Subbuteo Update
Several months ago, I posted about a new hobby of mine, Subbuteo (Table Soccer.) Here's the post. I had just joined a league that was based in North Texas called the Bedford Premiere League. Since then, I and three other members of the BPL have split off and formed our own league - primarily due to differences in opinion on how the league should be run. We decided that we wanted a league that was going to take the game a little more seriously than the BPL was (yes, I realize that sounds contradictory... it's a game we play for fun, why would we want to take it seriously?) So following the end of the 06/07 season, we split off and the Lone Star Subbuteo League was formed.
We went to the national championships in St Lous in July, made a fair showing in the games, but more importantly, we were one of the few leagues whose entire membership showed up for the tournament, maybe the only one. I think that went a long way in impressing upon the folks around the country that we were serious about our new league and wanting to make it the best league in the south region, not just being whiny complainers who quit our league because we couldn't get our way.
At the tournament, several amazing door prizes/raffle prizes were awarded - EVERY paid attendee took something home. I won a set of flickmaster premiere bases (which are nice bases), Chris and Calum took home sets superfooty (sort of a subbuteo starter set.) Keith won a bottle of polish. As for the raffle, there were sets of handpainted teams - I won a team that was painted to look like Chivas USA (an MLS team in Los Angeles) that were on some bases called Rex C bi bases (a two piece base - the theory being you can make a heavy, hard bottom piece that slides well and gives a low center of gravity and allows a softer material on the top to give you better touch and control.) The team was painted exquisitely. Unfortunately, Chivas is a rival of FC Dallas and therefore not one of my favorite teams. For you non MLS fans, this would be akin to a Cowboy fan winning an extremely nice electric football set with the New York Giants on it. While it's not as wrong as the Eagles or Redskins, it's still a divisional rival - so it feels like a betrayal every time I play with the set. But I do because I really like the bases, and even if I'm not a fan of Chivas, the artwork is amazing. Last but not least, every club that had at least two members at the tournament was given an Astropitch (high quality stuff) that had hand painted graphics by Jeff Drake of the Saint Louis Subbuteo League (hosts extraordinaire.) The St Louis guys really put on a great tournament.
After the national tournament, Chris and I continued to practice regularly, trying to play at least once a week. I think it's finally starting to pay dividends. I've improved dramatically since the national tournament. I've won competitive games for the first time since then, and the new bases have brought about an improvement in my game that I figured would take many months or over a year to take place. The Lone Star Subbuteo League has started play, we've had two tournaments, and we are doing well. This last tournament, I came in second place and was leading in the tournament final as time was about to expire, but Keith scored a goal on me as the clock ran out to tie it up and send it to overtime. He won in overtime, and I came in second. I'm extremely proud of that result. Getting to the tournament final is a huge achievement for me, and losing to the 8th ranked player in the country after leading most of the game is no embarassment.
In addition to improving my game, I also undertook the task of building my own pitch, or playing surface (for the unwashed masses, a soccer field is called a pitch.) Fortunately, Chris has built two already, and knew what materials would be involved, plus he has a garage and power tools. We got to work a few weeks ago, after I had decided I was going to go with an orange and black look. I chose that because they are the Dutch National Team colors - and I wanted to embrace my partially Dutch heritage. That's why the name of the pitch is Stroopwafel Stadium. My last name is Stroop, which is the Dutch word for syrup.
The playing surface on an MDF board
I'm not a handyman, but I learns good.
Rails are cut, base coat of paint is on.
Black trim painted on
Chris putting putty in the crack
You can see from this picture that we had to cut some funky angles in the end rails where the goals go. Most people cut a 45 degree angle either from the top down toward the middle, or they run the rail all the way to the goal and cut a 45 degree angle mitre cut from the end of the board back out toward the corner of the table. Chris has a saw that cuts compound angles, and we struggled with lots of 1x4 wood getting the angle just right so we could make the end rails as long as possible to keep the ball and players from flying off the pitch, but to allow each player to have maximum mobility with their keeper rod.
Compound Angle
We finally finished it a couple weeks ago, and played our first game on it that night:
Construction Crew
First shot on goal at Stroopwafel Stadium
It plays nice, it's fast but not too slick, it's a nice shade of green, and the color scheme of the rails works well with the playing surface. I still have to do some graphic work on the end rails and letter stenciling on the outside, and make some ad banners for the inside. I'm very pleased. I finally set it up today, on sawhorses so it's taller - I don't have to bend over so much to practice. I put it up today and have already spent over an hour practicing during commercials while watching football.
