If you came for advice this time, you're gonna be let down.  I'm going to talk real shit today, not just rant.  A huge event that has deeply touched my soul just took place and I feel the need to share.  A family came together with strangers and a beautiful thing occured.  Strangers from across the United States came together as a family for a singular purpose.  

I recently had the honor of attending and working the A.G.R.O. 2011 superpull.  This event started small five years ago in Rick Pierceall's back yard.  It later moved to Melrose Park, Gary's Spot in Tomball, and this year at the Ground Hall.  The search for the perfect venue has been ongoing and dramatic at times, but has been consistently more impressive than the year before.  It seems regardless of the ammount of room we have to use, it's just enough for us to utilize completely.

In the begining it was just a small group of folk who didn't give a damn about a sports event but wanted something special that they could call their own and drop their ties to the rest of the world and show each other how even in the torment of their bodies they could pull together.  Rick and Angela Pierceall, Miss Ouch, Mike Kelton, and Kieran Diedrich have kept this tradition alive, thriving, and evolving.  

The hub has been a fluid concept since the beginning.  The first year was 18 people tied to an aluminum hub.  The second the hub returned with a full 24 people on it.  Obviously, with this event getting a little bigger in the previous years, something more extravagant was needed for the third.  A trampoline tarp was acquired and we managed to rig 36 people to it last year.  Epically, it withstood an assault by Arwen "Spliff" Rosa jumping in the middle and came apart from the forces of our mighty titans of flesh ripping the attaching links from the trampoline itself!  A 2' circle of chain was used with varying lengths of cord to connect 54 people this year in a circle measuring 50' across.   The participants took hooks in their forearms, backs, chests, even face and throat (I'm looking at you, Neil Chakribarti.) and gave it all they had.  

There were 5 major suspension teams represented this year.  AGRO Houston, AGRO Tulsa, TSD, Hanging City, and (With the enigmatic and energetic appearance of Robbie Drip,) DisgraceLand Hook Squad.  Our teams were able to work out a functioning piercing and cleanup squad, getting all the hooks thrown in roughly an hour and a half.  This included many people taking extra hooks for suspending afterwards and is amazing when you consider that our team alone brought and used near 100 hooks.   The event grew to such an amazing size we had to change venue plans to accomodate the population.  We started out the night strangers with nametags and ended up crying as our newly discovered family parted ways.  

There were many memorable moments during the night.  I wasn't able to witness them all fully, but I saw enough to recall a few.  Reanna Pierceall suspended for the first time.  As the "AGRO Princess" and heir to the throne, she did amazingly well.  She unhesitatingly ran into her first suicide with a smile on her face.  The superhuman face of niel enhanced by the ripping open of his third eye is beyond dramatic.  Very few moments rang as loud as the serenity of John "Krishna" White suspending in dim silence and the tears of many.   The moment of recognition between people I had known online and were now meeting in person, friends in theory now family in flesh.   

I'm getting a bit teary eyed writing this, so I'll close with a grin.  Next year will be bigger and better.  More people will come and we will do it again.  Some big thanks to a lot of people I haven't already named...A few I'd like to mention by name and give you a reson why they rock;  Allen Falkner - Living legend and the director of TSD, Khris Harding - Venue hunter and AGRO Sideshow director,  Hangin' City - as a whole, these guys rocked!  I have never had an easier time working with other teams than these guys,  Harley Graber - Worked his ass off, Finally and mostly, the Pierceall family and AGRO - if it wasn't for these guys it never would have happened.

- kciR

ps. I am a fan of the donkey show =)

pps. Never text Adam to do something after he's had a bottle of Jager in him...

kciR (aka Rick) has been warned, flagged heavily, and then finally banned from the forums for his natural tendency to be an asshole. Unfortunately, he also provides a great amount of helpful advice, so what do we do? We bring him aboard as our first columnist!

Copyright © 2023 BodyMod.org. Permission is granted to reprint this article in its entirety as long as credit is retained and usage is non-commercial. Requests to publish edited or shortened versions must be confirmed in writing. For bibliographical purposes this article was first published February 9, 2011 in New York City, US.

I hope someone sees the humor in this =)