All In

I managed to finish in the top half of the 63 person No Limit Hold 'Em Poker Tournament we had last night in that bastion of unofficial Law Socials, the Windsor Park Plaza Party Room (The official name of the room is something named after one of the Lister Towers, but I can't remember which one. It's perhaps rather quaint that everything in that building seems to be named after something in Lister or on the campus generally). Anyways, I was generally doing quite well, then got greedy when other people started going all in. Since I had a bit of a cushion, I was willing to put a little in with a K-4 and an A-3, both offsuit, that I ordinarily would have folded but the prospect of knocking two people out and taking their stacks proved just too tempting. Needless to say, it didn't work out. Then, as my stack began to dwindle, I came to the realisation that I was going to have to start taking risks, as the blinds were about to go up. I probably could have hung around for a few more hands, but we were about to take a break and with the increase in blinds (and the stacks of most everyone else remaining) I went all in blind on the last hand before the third round (4-6 suited). After that, I got my money's worth of the beer that we all chipped in for (I even did a few keg stands, which was a bit of a new experience), dabbled in a side game, and then watched the final results. Surprisingly, Roman managed to finish in 6th. I joked with him that had he won the $1,000 pot, he probably would be about even lifetime in poker.

Better Late Than Never

Dublin was quite enjoyable. On the first day, I was able to take in the Guiness Storehouse. Lovely place, and the free pint (which I poured myself) made it even better. Lots of interesting history, as well as information on the brewing process. Strange to think that Arthur Guiness signed a 9,000 year lease for the brewery (or that said lease was signed over 100 years before Confederation).

Apart from the Storehouse, most of the pre-tournament time was spent walking around Dublin and generally familiarizing ourselves with the city. As stated earlier, the tournament went quite well for Canada. I would have liked to have done a little better, but realistically we probably ended up about where we should have expected. The highlight would definitely be getting judged by a DCA in Round 8. It was my first Northern Hemisphere worlds, and there was definitely a different feel than in South Africa or Singapore. It was good to see a lot of people that I'd seen at previous worlds, as well as to reconnect with the other Canadians (and the Alaskans). Of particular note was the meningitis scare that they had during Comedy Night. It definitely killed the mood.

In terms of other Dublin sites, we were able to take in Dublin Castle, the GPO, the Four Courts (where I got them to sort of show us around by stating that we were law students from Canada, in spite of the fact that Crossman and Jones were not) and, of course, the Book of Kells at Trinity College. It was great to observe so much history. The Long Hall at Trinity was especially impressive. In addition, we were also able to check out the National Gallery and the Temple Bar district. And while it didn't take much time, I was able to see the Molly Malone statue, which was quite cool.

In terms of purchases, nothing major. Though, I am now the owner of a Lions jersey, as well as a combined Lions/All Blacks jersey (commemorating the tour). On the last day I was going to try and go see Landsdowne Road, just to take a picture of it, but I was too sick to leave the hotel. Apparently I went by it on the cab when I was leaving, so that will have to suffice.

The downside was, as alluded to earlier, I came home quite sick. The last day in Dublin I pretty much stayed back at the hotel. Particularly bad was the trip home. I don't think I've been that sick before when I've travelled. The time in the Frankfurt Airport was especially rough. On the bright side, I saw most of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on the plane home. At any rate, I'm home now and am feeling much better than I was the first week back (though, I'm still trying to shake the cough a bit). It was a good trip, and I'd certainly recommend Dublin to those thinking of going there (the transit was quite good, complete with double-decker buses and the St. Stephen's Green and Grafton Street area is quite nice).

The Giz

Good to see The Giz is going to be inducted into the CFL Hall of Fame. I was fortunate enough to see him play live on a number of occasions (can't say the same for Mario Lemieux, in spite of having ESA tickets to see him play his comeback year, something came up). I saw his last game (a bit anti-climactic when he got hurt), when they put him on the wall, one of the game's against Calgary when he ran two back, and the one against Ottawa when he almost ran two back (he dropped the second one on the 5 yard line, for no apparent reason). He definitely hasn't been replaced, on the team or in the league. In terms of the Esks, while Donnie Ashley, Winston October and Tony Thompkins have been good, they don't have that same power or explosiveness. Likewise, Bashir Levingston is too much of feast or famine returner, just as likely to end up with a 10 yard loss. Corey Holmes is good, but of a different mold. Keith Stokes is close, but really there will only be one Giz.

It's also good to hear Matt Dunigan get the call to the hall. While his reputation may have taken a hit during his tenure as Calgary GM and Head Coach, he was a joy to watch as a player. While I missed his tenure with the Eskimos (I went to my first game the year after he had been traded to B.C.), I often found myself cheering for him when he wasn't playing the Eskimos. My favourite Dunigan memory would have to be the 91 Grey Cup. It was after the Peewee Smith catch, so I was going to be cheering for the Argos regardless. The fact that they won while their starting quarterback had to have his shoulder frozen in order to play. I put Dunigan up there with Messier in terms of sports leadership combined with meanness/toughness.

On the topic of sports, I think with his outburst against Ryan Smyth the other night, J.S. Giguerre is showing further signs of being a (more) modern-day Ron Hextall. Sensitive about his crease area, carried a team to 7 games in a Stanley Cup Final, winning the Conn Smythe in a losing cause... Now all he needs to do is deck Chris Chelios.

What A Rush

Went to a Rush game last weekend. I really enjoyed it. I went with my cousin, who plays lacrosse, so I was in the unfamiliar position of being the guy asking about the rules at a sporting event. I found the game to be really fast paced and think that I could definitely get into the sport. I never did make it out to a Drillers game, but I can imagine that it would have been fairly similar.

That being said, as a bit of an old school sports fan, I found all the extra curricular stuff going on to be a tad unnecessary. While it's a unique and interesting idea to have a house DJ playing music, I'm not sure what I think of the music being played during the game. Likewise, I found the PA Announcer to be somewhat intrusive at times. I recognise the need to build a fan base when one doesn't exist (contrary to the situation with the Esks and Oilers), and perhaps it creates more of a fun atmosphere for fans. That being said, I think that the game is also capable of selling itself. Anyways, I didn't find it quite as bothersome as at Eskimos games, but it was still a bit distracting.

Law Show was really good this year. I was doing operations so I missed the first song and dance, and the intro, but from what I saw it was good. I especially liked the songs this year (the Les Miserables medley in particular), as well as the "Professor Robertson's Neighbourhood Fact Scenario". Much merriment was had afterwards.

Dublin update is still coming, but I felt posting it on Burn's Day wouldn't make much sense.

This Blog Still Exists

My Factum is complete and I'm starting to feel better. A report on Dublin will be forthcoming. But first, Congrats to Mikey and Jo. I can proudly say that I've crashed on the couch of a pair of world champions.