Live and Die in LA

Wednesday

We fly in late afternoon because most of us flying out of Austin have school or work. This whole “miss 4 school days” every event is killing me. I‘ve been able to keep my grades right above passing but this semester looks likes it’s going to break me. Good thing college professors don’t cross-reference dead relatives because I’m beginning to lose track of how many times my grandparents have died so I could skip out on test and not get in too much trouble. It’s good to see all the guys again, but for the most part, I see them every goddamn weekend when they all come and trash my apartment. Oh and thanks Hamen, my mattress still smells like piss.

Thursday

Well this is our 3^rd NXL event but not much has changed in terms of our first match. We wake up way too early and have to play arguably the best team in the league. With the new merger, this was the first time we didn’t have any paint problems. The match was point for point until we began to pull away making it 7 – 4. Like usual, the Russians made a late 2^nd half push and led by one point with less than a minute left. K-Fed made a run-through up the middle and played on with obvious hits, this gave us the point and tied it. With penalties across the board, we pulled out the overtime point and joined the few select teams that have beaten the Russians in the past year.

Friday

Our midday game against Detroit Strange was scheduled for today. We started off real hot and built a 4 – 0 lead real quick. Too bad we let strange score 6 unanswered points in the 2^nd half. We had a chance to tie it in the last few seconds but ran out of time to hang the flag. This was a tough loss coming off our win against the Russians but Detroit is definitely one of those teams you never want to underestimate or you’ll pay for it. Somebody who really surprised me this event was Dimples. He pulled off a lot of big games for Strange on that dorrito side.

Saturday

Going into the last day of prelims with one win and one loss always means the same thing, win or go home early. Our division was wide open, whichever two teams won today would advance to the quarters. This schedule is getting all too familiar since we had to play a live or die match against the dogs in LA only a few months ago. This time we came a little more prepared and controlled the match for the most part. Colt was able to do some damage from the dorrito side but the dogs couldn’t mount much offense against us and we held them 9 – 5.

Sunday

I don’t what our problem is but we can’t seem to draw any other team than the Russians. In the 3 tournaments we’ve played, we’ve faced off against them 5 separate times. At this point, I know each of them individually, I know their favorite color, and I know how they like their Russian coffee. Soon enough I’ll know how to affectively invest in a Russian bank if we play them again. The 1^st half of the match started off like our first match with them. The score was 3 – 4 and we we’re ready to start making a 2^nd half push. At one point they had a major penalty but we continued to get minors keeping it 4 on 4 for the most part. They would go on to dominate us off the break while going on an 8 – 1 run making final score 4 -12. I got a lot of respect for these guys. They really have turned this into a profession and it shows. They rarely make mistakes and when they do you have to take advantage of it if you plan on winning. After losing, we did the usual. Watch games and gamble away any money we have on us. Thank God I don’t live in Las Vegas.