Christmas
2004,
history was made in Hanoi. 33 discophiles from Australia, Bangkok, Cambodia, China, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia,
Singapore and, believe it or not, Reno, Nevada, USA came to
Hanoi to help Vietnam claim its first ever International
Ultimate Tournament. The 20 local players welcomed the
internationals with Vietnamese hospitality and showed them the time
of their life.
Four teams played round robin (games of 90 minutes) on Saturday
followed by an all women's game, with the expected uncut commentary from the
sideline. Sunday's semi-finals were jaw-droppingly close. The adrenaline
flowed, the knees bent out of whack (sorry, Rob), the underdogs pulled out all
their tricks.
Then, the game we all waited for: Viet Nam against the World.
Despite their fashionable and practical conical hats, the world lost (again,
history repeats itself), in a closely contested match, 5 to 4.
Finals were pretty much predicted by the bookies on Day 1, despite
heroic rallies by the Red and Grey teams during the Semis. Green
Machine (ably captained by world famous ulti pin-up Joel Melanson and his
Vina-babe co-captain Ngan) squeezed by previously undefeated Blue.
Captain Paul Staples (that guy always trailing after
Asia's/Australia's hottest female ulti pin up girl Deb) conceded
defeat only in the last minute. Despite Joel's best attempt during
the final to squish Ngan, she rallied courageously & took the best layout prize!
Saturday night's "bia hoi" (traditional beer & food)
was a huge hit, even with the vegetarians, and midnight beach disc on the Red River sandbars,
complete with cold beer and bonfire, brought home to all just what a
wonderful town Hanoi is. Nobody went home unsatisfied, and everyone said:
"I'll be back."
The post tournament trip to Halong Bay on the traditional 'ultimate
party' Junk turned into - - you guessed it - - The Ultimate Party. Captain
Hung and crew made the mistake of challenging our seasoned Ulti - vets to a rice
wine competition. Well, you guessed the outcome. The boat
didn't sink, but the Ulti crowd had just about every other passenger wishing they'd thrown
themselves to the sharks. Would have complemented the pre-digested dinner
that went overboard (at 6 p.m., no less). You shoulda seen the state of the ship
by midnight.
The Ultimate Viet Nam experience was rounded out by a gathering of
the disc in
the historic town of Hoi An. New Year's eve saw Hoi An's first
ever Ulti game in the municipal stadium (the beach was waaaaay too windy n wavy),
and Vietnam's first ever Land Shark sighting (baited by a flashing red disc) was
made before the year end. Terry, you got the hottest fins. It all
closed out with a huge bash, not to mention a few scuffles, at Vietnam's most notorious New
Year's eve hotspot, the Tam Tam Bar. Wooow...
what a way to end 2004!
