RICKOCHET - Interview with Rick Reese


	An Interview by Scott Russell

With all the blabber about a changing of the guard in open freestyle competition, the footbag community sits poised to see the last of its first generation of superstars stand down. However, in a triumphant objection at this summer's World Championships, one of the game's long-standing guards decided that his shift wasn't quite over yet.
This wake-up call, in the form of his first Open Singles Championship since 1988, came from veteran Rippin' Rick Reese and, on the hunch that when a player makes a statement like that, he probably isn't done talking, Footbag World (specifically, me) barged in on Reese's only day off and forced him to talk footbag for a little while--an experience only marginally less painful for him than being forced to play footbag for a little while.
During my visit I came across the following piece of fan mail that seemed to say more than I could about the sphere of Reese's influence within the sport. [Don't tell Rick though, 'cause I had to rifle through some of his personal belongings when he stepped out of the room in order to get my hands on it.] No names have been changed to protect anybody so I hope I don't get in trouble for this.

August 15, 1996 To Rick, "Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, determination, and skilled execution." Congratulations on your accolades from Worlds. You are poetry in motion. As Ryan Mulroney's mother, I want you to know what a hero you are to Ryan and young people like him. I have three teens around here who do things because of Rippin Rick Reese. Two of them have never met you, but from video imitate your style. Being a hero is not always an asked for position, but you seem to wear the honor nobly. Ryan was quite impressed not only with your talent, but also with your willingness to help him. "Nothing is so potent as the silent influence of good example." Thank you. Keep up the good work.
Sincerely, Marcia Mulroney

I've heard it said that freestyle is a sport for show-offs. What's your response to a comment like that?
Oh, yea like "Hacky Hog?" Most people who are good at freestyle are showmen anyway. Look at Pete (Irish) and Tim (Kelly). Those guys are doing their own shows and are pretty successful with it. It depends on what kind of group you're in to. If I'm with a bunch of people who aren't really, really good like at a festival or something then I'll try not to hog it too much - just do a few tricks and pass it on. But it's great to just show-off 'cause you feed off the energy of the crowd and it just builds. I like freestyle because you can do it pretty much anywhere and get a big group of people watching you play. To me there's more satisfaction doing that.
Is this attitude part of what led to the creation of the Big Add Posse?
Well, the founding father of that was Joey Shaffer. I guess he thought the original seven members were the only people who were really into doing the hardest tricks and pushing themselves the most. There was a little heat 'cause we wanted to push people and the sport to the next level and that's basically what we were doing. We wanted people to try to get into this club and finally we received some respect at one of the Worlds when the top eight places were all Big Add Posse. We never had any negative intentions. I want the BAP to be huge. Everybody go guiltless!
You've certainly contributed your share to that goal. Are there many freestyle moves that you've personally invented?
Well, the torque was one move that Kenny (Shults) and I invented at the exact same time here in Fort Collins. I think it was back in '87. I know I invented a lot of the symposium moves, the paradox moves, and the ripstein and the ripwalk were both moves that were named after Rippin', obviously. Actually, Joey Shaffer helped me with a lot of moves. He was the thinker. He'd think of them and he'd have me do them. That went on for a couple of years.
Your competitive routines have generally been much less conservative than most pros. What's the philosophy behind that?
Yea, I think it's more or less just a personal thing, ya know? I always felt like I went for the harder moves, but obviously that's why I didn't win for a long time. Tryin' to do harder tricks, I was probably not as smooth as Pete or some of the other guys.......kind of a herky jerky-type player. I guess that's probably how I got my nickname, just being crazy.
Well, it seemed to work pretty well for you at last Worlds though, huh?
I wasn't completely happy with my routine at worlds, the one that won. I had a rough first round and the second one was OK. Then I came back strong and hit the two fives in a row.
which were.....
Well, there was a line in my music that says "The supernatural is not supposed to exist, right?......but it does." and then I went from a symposium whirling swirl to a symposium paradox whirl. In circles that's something that people have hit before, but in a routine it was really unheard of. The door was kinda open for me at Worlds this year. Nobody really hit dropless or super smooth. It was fun,....a great moment for sure.
You also changed team freestyle partners at this year's Worlds for the first time in a while. What was up with that?

It was Kenny and me for '92, '93, '94 and '95, but the problem is, being long distance, it's nearly impossible to put something good together. I felt like maybe Kenny and I were going for stuff that was too hard or something. Not enough practice perhaps, I don't know. Daryl (Genz) was nearby and, although a really hard core freestyler, he'd never done team before. I thought, it's gonna be hard, but let's try it. I don't think we did as good as I thought we would. We had a great first round routine and just choked in finals. So it was a bit ironic taking third in team after putting all that time into it and taking first in singles after not putting as much time into it.

