As part of the Planet Kubb 1st birthday we asked a couple of “Kubbers” if they would write a guest post for us. Today’s post is from Dano, who has been particularly active on Ask Planet Kubb from the beginning and is someone that I sincerely hope I get to meet on the pitch at some point soon!
Around three years ago a group of friends had started an organization called the Kubb Collective, based in New York State’s beautiful Finger Lakes region. They held monthly blind draw tournaments with a $10 buy in. The winners got to donate the money to their favorite charity. I immediately fell in love with the game. I liked the low tech aspect of Kubb and the camaraderie. Being a person who loves athletics, and can’t run around anymore due to bad ankles, it satisfied my thirst for competition. I wanted to get better. I started searching the web for anything Kubb related. I’m willing to bet that I have seen every Kubb video produced, starting with “Hagar the Viking”. Those monthly tournaments became a big part of my life and I looked forward to them while working on my game two or three times a week. Then the Collective disbanded for reasons that probably warrant a post of its own. I was bummed. I was just starting to get good, what now?
It was Kubb limbo, playing the occasional friendly game at picnics and such, but it was not enough. The casual player had no desire to discuss the finer points of the game, and my family would respond with an eye roll and a good natured groan when I tried to strike up a conversation about Kubb. I stopped practicing and began to move on, but I had been bitten by the Kubb bug and thought about it all the time. I headed back to the web looking for forums on Kubb. The ones I did find had little or no activity. Then one day Planet Kubb came up! Holy cow this was it. I found blogs, video, discussions and more; all in one place. It was one stop shopping! Where else can you discuss the finer points of the game with “The Father of USA Kubb”, Champions from the Midwest circuit, and Kubb enthusiast from all over the US and the world? Thank you Planet Kubb for welcoming me in the true sprit of the game.
In honor of the one year anniversary of Planet Kubb I’d like to highlight my favorite moments. First the USA Kubb interviews. They were fun, informative and I learned a lot from the US players and their European counterparts. My favorite quote is from Lode of Team Signalgaton “I’m really good when I’m drunk” that brought a smile to my face for sure. I’m looking forward to more interviews in the coming year. I also enjoyed the charts, graphs, and player stats. They made me think, and gave me a way to measure my progress against the best players in the country. Another highlight was a call from Eric to explain the “And One” theory, an ancient secret philosophy that has been passed down thru time from Soren, to Eric and now, to me. (ed: we are waiting for a Planet Kubb wiki page on this!) Thanks Eric!! The video of the Dallas tournament blew me away. I had to watch it three times in a row to make sure I saw what I thought I saw. On that day a good player became a great one. Recently I returned home from a weekend trip to the Adirondacks and I rushed to the computer to see what happened at the Loppet Tourney. It was all there on Planet Kubb. I enjoyed all the blog posts from the different teams and clubs (this, this, this, this, this, this and this), and I almost felt like I’d been there, thanks!
What really impresses me about the Planet Kubb community is that even though the competition between teams is intense, you are still willing to share tips and strategy. That is something special! Someday I hope to make the trip out west to compete and to meet you all in person. I’m looking forward to another great year. Thanks Planet Kubb for providing my Kubb fix!
Dano / Dan Pritchard