Cass shreds - USO 2023

[MetZelRio]

That Plaque is 24 karat, straight up and straight down BALLER!

[MetZelRio]

I've always wanted to share footbagger related stuff with the community but haven't really. When I saw this one, I couldn't pass it up.

[Cass]

Nice I always wanted my own street! (Actually not really but that's still cool tho)

Fourth session in 5 days today.

The improvement is tangible for the first time since I injured myself.

A group of guys passing by were watching today and I hit a solid run about 15 contacts ending in Ducking Mirage > handcatch they clapped/cheered. This sort of thing is happening pretty regularly and it feels good to hit nice runs when people pass by.

I toyed with my clipper and it’s feeling decent. Hit some BOPs for the first time in ages and also some Paradons and Swirls.

I’m really happy to feel a little more confidence in my game with PSU Jamps coming up in 9 days This event is going to be BIG and I’m stoked to see everyone again. I haven’t played with Penske in 6 years now and I can’t wait!

I have a couple weeks left in the semester before I am done with teaching and class responsibilities. Super stoked to spend my days doing chemistry, my evenings training, and my weekends at events. Last summer was the best summer of my life and I’m determined to make this one even better.

<3

[Cass]

Fifth day in a row practicing!

Feeling strong and rehitting a bunch of clipper tricks I haven’t done in ages. Even Ripstein BS. How I’ve missed you Clipper! Once I’m fully 110% healed I’m pretty sure my game will be stronger than ever since my toe game has improved substantially.

I convinced one of the many cute (but not as cute as footbagger ) boys that works at the gym to let me play in one of the yoga rooms which was rad. Good surface and super secluded for a change. It’s nice to be able to try harder stuff without worrying about people seeing me drop repeatedly. We exchanged numbers on my way out. I’m such a playah.



Muted and non-muted SS Egg BS

Non-muted was surprisingly way harder.

I think I’ll play one or two more days and then rest up for the week until PSU

WOOOOO

<3

[C-Fan]

Glad to hear your clippers are feeling so much better. I can't do ripstein BS, and I haven't even been injured lately. Also props on the number, always a great feeling.

[Muffinman]

Nice stuff
I struggle with toe stuff. It's so high energy. I guess I need to injure my ankle or something

[Cass]

No Erik, you are NOT allowed to get injured again. What you could do is stop hitting clippers for two months and I guarantee your toe game will improve


Monday was my seventh session in a row. It's been months since I've played so regularly. Definitely helps having events to look forward to.

I AM SO FREAKIN STOKED FOR PSU





omg

<3

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

I like that idea. Only toes for 2 months. It might get boring, but the general idea interests me a great deal. My toe game could use something like this. I might steal that idea from you after PSU Jamps.

Oh yeah, speaking of which.. PSU JAMPS! So stoked! It's going to be a hell of a turn out. Just praying for nice weather.

Looking forward to kicking with you again. Glad you're healing up well.

[krustykrakk]

AHHH! PSU!!! Much stokedage! Prepare yourself!

[Cass]

PSU Jampionships IV!!

Had a super busy day Friday trying to get all my school responsibilities taken care of before heading out. I left Oshawa just before 4pm and it was just pissing rain. The traffic to Toronto was pretty rough as a result.

I was only about 10 minutes late to pick up Erik and Adam and we continued West. The traffic coming out of Toronto at rush hour was bad but things sped up before too long and we met up with Alex and Johnny in Hamilton.

My sunfire was just bursting with awesome footbag people! Alex and Adam made it a pretty entertaining drive. I drove the whole way with Johnny shotgun because he was feeling pretty rough. The other three took turns riding “the hump” that is the middle seat in the back.

Luckily the rain stopped before too long. Crossing the border wasn’t too bad although the guy did root through my trunk before letting us through. Aside from some sketchy American highways and the fact that the GPS ETA was an hour off the drive went pretty smoothly.

We arrived at state college just past midnight and headed to Ben’s place. Unfortunately I had the wrong address (apparently there is a Blue Course Drive AND Avenue in State College). After a somewhat frustrating half hour of trying to find the place with no success we headed to the alternate address that I had acquired- the shred haus.

