First comes the worst of the news, Kaeden did not make the top 10 in the Sunbeam contest. A big thanks to all who voted and don't worry, he doesn't seem too worked up about it. And hey, 40 out of 25,000 aint bad. I like to think he placed 11th anyways.
I've started getting some kids together for a tournament at a nearby club on the 17th. I'm aiming to have 2-3 teams to compete in the u-12, u-14 and u-16 age groups. Its been difficult getting commitments out of the kids, but they have really started to enjoy playing and I think some of them are really excited. I brought my helmet and stick in to my last couple sessions and the kids absolutely loved them. They thought they were just the coolest things they'd ever seen and all took turns passing them around. Its nice to see them getting so excited about it all and it definitely makes my job 10 times easier.
On to this weekend, and what a hectic but terrific one it turned out to be. I laid low Friday night and just hung out with my friend Nick, who is the LDO at a nearby club. Saturday we had a game at 2:30 against Hillcroft. We would have been the favorite going in but most of our players were in Prague for a big annual box tournament. As it was, we played with two subs. It didn't take long for me to twist my ankle again and I was done for the day. We lost 11-4 and it was a frustrating game top to bottom. We played way too much defense and had a tough time getting things going offensively when we did get the ball. At the end of the day we had a lot of shots sail wide and a lot into the goalies stick. But we're back in action next Saturday out in Wales against Cardiff and hopefully will be able to right the ship and get to winning some lacrosse games. Post-game I ran home and after a quick shower and some take away fish n' chips, I was on a train bound for Reading. I stayed in Reading with some of my LDO friends Saturday night to cut off a good portion of the journey to Wales for Sunday's Ryder Cup action. My friends Pete and Scott had two of their buddies visiting from Manchester (one of which is actually the LDO at Erin's club) and we all had a fun night together out in Reading. I woke up Sunday and hopped on a train for Newport, Wales and began one hell of an adventure.
The train ride to Wales was about an hour and twenty minutes. From the train station, I jumped on a shuttle bus over to the course. As I'm sure many of you saw on TV, Celtic Manor is absolutely gorgeous. It's surrounded by rolling hills covered with big green patches of farm plots and little country homes. It was almost as enjoyable taking in the scenery itself as it was watching the incredible caliber of golf being played. I posted up for a while at the 12th hole where I was able to watch each group come through. 12 Is a shortish par 4 with a hazard in front of the green. I was able to see the tee shots in the distance but the real excitement was watching these guys hit their approach shots. It was incredible, out of the 6 groups I think I saw two guys miss the green. I was standing right behind the pin on the back of the green and was about 15 feet away from the players when they were closest to me. I watched them scientifically line up their putts, always conferring with their teammates and taking no less than five minutes on each one. When a European would sink one, the place erupted. When an American would sink one, myself and about five others could be heard cheering. But I did get a head nod out of Dustin Johnson. After the last group had come through 12 (Mickelson and Folwer), I hiked up to 17. 17 is a 200 yard par 3 that the European team completed dominated. I saw Rory McIlroy and Grahame McDowell lock up a win against Zach Johnson and Hunter Mahan on a big birdie put by McIlroy, as well as Ross Fisher and Paddy Harrington complete a win over Dustin Johnson and Jim Furyk. After all the remaining groups had finished up on 17 I watched the end of the day's action behind the 18th green. All in all it was a tough day for the Americans, but a great day for me nonetheless. As I hiked back up to the Bus pickup, Celtic Manor sitting in my rearview, I thought about how lucky I was, and how I'd never forget my day spent at the Ryder Cup.
Then came the difficult part -- getting home. The mad rush was on at the train station as hundreds and hundreds tried to board the train back to London. It reminded me of a video I once saw of an unfathomable amount of people cramming into a Japanese Subway train (here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8FQsg12hoY&feature=related ). I had to stand shoulder to shoulder with people for the next two hours until I finally arrived at Paddington Station in London. From there I hopped on the Tube (underground) to London Charing Cross where I boarded a 15 minute train to Orpington. Once I was back in Orpington it was only a quick taxi ride home. After a 3 hour journey, my bed has never been so comfortable.
So that basically brings me back to now. Very tired (I stayed up last night for most of the Pat's game, great win by the way), and ready for bed. A special thanks to Mom and Dad for making this weekend possible with the best early Christmas present of all time. Also a shout out to the one and only Josephine Unger, the girl has been an absolute champ since I've been here. Hope you're all well out there Globalites, wherever you may be, and I'll check back in soon. Chainsaw Bonesaw, over and out.
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