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These are some pics from the European Footbag Championships in 2002, taken in Budapest, Hungary.
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Felix the Cat
Felix Zenger (from Finland) was one of the non-stop shredders throughout the event. You could see him improve from day to day! With a recently-torn ACL, he didn't seem to display any lack of ability. Felix told everyone in perfect English that he couldn't speak English. Hrmph. I guess he's a fast learner in languages, too. Photo by Steve Goldberg.
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The Girlz
The Euro Freestyle Chicks make every European tournament complete. That's Isabelle Widmer with the footbag, from Basel. To her left is Jule B?hm of Berlin, and to her right (our left) on the edge is Claire Beltran (Parisienne transplant to Berlin). Yes, unfortunately Kevin was there too. That's his head poking in the shot. Photo by Adrian Dick.
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The Unstoppable Czechs
Youth has its advantages... Namely, being able to shred all day, without a break, and with barely any food. Vasek Klouda is the one with the bag, with Ales Zelinka in the foreground. Both are from Prague, Czech Republic. You can also barely see Felix Zenger's head eclipsed by Ales... Felix was ever-present until his mom dragged him away back to Finland. Kivat rintakarvat! Photo by Adrian Dick.
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Young Finn Finds Footbag
Felix Zenger, again (and again, and again). We figured two shots would be enough to demonstrate the point. Then we re-thought it. There are more below. Photo by Adrian Dick.
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The Ice Man Continueth
Mika Koistinen showed his usual mastery of freestyle -- people are so used to him now they don't always realize how &%#@!&'ing good he is. I wish he'd have the nerve to step onto the four-square court though. I'd have skooled him then, you betcha. Yep. Would've. Photo by Steve Goldberg.
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The Bane of my Existence
Andr?s was beyond a shadow of a doubt a pain on the four-square court. A truly sensational player from Veszpr?m, Hungary, and held his liquor about as well as a leprechaun. Yes, that's Dr. Mike from Vancouver, Canada, in the background. Photo by Steve Goldberg.
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Let Sleeping Dogs...
(0.26M)
The Czechs catch sleep whenever, and wherever they can. :-) On the left is Vojta Pol?k. On the right is someone you should recognize by now. Photo by Steve Goldberg.
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Ales the new Enlightener
Teaching is clearly a passion for Ales, and Felix is a great student. Needless to say much shredding ensued. Photo by Steve Goldberg.
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The Judges Contemplate
Jan Zimmermann (Switzerland, left) and Justin Sexton (Finland) debate the last round of scores. Or at least, they would be if I weren't distracting them. But hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. Photo by Steve Goldberg.
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More Teaching
I mean, really, this just went on and on. Shredding, teaching, shredding, teaching, teaching, shredding, shredding, sleeping, shredding. Photo by Steve Goldberg.
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Another Czech Wonder
Just wait.. I predict Fanda (if he sticks with it) will soon rise to the level of his peers. Though he couldn't take me at four-square, even with a major foot injury (note to self: when in Budapest, avoid public water slides), he showed real freestyle ability. Photo by Steve Goldberg.
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Good King Wenceslas
Yes, Vasek's real name is Vaclav, which is Czech for Wenceslas (or the other way around). Anyway, here is an attempt of mine to capture him doing a flying clipper in front of some random castle-like building at a park in central Budapest. So much for that. But at least he looks cool. That's what's important. Photo by Steve Goldberg.
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All Footbag, All Night
Budapest was basically a non-stop footbag event. This was the scene outside the youth hostel at 3am on the morning after the last day of competition. That's the morning after the last day. Not the morning before. The morning after. These people are insane. But at least I was awake for it. Ol' Adrian Dick was sleeping by this point. (At the "communist era" hotel with 45Mbps broadband internet service we both stayed at.). Photo by Steve Goldberg.
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Copyright © 2003, IFPA, Inc.
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