A bunch of people were there when we got arrived! I was kinda glad for the detour in the end because we got to hang out with a bunch of people including Drew, Boats, Penske, Polini, and a bunch of the PSU crew. I was totally hyped to see everyone after spending 8 hours in the car.

I got my rad PSU shirts that I got custom made so they actually fit me

Adam acquired proper directions and Johnny took the wheel and the five of us headed over to Bens.

More footbaggers! We soon met up with Ben , April, Vince and Mac. Anton had already passed out by the time we arrived. We hung out and drank some beers and passed out.

I was up pretty early the next day. I never sleep much at events, especially when sleeping on the floor. I grabbed a shower and went outside for a short walk. When I got back it must have been shortly after nine and most people were awake. Ben made us a nice breakfast and we chilled out for a bit. I went on a coffee mission with Mac, Ben and Alex. I must say I was impressed with the general quality of coffee in Pennsylvania. It’s much better than most of the coffee I’ve had on my trips to the states.

We all headed toward the event site for around noon. There were already TONS of people when we arrived. This was a crazy big event!



I got to shred right a away and played in as many different circles as possible. I think I played the best all weekend right at the beginning. Felt real fresh.



Before long it was time to judge intermediate circle. This was my first time judging and I offered to do it to get some experience and because I knew I shouldn’t shred too hard all weekend. It was kinda cool cause I normally wouldn’t pay much attention to the intermediate event. 12 intermediate players competed and they really put up a fight. Some of the rounds were super close. Kat did really well placing second with some nice consistent runs. Ben killed it and earned first with good consistency and difficulty.

It’s really cool to see how much the PSU players have improved since East Coasts!



After judging I warmed back up and got ready to get demolished in open circle. My circle was with Tristan, Adam and Ryan Thomas who I actually met/played with for the first time when we competed. Kinda bizarre. I had seen some footage of him and knew he had some cool tricks up his sleeve. I wasn’t super optimistic about moving on since Adam is super solid.

I think I did decently well in the first round. My runs weren’t as long as I would like however I didn’t choke at all which seems to be a bad habit of mine. All of my runs were at least 5 contacts I think. Ryan put up a good fight though and so I didn’t think I would move on.

Then they announced that Adam placed first and I got second in our circle which meant I got to move on to semis!! I was pretty stoked to not come dead last in an open circle event. This was pretty much as well as I could have hoped to do.

My semi-final circle was with Adam, Dante and Mat. Clearly I had no chance but again I managed not to choke too bad so I was happy with the result overall.

Alex came first in his first round in open circle! I was pretty stoked to find out that both of us made it to semis. You can definitely tell that he has been doing some work.



Canada totally repped in competition! Johnny placed first in request, Adam third I believe. I’m pretty sure Dante won the mirage races. Mat and Dante both made it to circle finals.

Request finalists:




This event had awesome prizes! There were little plaques and prize bags for 1st/2nd/3rd in all the events! Thanks Ivan and April!!



My goal at events is always to play with everyone at least a bit. I definitely failed this time. It’s tough to get to everyone at such a big event! I didn’t get a chance to play with Ianek and I would have liked to get in more shred with Ryan. Him and I seem to be at similar levels and we both like some weird tricks like gyro toes and stuff. Too bad that guy lives super far away.

After all the events I ran off to get changed and totally missed the group picture! Lame. Hopefully someone will Photoshop me in in some epic way. That’d be cool.

We headed out to grab food after and people went in all different directions.



I ended up heading back to Ben’s place with Adam, Johnny, Ben and April since we lost track of Alex and Erik.

There was a mission to buy some food and beer and we chilled out and played cards against humanity for a bit. I managed to score the “mad hackysack skills” card which was an epic win and the “reason that [Adam’s] last relationship ended”

Around 9:30 a whole pile of footbaggers poured into the apartment. It was an awesome moment and suddenly we were in the middle of a sweet footbag party.

The party was so much fun! I met Zach Hoffa for the first time at this event and I got the chance to talk to him a bit. He seems really cool.

