36 Hours, 5 Softball Games, and Countless Wings

This weekend I headed to Charlottesville to cheer on the Duke law co-rec team in the 2009 UVA tournament. If you played college ball, then you might have an inkling as to how serious this weekend was. Thirty-seven organizers. Professional umpires. Sixteen hundred law students. And, as far as I've heard, not a single law suit. Well done!

I flew in Thursday night despite the crazy storms across the south and then, bright and early on Friday, we packed up B's Jeep and headed for UVA, bringing an 1L and a shortstop along with us.

We arrived in time for check-in at Wild Wings, which may or may not have been the highlight of B's weekend. I knew the boy liked "man food," as I tend to call things that are fried, smothered in sauce, or just generally a brownish color, but he was so excited at the idea of having dinner at Wild Wings. "There are only a few in the country," he told me as we saddled up and ordered a sampler of 25 wings. One entire page of the menu was devoted to a flavor list of the wings available, ranging from Chinese Syndrome (which prompted the server to wish the orderer "good luck") to Ranchadila ("Part Ranch, part Chernobyl, whole lotta good."). Long story short, they were some amazing wings.

We registered at Wild Wings, soaking up our free beers and the leering looks from the all-mens teams that were literally lining the room on the back porch (Hello? Single girls? 1,600 law school kids, mostly men. Heads up!), then headed to the hotel to get ready for the first game, a 9 pm opener which went less than perfectly, thanks to the long car ride and the fact that most of our infield was still hungover from the night before.

After the game, we went out for late snack/dinner and drinks before calling it a night to prep for the 8am (you heard me) game on Saturday. Following a quick victory, the team readied for the second game of the day, third overall, which they also soundly won, thrusting them into the playoff, single-elimination rounds. We dug into the Bradley Arrant BBQ, then played a final game for the day at 9 pm. And by "we," I mean the team. I spent my time alternating between shivering on the bleachers and taking funny pictures of people at bat. Good times had by all!

Saturday night we headed out for the big event with, I'd guess, roughly 1,500 of the kids from the tournament for drinks and hanging out off of UVA's main street, making the most of our last night in town before (you guessed it) the game the next morning at 8am. Ooph.

Unfortunately, the team that we played pre-dawn the next morning was among the 100 or so kids that opted not to go out and celebrate their judicial camaraderie, but rather stayed in and prepped by ironing their team tshirts and oiling their gloves.

We were out, but the weekend was fantastic. B and I enjoyed breakfast at Bodo's Bagels on Sunday and several naps throughout the weekend (crazy 8 am games), plus hanging out with one of his bosses from this past summer (a UVA grad) and witnessing a hilarious homerun derby.

The most striking thing about the weekend (aside from the massive swell of testosterone that swept the campus and the overall organization of such a huge event by people already overwhelmed with work) was realizing that this trip would by my last to Durham as a visitor. The next time I go, I'll be moving to live with B. And I'll be a wife. Now that, friends, is crazy. We're right on 33 days, give or take four hours or so. I can't wait!