As LJ called it, so it was. We spent the weekend battling at Mirage. I don't remember much about Saturday--I forgot to eat (did I mention I lost 5 pounds?), but I didn't forget how to serve. However, games were a bit strange, in that big leads tended to wither as attention wandered and mismatches were exploited. I did hear that after I left, (I believe the sun was going down or gone), the local 50 something patroness fed people. Although my name and Deto's have been suggested, I nominate Charlie to take the hit for the team on this one!
I managed to get to bed early (in the am, that is!) and dragged myself back for more on Sunday--games were already in progress (the shorter teams did well this day), when someone came up with the bright idea of taking on the Argosy squad, this day mainly featuring Will, Ford, OJ, Wescott, Jess, and yours truly vs. TJ, LJ, Lloyd, Crawfish Jim, Ronin Steve, Ronin Charlie, and Attorney Scott. We lost game 1, after which Jess's friend subbed out for Wescott. What followed was 3 games of Argosy showtime, led by my serves, and hammered home by Ford, OJ, and Wescott (nice behind the back spike!). Will contributed with some big blocks--early rookiie hesitancy is gone now. Drunkest Panda was Jess, who was having problems hitting the broad side of a barn and nearly had his moon balls going backwards, but did enough to keep us in the "W" column, even when we were forced to play with the light ass smiley face ball.
There are a few suggestions I have for changes in operations at this venue. LJ, see if you agree: we need to make sure if we see actual residents with volleyballs, that they be invited to play and that we take time out if necessary to let them play a game (but emphasize that they need to keep score, and not just bat the ball around for an indeterminate period while we're sidelined). Second, all trees are out. Aiming for overarching branches so that the ball wil change direction is annoying, and we actualy had the happy ball get stuck up there.
Moving on--I assume we're planning on raiding this place again on Wednesday? Time to start thinking about 4th plans. Charlie says he's cooking briscuit (at his place, I think), so let's all RSVP on this issue ASAP, and then keep the AWVP on the QT when we cross the DMZ.
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