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Post by Tim Lewis on Sept 18, 2008 19:11:25 GMT -5
IMO if armwrestling is just a bit of fun, how come so many people spend so much money to travel so far for it, I play football (soccer) every now and then for fun but i don't sacrifice nights out drinking and partying to travel 500 miles for a game, i do however get up 3 hours before work every day to train, not go out partying and drinking and i do spend every spare penny i have on traveling to and competing in competitions. I don't armwrestle for fun or money i do it to be better than the guy across the table from me. I do beleive that one day, especially with all the work Neil Pickup is doing with Fighters Inc and Eurosport that we will have a sport that can provide a living for those who are good enough to earn it, just the same as every other sport. Why do people travel so far? Because the best of the best are disbursed throughout the country....because some people want to compete more than once in a year in there hometown. To hang out with their arm wrestling friends and have a good time both on and off the table. That's why. Some of us are fortunate to have promoters living around our areas and don't have to travel as often to pull. Some areas (West Texas, Great Lakes region to name a few) are lacking in the number of quality events that get run) and in order to change that it takes dedicated promoters to step up and get things running! In soccer, golf, bowling, racquetball, pool or any other sport (which could also be considered a hobby) you'll find at least 100 people in your hometown to compete against for fun..just go down to your local YMCA. In armwrestling, this doesn't work. You might be able to convince 2 or 3 guys to check the sport out or go to a local tournament or practice...but odds are 75% they drop out or find it boring compared to x and y and z...they don't love it as much as we do. Until armwrestling becomes cool...something everyone wants to do...we aren't going to get "big." What makes it uncool? We'll I don't know a lot of things, but that's not really what I'm posting about. Will it ever happen? I hope so and I think that's why we keep talking about it. Now a realist would say no way. I would say probably not but if we don't keep trying then we will never get there. Not all of us have the energy of the energizer bunny to keep going and going and going...but for those blessed with that gift...keep doing your thing because we need you. I love "the arm wrestling experience" for what it is. I am getting better but am very far from the best. There is something a lot bigger in this sport for me than winning. I think most of us would realize it too if we stepped back at thought for 5 minutes. I mean if I didn't go to Hawthorne, NV I was probably going to sit back and party with 5 or 6 buddies at their house and go to the bar later anyway. Driving out there 12 hours and doing the things we did out there was way better than that. I'm not going to be able to do it (leave home whenever I want for a tournament) forever once I get a real job so I might as well enjoy it while I still can.
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Post by Tim Lewis on Sept 16, 2008 14:36:52 GMT -5
The finals are set up so that the no one can win on a single technically..(i.e. a bad call, double elbow foul, one fluke missed go, etc.)
but it def. brings endurance into the equation more so than if we stuck with trad. double elimination.
There is no question that for the fans it's great..and I think that the pros outweigh the cons for the competitors.
see everyone there.
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Post by Tim Lewis on Sept 16, 2008 3:39:38 GMT -5
I second this...I am a member of ArmTv b/c I want Gary to continue to do what he is doing and realize he can't without $$$$. I could easily get ArmTv for free but I believe in what he is doing too much to allow myself to do so.
I consider my membership an investment in the sport....many will disagree but I don't care.....I pay for what Gary does b/c I believe in it (even though I do disagree with him on many things)..that's all I have to say....
see you all in Kansas City...it's going to be awesome.
-tim
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Post by Tim Lewis on Sept 16, 2008 3:35:15 GMT -5
steve, denver is about an 8 hr drive from el paso
chris I'm suprised you weren't here...see you in kc though, lol.
Jeff, great advertising, great venue, as always.
Corey and Jess Hurley, you performed well as usual, see in in KC. Call me for training anytime most of the time I ain't doing nothing so the 2 hr drive is nothing and well worth it.
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Post by Tim Lewis on Sept 15, 2008 17:51:39 GMT -5
Gary I'd be glad to debate it with you on camera next time. It seems that the women and children thing Karen cleared up and I agree totally.
