So close

We got 2nd in our volleyball tournament yesterday. It was a long, grueling hot day. When we finished up around 7:30 the temperature was still at 92 degrees. We had some great games throughout the day and got some revenge for the last loss we suffered at Deerfield Beach. That team was in our pool and we took them out in the last game of pool play. We finished 4-0 on our net, had a bye for the first round of playoffs, won a long hard semi-final match against an A and AA indoor player who had won the last 2 BB tournaments they had entered. But then we lost in the finals against a guy/girl team. Both of them normally play A level but dropped down to BB to play together. We made a tactical error and decided to serve the guy almost exclusively and wound up losing the final 15-9. Even with the loss it was a great day overall and was the best finish I have had with Randall to this point so we are definitely improving as a team.

Some funny moments from the day:

Guy on another team is frustrated because he and his partner let a serve drop between them. In a split second he reaches down and scoops up 2 big handfuls of sand and rubs it into his hair like he is shampooing with it.

I walk under one of the canopies around center court and seconds later am doing the ant dance as my right foot is covered in fire ants. I escaped with only a half a dozen bites.

We are playing one team where one guy is clearly the weaker player. On game point, we serve the weaker player and win. The stronger player says, “Serve the weaker player on game point, smart….” but his tone made it sound like he thought just the opposite.

The same guy that gave himself a sand shampoo cramped up bad in the playoffs. By the time he was done rolling in the powdery white sand, he pretty much looked like was just dug up from an egyptian pyramid.

Some numbers for yesterday:

4.5 – The amount of pounds less I weighed by bedtime than the day before even after drinking a more than couple gallons of gatorade during the day.

111 – the amount of miles I drove to get to Siesta Keys each way

12 – the amount of hours I was out on the beach

I added a few more tips to the volleyball tips page and one new nickname that will mean nothing to anyone else but myself. One guy we played against looked almost exactly like a kid I played baseball with back in high school, except the guy yesterday was a real italian along with heavy accent and all.