Trouble in Vegas - the prelude
SO, this weekend will be a first for me, as I will be attending Trouble in Vegas playing with a coed team. Yes, you heard it, I will be playing 'mixed'. Not including such old mainstays as summer league and the annual NY Turkey Bowl, this will be the first 'official' coed tournament that I have attended in well over 10 years. And I only say that because I did Solstice back in '93 while I was driving around the country for four months and hitting random tournaments along the way. Otherwise I'm pretty sure I have never played at a real coed tourney.
You might ask what has brought me to such a commitment, nay, betrayal of all I hold dear (mostly kidding)? Well, the story began at Nationals this year, lost somewhere in the haze of Saturday night after the tournament was officially over. We were continuing the party at the Seashell condo beach, where Metal had set up quite the party. I ran into Bailey Russell, a fellow Princeton alumnus, who mentioned in passing that Princeton was planning to send an alumni squad to Trouble in Vegas in January, and would I have any interest in attending?
Fresh off a disappointing nationals, the last thing I wanted to think about was pickup tournaments, but nonetheless, it was a few months away, and it might be a good opportunity to reconnect with the Princeton frisbee alumni, of which there is a huge disconnect between my generation (the '80s!) and the 90's/00's. So I told him to add me to the list, and we would see what happened.
I got the first email a few weeks later, and naturally didn't recognize ANY of the other names on the address list. I checked flights, and they were pretty expensive at the time, so I didn't think anything of the tournament. Finally around mid-December, I started checking flights every few days, with the caveat that unless it got below $250, I wouldn't even consider going. Doing my sidestep/kayak searches, I saw the prices fluctuate solidly around $280, and didn't feel like sacrificing the money. I hadn't checked in probably a week when another organizational email came out and most of the people were already purchasing flights. I checked on a lark, and all of a sudden, there were round-trip flights for $217 on Delta, non-stop no less. I quickly emailed my wife, telling her about the tournament and asking if it would be OK. She responded back no problem, and by that night purchased the tickets. I was on my way!
Just to show the aggravation of shopping for tickets, I told a friend of mine (not a frisbee player) who had been thinking about going that I had finally purchased tickets and that he should get the sweet fare while it lasted. He waited until Monday (I bought Friday), and when he bought, they were back up to $280! So, I'm getting in at 8:49 Friday night, and spending an extra day on Monday and taking a red-eye back to Boston, where I'm sure I will be chipper and productive on Tuesday. Even better, I get to fly back down to Philly for Wed, and then drive to Baltimore for Thur/Fri for work. Should be a rough week physically, especially considering what I will probably do to my self at the tournament.
The last time I was in Vegas was in '92, when Nationals were held in San Diego. The Tea Party (tm) had flown out early and were proceeding to paint the town red, including trips to Mexico and an overnight to Vegas. We have a sweet picture which unfortunately I don't have scanned, or immediate access to a scanner, showing one of the casinos in the background (at night) with Jim and Mike Kizilbash in the middle looking crestfallen, with Dennis McCarthy and I on the outside with manic grins waving the sheaves of $20 bills we had won (I won something like $160). Not that I have many memories of Vegas back then, but the changes to now are inconceivable. This should be a very fun time.
Final addendum. I got an email from brother Eric in Paris, who was a late arrival to the frisbee scene and played with the Invalides team for a number of years. Apparently someone on the Princeton tourney email list who had been planning to go but had bowed out late with an injury had played with my brother a number of times in Paris, and had forwarded him my latest email asking about lodging details (we're staying in the tourney hotel, the Stratosphere, supposedly the tallest building in something or another geographical region). Talk about small world.
ANYway, enough rambling about myself (as usual). I'm looking forward to pretty much the entire experience, bonding with the Princeton folk, getting to talk more about 'back in the day', this time even predating most of the 'back in the day' conversations I have with my teammates on DoG, bringing some Xmas cash to lose (so won't feel bad about spending 'real' money). Tournament reports will be forthcoming, naturally.
You might ask what has brought me to such a commitment, nay, betrayal of all I hold dear (mostly kidding)? Well, the story began at Nationals this year, lost somewhere in the haze of Saturday night after the tournament was officially over. We were continuing the party at the Seashell condo beach, where Metal had set up quite the party. I ran into Bailey Russell, a fellow Princeton alumnus, who mentioned in passing that Princeton was planning to send an alumni squad to Trouble in Vegas in January, and would I have any interest in attending?
