PART 80

What I usually say to this is: try telling that to a rider on a single wheel cycle.

PART 79

It may be further argued though,that if you pass the ball quickly, then no one clashes with you for the ball.

And if you do this smoothly enough then you don't really need prowess as much as intuition to score or stay in the game.

PART 78

I believe there is a case to be made for such an arguement, but only just so. This is because of what is termed the cluster-effect, in XC8 matchups.

What this term means is that in an average- rated matchup, played by average teams, there is a trend of teams clashing and clustering.

This happens as a result of players' lack of prowess on the roller boots and the ball.

PART 77

To be truly good and be one of the greatest, one can't have one without the other.

But some, who only understand the rudiments of the game would argue that if you are very intuitive you could do much more than get by, in an average - rated game.

With all the deft, strategic and blindsided passes you could prove to be a real asset to a winning side.

PART 76

Intuition is more like the sixth sense, the third eye or the eyes behind your head with which you perceive an opponent after you or a proponent you may need to pass the ball to.

While prowess is the ability and agility with which you retain your balance, control and speed.

PART 75

Playing a game that requires a great deal of balance and control as the XC8 game, demands that the players have not only a great deal of intuition but also a great deal of prowess and speed.

PART 74

For the sake of the interest of a wider audience I would digress and elaborate a little more.

PART 73

The same intuition it takes to play a fast game of XC8 is the same it takes to spot a menacing fanatic in the crowd, especially one who is not afraid to let on that he is a threat and should be rightly feared.

But relying on just your intuition to pay a game of XC8 is another matter entirely.

PART 72

I mean intuitively, one could pick out the trouble makers from the whole lot. They are often eager to boast after their own kind and show off their misdemeanour with effrontery.

So it shouldn't have been that difficult for the security details to pick them out from the genuine and enthusing fans.

PART 71

When I look retrospectively at what happened that weekend evening I would often overlook what subsequently happened and would instead try and reckon, how for the life of me, was such an offensive object smuggled into the Arena without the security details getting even an inkling of what was about to happen.

PART 70

Somehow, inspite of the massive presence of security at the entry points to the Arena, he had managed to smuggle in a flare gun and was beginning to brandish the same in defiance of the others around him, who were expectedly shocked and initially restrained.

PART 69

Let me take you back to the Arena.

I believe he was in the fourth row, about three rows behind the one closest to the rail separating the spectating crowd from the play. I was somewhere in the sixth row.

But this gentleman who decided to take matters into his own hands was only less than a stone's throw from me.

PART 68

He would be heckled to bare bones in a minute if he falls into the hands of the wrong fan.

PART 67

Funny?

He prefers the smooth wooden round of the Arena to the crowded seats of the same.

Not so funny when you consider his popularity with some and his infamy with others.

PART 66

For this reason and a few others an immense amount of pressure seems to be on the campaign organisers and the security details assigned to ensure a riot free matchup.

Chaos.

Julio.He prefers a lesser dose of the atmosphere of an XC8 matchup.

PART 65

The XC8 game differs a bit - with the fanaticism, that is. The reason being that, for every square 8 feet in the Arena, is two to four different person supporting two to four different teams.

But then, imagine what would happen if there is an upheaval in the Arena.

PART 64

Now, positive energies are shown in varying ways but the basic human character or behavioural norms are universal. There is a sister game to the XC8 game, that is always played by two opposing sides.

People who troop out to watch such teams often go far...sometimes too far, to show their fanaticisms for the game.

PART 63

This did not deter his earlier decision to watch the matchup above a glass or two and amidst unfamiliar but tolerant enthusiasts...tolerant, even if not friendly.

It may not be too familiar a turf to find him in a local drinking spot that is not exactly within frequently visited whereabouts.

But he expected only positive energy. And bore no antagonism for the opposing teams, nor whoever would be supporting them

PART 62

But who would guess that not for a mile radius from his immediate environ was there any public bar or eatery where the matchup was being shown

PART 61

There is nothing stranger than going out for a drink on an XC8 weekend and there is no matchup on the subscription channel. As it turned out though...Julio Amstern had the subscription in his home but he had neither drinks nor company.


It wasn't for the want of fresh draught or company that he really wanted to go out. It was merely the desire for an atmosphere befeating of a game of such importance as the matchup of the Rootugs, Boomers, Trenchmen and the Drones