Adam picked up a water bottle to take some ibuprofen and chugged it. He was surprised to learn that it was actually vodka. He was pretty hammered after that point.

I talked to Khoa a bit about the ADD system and stuff. This guy is crazy cool. We both agree that ADDs take away from the sport in certain ways.

I gave away a bunch of cheese sticks. Om nom nom.

Lots of other stuff probably happened and eventually people filtered back to their respective crash spots.

I managed to score a sweet spot on an air mattress the second night. Slept really good but not for very long.

Sunday morning we were supposed to go on a hike with Ivan but it was too difficult logistically with fitting people in cars and stuff. By the time all the people that travelled with me were ready to go I just wanted to get food.

Alex, Adam, Johnny, Erik and I found a decent breakfast joint right near the shred spot for Sunday. It really hit the spot.





We finished up in time to be the first to arrive at the site. We were worried it would be cold but the weather ended up being perfect! I even managed to get my first sunburn of the year.





I got to chill with Anton for a while when we were waiting on people to arrive. I wish I could hang out with that guy more!



Went for a walk with Jim and Anton. Felt like highschool all over again

I didn’t play as well as I would have liked but I still had a good time. The music seemed to have a grudge against me because the songs ALWAYS ended when it was my turn.

I got to play in a three man with Johnny and Jim for a time. Awesome!



There were enough of us for a ladies circle which was cool. No one seemed that stoked to play in it though for some reason. I think I had one of my best runs of the day in that circle and no one batted an eye lol.

I love playing with the NYFA crew. Boats and Drew and Jon all kick butt and have awesome style.



There was a fair bit of hype about my skydiving event this weekend. I’m stoked that people are talking about it!!

4pm came way too fast and it was time to get going. I made sure to stop playing and give myself 15 minutes for hugs. I got ALL the hugs. This is my favourite part! So much love.

This event was so freaking great! Aren’t they always though

This is the first event where I actually felt like I belong in open and wasn't just put there by default.

My Canadian boys and I grabbed some subs and got back on the road. Johnny offered to drive for the first part of the journey which was amazing because I was beat. I hung out in the back seat and learned what being “humped” was all about. Not so fun on the bumpz.

The car ride back was pretty smooth with slightly less/lower quality banter from alex. He didn’t get to have nuggets at all this weekend. Shame.

Adam knows SO MUCH random shit!! I knew this already but this trip just proved it tenfold. He just has so much knowledge about everything which is awesome.

We made good time getting back and I managed to make it home by about 12:30.

What a great weekend! I’m probably going to post a rant soon about circle etiquette but I’m running out of steam and don’t want to muddy up the awesomeness of the weekend with that.

Thanks PSU crew and especially Ivan and Ben for everything! You guys are the bomb!!

<3

[C-Fan]

Thanks for the write-up Cass. Sounds like a blast.

TL;DR for everybody:

I hung out in the back seat and learned what being “humped” was all about. Not so fun on the bumpz.

[isirc10]

Awesome write up, nice pictures as well! Please do post your rant about circle etiquette - it would make a good read for a lot of our members, especially those where were attending their first or second tournament (and for me as well, I know I learned a few things this weekend). That's one of the downfalls of not having many experienced players at a club - some parts of tourney etiquette are lost. I'm glad you had fun, and really happy that you and everyone else was able to make it. I like to think that it isn't the organizers or venue that makes the event, but the players that come and kick.

[bluevampire101]

Thanks for the write-up Cassy! I'm really glad you got to make it down and have fun!
I apologize for not giving props on your string (I think I know which one you're talking about), but I shall give props here! I think it was mostly because a lot of us were tired from Saturday for much energy on Sunday, but hopefully next time the ladies circle will be hopping!

[Cass]

Thanks guys!

I definitely agree that it’s the people that make the event! But good organization is also clutch.


Yeah so circle etiquette! I wish more people followed some basic rules. It just makes shred so much smoother and better for everyone. And it’s just good manners. Here are some of the key ones for me, especially for big events like this one:

Always pass to the left

Never join a four person circle (unless you’re Jim Penske.. then it’s cool)
I pretty much always leave if someone joins a four person circle that I’m in. It drives me kinda crazy cause I feel like I’m being forced out. It’s impossible to stay warm in a 5 man.

