Sunday, August 9, 2009

Oozeball Tournament

Finally, the second weekend in August arrived for me to discover what the Oozeball Tournament in Upper Jay is all about.  I had dropped by before work yesterday morning when things were just getting started and from a distance it looked like a bunch of sunburned men playing volleyball in water.  I was sitting at work contemplating all this and knew I needed to return.  After all, the sign said "Come Join the Fun!"

I walked up to a few young ladies to get the lowdown and immediately they offered me a beer. I was glad I waited until after work for the scoop on oozeball since it became apparent that an icy cold beverage is a necessity at this tournament.  The ladies were there to watch their husbands compete against other oozeball teams for a chance to win a t-shirt and trophy.
The water didn't really seem ooze-like to me, it was just some water on top of a sand pit.  I happened to look up what ye old Merriam-Webster would say, ooze: a soft deposit (as of mud, slime, or shells) on the bottom of a body of water.  I really thought it would be more slimy or muddy than it was.  Perhaps the longer the tournament is played, the more ooze-like it gets.  At one point I actually heard a mother tell her son who was playing in the sideline waters, to stop drinking the ooze water!  That statement jolted me into realizing this wasn' t just water they were playing in, but indeed it was very ooze-like.

Finally after living on this earth for 30 plus years, I was able to watch my first Oozeball Tournament with some fried bread dough and a free can of Pabst Blue Ribbon.  
Life is good.


4 comments:

Yummy said...

Oooh love them hot muscular boyz splashing in the water. Great man candy...

Anonymous said...

Fried dough and beer----sounds pretty weird to me!

Anonymous said...

I played in that tournament since 2001 and as I understand it the water used to be mud until everyone in the tournament got ear infections. Since then its been "the pit" with a sandy bottom and water.

Don't forget the "shotguns" after a win or lose it helps build team, moral

Helena Basket said...

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