That whole post was good ol' classic Mr. Perfect from top to bottom. lol I know I can always count on ya for a chuckle Coop!
Somethings that I think could help get things going again:
1. Free entry fee to first / second time players. Great way to get 'em hooked. You gotta tell them,"Its free entry, free quarters, and you can win enough $$ to pay for your drinks all night." Also I've realized it helps when you tell them its a DYP and then explain what a DYP is. When they find out that they have the chance of partnering one of us, it changes things completely.
2. Flyers that advertise the foosball tourney need to be posted in the Uptowner. There hasn't been a flyer up for the tourney in years. I remember a time when the tourney actually use to be advertised on the radio commercial for the Uptowner.
3. I think this is key: Even if the tourney doesn't happen, the players that are still interested need to show up on time at least to play pick up games anyways. At least if we are there playing, some random player may walk by and be interested. I've talked at least one new guy into playing pickup games at least the last 3-4 times I've been at the Uptowner. NEWBIES ARE THERE, but they are simply intimidated and need some coaxing into playing. We need them to get in a few pickup games every now and then with the experienced players before their confidence is going to change. I think the attitude , "no tourney, no play" is the worst thing we can do. At least if we are there playing, people will see that we have something going on, whether it be a tourney or not. If we don't act like we want to have a tourney, we probably wont.
And we are going to have to start to bring in new players in order to continue the tourney. With Jaydon moving, R.T. starting 2nd shift, and England moving to Chicago any time now, we need to find newbies to replace these regulars to make our tourney continue. I'm only in the Uptowner about 2% as much as I use to be. I don't really know who's who of newbies now. You guys who work or hang out there, need to be on the recruiting end bigtime with the amount of time y'all spend in the bar. As soon as you see people playing pick up games, mention to them we have a tourney on Thursdays. Seriously, it works. That's how most Uptowner tournament players start. The same thing happened to me. I didn't know anything about a "foosball tourney". I was just hanging out in the Uptowner about 9 years ago playing pickup games (just happened to be a Thursday), and this guy "Zac" saw me playing and asked if I wanted to play in a foosball tourney. Well, I haven't missed but a handful of tourneys in 9 years and I'm pretty sure I've played more tourneys in that time that anyone else. I've went from TOTAL SCRUB NEWBIE (I sucked so bad I probably still spun half my shots) to 9 year Uptowner staple. You might be surprised what kind of player "the newbie" ends up being. My god, look at Clay for another example. I don't know how many times I tried talking that kid into playing before he would, now he's one of the better players to ever play regularly in the Uptowner, and can compete on the national level. In what, less the 3 years?
It may take a few weeks of "pick up game Thursday" to reestablish "DYP Thursday". But we HAVE to be there and show others that we have at least SOMETHING going on.
What about if every fooser brought just one newbie with them on a Thursday? We'd have a tourney and probably new regulars in no time.? I'll even bring 2 newbies. It doesn't matter how bad they are, most of them learn pretty quickly with some help anyways.
Or would a change of tourney day be better?? maybe Sunday late afternoon/early evening since football is over now??? Just a thought...
I'm not worried about the Uptowner tourney resurrecting, its just a matter of time. We could really make it great again though, if everyone would pitch in to help. I'm eager to hear other suggestions.
Well I'm off to MI State Championships right now!,
Uptowner representin',
Lonnie
p.s. i didn't have time to proofread this, hope it makes sense.