Trouble in Vegas
Last weekend, Miranda and I played in the club version of the Trouble in Vegas tournament. Based on our experiences, I thought it would be nice to give college teams a heads up as to what to expect when they return this coming weekend for the college tournament. So, this post will be a recap of our weekend with some tips thrown in that could be applicable for next weekend.
Mir and I had created a team of players from around the country that we'd played with or against in college. The team name was Lawless Guile Committee, which was an anagram for "we miss college ultimate." Awwww, so cute. We only had 13 players on the final roster, but they were from 7 different schools, including some major rivalries: Texas, UC-San Diego, Stanford, Washington, Purdue, Wisconsin, and Carleton represent.
Many of the players had never met before, but some quality team bonding on Friday night and some rounds of the "box drill" at the field helped us all get acquainted. We also had to rally together in the first game to overcome our 0-3 deficit after being assessed points for being half an hour late to the fields.
Speaking of the fields, the rumors are true. They are very dry, very scratchy, and I wish I'd remembered to pack my turf shoes along with my cleats. While club players might have self-preservation in their mind when considering laying-out, I predict that the college kids playing next weekend are going to be ruined unless they wear tights and long sleeves. Watch out for broken glass in the endzone too.
We ended up winning our pool and the cross-over game, although we were down at half to both the Berkeley reunion team and the Canadians. Losing to Berkeley once in my life is enough for me (Regionals finals 2003), so I'm especially glad we pulled that one out. To celebrate, we had a team dinner at the Gold Coast's buffet. The food was good for $12 total, and coupons for free wine helped us get over the fact that we had to peel the shrimp ourselves. It was time to hit up the tournament pre-party for our free drink before hitting the Strip.
I don't really know what to say about Saturday night on the Strip as it all seems a bit of a blur. It was really fun to run into people from the tournament at different bars, clubs, and casinos, all amidst the over-the-top extravagance that is Vegas. However, unless you enjoy paying $8-12 for a drink, I don't recommend trying to buy drinks at some of the classier joints--although definitely check them out at least (for instance, the Conservatory at the Bellagio was pretty sweet, even if the big dog was rather creepy). A couple more words of advice: if you want to go dancing in the Bellagio, leave the boys at home. It was easy to get in free of charge and without waiting in line if you were missing the Y chromosome. Sorry 'bout it, guys. Also, if you're staying at the Gold Coast, keep track of your keys or make new friends with other people who kept track of their keys. You can't actually get into the hotel portion of the building without one...
Sunday morning's games started out late and hungover as well, although the Viva women were less into the whole assessing points thing than Rogue was the day before. Sunday was marked by pretty strong winds. Half the fields were oriented one direction (upwind-downwind), while the other half had more of a cross-wind. If either day is that windy next weekend, be ready for teams to punt and zone and the games to be capped. Playing lots of zone and 1-3-3, we made it to the finals after beating the team from Atlanta. I think they only had 8 women at the tournament, which must have been rough. Sidenote: Katherine Wooten's forehand is ridiculous--I think she even pulled flick.
We rematched the Canadian team, Felions, in the finals. At this point the Superbowl was about to start and all the other games were over. It's a good thing we didn't have many spectators since the game was a turnover fest. I believe the final score was 21-18 for the LGC. After not winning a single cent in Vegas, I guess winning the tournament wasn't too bad. Although, I still wish I'd found out about the penny slots at O'Shay's earlier...
All in all, this was one of my most fun tournament experiences, so I hope that the college version goes as well for teams. Hopefully Vegas will be just as fun for those under 21!
Mir and I had created a team of players from around the country that we'd played with or against in college. The team name was Lawless Guile Committee, which was an anagram for "we miss college ultimate." Awwww, so cute. We only had 13 players on the final roster, but they were from 7 different schools, including some major rivalries: Texas, UC-San Diego, Stanford, Washington, Purdue, Wisconsin, and Carleton represent.
Many of the players had never met before, but some quality team bonding on Friday night and some rounds of the "box drill" at the field helped us all get acquainted. We also had to rally together in the first game to overcome our 0-3 deficit after being assessed points for being half an hour late to the fields.
Speaking of the fields, the rumors are true. They are very dry, very scratchy, and I wish I'd remembered to pack my turf shoes along with my cleats. While club players might have self-preservation in their mind when considering laying-out, I predict that the college kids playing next weekend are going to be ruined unless they wear tights and long sleeves. Watch out for broken glass in the endzone too.
We ended up winning our pool and the cross-over game, although we were down at half to both the Berkeley reunion team and the Canadians. Losing to Berkeley once in my life is enough for me (Regionals finals 2003), so I'm especially glad we pulled that one out. To celebrate, we had a team dinner at the Gold Coast's buffet. The food was good for $12 total, and coupons for free wine helped us get over the fact that we had to peel the shrimp ourselves. It was time to hit up the tournament pre-party for our free drink before hitting the Strip.
I don't really know what to say about Saturday night on the Strip as it all seems a bit of a blur. It was really fun to run into people from the tournament at different bars, clubs, and casinos, all amidst the over-the-top extravagance that is Vegas. However, unless you enjoy paying $8-12 for a drink, I don't recommend trying to buy drinks at some of the classier joints--although definitely check them out at least (for instance, the Conservatory at the Bellagio was pretty sweet, even if the big dog was rather creepy). A couple more words of advice: if you want to go dancing in the Bellagio, leave the boys at home. It was easy to get in free of charge and without waiting in line if you were missing the Y chromosome. Sorry 'bout it, guys. Also, if you're staying at the Gold Coast, keep track of your keys or make new friends with other people who kept track of their keys. You can't actually get into the hotel portion of the building without one...
Sunday morning's games started out late and hungover as well, although the Viva women were less into the whole assessing points thing than Rogue was the day before. Sunday was marked by pretty strong winds. Half the fields were oriented one direction (upwind-downwind), while the other half had more of a cross-wind. If either day is that windy next weekend, be ready for teams to punt and zone and the games to be capped. Playing lots of zone and 1-3-3, we made it to the finals after beating the team from Atlanta. I think they only had 8 women at the tournament, which must have been rough. Sidenote: Katherine Wooten's forehand is ridiculous--I think she even pulled flick.
We rematched the Canadian team, Felions, in the finals. At this point the Superbowl was about to start and all the other games were over. It's a good thing we didn't have many spectators since the game was a turnover fest. I believe the final score was 21-18 for the LGC. After not winning a single cent in Vegas, I guess winning the tournament wasn't too bad. Although, I still wish I'd found out about the penny slots at O'Shay's earlier...
All in all, this was one of my most fun tournament experiences, so I hope that the college version goes as well for teams. Hopefully Vegas will be just as fun for those under 21!
posted by Gambler at 10:36 AM
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