Well, I'm almost recovered from the fun that never stops -- the post-tournament camporama -- and thought it would be good to post some results and some account of the festivities. So here goes, pics may come later as I'll have to do some gathering.

First the Mixed Division where you can have no more than 3 men in the water at any one time. San Diego and the Calgary under 19 (or at least that's what they were called, seems there were some double 19s on the team as well) went into the final game as scheduled based on the outcome of the round robin. In what could only be described as a battle of wills, San Diego jumped out to a 3-1 lead before the kids fired off a penalty shot goal and then a quick rush to tie it up just before time expired triggering a very load roar from the U19s and the crowd. Tourney format had us going straight to sudden death as time was a commodity that we could not waste. With momentum on the kids' side, San Diego held off the initial rush and settled in to control the final minute of the game and finally landing the puck in the trough. So the rankings were completed and surprisingly were not affected by a player with more home countries than you can shake a stick at playing in an international tournament for yet another country. Hmmmmmmm. (hint: her name sounds like, wait that would be too easy, figure it out on your own)

The Open Division was no less exciting. The Canadians put together a strong team with a few veterans from past World's and a handfull of the up and coming hopefulls for Durban, and came to town as Montreal. Meanwhile Santa Rosa put the band back together and joined with some of the LA crowd to create the heaviest team ever to play in a tournament, WTF. Rumor had it that even with the 6 smallest guys in the water the team weighed in at over 1200 lbs. With no certainty as to what the WTF stood for people were tossing out their ideas often to a few laughs. The obvious What the F... was tossed out but in a rare moment of hockey decency that wasn't even close. It was just what people said as they lined up across the pool from them. Waterbourne Tuckers and Friends was the official line being bandied about by the team, but many felt it was more like Weight Trumps Fitness, or Finesse. But don't let the name fool you, they had fitness too, and speed.

It was a good battle with the sun coming into the pool through the window causing glare at one end of the pool making it difficult to see through the rising bubbles. I don't recall who scored first or who had the lead at different points in the game but when time ran out in regulation I looked up and it was 3-3. So on to another sudden death finish. With Montreal pounding down the endwall, one of the WTF backs placed his glove at the corner of the goal preventing a goal. Advantage rule was being played until a ref that had not seen the gloving made an obstruction call against Montreal. Refs met, discussed, and made the penalty shot ruling much to the, and I'm not sure what word to put in here so I'll use this, dismay of the WTF team. With the Canucks and Tuck lined up on opposite sides of the puck the gong sounded, the players dove, and the puck was touched. KAPOOOOOWIE -- Scott blasted off the wall and stuffed the Canadian like a Turkey at Thanksgiving. The puck popped up a good meter or more with the three players looking around to find it. As it landed pretty much right where the hit was made the three of them collapsed on the puck and Canada was able to squeak the puck around and get it into the trough.

Then there was the post-tournament festivities which included some great food, a few drinks, the Leprechans (the band), and too much fun to write about. There was a Hip-Hip-Hooray... for the organizing committee that did a great job and as anything jumped up to cause potential problems they dealt with it quickly and kept everything going smoothly. Speaking of potential problems, with Club Fred in full force there was always opportunity for disaster. Fortunately we have a Vice-President of Fun with enough experience to recognize how to divert disaster when it comes a-knockin'. So when the Hotel Security came out and asked if we were with the Wedding, Terry jumped into action. Anyone that knows Uncle T, knows that he can be quick thinking in times like this and since he has seen ghostbusters knew that the answer to a question like that is "Yes". So he quickly walked over to the Guard and smoozed him a bit and the RV was allowed to continue as the late night social gathering and the fun kept funnin'. Later the band came out and joined the fun as did our Hawaiian Ho who showed up just in time to make the party more fun, as the Ho's usually will do to a party. Eventually, the fun had to move so we made like the Beverly Hillbillies and loaded up the truck and moved to, okay, not exactly like the Hillbillies, we just went across the freeway to the other hotel that was associated with the Tournament where, you guessed it, the fun kept funnin'.

Next day, people did what they usually do the day after a tournament -- woke up and said "ow" and tried to go back to sleep or went to the airport to catch a way toooooo early flight or went to work. But a tireless group went off to a good dive, some went fishing, and others went straight to the camporama. Well, straight isn't the right word, but they did get there early enough to body surf, play ultimate for a couple of hours, body surf some more and sit around enjoying a very nice sunset with new and old friends. Kendall and family showed up just after the sun dropped behind the horizon and we celebrated his daughter's 4th birthday with a cake made from cupcakes. Perfect for the crowd. For me it was time to catch a flight so I could be home to work the next day, but many stayed camping on the bluff at the edge of the beach, sitting around the fire, chatting and drinking and continuing the tradition of the fun never stopping.

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Just in case you weren't sure, it's official -- CMAS sucks.
Oh yeah, and now they're broke.