Top 5 Moments from the LQ Regional Tournament

Here are my top 5 moments from our recent Laser Quest Regional Tournament in Richmond, VA.

5. Ogun's response to seeing Rax for the first time: "Did you escape from Cuba?"

4. Rex's response after spending 4 minutes in our motel room: "This is pretty much the crappiest motel room I have seen in years."

3. Rex's response to Smurfy and Big Tiny after allowing them to decide on where to eat: "If we don't like it, we'll just tell you to screw."

2. Actually having a conversation with Mr. Prez.

1. Enjoying a successful tournament for me and Rex, especially on Sunday when we were placing in the top of our team.

LQ Regional Diary #4

Well, we lost.


After the first round of play on Saturday, thanks in part to Rexwilder's stepping up, we were sitting in pretty good shape. All we had to do was beat two teams on Sunday who we had already beat once before on Saturday. (actually, we lost to one of the teams by 8 points, but our best player was out for almost a minute because of a pack problem. With 8 minute games, that is huge, so we would have won.)

Anyway, we were in pretty good shape to qualify for the national tournament. Unfortunately, it just wasn't meant to be. I am happy to say that I played much better on Sunday than I did Saturday, even coming in 1st place on our team during the last game. Rex came in 3rd that game. The problem is that me and Rex need to be coming in 5th and 6th, not 1st and 3rd. In other words, our "go to" guys were not playing at the level they normally do during those last pivotal games, and Rex and I were doing all we could to step up under the pressure. We ended up coming in 6th place out of 9 teams. The top 5 teams qualified for nationals. Go figure.

Of course, we were there for the fun of it and just to hang out together. So, we both had a blast and think we will make another run at it next year.

LQ Regional Diary Entry #3

Well, the first night of tournament play is complete. I am happy to say that team Nashville is in contention to qualify for the National Tournament to take place in Las Vegas later this year. I will spare you the details of how the scoring works, but we came in 6th place out of 9 teams tonight, which means that in tomorrows playoffs, we have to beat two teams that are about the same level of ability as us. It could go either way.

I personally stuggled tonight. I had a couple of very good games, and a few very bad. I am please to write that Rexwilder has been playing the games of his life and has been an important part of keeping us in contention. Our first game starts at 10:15 in the morning, which is a little rough to get up that early, but it should make for an interesting day.

The picture above is the Nashville LQ Team. From the back row, left to right, the codenames are:
Smurfy, Big Tiny, Hallo (me), Ernie, Rexwilder, Mr. Prez, Frozen Shade, Ogun, and Rax.

LQ Regionals Road Diary Entry #2

After our first night of practice games, the stage is set for a completely unpredictable tournament. The actual tournament games begin tonight at 6:45 pm. Last night during the practice games, I ranked from 8th down to 24th (out of 27 players), so it is just simply up in the air as to how well our team will do.

We are about to run over to the "Richmond 1" LQ center to get in a couple of games before we make our way to "Richmond 2" for the tournament. My next post will be after midnight tonight with the first days results.

Pictured below is yours truly (codename Hallo) with one of Nashville's elite questors (codename Ernie). As you can see, we are well rested, organized and ready for battle. This is The Beast, signing off.

LQ Regionals Road Diary

Rex and I are on the road and have stopped at a nice Country Inn and Suites outside of Knoxville. We are fortunate enough to have stopped right smack dab in the middle of the "Honda Hoot" which is apparently an annual Honda motorcycle convention. We fit right in.

Rex needed to do some work, so naturally he is flipping through the channels on the TV and I am surfing the internet. Tomorrow we finish our journey to Richmond, VA where we will have some practice games in anticipation of the first round of tournament play on Saturday. I will hopefully be able to keep you posted, assuming we continue to stay in motels with internet access.

Friday's Feast

Barry at the inn of the last home always does this Friday Feast thing, and since I have nothing better to write about, I thought I would give it a shot. So, here it goes:

Appetizer
What is a word that you use that would not be considered common?
I suppose the word Beast. I use that in reference to anything that is above average.

Soup
What theme of calendar do you have on your wall this year?
Wall calendars? Do people still use those?

Salad
Name three people you speak with by telephone on a regular basis.
Easy, my wife Andi, my brother Rex and my best bro, James Aaron. Actually, any of my family.

Main Course
If you could buy a new outfit for someone you know - who would it be and what would you purchase for them?
My best friend of 17 years James Aaron, a brand new Blazing Fury ride operators costume. We have tried for years to get one, just hasn't happened yet.

Dessert
What was the last beverage you drank?
A coke.

I'm Back

As always, M-Fuge was a huge success. Students were involved in hands on mission projects all week and God was certainly doing wonderful things. However, I am happy to be home.

I noticed that a federal judge in CA rejected a lawsuit on Monday from an atheist who said that having "In God We Trust" on US currency violates his first amendment rights. That is good news, but the judge's comments on his decision were interesting. He said that the four words were a national motto and had "nothing whatsoever to do with the establishment of religion."

M-Fuge 2006

I will be leaving with the teenagers for Mobile, AL tomorrorw for a week of missions with the Lifeway mission camp Mission Fuge. I will see everyone in a week. Blessings!

Happy Birthday!

to Rexwilder himself! Have a great day big guy.

"They were the ISARAELITES!"

Can you name the movie?

"I sure hope we find Jennifer before she finds herself."