Good times.
We went to the national championships in St Lous in July, made a fair showing in the games, but more importantly, we were one of the few leagues whose entire membership showed up for the tournament, maybe the only one. I think that went a long way in impressing upon the folks around the country that we were serious about our new league and wanting to make it the best league in the south region, not just being whiny complainers who quit our league because we couldn't get our way.
At the tournament, several amazing door prizes/raffle prizes were awarded - EVERY paid attendee took something home. I won a set of flickmaster premiere bases (which are nice bases), Chris and Calum took home sets superfooty (sort of a subbuteo starter set.) Keith won a bottle of polish. As for the raffle, there were sets of handpainted teams - I won a team that was painted to look like Chivas USA (an MLS team in Los Angeles) that were on some bases called Rex C bi bases (a two piece base - the theory being you can make a heavy, hard bottom piece that slides well and gives a low center of gravity and allows a softer material on the top to give you better touch and control.) The team was painted exquisitely. Unfortunately, Chivas is a rival of FC Dallas and therefore not one of my favorite teams. For you non MLS fans, this would be akin to a Cowboy fan winning an extremely nice electric football set with the New York Giants on it. While it's not as wrong as the Eagles or Redskins, it's still a divisional rival - so it feels like a betrayal every time I play with the set. But I do because I really like the bases, and even if I'm not a fan of Chivas, the artwork is amazing. Last but not least, every club that had at least two members at the tournament was given an Astropitch (high quality stuff) that had hand painted graphics by Jeff Drake of the Saint Louis Subbuteo League (hosts extraordinaire.) The St Louis guys really put on a great tournament.
After the national tournament, Chris and I continued to practice regularly, trying to play at least once a week. I think it's finally starting to pay dividends. I've improved dramatically since the national tournament. I've won competitive games for the first time since then, and the new bases have brought about an improvement in my game that I figured would take many months or over a year to take place. The Lone Star Subbuteo League has started play, we've had two tournaments, and we are doing well. This last tournament, I came in second place and was leading in the tournament final as time was about to expire, but Keith scored a goal on me as the clock ran out to tie it up and send it to overtime. He won in overtime, and I came in second. I'm extremely proud of that result. Getting to the tournament final is a huge achievement for me, and losing to the 8th ranked player in the country after leading most of the game is no embarassment.
In addition to improving my game, I also undertook the task of building my own pitch, or playing surface (for the unwashed masses, a soccer field is called a pitch.) Fortunately, Chris has built two already, and knew what materials would be involved, plus he has a garage and power tools. We got to work a few weeks ago, after I had decided I was going to go with an orange and black look. I chose that because they are the Dutch National Team colors - and I wanted to embrace my partially Dutch heritage. That's why the name of the pitch is Stroopwafel Stadium. My last name is Stroop, which is the Dutch word for syrup.
The playing surface on an MDF board
I'm not a handyman, but I learns good.
Rails are cut, base coat of paint is on.
Black trim painted on
Chris putting putty in the crack
You can see from this picture that we had to cut some funky angles in the end rails where the goals go. Most people cut a 45 degree angle either from the top down toward the middle, or they run the rail all the way to the goal and cut a 45 degree angle mitre cut from the end of the board back out toward the corner of the table. Chris has a saw that cuts compound angles, and we struggled with lots of 1x4 wood getting the angle just right so we could make the end rails as long as possible to keep the ball and players from flying off the pitch, but to allow each player to have maximum mobility with their keeper rod.
Compound Angle
We finally finished it a couple weeks ago, and played our first game on it that night:
Construction Crew
First shot on goal at Stroopwafel Stadium
It plays nice, it's fast but not too slick, it's a nice shade of green, and the color scheme of the rails works well with the playing surface. I still have to do some graphic work on the end rails and letter stenciling on the outside, and make some ad banners for the inside. I'm very pleased. I finally set it up today, on sawhorses so it's taller - I don't have to bend over so much to practice. I put it up today and have already spent over an hour practicing during commercials while watching football.
Good times.
posted by Jeremy at 10/15/2007 01:52:00 AM
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