A young California fooser by the name of Brendan
Flaherty found himself paired with a legend. In
1979 at the Tournament Soccer World Championships
held at the famous Radisson in Minneapolis, Minnesota,
Brendan's luck of the draw brought him face to face
with the king of Colorado, Mike "Nerves of
Steel" Bowers. Bowers, having never seen this
rookie, grabbed the forward rods to take control
-- something he was quite accustomed to. Brendan,
not one to disrespect a Champion, quietly but firmly
stated, "Mike, I realize you don't know me
from Jack, but I'm telling you my game right now
is on fire. Give me one chance at the forward position
and I promise you won't regret it. If you do, you
can throw me in the pits any time you choose."
Well Bowers was known for being someone you couldn't
BS, so when he saw that look in the kid from California's
eyes, he surely must have seen hunger and desire.
For Bowers never put Brendan at goalie and they
stormed the 256 team bracket DYP taking 1st place
and setting the stage for Brendan's world championship
weekend. While Brendan would go on to Master status
on the prestigious Tournament Soccer tour and win
professional tournaments, this weekend would be
his crowning glory -- the dream of all "foosers"
to be able to brag someday to the kids that "Dad
was once a world champion."
"You're Brendan Flaherty," stated the
brash blonde kid from Minnesota. "I'm Dave,
Dave Gummeson and pro Kenny Alwell tells me that
either you or I will win this world novice title."
Oh, just how right Ken Alwell was, for Brendan
and his partner Vasquez not only won the title,
but did it the hard way through the losers bracket!
When veteran Johnny Lott recently was reminiscing
with Brendan about that 1979 TS tournament he
recalled a sneaky tactic that had worked so well
for Gummeson's team. Seems Gummeson's goalie had
originated an amazing aerial shot that would toss
the ball off the table resulting in Dave getting
an automatic drop. The rule at the time was anytime
the ball flew off the table it was an automatic
reserve. Well Johnny's question to Brendan was
"How did you overcome that tactic?"
Brendan calmly answered, "Back then TS let
you play foosball... and well, frankly I play
a pretty rough style so it just wasn't that easy
to get it up in the aerial position."
This statement by Brendan reveals much about
the man and what you can expect from Warrior Tournaments.
First his resourcefulness and unwillingness to
be a victim like everyone else that weekend, and
second he's from the old school more represented
by players like Sumption, Wiswell, Furry, Kaiser,
Bednar, Simon and Bowers; players who pushed the
limits and weren't worried whether some one breathed
too hard or challenged them physically on a table.
So get ready because the one thing we at Warrior
Table Soccer can promise you is that on the Warrior
table you will be allowed to "get down and
play" and by that we mean foosball not chess!
On the business side Warrior CEO Brendan Flaherty
has covered the entire gambit. According to Brendan,
"Johnny Lott and I first talked about doing
something over a beer at a famous local bar in
Hermosa Beach (The Pitcher house) in 1985. About
the same time I was in a successful magazine venture
called California Green, which Kathy Brainard
so kindly wrote an article for. I was looking
to do something in foosball, but was turned down
flat by Johnny Lott," Brendan says. He continues,
"If I've learned anything in life it's that
everything is about timing -- and the timing wasn't
right."
Brendan went on to found a number of successful
businesses including a venture capital firm, a
commodities firm, a rare sports collectable firm,
a securities and stock brokerage firm and finally
his current and most successful venture Warrior
Custom Golf. Brendan said "I finally felt
I was in a position to re-approach Johnny Lott
and this time we were both in the same mindset,
that nothing exciting was happening in the foosball
world and it was time to shake things up!"
Brendan Flaherty resides in Laguna Beach California
with his beautiful wife Toni of 15 years and his
three children Dillon 11, Destiny 8, and Devon
4. His daughter Tara is 18 years of age and currently
a student at Florida State University.
