breed of wolf, and it shed all over me. I was picking black fluff off of myself for the rest of our visit.

It's hard to put the rest of the night to words. We decided to commemorate the event by piling Cuban art on Penske:

Image
Image

Then, we went home, ate supersized freezie pops, and passed out.

--

wake up. head pounding. throat dry. nose stuffed. roll over. try to sleep. can't sleep. roll over. try to sleep. can't sleep.

get up. long hot shower. cup my hands full of hot water, lean back, dump it in my nose. hold it. hold it. blow it out.

get out. trembling, drying. I am sick.

--

I had been sick. I became sicker.

But it was not the end! Tom's mom and pop made me strong coffee, and I got to have what is usually my favorite part of any given day; a caffeine-fueled guitar jam. Jim woke up, and we played "You say it, I play it", and I did pretty good, even got a little bit of System of a Down, a little Metallica and some Rage against the Machine.

We made our train. We walked and walked until we found the building, and the James McCullough helped us find our way to the tournament site.

Everyone was there! We were almost last to show up. I had forced down some food and had my coffee and drank water, so I played a little bit. I vaguely remember having fun hitting tricks, and giving some tips to some of the newer players. Then came competition, and I got asked to judge.

I love judging footbag. I love watching footbag and seeing it closely and being asked for my opinions and observations in regards to who did what, and I like trying to be as objective as possible and really stack up everything that happened as best as possible.

Most of the intermediate rounds stirred up some disagreement among the judges, so we ended up voting on rankings, and deferring to a majority rule. To the intermediates who competed, I want you to know we watched closely. There were some real close calls, and we had a great time judging you guys.

As for open competition, I think the pools were very well matched. Judging was fun for this as well. We definitely had our disagreements, but for finals, it was no question. Moir was on fire, as you will see in the videos! His creativity and endurance were both on point, which makes for some pretty intense shred. Penske was heating things up with beastly and fearless links in every run, and a few four dex moves, but it wasn't enough to take down the Destroyer on his home turf.

Also making a strong showing were Andrew Grant and Johnny Suderman. Grant, who had really shone in the preliminaries, was playing through some bad blisters, but still managed to crank out some smooth, precise strings. Suderman's combination of power and technicality made for some awesome themed strings. Watch for his drifter run RIGHT on the beat. I loved it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU3Peeizzk0[/youtube] Round 1 Part 1
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5iD0QLJ-5s[/youtube] Round 1 Part 2
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6idm3IgL6U[/youtube] Round 2 Part 1
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtPDuhCZ9_E[/youtube] Round 2 Part 2

After competition, there was some shuttlecock kicking and plenty more shred. I stitched and rested, and finished stitching a bag for Dan Murphy. Then, it was off to a park to kick some more before party time.

At the park spot, some light hacky slack went down. Also, I received some advice from Tom, and after that, I was lucky enough to get to sit with our special guest for the tournament, Jim Penske. Check out this interview with the superstar from Idaho.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVIjfDgM1DM[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYzdR0jkrXU[/youtube]

I enjoyed the perfect weather in spite of my head cold. We all did some more casual kicking until the movement moved towards the bar.

I was beginning to lose steam. I ordered a beer and a sandwich, and found Andrew Grant. It was time for our interview. First, we decided we would pound a beer to start. Then, I changed my mind and asked that we only take a good healthy gulp to start, because I wasn't feeling well, and Andrew (seemingly) agreed. Then, we started recording the interview, and Andrew pounded his whole beer, while I only gulped mine. I felt left behind, so I finished my beer, and right after that is about when this video begins...

So check out this interview with Andrew Grant! We discuss his new periodized training regimen, the moving story of his introduction to the game we all know and love, and our opinions about some of the intermediates at the tournament.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDKMq9qS4LU[/youtube]

My condition began to deteriorate after my interview with Andrew, but I managed to squeeze in one more conversation with our hero of the day, Jorden "The Destroyer" Moir! Check out this interview for a peek into Jorden's thoughts on the day's victory, his new training style, how skooling the most basic of moves helped him keep his game on point to face Penske, and the future of his career in the world of professional performance.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbyOKDHSAGA[/youtube]

After that little discussion, I half-slept on a table in the bar (thankfully undisturbed by the servers) while I waited for Penske and Tom and EVERYONE to return from their expedition. I think I reached the low point of my sickness for the tournament right around that point.

Homeward. Bedward. Jim and I switched rooms. I got the secluded one this time.

--

I woke in a lot better condition than the day before, but still full of gunk and goo and other things that make me congested. Another good shower and another good coffee fixed me right up, just like the day before.

Sunday, the wrap-up day, was a flux of hack spots. We had a brief start in Union Station while everyone met up, then made our way to an indoor mall where we were able to play for a long while before being asked to leave. I got in a short conversation with Dan and Sam who were first timers on the scene. For a look at the newcomer's perspective, check out this short interview.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhkEVrfCd7E[/youtube]

After getting kicked out, it was decided that there would be a lot of walking, and then a new spot to play. I was not into that idea, and headed for the station after lots of wonderful goodbyes with everyone. I bought a yogurt and a tea from a store in the station, only to turn around and see EVERYONE right behind me! Strange!

We walked through the station until we made it to the best spot of the afternoon. One brief encounter with security personnel left us with permission to stay and play! There was shred, and some fun casual kicking and juggling as well, and I managed to do some more interviews.

For a look into the project of tournament direction, check out this interview with T.O.Jam directors Camille Surovy and Mike Faille!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF_hnDm_zGY[/youtube]

After that, Jay Boychuk asked me when I would flip things around and be interviewed myself, so I asked him if he'd conduct such an interview. Here is the product of that request.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glHZB5oJH5g[/youtube]

Then, I had a chance to sit down with one of my long-time scene favorites, James McCullough! We got his opinion on the relationship between form and style, and some of his ideals regarding both.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPqjmibb3HQ[/youtube]

And that about brought us to the end. Jim, Tom, and I said all our goodbyes again and piled on the train. We talked more about Jim's trip to Prague and our ideal footbags and wound down the tournament. My experience was over. Jim and Tom were getting ready to meet Piers two hours north of Toronto to resume ultimate party mode. I just wanted to buy liquor at duty-free, cross the border, see my girl before she left for Italy, and go home and go to bed.

And that is exactly what I did.
BRICK!

rfa::never give up::
nyfa

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mosher
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Post by mosher » 07 Sep 2008 15:30

That was awesome matt!!

Thanks for taking the time to write that up, I really enjoyed reading it.

That was a great weekend.
Tom Mosher

hate is a waste of passion!

DTank126
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Post by DTank126 » 07 Sep 2008 19:47

Nice write-up Matt. I already read it on Shamble a while back but it's good you put it on modified as not everyone will remember to constantly check Shamble. Thanx again for mentioning my name in that interview with Andrew Grant, means a lot.

Also, while Pete and I were shredding today some random hacky sacker named Josh startin kickin with us. He said his friend was really into freestyle, Dan Greer, not sure if you've heard of him, but then he also mentioned Jack Lentz, so I just thought that was cool since I only know Hacky Sack Jack through you.

Peace
Doug Tank

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