company with champions

I have a story to tell about an evening a couple years ago. I got calls from my friends Dylan and Brandon to hang out. So the three of us embarked on an adventure that night. An adventure into worlds that I never thought I would see.

We pulled up to the Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport Hotel and found a parking spot easily. We walked in through the big doors with my camera in tow. I couldn't leave it behind tonight. Tonight we were going to be three crazed fans. Energetic with stalker tendencies. We decided this all in the car.

The hotel was surprisingly quiet at 9:30 pm and we feared we might have missed the events. We found the right room and opened the door slowly. A banner read, "World Champion Foosball Tournament" that hung over acres of gaming tables with avid players trying their best to secure a victory. All we could hear was the soft roar of turning handles and sighs. The three of us grew huge grins as we looked around.

We started walking about the ballroom and lingering at tables cheering for different contestants and making comments on how to wrap your wrist right and do certain exercises to avoid tendonitis from playing so much. The conversation topics seemed to go over pretty well...and most people believed us.

I wanted to meet the world champions, so I started my search by approaching a man who looked official. He pointed both of them out and I gasped deeply with wide eyes and thanked him profusely. I motioned to Dylan and Brandon that I had found the champions and they came running over. I walked up to the woman first and lightly tapped her shoulder preparing for my act. She turned around with a kind smile. Her tanned skin was older and she reminded me of an elementary P.E. coach with rosacea and white circles around her eyes, which I assumed were from a pair of Blue Blockers. I grabbed her hand and touched my heart with my left hand as I told her how excited I was to finally meet her after all these years. I asked to take a picture with her and she was so humble. Then the male champion walked by and I stopped him to take a picture with me as well. He was German and younger. He was tall and average weight and looks. He had kind eyes and seemed quite shy, possibly from all those hours of foosball practicing instead of socially interacting. All of us chatted briefly, but they had a game to go to so our meeting was much more brief than the three of us had hoped.

We decided to follow them to their prospective tables and found out that they are not only the world champions, but are also doubles partners - who have also dominated in that area. They were such an unstoppable force. I watched them closely as they played and was trying to imagine what it must feel like to be declared the best at something in the world, even though it was at a game. It was quite an accomplishment, and I respected them both for it. My thoughtfulness was brief. There were referees that held entry cups in their hands. I saw them use these quite a bit and I sort of wanted to ask if I would be able to throw the ball in, but I realized that it was for refs only.

After some time watching and making small talk, we made our way to the merchandise section in the ballroom. Wow. Now this is what I had been waiting for. There were all sorts of T-shirts and trinkets that were specific to the "sport" of foosball. There was a plethora of handle wraps for sale. I had noticed all night every player carrying these rubbery things around. Players who were resting had them hanging around their necks, some wrapped and tied around their wrists. It was fashionable and a part of my trendiness desired to buy one to use for the night. I fought the urge. I did, however, find a foosball t-shirt that I thought I needed to purchase. I had just enough cash for it. There were cards with foosball jokes and foosball key chains. Man I wish I could remember some of the jokes. I have let everyone down. As I remember, there were also little foosball men blow-up toys. Those were pretty funny.

The time was late and we decided to go ahead and leave, taking with us memories of the evening and photographs with our favorite players. We walked out of the ballroom, and I saw Dylan's arm stop me and point to another door. The banner read, "World Champion Semi-Final Air Hockey Tournament." I fell on my knees. We couldn't believe how wonderful the night was. We walked in with confidence and probably a lot of arrogance. I kind of wanted to make a scene. I noticed quickly that I was the only female. I assumed the reason for a lack of female presence was due to the fact that there are no women as good at air hockey as I am.

This room was much smaller, an eighth of the size of the ballroom. Remember, these were the semi-finals. I walked up to a long table near the doors and started talking to the guys sitting there. My goal: To walk out with a free t-shirt. I asked if they had any and a few of them immediately started making calls.. to whom, I have no idea. I guess maybe a mother or two. I told them to keep me updated. One of the guys said the delivery was late and so they would need my email address and possibly my IM and they could contact me when the shirts arrived. I grinned and wrote down some made up email address and name that I do not recall.

I asked to meet the Air Hockey champions so that I could get a picture with them. There were two present that night. One from that year and one from the previous year. So I got a picture with both. That is the picture you see below. They were very nice gentlemen. After chatting for a few minutes, I asked which one thought he could beat me at air hockey. The guy on the right said he would take me one and so we played a few games. He killed me. I scored three on him total. I think it helped my skills to play such a competitive person.

By the time we walked out it was after midnight and the three of us were just happy to have experienced it all. I learned a lot about the inside lives of the foosball and air hockey players. If I'm ever able to go again to such a tournament, I'll be packing a video camera and doing interviews with those I meet with the hope of making a documentary. It's certainly something worth recording.