July 12, 2003
Syracuse, NY
Schedule
Participants
Dave (7th), Marc (7th), Eugene (7th), Matt (7th), Mehr (6th), Span (5th)
With the 7th Annual May Birthday Bash Bonanza in sight, most of the regular MBBB crew decided that they were in and determined that they were willing to have a large change of pace for the event. At first an offhand comment and halfway serious joke, Matt's suggestion that the event be held in Syracuse as opposed to Merrick was agreed upon and the plans laid. With Matt acting as host, the group decided upon which events and eateries would be available, slowly eliminating some choices and positioning others as excellent candidates. Scavenger hunt was nixed as Matt had too great of an advantage with his knowledge of his hometown and volleyball was deemed impractical because no courts were readily available. A host of simpler events such as basketball, handball, and a board game dominated the discussions and were etched into the schedule along with the event gone wrong from the prior year, frolf. (Please note that Matt knew of two frolf courses in the area so that we wouldn't run into any pushy, over-the-edge fathers.)
With a game plan set, and the date of July 12, 2003 in place for the event, arrangements were quickly made for transporting all of the MBBB members up to Syracuse. It was decided that David would take a train from Boston while Mehr would drive the rest of us (Marc, Eugene, and Span) from Long Island. Of course, you can't have a good road trip without first getting lost. The night before the event was designated as the travel day, and fate took the crew well beyond Matt's house and north of Syracuse. In fact, the exit that they were supposed to take was south of Syracuse. After a bit of scrambling with the phone and directions, the correct exit was located and the group arrived at Matt's house near two in the morning, where Matt and David had been waiting for many hours.
Breakfast
Due to the late night, waking up early to start the day was not a priority. And with only one shower for six people to use, it wasn't until well after breakfast time that the group headed out in two cars for a local diner. A lot of catching up was done, and a lot of eggs, bacon, and home fries were consumed.
Basketball Games Tournament
Fresh and ready to start the day's events, the members headed out again to a local basketball court for a contest involving three popular basketball games, Knockout, H-O-R-S-E's little brother, P-I-G, and 21. After six games divided between Knockout and P-I-G, Eugene and Mehr earned byes into the championship game while the rest played one game of 21 to determine the final competitor. David eked a win out but neither he nor Eugene was a match for Mehr in the championship game of 21. And so, the pre-tourney favorite was crowned the champion. The results are listed below:
*6 points were awarded for 1st place in Knockout, 5 points for 2nd place, and so forth while 12 points were awarded for 1st place in P-I-G, 10 points for 2nd place, and so forth.
*Span was knocked out of the game due to a twisted ankle.
Lunch and Frolf (Frisbee Golf)
Hit by a little spritz of rain, the MBBB members ran back to their cars and headed out for some refreshment in the form of fast food lunch. Afterwards, they headed out to play some frolf at a local course and divided into two teams of three, David, Eugene, and Span versus the 3 Ms, Matt, Marc, and Mehr. Two times around the course they went with each team winning once. They drove each fairway, curved their discs around AND through trees, and even "putt" into holes on the greens. The individual with the best score was Marc who used precision and distance to shoot a score considerably under par for the course.
Dinner
With a long day behind them, and nightfall creeping up, it was decided that dinner would be moved up and handball and Guesstures (the board game of choice) held afterwards. The Olive Garden was the location for dinner for the second year in a row, and everyone had their fill of Italian cuisine and pastry. Much like the menu item, it was a Tour of Italy and the group enjoyed another chance to sit down and reflect upon the day's events. Afterwards, with darkness fully upon the day, a call was made to go on with handball but a number of the members were still too full from dinner and so the event was canceled in favor of the more relaxing and less physically strenuous game of Guesstures. Most of them figured that it would be a lot harder to get a cramp playing that as opposed to handball, and they were right for the most part.
Guesstures
For those unfamiliar with the game, it plays very much like Charades. However, instead of doing one clue at a time, the designated player must choose four clues which he would like to act out. There are two clues on each card; in the first round, the easier choice is 1 point and the harder choice 3 points and in the second round 2 and 4. The player can then put the clues in the machine in the order that he prefers and gets approximately 1 minute to complete them all. The catch is that a clue gets dropped into the machine every 15 fifteens seconds and so it might be possible (and often happens) that your teammates will correctly guess the word only to have the player grab at air as the card falls in.
And so, the game was on, with a best-of-5 series set between the teams of Marc, David, and Eugene versus Matt, Mehr, and Span. Span, self-proclaimed master of the board game, led his team to an early lead but Marc, David, and Eugene fought back to take a 2 game to 1 game edge. Numerous clues were completed and resulted in both hilarious movements and puzzled looks that begged the question, "How did they figure THAT one out?!" Household items, both inanimate and living, also became a staple of the competition: for one clue, Eugene flicked a light on and off to express "electricity" while Marc used one of Matt's cats to get his teammates to guess "litterbox". Among the better clues that were mimed included David's rendition of "bake": he pretended to open an oven and then pick up a rack before carefully placing it in the oven. He also successfully coaxed his team to spit out "Guillotine!" while pretending his chop his head off. Marc failed on "robot" as his teammates wondered why he didn't just dance "the Robot"!
As game 5 rolled into its final round, the game was tied at two games a piece and Marc, David, and Eugene were trailing by 13 points. 4 point clues were at a premium and Eugene was the designated Guessturer. Three hard clues and one easy clue seemed like the obvious strategy. And so Eugene began. He pressed and rolled his finger on the table. "Fingerprint!" Eugene then began chattering his teeth and biting his fingernails. Was he "shivering?" Was he "cold?" No! Then, out of nowhere and by some miracle, David blurted out, "Nervous?" Bingo! Eugene quickly grabbed the card before it fell into the faux clapperboard. Already halfway there, David and Marc went on to correctly guess "bartender" and "periscope" to seal the improbable and extremely exciting victory.
The irony behind it all: Eugene had gone for all 4 pointers when he didn't need to. And when David and Marc asked Eugene what the two point clue was on the "nervous" card, he said it was "rake", a clue that would have been all too easy to Guessture. Nonetheless, they had won a thrilling victory!
Midnight Snack
The day over, some more reflecting was done as snacks were eaten and television watched. Soon after, the group went back to bed and arose the next morning to an overwhelming spread of bagels and fruit provided by Matt and his wife, Kelly. It wasn't long after the group realized that David had to catch a train and the rest had to get back to Long Island for work on Monday. Parting, they all got ready for their journeys home, except for Matt, who was thanked repeatedly for his hospitality in hosting the event in his hometown.