Upon arriving at the Aid Station. We continued to contemplate our involvement in such a noble tournament. Should we enter? Should we get team shirts? The decision was made. We would participate, though we well knew the risks involved. We downloaded playbooks from the National Dodgeball Association of America website and studied day and night. Fear motivated us. Pride drove us on.
And then, as quickly as it arrived...the excitement of the tournament passed. It was as if we had forgotten about it alltogether. The day before...it was hardly spoken of. But the morning of...a call went out. Well, it was a text message, but it went out nonetheless. It was from Corporal Lash and it was but one word....DODGEBALL??? The meaning was clear!! There could be no mistaking this rally cry, nay..BATTLE CRY as it was! Hungover to the last man, we quickly assembled our crew at the entrance to the gym and there we registered our team, the Quad Pod, for the tournament.
Our team consisted of Lash, Ussery, Young, Schenck and myself. SSG Romero, unable to compete because of Staff Duty, was there to cheer us on. Cates was also on hand with a six pack of Corona that he snuck into the gym. This liquid gold helped us win the very real gold we now wear around our necks....I have no doubt about it.
There were 8 teams in all, and we quickly made short work of the 1st two. We suffered a loss to a team called US in round three, which sent us down to the losers bracket. Down we went, but like a tornado of teeth and fingernails we fought our way back to the championship game where we once again faced US. This time...for the gold medal and trophy. The fear from the US team was clearly evident as they watched us walk back onto the court. Like a slow motion cut scene, we were side by side, preparing to exact revenge on this upstart team.
The battle was fierce, but PFC Schenck remained standing against a lone US player. For what seemed like long moments they stared each other down. Jaws set in determination. Sweat beading on their brows... finally, the US player fired his dodgeball at Schenck, who caught it, becoming the MVP and winning the tournament for us.
Of other note in the tournament was a heroic diving catch effort made by Ussery on the front line and Lash's catching 2 balls in game 2 to bring his own players back to full strength on the court.
Here are some pictures. Most people can fit a cigarette behind their ear. Schenck can stuff a whole pack behind his monkey ears:
Immediately after winning our championship game:
Here we are being adorned with our gold medals. Well earned chaps!!
The trophy!!!! Lofted high by our MVP!
A few victory poses. NOTE!! We do not support or condone the throwing of "signs" or any other gangsterisms. These are not GANGSTA poses. They are definitely NINJA(tm) poses.
Champions and participants.
Finally....there is a video clip of our victory speech. To view it..simply click this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTiBNKVLpiM
No comments:
Post a Comment