Fresh off a disappointing nationals, the last thing I wanted to think about was pickup tournaments, but nonetheless, it was a few months away, and it might be a good opportunity to reconnect with the Princeton frisbee alumni, of which there is a huge disconnect between my generation (the '80s!) and the 90's/00's. So I told him to add me to the list, and we would see what happened.
I got the first email a few weeks later, and naturally didn't recognize ANY of the other names on the address list. I checked flights, and they were pretty expensive at the time, so I didn't think anything of the tournament. Finally around mid-December, I started checking flights every few days, with the caveat that unless it got below $250, I wouldn't even consider going. Doing my sidestep/kayak searches, I saw the prices fluctuate solidly around $280, and didn't feel like sacrificing the money. I hadn't checked in probably a week when another organizational email came out and most of the people were already purchasing flights. I checked on a lark, and all of a sudden, there were round-trip flights for $217 on Delta, non-stop no less. I quickly emailed my wife, telling her about the tournament and asking if it would be OK. She responded back no problem, and by that night purchased the tickets. I was on my way!
Just to show the aggravation of shopping for tickets, I told a friend of mine (not a frisbee player) who had been thinking about going that I had finally purchased tickets and that he should get the sweet fare while it lasted. He waited until Monday (I bought Friday), and when he bought, they were back up to $280! So, I'm getting in at 8:49 Friday night, and spending an extra day on Monday and taking a red-eye back to Boston, where I'm sure I will be chipper and productive on Tuesday. Even better, I get to fly back down to Philly for Wed, and then drive to Baltimore for Thur/Fri for work. Should be a rough week physically, especially considering what I will probably do to my self at the tournament.
The last time I was in Vegas was in '92, when Nationals were held in San Diego. The Tea Party (tm) had flown out early and were proceeding to paint the town red, including trips to Mexico and an overnight to Vegas. We have a sweet picture which unfortunately I don't have scanned, or immediate access to a scanner, showing one of the casinos in the background (at night) with Jim and Mike Kizilbash in the middle looking crestfallen, with Dennis McCarthy and I on the outside with manic grins waving the sheaves of $20 bills we had won (I won something like $160). Not that I have many memories of Vegas back then, but the changes to now are inconceivable. This should be a very fun time.
Final addendum. I got an email from brother Eric in Paris, who was a late arrival to the frisbee scene and played with the Invalides team for a number of years. Apparently someone on the Princeton tourney email list who had been planning to go but had bowed out late with an injury had played with my brother a number of times in Paris, and had forwarded him my latest email asking about lodging details (we're staying in the tourney hotel, the Stratosphere, supposedly the tallest building in something or another geographical region). Talk about small world.
ANYway, enough rambling about myself (as usual). I'm looking forward to pretty much the entire experience, bonding with the Princeton folk, getting to talk more about 'back in the day', this time even predating most of the 'back in the day' conversations I have with my teammates on DoG, bringing some Xmas cash to lose (so won't feel bad about spending 'real' money). Tournament reports will be forthcoming, naturally.
posted by Alex de Frondeville at 2:04 PM
6 Comments:
In addition to Sidestep I've found Farecast to be quite helpful for booking flights...
Oh, Alex, how could you. Coed?
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Flying discs (commonly called Frisbees) are disc-shaped objects, which are generally plastic and roughly 20 to 25 centimeters (8–10 inches) in diameter, with a lip. The shape of the disc, an airfoil in cross-section, sportsbook, allows it to fly by generating lift as it moves through the air while rotating. The name Frisbee is a registered trademark of the Wham-O toy company, but is often used generically to describe all flying discs. http://www.enterbet.com
let's talk about Trouble in Vegas.. Unfortunately, I think Corey was talking more about the Open side, of which I saw almost nothing except for a little bit of the finals, not that that in any way negates the quality of the tournament.costa rica fishingI can't add anything to the debate going on over at rsd regarding NYF versus TiV, but I can provide my slant on TiV. And I suspect that the winner of NYF would have soundly beaten the winner of TiV.
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At all this year’s Trouble in Vegas, Five Ultimate will be implementing their new Discs for Development program.Five Ultimate’s goal is to grow ultimate at all levels and in all countries.Costa rica toursIn many places where ultimate is still developing there is a dire need for discs, old or new. To answer these needs, Five has founded the Discs for Development program.
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