Reflections

I am spending this evening at a friends house in Tampa, she is currently working hard to keep a mediocre job she just started today.

On my way from Sarasota to Tampa today I had some time to think about this previous weekend.

Getting to Sarasota was made easier with the help of two audiobooks. The first was Open by John Feinstein, about the 2002 USGA Open Championships at Bethpage Black (the first to be held at a truly public course). My interest in golf kept me into the book, it would probably be more difficult for those not interested in the sport. The second audiobook, which I have yet to finish was Gasping for Airtime by comedian Jay Mohr. This book was about his two years with Saturday Night Live. The book is actually read by the author who was known for his impersonations, especially that of Christopher Walken, which he does a few times during the reading of the book.

Being away from home can be difficult at times, especially trying to cope with the loss of the "love of my life". While I was watching the tournament this weekend there were a lot of times when I felt very alone even though I was surrounded by hundreds of people. I had always imagined traveling to Sarasota to watch the Championships with Rima it was tough not having her there to turn to when I had something stupid to say. When they were not playing I did get to hang out with Peine and Damon and even though they managed to create some drama over the weekend I enjoyed the time I got to spend with them. Peine's team, Bnogo put me up for the weekend and even though I did not get a chance to get to know them all well, they made me feel very welcomed into their group. My take on the team: KK really made things happen, even though she was not playing she seemed like a huge part of the team. Sarah appeared to be "all business" most of the time. Cookie looks best with no shirt on. Jenny "Can I use your computer?" Fey got a dozen D's in one point that I watched, she seemed to be a pretty strong offensive player as well. Lex was probably trying to get some of her work done during the games. While Allie was actually doing work during the finals. Kris "Could you have any more spirit?" Gizzle has all of my respect. Dawn & Kevin seemed to enjoy their time away from their baby especially on their trips to buy cleats (from what I hear). Alex & Marie I am sorry that you got stuck with me as a roommate. Kerry "We have Wal-Mart" Lutz seemed to have no inhibitions (I hope she washed her hands after picking up that fish). I think Iris was actually only at nationals to flirt with guys. Liz "Goldie" Goldberg when I did not have Peine to talk to she was there to listen to my rambling, I hope she is not too distraught that the Steelers lost to Oakland. I know that I am missing a bunch but they were all great. I was able to cook them a dinner Friday night, the menu: Homemade salsa & chips, Bacon wrapped dates, Chicken & Steak tacos with Fajita toppings and not quite ripe avacados, and Cilantro & Lime rice. I have got to say that everyone seemed to enjoy the dates... it was actually my first time making them. I had just had them in Atlanta and only previously had them this past winter at Wouter's Belgium dinner party. Saturday's dinner (I understand they could not compete) was not so good pizza, watching people dip their crust in buckets of grease about made me sick.

I was also able to meet and hang out with most of the UPA staff. Through doing the website this year I had been in contact with them for the past couple of months and it was nice to be able to spend time with them. Matthew Bourland I had already known since he played in nearby Pittsburgh. I also spent some time at Kent with his wife Jess. It was nice to catch up on times with Matt. Ryan John I meet for the first time. It turns out he is from Massillon, "Go Tigers". He also went to Kent but he was there while I was in high-school. He only heard of ultimate two years ago, he previously worked at the HQ for foosball or racket ball or something like that. We watched the last two minutes of the Browns game together and then saw the Steelers loose, it was quite an enjoyable time we shared. Sandie I only briefly met but she seemed like a strong confident woman. Will Deaver helped his team break that quarter finals barrier and made it to the semis for the first time. I got an awesome picture of him mid-air doing a scissor chop with his arms. He is the man behind the championships tournament. Thanks to him there was a blurb about Rima in the programs, and between the Mixed and Women's finals they had a moment of silence for her and two other players. I was amazed the person on the mic pronounced Rima Viliamas-Boncha entirely correct. It was a nice moment.

Being in Sarasota was wonderful. The weather was great, too great at times. Since I spent most of my summer indoors I felt as though my skin was going to get fried on multiple occasions. While watching I also ran into a few other ultimate people that I knew. Josie and Lyrica (who Rima knew much better that I do) were playing with Nemesis. Sasha and Stacy (Phil was there too) were playing with Backhoe. Cara Crouch, who I only met this past February in Hawaii was playing with Showdown. Colin McIntyre whom I have played with at Gender Blender was playing with Big Ass Truck. Sarah Lima was there even though her dept. at school might have not been too happy about it. I had no idea she was going to be there myself and I tried to freak her at the bar one night while she was in Halloween make-up, once I figured out that it was her I felt pretty bad. We eventually got talking about Rima and she almost made me cry at the bar saying that she her play in the game to make it to nationals was dedicated to Rima and she said that it was the best game that she had ever played. I also ran into April Hansgate who was watching the tournament as well. Some of these people I got to talk to more than the others, but it was nice to run into them all.