Always join the circle to the right of the person with the bag.
This way you get the bag last and don't butt in front of someone.

Give props when they are due

Don’t over-prop

Don’t be afraid to change circles or start your own circle! Especially if there are lots of big circles already. Chances are someone like me that enjoys a good 3 man will join.

Don’t hand catch the bag when people serve it to you. Unless it’s a really bad serve.

Never self-serve more than once! This is only forgivable if you are super new. The bag will always come back around and it really kills the flow. Especially in a 4 man.

Don’t ask me if I want a pass back!
If you think I deserve one then just give it to me. If I don’t want it I will send it right back. I feel like a bag hog if you ask and I say yes so I’ll usually just decline. If you simply return it then I will say thanks and try again.

Don’t be so hard on yourself!! Stay positive! Everybody drops. Get over it


I think that's pretty much everything. I know some of these might be a matter of opinion but it makes a big difference in how much I enjoy playing if people try to be considerate with respect to these points.

[krustykrakk]

Awesome write-up and photos and thanks for the shout outs! I am glad you and the rest of your crew had fun! You should definitely check out the older Ryan Thomas videos if you haven't already. That guy's got some style!

As for circle etiquette, PSU is a mainly beginner club. With that being said, a lot of the players are advancing, making huuge strides seemingly every session. We ignore etiquette when it's just the club kicking partially due to inexperience, but also because we all drop often. These aren't meant to be excuses, but we are just so used to kicking with the club, exclusively. (We are all willing to learn!)

Thank you so much and please extend my thanks Adam, Alex, Erik, and Johnny for making the trip out, putting up with my tiny apartment, the wooden floors, the mix-up with the directions, my self-indulgent sense of humor, and lack of proper circle etiquette (again, learning on that last one, no disrespect was meant!)

I cannot wait to see you and the other guys soon! Maybe on Canadian soil?

[Cass]

Yeah, y'all are coming skydiving right!!?


I certainly did not mean to point fingers at your club!!! There were players at the event who have been in the game for ages that still break some of these rules. I think it's a good reminder for everyone

[boyle]

Looks like an awesome comp. Great turnout and cool pics.

Enviado desde mi GT-I9300 mediante Tapatalk

[Asmus]

I always like your write-ups. I like how you spice them up with random observations and pics.

I agree a lot with your post about circle etiquette.
But I think it is also important to note that jams/competitions like this is where new players and young clubs should learn about these things.

I think the rules ONLY apply for big events. How your club wanna do it is entirely up to you. It's footbag freestyle. Adds is only a tool! So is etiquette! No rules - only tools!

[Air]

Sounds like a great jam! I don't think I've posted here before, but just so you know I read this regularly. Keep up!

[C-Fan]

Good post on etiquette. A couple of thoughts:

Never join a four person circle It’s impossible to stay warm in a 5 man..

For me, I'd phrase this as "be aware of the rhythm of a circle, and respect it." So if I see a circle of intermediates with short strings and I join it, I'll make a point to keep my strings short (e.g. go for sick 3s or push harder than normal). There are times where a 5 man circle can work, but only if everybody is onboard with the same agenda.

Always join the circle to the right of the person with the bag.
This way you get the bag last and don't butt in front of someone..

Completely agree. I feel like very few people do this. In Japan sometimes when I'd join a circle, whoever had the bag would try and "re-set" the turns by passing to me first. I'd always pass right back to them. If you join a circle, go last.

Give props when they are due

Don’t over-prop .

Definitely can be hard for beginners, or when playing with people you don't know, since you don't know what's good or bad for them. So I agree with these points, assuming you know the level of the people in the circle.

Don’t be so hard on yourself!! Stay positive! Everybody drops. Get over it

Yeah, I used to be HORRIBLE about this. I think it really goes back to the overall concept of respecting the energy of the group. If you're all negative about yourself, it kills the energy in the circle. If you're having a bad day, just try and be positive about everybody else, or take a 10 minute break and come back.

Nice post Cassy.