Nationals recap – pre-tournament
At last, mid August had arrived and the much anticipated trip to Halifax was upon us. We were heading out early to get acclimatised and enjoy a few days in and around town while we were out there. We were being billeted for a full week by some players people knew who had lived in Winnipeg previously, so we were planning to set up there, see the city, so some touristy stuff, relax, and prepare for the biggest tourney of the year.
Despite the saying, getting there, this time anyway, was not half the fun. The flight out that I was on along with my wife and one of our Trogdor teammates was cancelled, and we were redirected to another flight that was just about to leave as we were checking in. Not surprisingly, some of our luggage didn’t make it with us (luckily it did later that night, it was delivered to our billets just before 11 pm). Note to anyone flying to a tournament – pack your cleats in carry-on!
Aside from that we got there OK (aside from getting lost in Sackville on the way from the airport – Sackville would naturally become one of the running jokes for the week), and met up at the billets with our teammates who had taken an earlier flight. Our billets – I cannot stress this enough – were the BEST BILLETS EVER, constantly one-upping all previous billets, and themselves, with their hospitality and support. They were a couple who had previously lived in Winnipeg, then moved to Calgary before moving to Halifax. One of them, I had forgotten, was on my team for Disc Odyssey three years ago, my first ever out-of-town tournament. Aside from putting us up (or should that be putting up with us) in their spacious suburban home, they kept us well-fed, entertained, and were hugely supportive of us on and off the field (as volunteers at the tourney, one of them later complained when he had to scorekeep at one of our games as he wouldn’t be able to cheer for us) – even took pictures and made us a custom photo DVD to remember the weekend by. I doubt we’ll ever get billets who can match Dave and Jenine, or even come close. Like I said before: Best. Billets. Ever.
Anyway for a short recap of what went on before the tourney start: A slow start Monday night as most of us were exhausted from the flight in; Tuesday a tour of the Keith’s Brewery, which was entertaining but not ultimately satisfying on the amount of beer supplied; more than making up for this on Tuesday night, with some heavy drinking at the billets, resulting in some embarrassing incidents recounted later, plus a stubbed toe which would bother me for the rest of the tournament; a short practice, followed by a day touring the city on Wednesday; many hearty meals of Nova Scotia seafood and other delectables. Good times.
Now, wasn’t there something else…? Oh yes, we were there for a tournament… going in seeded 3rd of 16 teams, behind Camelot of Montreal and Bombing Madd Fatties of Toronto, both of which had looked impressive in pre-Nationals touring. How would we do? We would see, starting Thursday morning.
Despite the saying, getting there, this time anyway, was not half the fun. The flight out that I was on along with my wife and one of our Trogdor teammates was cancelled, and we were redirected to another flight that was just about to leave as we were checking in. Not surprisingly, some of our luggage didn’t make it with us (luckily it did later that night, it was delivered to our billets just before 11 pm). Note to anyone flying to a tournament – pack your cleats in carry-on!
Aside from that we got there OK (aside from getting lost in Sackville on the way from the airport – Sackville would naturally become one of the running jokes for the week), and met up at the billets with our teammates who had taken an earlier flight. Our billets – I cannot stress this enough – were the BEST BILLETS EVER, constantly one-upping all previous billets, and themselves, with their hospitality and support. They were a couple who had previously lived in Winnipeg, then moved to Calgary before moving to Halifax. One of them, I had forgotten, was on my team for Disc Odyssey three years ago, my first ever out-of-town tournament. Aside from putting us up (or should that be putting up with us) in their spacious suburban home, they kept us well-fed, entertained, and were hugely supportive of us on and off the field (as volunteers at the tourney, one of them later complained when he had to scorekeep at one of our games as he wouldn’t be able to cheer for us) – even took pictures and made us a custom photo DVD to remember the weekend by. I doubt we’ll ever get billets who can match Dave and Jenine, or even come close. Like I said before: Best. Billets. Ever.
Anyway for a short recap of what went on before the tourney start: A slow start Monday night as most of us were exhausted from the flight in; Tuesday a tour of the Keith’s Brewery, which was entertaining but not ultimately satisfying on the amount of beer supplied; more than making up for this on Tuesday night, with some heavy drinking at the billets, resulting in some embarrassing incidents recounted later, plus a stubbed toe which would bother me for the rest of the tournament; a short practice, followed by a day touring the city on Wednesday; many hearty meals of Nova Scotia seafood and other delectables. Good times.
Now, wasn’t there something else…? Oh yes, we were there for a tournament… going in seeded 3rd of 16 teams, behind Camelot of Montreal and Bombing Madd Fatties of Toronto, both of which had looked impressive in pre-Nationals touring. How would we do? We would see, starting Thursday morning.
posted by Druski at 9:51 p.m.
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