I have two things I'd like to discuss about Nationals 2010 with regard to the Spin Top freestyles.
1) Am I correct that in past years the freestyles are open to fixed or bearing? Possibly in part because of a lack of competitors? I could (and will) write why I think it would be much better to have two divisions like at Worlds. Before I go into that, I wanted to confirm that's the way it is, what general consensus is about it, and who's the person in charge that would listen to requests for a change?
2) Playing surface. It was discussed in a previous thread bringing puzzle mats for the competition. I am way so in favor of bringing our own surface, just not that surface. I bought some puzzle mats for my basement and I quickly put them back in the box. When a top lands sideways, even at medium speed, it shoots off very fast. So i'm imagining that surface on the Chico stage, and a top landing sideways could get damaged anyway because it will shoot WELL BEYOND the playing surface, or even at a person, or heaven forbid, A JUDGE.

So, carpet? A low pile carpet? Carpet does has disadvantages - if the player drops the top but it's still spinning on the ground, carpet significantly reduces the precious time the player has to "save" it and keep going. Still, I think carpet is the lesser of the three evils (concrete being the third). Obviously, nobody is going to take a roll of carpet with them on a plane, so I was thinking about purchasing carpet in Chico and donating it to Bob, if he has a place to store it. We could of course discuss size and type of carpet, but I'm not sure if anybody agrees?