The worst part about the day was the weather. If I could have seen anything, I could have moved in close enough to make use of the paint. The way it was, I was just stuck getting longballed at the “bridge” and having no clue where it came from for the first 3 games. I doubt they were even aiming at me when I did get hit. There were a lot of accidental kills that day from curving paint. I nailed a teammate in the back of the neck once and he was a good 3′ out of my line of fire. Though that did make for some funny moments when you aim for someone and get a kill on a guy that you didn’t even see.

They opened the field up for free play after the last game, but I was out of paint by that point. It really is a shame. That last game was REALLY intense and made the whole day worth it, and the weather just got better from there.

I’m still impressed with how well it came together given all the things working against the day. Small crowd, horrible weather, not many highly experienced players…yet it still stayed interesting. The games were always down to the last minute, and it didn’t seem like there was too much interference in the natural progression trying to make it that way. It was enough to keep me engaged in the game even though I was cold, wet, and miserable.

Oh, and the refs did a REALLY GOOD JOB this time. That has been a complaint in the past. They were right in the middle of the action and making some good calls. They shut down some really bad behavior a couple of times, as well. Plus they were friendly and helpful.