The reason I got hyped up in Nevada is because it was the first time you decided to do one of your hyped up challenge matches with someone in your own weight class who wasn't a kid. No one realized how darn tired the guy was until we got halfway through the match.
I'm not saying that anything is wrong with your personality but it seems as though you give all of your matches special attention as if "omg the camera guy is armwrestling don't let him beat you." It seems like all of these matches you need some type of advantage to where you feel like you can win (whether its women, children, fatigue, whatever).
Tom Dixon is certainly an exception to the rule, he is way out of his league for his age. I'm sure you could pull on him fatigued with both arms though and it wouldn't matter. Never got a chance yet to meet the kid yet but I know some of the names he has beaten...wow...maybe in Kansas City.
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Post by Tim Lewis on Sept 15, 2008 3:01:39 GMT -5
that is true Jake but it is wasn't until we were halfway through it that I realized what was really going on. Me and Brody had a long match during the tournament. I thought it was all theater at first.
I agree with you that Gary had never claimed to be an armwrestler but I think now he is legitmately trying to become one (slowly of course) at least at the beginner level.
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Post by Tim Lewis on Sept 15, 2008 1:46:25 GMT -5
pulling him would have been fine but under the circumstances that you did, absolutely not.
Put bluntly, if you want to pull that's awesome. Enter novice classes like you did here in Denver. Act like a normal compeititor. Don't go up to the table with an unnecessary theatrical presentation. If you do this and train you will become a better competitior. Don't act different than any else and gloat on the board about every match you had. If you win, great. If you lose, well we all lose too (even the best lose sometimes).
However, your challenge matches after tournaments are inapproriate. First of all, no one is fresh and people are at various levels of worn out so your matches don't count. Second off, you made a bad name for yourself for a while armwrestling women and children not to mention a horrible accident.
In a nutshell, your filming is great. If you want to pull, enter the tourney (with the Tournament Directors permission of course) but do not draw unnecessary extra attention to yourself at the table or add it as a seperate segment on the ArmTV footage of tournaments.
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Post by Tim Lewis on Sept 14, 2008 22:40:54 GMT -5
Gary I'm glad you finally decided to enter a event. And yes there is a huge difference between pulling in a practice environment and a tournament environment and you finally know what it feels like. Clearly going around filming events you are going to want to get your hands dirty in the sport a little bit, I don't have a problem with that.
The thing is though that there is a right and wrong way to go about doing this...the past is the past (i hope) but seeing that you finally entered a tournament here in Denver after that Nevada "situation" is a hint that maybe you are finally understanding what the right way is.
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Post by Tim Lewis on Sept 14, 2008 22:34:14 GMT -5
being at this venue for the toproll event I will say that this event is def in the center of a "party" atmosphere.
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Post by Tim Lewis on Sept 11, 2008 3:47:21 GMT -5
I did in 2006 and 2007 not this year. We had a strap match I think it's on ArmTV. My company had me working in New Orleans for part of the summer and I came over there for the weekend since it was during that time.
I live in Denver now during the school year.
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Post by Tim Lewis on Sept 10, 2008 20:54:08 GMT -5
jess what classes are you pulling?
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Post by Tim Lewis on Sept 10, 2008 2:34:33 GMT -5
any idea on rates denise. I booked my flight for this over a month ago.
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Post by Tim Lewis on Sept 10, 2008 2:33:21 GMT -5
I can't wait..this is going to be a big tournament. I'm bringing 2 new guys from school. There pretty pumped about it.
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Post by Tim Lewis on Sept 8, 2008 17:35:08 GMT -5
John, great idea. I just signed up.
Nice meeting you in Dallas last month by the way. We had some really good matches.
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Post by Tim Lewis on Sept 8, 2008 13:52:05 GMT -5
You and your family are in my prayers.
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