I have played with Barry once, and he was really easy to play with. The conversation was minimal, but we were playing a competitive round. He used to patronize our A-Tier tournament every year, but I think he decided to stick it out up north that time of year recently. Genuinely a good guy.
I have been around Nikko since he was a little guy looking up to all of us local "Pros". He has always been a competitive spark plug, but that is just the way his game works best...he has to get fired up or he loses some edge. I am sure that everyone can see that he is getting much better at this facet of his game. When he came back through town after the Brent Hambrick, I remember him saying that he had a hard time keeping his edge with the huge galleries every round, because he felt like he couldn't let the fire out too much. Oh well, I still get major goose-bumps when I know I get to play on his card...it is almost like playing with your younger brother and loving the fact that you are getting butt stomped!
I met The Champ on the practice basket at Hudson Mills back in about '96 at the DGLO and was very unimpressed. I guess he felt that since there was no one else to hear him that it was allright to to throw some insults at me. Maybe he didn't mean it that way, but too late.
Otherwise, Paul Ulibarri (won a random draw doubles playoff against Nikko with him) is super friendly. Where did Todd Branch go (another Hudson Mills product)? How about Scott Stokely - he might be my alltime favorite...