...and all this on an injured knee?
The doctor recommended ibuprofen, so I was always taking that. I think I was on about 6-8 a day, which the doctor said was fine, so I think that probably helped me get through the tournament. During a routine a lot of adrenaline flows, so the pain didn't bother me.
What's the root of the trouble?
Actually, in '86 while I was still in high school I was playing basketball at lunch and we used to be pretty aggressive. I hit knees with some guy and I guess it was my anterior cruciate something-or-other. So I had to get arthroscopic surgery and over ten years of time the wear and tear just got to me I guess. I've actually had two injuries from basketball that have stuck with me for years, my left quad has a deep bruise that never heeled right. I also tore ligaments in both my ankles, but they're fine. Footbag really helps the ankles. I've fought through injuries before, but this is by far the worst one I've had.
I talked to Peter Irish and he's like, "So you gonna retire now?" I don't know 'cause I still haven't gotten a word on what's going on with the operations and stuff. I'll play as long as I can. I still love it. I just don't know how much longer I can play and get better. But that's alright as long as you're having fun.
So it sounds like you'll be taking some time off from footbag one way or another?
I don't know though, with these young kids coming up, it's hard to stay with 'em. It's a tough decision. I know I'm gonna get the knee operation, I just don't know when. My regular doctor thinks that I can rehab it and avoid the operation. He said the operation would put me on crutches for three months. That was scary.
Is this the longest stretch you've gone without kicking?
No. One year back in '90 or '91 I took about six months off, but then people started getting so much better and it was impossible to take that much time off.
You mean it's much tougher to keep up with the competition than it used to be?
Yea, with all the video recording going on, it's so much easier for people to see what there is now. It's so much easier to push yourself, 'cause you don't have to invent anything. You can invent different combinations of tricks, but the basic foundation has been set for a few years now.
If I had been forced to do three point tricks when I first started I would've gotten so much better. I never played guiltless until everybody else did, so Kenny and I and some of the other guys didn't really have a huge advantage at that point because we never played that way anyway.
When Pete Irish came along in, I think it was 1990, when he was basically a nobody, I was helping him at Worlds. Then the next year he came back unbelievable - he just caught on so quick. Obviously he's been a top guy ever since and an inspiration to me. He's still probably considered to be the smoothest kicker out there. And then you've got Ahren Gehrmann. Boy, he's incredible - how fast he learned. In one year he went from doing a few three add moves with really no link to basically being able to hit anything and coming up with a lot of new combinations.
Yea, freestyle has come a long way in a short time. What are your earliest recollections of the game?
It was actually the fourth of July in '85. I was still just a recreational kicker, but I thought I was a hot shot. I could do some flying clippers and stuff....didn't know what anything was called. I went to the park with a friend of mine and there was this Hacky Sack and Frisbee festival going on. So I said I'm gonna check these guys out and it was actually Pat Beiber and Kenny Shults, who were partners back then. They went out there and I was so astonished. It was just incredible what I saw......
Do you remember what they were doing?
Oh, yea. Clear. Kenny was doing the toe stalls and the 'round-the-worlds and the mirages and all the basic stuff...and he was doing clipper stalls, which I had never seen. It kinda brought me back to earth 'cause I thought I was pretty good. I actually snuck myself into the circle with Kenny and watched him a little bit. I couldn't do anything. He wouldn't even remember that. I was just another guy in the circle.
The [Intermountain] tournament was the following two days, which was the first tournament I'd ever competed in. I actually kicked 1,053 consecutives and I think that was fifth place and did my first toe stall that day. So, I kinda just went from there. I got a video that had some of Kenny's old freestyle and I just practiced and practiced by myself. I had played like 3-4 hours a day, every day. I was addicted to it. I couldn't stop. Then I went to my first freestyle tournament in March of '86 in San Diego. When I got out there I could do everything I had seen Kenny do. So I just came out of nowhere basically and they were like, "Holy cow, who is this guy." I took seventh and they took the top six to the finals.
There aren't many pro freestylers near Fort Collins, so you must have to do a lot of traveling, huh?
For a while there I went to probably six tournaments a year. Location is actually a big problem for every freestyler, except for maybe the Bay Area. There are people spread out everywhere.
Have you ever considered relocating to be closer to other players?
Yea, I thought about moving to San Francisco, but never really pursued it that much. Dennis Jones has been a huge inspiration to me. I wanted to be closer to him and a few other people, but a few things happened here and I ended up just sticking around.
Have you always lived in Fort Collins?
Well, I was born in Lincoln, Nebraska and moved here when I was four. My dad died in a car wreck when I was 1 1/2 so I've been kind of a momma's boy, ya know. I appreciate everything she's done, supporting me in footbag and stuff. She's been to a lot of World Championships and when Intermountain was here in town she'd have everybody over. It's been nice. It's a great place with a lot of things to do.
I've always had the impression that you're more diversified into activities outside of footbag then most other pros I hear about.
Well, I've played basketball on a lot of league teams. I played in high school, but I got cut from the team as a sophomore. I went out again as a senior and got cut again. I couldn't believe it. I thought it was a conspiracy. I never stopped playing, but I'd always get injured. I played basketball with Kenny (Shults) before too. He was pretty good. Really aggressive, good dribbler, shooter.
