Thanks for the comments guys. You are definitely right, that being without a phone can be liberating. In my case especially, since my phone is from work and I find myself periodically checking work emails even on my days off. So maybe it was a blessing in disguise. Mostly I felt bad for Haley though, since it made it harder for her to go off and do touristy stuff while I was shredding.
Anyway, let's pick up where we left off:
Saturday
I woke up feeling well-rested, which I never take for granted during a tournament. Wandered out into the living room, and enjoyed the feeling of potential in the air, as the rooms slowly came to life. I stepped outside to feel out the weather, and was surprised how humid it was at 10 in the morning. The whole trip it was balmy out, and if not for the constant breezes I'd almost say it was too hot. I can't imagine how muggy summertime must be, but this weekend it was just right for a footbag tournament. Mark whipped up some biscuits and coffee before we left the house, but I held out. It sounded like Mark's gig was at a place with beignets, so I wanted to do that for breakfast. I kill time waiting for people to get ready by checking out the table with all the trophies laid out on it. Mark's wife Michelle is an artist, and the skull trophies she made were amazing.
When I saw there was one specifically for Horse, I made a mental note to try harder in that event so I could snag one. The Street Fighter 2 nerd in me half hoped there'd be trophies for a 3rd event, so I could string three together into a Dhalsim necklace:
A bunch of us pile into Mark's huge Ford Expedition, crammed in with an amp and his saxophone. I think during the ride the decision is made to postpone the Circle comp until Sunday. Originally, I had really hoped to get circle comp done early on Saturday, for a few reasons. Mostly, it would have been nice to just get it out of the way so there'd be no pressure hanging over us. Beyond that though, I figured I'd be my freshest on Saturday morning. Not only would I have no muscle fatigue, but I'd also have the competitive advantage of coming from elevation. Apparently, this advantage disappears after a day or two back at sea level, so its always advantageous for me to compete as soon as I can after arriving. As it turned out though, the decision to have Circle on Sunday ended up feeling very liberating. My new plan for Saturday was to just shred and have fun, and then do touristy stuff. Of course, part of that strategy would include not pushing myself too hard shredwise, and making sure I didn't drink too much that night. I ended up failing on both of those fronts pretty badly, but in retrospect I'm glad I didn't limit my fun on Saturday due to the specter of competition the next day.
Getting to Mark's gig ended up being pretty crazy. Downtown was crawling with people, and traffic was actively being redirected by overwhelmed cops. At one point we were cutting it close to get to Mark's gig on time, and a traffic cop told Mark to circle a 5 block area. That would have taken us a good 30+ minutes with the traffic, so instead Mark drives up a block, then intentionally drives the wrong way down a one way street to get us where we needed to go. Mark is a crazy driver. I get beignets and chocolate milk, and wait for Mark's band to get set up. In all honesty, I was kind of expecting to watch Mark's band for an hour as I ate, and then go off and see the fest during the second half of Mark's show. Instead, I end up staying for the full show, as I'm blown away by Mark's ability, especially on sax. Just amazing. He's so good, a random audience member goes off to make them a tip jar, and sets it up for them. I've never seen that happen before.
After Mark's show, we walked around the fest a bit to find a shred spot. This was both fun and overwhelming, as there were people, art, and music in every direction. After scouting a few locations, we decide to go shred at the Holocaust memorial, which was in the heart of the fest. Security checked our bags, but happily let us bring in our drinks which was nice. The memorial itself was located by a stage so we had music, but was also tucked off to the side enough that we didn't have to worry about crowds going through circles or yanking our gear. It was also right by the river, which meant we had a nice cool breeze throughout. On the other hand, there was no shade, so that breeze was a little dangerous in that it made you forget how much sun you were getting. I made a point to reapply suncreen and hydrate, which helped me a lot.
I ended up playing my hardest at this session. In retrospect I probably shouldn't have pushed so hard, both due to the sun and the fact that circle was the next day. That said, this was probably the most fun part of the tournament for me, and I really enjoyed shredding with others in public. I had a few fearless runs around 7-8 contacts, and I hit fury-DOD swirl. My favorite moment though was one string I had where I hit voodoo, and Drew yelled out: "now bsos it!" ...at which point I surprised myself and everybody else by pulling it off! Beignets and the adrenaline of playing with others powered me for a while, but the sun was taking a lot out of me. I was getting ready to call it a day when I heard talk of doing some comp at that spot. I was on the fence. On one hand I was still warm, but on the other I was at the end of my session and getting tired. Ultimately, I figured that Horse would be quick and low energy, so I chugged some Dr. Pepper for a caffeine boost and signed up.
I think the only time I had tried Horse was back at 2007 East Coasts, and I didn't really remember how it worked. I remember telling myself not to get too worked up over it, since the end results had a high chance of being random. Between Polini, Tank, Mark, and Schneider and their weird swirling tricks, I figured anybody present could take me out. I therefore decided to not try and dodge any bullets, and picked Mark as my first partner.
Next: Horse and Saturday night party
