And I couldn’t be more jealous.
Following Club Nationals via tweets is like torture. Especially when you’re sitting in a chair with instruments all up in your mouth and molding clay sliding down your throat at the WORST dentist’s office ever, with the worst most awkward dentist in the history of awkward dentists, who is working with a totally new, foreign dental assistant who keeps hitting you in the teeth with the suction thing, touches your crotch while attempting to trade glasses with you, and apparently can’t find anything the dentist needs. And the appointment takes twice as long as it should because your dentist messes up the temporary crown and has to do it again, not like the second crown he made was any better, it’s still bothering the hell out of you and scraping up your tongue. And you sit in the chair for an hour and a half. And you have to pee really, really bad. And you keep hearing your phone beep with tweet score updates in your jacket on a table just feet away. But you’re trapped.
And it’s the worst.
But putting the cheese and whine aside, Day 1 of Club Nationals in the books, and I definitely see why they don’t pay me to make predictions. Practically none of the things I predicted came true. I dialed Upset City in Pool O, I mean A, and none of that occurred. I didn’t know anything about Pool D and that pool played to seed. I said Nemesis was a must-win game for Phoenix, and they didn’t win. Ozone upset Pop. But hey, at least all of my Final Four picks are still undefeated so far. Got a few scares there with Fury down to Phoenix and Brute down to Ozone and Traffic, but both teams pulled it out. The mixed teams I follow are doing pretty well, too. I don’t really follow any open teams, but I am wondering a little bit what happened to Johnny Bravo (former teammate plays with them now). And it looks like Furious was making some moves today. Can’t wait to see some Matsuno clips!
I’m very, very, very sad to hear that so many teams were affected by the inclement weather in the Midwest. I definitely understand what that feels like and how frustrating it can be. I wonder how many games that affected, and how the outcomes could have been different. It is definitely unbelievable and a little outrageous that something as common as a flight delay or cancellation could affect a team’s chances on the weekend. It sucks because it’s something that these teams have worked hard for all year, and something totally out of their control throws obstacles in their way. I really hope this wasn’t the case for any team this year, and I hope everyone has gotten to Sarasota safely.
That post I linked is horrible, but is probably redeemed by the following things:
- The following quote: “We get to the line and it is already balls deep.” Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I did, in fact, get an ‘A’ on my senior honors thesis.
- There are at least eight different permutations on “Rosenwinkel”, including, if I recall correctly, “Textinstinkel”.
- This is the trip that probably spawned our obsession with Shit Sarah Says.
- The post is so old that I still referred to Matthews as “Rachael”. Weirdsies.
- A team that was affected by the travel delays *actually* did do our “rent a car and drive there from wherever we are” plan. Of course, their tournament is much more urgent and important than ours, but still, great dedication.
Anyway, an alphabet of thoughts, since I can’t fall asleep:
a. Mark Liu, you are, as my AAS 120 TA would say, THE BEST! Leaguevine is SICK. Thankyouthankyouthankyou.
b. On that same token, thanks to everyone who is tweeting at Nationals! Those of us following longingly from home seriously appreciate it.
c. Club Naysh sounds like the worst possible place in the world to be for someone with my asthma problems. So many tweets about how hot it is there, and also a lot of tweets about the wind. So even if I do ever get there as a player one day, I’ll probably die. Nice.
d. Mike Shaw committed to Illinois today. Everyone’s really excited about it. Of course I’m a huge UConn fan on the women’s side, but I don’t really have a “favorite” team when it comes to men’s college basketball, I’m just a fan in general. I got pretty into Illinois’ team last year because I have a crush on Tyler Griffey, but now seems as good a time as any to throw back some Orange Kool-Aid. So why not? UConn on the women’s side (still support the Illini ladies too, of course) and Illinois on the men’s side.
e. This Pat Summitt/Geno Auriemma mudslinging needs to stop. Now. I love UConn and hate Tennessee as much as the next Huskymaniac, but Pat needs to either give up the evidence of UConn’s recruiting violations or SHUT UP. There actually is proof of Bruce Pearl’s lies and cheating, and yet Pat is still standing up for him and for him keeping his job. It’s ridiculous, and I’m tired of reading her name in the news/message boards.
f. On that note, recruiting is so ridiculously interesting. I missed this.
g. How appropriate. ‘G’ is for Giants. I feel like a terrible person because I want the Giants to lose. Two of my best friends in life are Giants fans, so I feel horrible. But this kid I hate, who is currently a Miami Heat fan and was a die-hard Saints fan for about a week after the Super Bowl last year (if you can see where I’m getting at), is a Giants fan. And I want him to suck it, so hard.
Tomorrow night (Tonight? Since it’s 4am? SOMD) is the first time I’m going to be shooting *gulp* alone. I’ll be without Cary’s guidance, as there is a time conflict between the basketball exhibition game and the volleyball match. Cary will be at the basketball game, and I’ll be shooting volleyball. By myself. Oh. My. Lanta. Let’s hope this doesn’t come out to be a SOMD situation. Wish ya girl luck. And of course, best of luck to everyone competing.
