Haystax, Poker, and Lack of Sleep

*Originally Posted in January, 2006*

Alrighty then, so I started off my weekend by going to a birthday party for Kelsi (a girl I know from my old church) who turned 25. Fun was had by all, especially when a certain 5 guys...*ahem*, including me...gave a "special presentation" for her...don't ask...I mean you can, but I probably won't tell you. Somewhere in here the night came to an end, the girls left, and us, the guys... played. Nintendo... For a long time. After all of us were tuckered out from playing Game Cube we tried to get some shut eye.

My friend, Brady, and I ended up talking while the others slept. We talked....and talked....and we talked some more. I tried not to doze off while we were talking on subjects of interest to us all, although I fear I might have once or twice. Finally the sun rose...and yes, we were still talking. We talked until 8 am and then were overcome with sweet slumber....until 10:15 am. Yes, we slept a whopping 2 hours and 15 min...yay for us. After I regained conciseness Tim (another friend of mine) made oatmeal with toast for us. I guess oatmeal and toast go together... He said, "It's good! Try some."...So I had some... Shortly there after decided that left over cake was the way to go for breakfast. Then I left...and came home to clean for the poker night.

After cleaning ye ole' house for the upcoming poker event I went to my brother's b-ball game. It was much like last week except the kids on the other team were jerks. That's right if you're reading this and you played on the other team... you, and I mean YOU were a jerk...face. The officials seemed to have a bias against our team, and one of them seemed to be coaching the other team... So, I decided to talk to the one ref after the game...which I did. While I stepped up to him to give my commentation I realized that the fellow was rather huge, and could kill me easily. So as well as I can on here I will reenact the moment...

Ben: "Excuse me, are you the coach of the other team?"

Ref: "No, I'm the ref."

Ben: "So you're not the coach of the other team though?"

Ref: "No, I'm just the ref."

Ben: "Oh, well...then, keep reffing... ref."

Call me what you want, but I got the heck out of dodge.

As for poker night, it was fun. I lost... at times it seemed un-orderly... I lost. Jay and Kyle Anne brought the new intern Jared and introduced him to everyone... and I lost. But it was still a fun night none-the-less. Ali and Caleb ended up splitting the pot at the end of the night, and me....I lost. Well, that does it for now... Check back for more later.

Go Haystax? (A Night in the Life of Ben, While He Watched a Basketball Game)

*Originally Posted January, 2006*

Alright, so last night I indulged myself and went to see my brother play some basketball on his and his friend Andrew's team, "The Haystax"...yep, The Haystax...in this league that they're in. But I was not merely there to cheer on the team as one would think...no, not at all... but to observe, take notes, and of course heckle...the players...and refs....and the score keeper guy with a hangover.

Ok, so the night began with the Haystax practicing. Right off I noticed a couple of difference between the two teams...One: The other team had more players... a lot more players. Of course it's easy to have a lot more players then the other team when the other team only has 7 people show up...Two: No, black man(s)...I mean it's like an unwritten code that there needs to be at least one brother on any given' team...I mean I'm sure you've heard the expression "white men can't jump" well, I'm here to tell you...it's not an expression, it's the truth. (well, for the most part) They did have one guy on the team that was a bit darker, but I decided he was more of Adrian Monk meets my good friend Michael Wylie...hmm, hmm... don't ask, because it's not a good thing.

With this said the game began...or so one would think. I mean the tip off came and went, players had already missed baskets, but one thing was wrong...the clock...it hadn't started, thanks to the moron with the hangover. So after some yelling at the guy with a hangover the clock finally started to tick... Andrew, Caleb, and this one guy with a 5 on his jersey (I think it was a 5 anyway) started off good, and quickly you would see that the only chance of their team winning would be these 3 stepping up...which they did. They played with heart, and for the better part of the game stayed close behind the other team.

I would of course like to believe that my constant heckling of the players, and refs had something to do with it. I'm telling you it worked. All I'd have to do is wait until one of the other teams players got fouled and went to the free throw line...Then I' start saying, "Look, Hallie Barry!" it worked an impressive 3 out of 4 times. One other thing that happened was when the opposing team once made a 3 pointer the turd faced score keeper guy with a hangover gave them 4 points...and he was leaving it that way too. So I did what any good older brother should do...Yell out the correct score that should be on the score sign dealio. Soon I was joined by a chorus of parents chanting the right score at the score dude with a hangover...of course in one chant I screamed, "Lay off the the booze!" But that was besides the point...*Ahem*...Despite a great effort from the aforementioned players above the Haystax still lost. So we did what any losing basketball team would do...go watch Glory Road (a film about a underdog team that won!). Anyways, so that concluded my night, and I dare say this blog...so, check back later for new stuff... hoight!