Columnist Ray Routhier wrote a feature on us and our epic quest, which ran on PAGE ONE!!...of the local section of the Sunday paper. So besides getting calls from my Mom and a few ex-girlfriends still living in the greater Portland area, we've also gotten some fan mail. Just one of the many:
Hi all,
Read about your quest in the Maine Sunday Telegram (which should be
named the Southern Maine Sunday Telegram since they neglect to
include any news that happens north of Augusta)...anyway, hopped on
your site and loved it!
I have just one thing to say....LizzyJo ears a striking resemblance
to David Grohl...hmmmm.
Rock on guys and I hope they show up.
A Big Shout Out from Portland Maine!
For the last time Lizzyjo is NOT related to Dave. Jeez louise. The only person she's related to that she also looks like is her twin sis Kristina. And they talk alike too. It's almost creepy but sort of hot.
So a big thank you to Mr. Routhier for taking the time, effort, ink, etc to help us out and get the publicity out there. Much appreciated. For those that haven't seen it:
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/mainelife/stories/070513column.html#begin
And for those who haven't mastered the art of link clicking:
Bloggers unafraid of looking Foo-less
Sunday, May 13, 2007
FOOS FOR THOUGHT
PORTLAND RESIDENT Josh Kanter and two of his friends have set up a Web site and blog to challenge the rock band Foo Fighters to a kickball game on July 1 in San Francisco.
TO FIND OUT more about the challenge, and read blog postings, go online at www.foosonfirst.com.
If you blog it, they will come?
That's what Josh Kanter, a 24-year-old Portlander going to college in San Francisco, is trying to find out. Kanter and some friends are engaged in an experiment to test the enormous power of the Internet to bridge worlds, to act as a global Town Hall where everybody has an equal vote.
The components for this experiment include the Internet, a park, a kickball and a rock group.
Here's how it works: Kanter and two friends he goes to grad school with set up a Web site where they formally announced that they are challenging members of the rock band Foo Fighters to a kickball game on July 1 in San Francisco's Dolores Park. The Web site (www.foosonfirst.com) and accompanying blog explains what they're trying to do and keeps track of the interest and publicity their experiment is generating.
So why, you may ask, don't they just call the Foo Fighters' publicity people and try to schedule a match?
"It would be cheating," said Kanter, a Deering High graduate. "It would also suck all the creativity and thrill out of this project. We're confident that spreading the word of the game through small sites around the world will eventually reach them in a way that no other media ever could. Think of the effect a few e-mails to their publicist would have, versus thousands of bloggers and (Foo Fighter) fans around the globe keeping a close eye on our quest."
Hmm. Sounds like Kanter has thought about this. He is in grad school for advertising copy writing, after all, so this is right up his alley. His point makes sense to me.
My feeling, from trying to interview musicians and actors and the like myself, is that most are not likely to respond to a kickball challenge from a fan. But if the Foo Fighters -- wacky, creative guys themselves -- see this as a way to do something no other band has done, they may just go for it.
I have to say here that I'm not a technology guy. This constant barrage of newer, faster, smaller gizmos that all do the same thing pretty much is beyond me.
I have no desire to watch TV on a phone, when I can watch it on a TV. And I have no desire to type messages into some handheld device, which I imagine would take me hours based on my very non-nimble fingers. I'll just say my words over a phone, thank you very much.
But this experiment I like. What Kanter and his friends are onto here is using technology to prove the power of human thought. Give a thought a worldwide platform, and see what it can do.
Is the experiment working so far? Well, when I checked their blog recently (www.fooson
first.blogspot.com), I saw that some radio hosts in Atlanta want to do updates on the kickball challenge's progress every time they play a Foo Fighters' song.
The Web site St. Louis Today has written them up, and of course their challenge is being talked about on Foo Fighter message boards and blogs from as far away as England.
They've gotten hundreds of e-mails from people. Most are supportive, some negative. They got one from a guy who demanded that Kanter and his friends take down the site because he challenged Foo Fighters' member Dave Grohl to a chess match seven years ago and he feels his idea is being stolen. Grohl never showed up for the chess match.
Someone else e-mailed to say she was holding off on her plans to study abroad because she wants to attend the game.
You may ask, "Have the Foo Fighters or their management heard about all this yet?" Well, I don't know. I didn't want to ruin the experiment by calling them or their PR people.
So far, Kanter's team consists of him and his two grad school friends -- Liz Russo and Nathan Riley -- plus Russo's identical twin sister and a guy from Chicago named Brad who read about their challenge and suggested the name they now use for their Web site -- Foos On First.
But they're looking for more teammates as well. The Foo Fighters are a three-man band, and it's unclear if they'll bring other kickballers.
Kanter and his friends singled out the Foo Fighters because they are big fans, and because the band has a reputation for being fun-loving. I suppose this experiment wouldn't have a chance if they challenged somebody with a reputation for shunning publicity. I don't think Sean Penn, for instance, would come out to kick the ball around on a July afternoon.
As for the choice of kickball for this experiment, well, it is sort of hip among young adults. There are national groups running leagues, and lots of city rec departments have kickball, too. Kanter says he and his friends aren't in a league, they play for fun.
Kanter developed his kickballing skills in gym class at the Lyman Moore Middle School in Portland, and now he's ready to take his game to a bigger stage.
Kanter says he expects lots of people to show up at the park July 1, even if the Foo Fighters don't, and there will be a game either way. Will he be disappointed if there are no Foos on first?
"(We will) play anyway, there will be more than enough people there, and I'll tell the story to every other Foo Fighters' fan I meet the rest of my life, and my grandkids," Kanter said.
Staff Writer Ray Routhier can be contacted at 791-6454 or at:
