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The
Swammi's Diary From The Madden Games
It
Gets Better Each Year
As
I reviewed my 2000 Nationals Diary, I noticed I could have cut
and pasted the sameng paragraph and inserted here. Just
as last year I wondered if we would enjoy the same tremendous
experience that we were treated to last year. Could the competition
get better? Would the field be deeper? Would it still have that
family reunion vibe? Would some of the heated exchanges at the
forum be taken personal? The answers to each one of those questions
would be positive. The competition was stronger, the field was
deeper, and the fellas pick up where we left off in D.C. and
just as in the past, all of the hot forum exchanges were forgotten,
and it was all love through out the weekend. We were treated
to great games, big time upsets, and superior skills on the
sticks. Another successful Nationals is wrapped up and in the
books.
Arriving
In New Orleans
I arrived in New Orleans in the mid afternoon
on Thursday. I had planned to get in late Wednesday night but
I changed my plans, and decided to leave Thursday. While online
Tuesday night preparing for the tournament, updating the web
site, and getting other chores taken care of, Will Turner of
the 504boyz/NOMB instant messaged me to ask if I needed a ride
from the airport. I was like....that is so cool of the fella's
in New Orleans. Trying to hook up The Swam, showing some hospitality.
Right before I was about to respond to his IM, he sent another
one saying, "Lou and I want to make sure you get to the
hotel safe with our trophy and our money!" After laughing
for a second or two, I said o.k., I hear ya. And I thought you
guys were just being nice. But that was just a sign to come
of not only Will's great hospitality, but his premonition on
how the tournament would turn out.
The
Calm Before The Storm
After arriving in town, one of the sky caps just happened to
ask me what I was in town for. When I explained to him I was
here for Nationals and explained what Nationals was, it was
like he couldn't believe it. I caught the shuttle over to Embassy,
eagerly anticipating getting settled into my room, and going
over the last minute details. I arrived at the Embassy and was
immediately pleased with the facilities. I checked in, dropped
off the bags in the room and went down to take a look at the
Diamond A & B rooms, where the games would be played. The
rooms checked out and fine, and I felt we would be able to make
it work fine. After getting my mental checklist together on
what needed to be done, I walked down to Kinko's to prepare
the packets for the Madden World Syndicate meetings for Friday
morning. After getting all of the packets
together, and making a poster size copy of the Single Elimination
Brackets to present to the winner along with the first prize,
I returned to the hotel to finish my last minute details. Upon
returning to the Embassy, I ventured downstairs and ran into
Teddy B!, Mad Guru, and Blaze at the hotel atrium taking advantage
of the Embassy Suites Cocktail hour. I sat down and join them,
and we begin to talk Madden, Nationals and Syndicate talk.
The
Swammi & Harrah's
After hanging with the fella's for a while, P.C., Sweetness,
and Slayer Min rolled through the lobby. After they checked
in we mostly sat around and relaxed and talked about how glad
we were to be back at nationals. Later that night I decided
go over and hang out at Harrah's and try my luck at the crap
tables. I always like to lay the four or ten, and play the don't
pass line. But the this table was hot! That meant I would end
up cold. I started out doing well, but decided I needed to quit
while I wasn't too far behind. I came back to hotel and no sooner
than I got to the room, Bulldog checked in and we decided to
get a bite. So we strolled back over to Harrah's this time to
rough up the buffet. Bulldog and I had a nice conversation,
going over Nationals business, and talking up different scenarios
in case the Nationals Games Council had to meet and settle any
concerns. We rolled back to the hotel after roughing up the
buffet. I mean I was stuffed on crawfish, fried catfish, and
bar-b-que ribs, and all the trimmings.
The
New Sheriff In Town
Bulldog
was ready to get it on somewhere, so I told him if I were to
set it up I would call him. Once I got back to the room, P.C.
called and told me they were getting it on in his room. So I
strolled in and at the time he was balling with a local guy
name Jesse. Now let me tell you about Jesse. Jesse had been
at the hotel since about 4:00 PM. I had noticed him standing
around in the lobby for several hours, as if he were looking
for someone, but I didn't think to say anything to him. He finally
asked me (about 10:00 PM) right before Bulldog and I went to
dinner, if I knew anything about the tournament. I replied,
yes, and he began to ask questions. He had heard about the games
from a friend and was waiting for nearly 6 hours to find out
if he could get involved. Nevertheless, after I returned from
dinner, I found Jesse in P.C.'s room and he and PC were going
at it on the TV in the back room. In the living room, Lou Tillery
was taking it to Slayer Min, and it was kind of ugly. After
Lou dispensed of Min, P.C. sat down to take him on, and before
you knew it, it was 21-0-Lou..... P.C. tried to make a game
of it, but Lou was too much for him to handle. Then Guru stopped
by and sat down to watch the massacre. After Lou dispensed of
P.C. Guru decided to jump into the hot seat. And no sooner than
Lou could put up a 70 spot on Min, and 50 spot in PC, he proceeded
to the same to Guru. I realized then, that this guy was for
real. There was a knew sheriff in town, and little did we all
know that by the time it was all said and done, the new gunslinger
would be holding the hardware at the end of the tournament.
Closing
Out Thursday
Last year I stayed up all night hanging with the fella's and
I vowed I would not do that again this season, because I wanted
to get some rest. Now here it was again, nearly 2:00 AM and
I was up still hanging and watching games. I decided to do the
right thing and force myself to get up and get to my room. I
finally shut it down about 2:30 AM to get some rest for the
next day.
Friday
- The Night Before Nationals
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