So, yea, I did that and then mountain biking was a love of mine for a while. I've been juggling for a while too. It's a lot of fun. I just spent three hundred some-odd bucks on juggling stuff because I can't kick really. There's a lot of other things....freestyle inline skating was something I was into and then the snakeboard, of course...that was dangerous. I got injured on that too.
What about footbag net?
I competed in the Ozark's Open tournament back in 1993 with Bart [Eric Bartholomay] as my partner and we won in doubles. That was basically the highlight of my net career. It was nice to learn from Bill Bethurum, Scott Cleere, and Randy Nelson when they lived around here. They were a big help, but I just haven't had anyone to play with since then. I was so into net at one point that I used to set up the net by myself and practice spikes and serves. If I wanted to play now I'd have to drive down to Wash Park (Denver).
Is event specialization getting so intense that players who want to remain competitive in the open division are being forced to choose between the footbag disciplines?
Yea, mainly because of time. The time it takes to get good at net is probably equal to the time it takes to get good at freestyle. Well, maybe its a little harder to get good at freestyle, but I'm a little biased (laughs). I think it's gotta go in that direction. I mean it definitely has with freestylers. Kenny's the only one who plays at a top level in both because he's been around for so long and played net for so many years. But yea, there's gonna be a few people who wanna go for all around, but it really doesn't mean much anymore.
Women's freestyle is having a little trouble nowadays in terms of participation. What do you think that's all about?
It seems like women really get into the net game more. With the exception of Sam Conlon and Carol Wedemeyer, there are a lot more hard core net players than freestylers on the women's side. I'm not sure what we can do to promote it because it's so difficult at the beginning. How many people want to keep pushing themselves after trying the same trick hundreds of times and still not perfecting it? So damn frustrating! It's a lot easier to put the footbag on the shelf and go play net or ride a bike or go fly a kite. Let's get real. Freestyle is one of the hardest things in the world to get good at. I've tried and become good at many other things in a shorter period of time. It boils down to mental desire, willingness to go through major pain, major sweat, and hey, you're not gonna make any money doing it either. A person has got to practice endlessly, by themselves to get good at this sport. In my opinion, it's only the people who truly love the sport of freestyle who are going to get good at it.
There's a good faction of top-notch freestylers who choose not to play competitively. Is there any friction between those who do and those who don't?
I don't know. There may be a little bit. There's three or four people who don't compete that I think probably should, but that's their prerogative. Actually, those guys are good so they give the rest of us a better chance (laughs). Everybody has there own reasons for that I think. A lot of it stems back to the judging system a few years back. I remember times when maybe someone should have made the next round and someone else shouldn't have, but because of how long they'd been around they got in based on reputation. That's disheartening. You put a little time into a routine and then you're passed up, it's like "Great! Well, screw it! I'm not even gonna do the routines any more." The pressure's another thing. A lot of those people probably don't want to deal with the pressure and putting the time into figuring out the music and going out there. I don't blame them. I've thought about it a few times too. "Awe, I'm not gonna compete. I'm just gonna play."
It's become really popular to criticize the freestyle judging system. Does it deserve the abuse it takes?
I feel like the point system has improved over the past couple of years and is pretty cut and dry at this point. There are still a few gray areas though. People who first start really need to learn the point system and it's gonna help them improve and understand the game a bit more. The judges are players as well and it's really hard to teach them how to judge. [Tournament organizers] are just throwing people into certain (judging) cards. I mean the composition part, maybe it's a little bit easier, but choreography is a whole different story. There should be some more formal training. Boy, it's so hard and it's such a huge discussion. There's been a lot of debate and I don't know which direction it's headed, but I feel like it's been pretty good over the past few years.
Would it help to have outside judges as opposed to player/judges?
That's not realistic. You have to have people who play, but that becomes tough at tournaments when you get disgruntled people who didn't make the cut having to judge. I don't think as many judges should be used. You've got two huge panels. It seems like that could be cut back a little bit.
Has the judging system ever failed you personally?
All in all it's been pretty fair to me. One year, and this is by popular opinion, maybe I got ripped off by not making finals (at Worlds in 1994). I was trying to sneak a look at some of the judging cards, but we watched [the routines] later and it was probably pretty close.
Is this kind of thing solved with video verification?
I don't know. I think that for the spectators that would probably take too long. They want results right away. For this sport to grow it has to be adapted more toward the spectator.
What else is gonna help the sport grow?
Here's a couple of things I'd like to see. I'd like to see Footbag World magazine on every newspaper stand in the country. The other thing is for a professional athlete to promote the sport. Someone like an Agassi or Jordan or somebody. I don't know how that's gonna happen, but they've got the kind of money it would take to put on a tournament. I mean, if I won the lottery I'd put on the biggest tournament ever.

On-Line Edition by Steven L. Goldberg, January, 1997.