Cardiff Uni Canoe Polo

Well this weekend just been, Mothers day weekend (and less importantly proof that pigs fly when it comes to Rugby) was the annual CUCP tournament. I was playing with the Cardiff Uni Old Boys, and although good looks were there in abundance, skill was left to be desired.  Not only did we only scrape a win against a team of 3 players from Birmingham, we continued along the path of poor play, we still managed to win our games. It made me think of the England vs. Wales Six Nations game where the worse team managed to con themselves through to a win. However this is not a rant about an unlucky England and a some what lucky Welsh squad, its about a fluky Cardiff Old Boys team somehow winning the majority of their games. I just guess that Welsh teams seem to be able to come through games without much effort.

So after beating a three man side, we needed to pluck up our ideas... We didn't! But we won the next three games that day, somehow scraping thorough and clasping victory. It obviously goes to show that the cold morning was effecting others as much as it was effecting us.

Now, we had known for a while that our star player, Andy Francis, was deserting us to go on a jolly to the 'nham, so it was my turn to get the team ready. There were talks of a coo, and two of the team members running away to watch the rugby. Luckily I threatened them with certain pain if they were to desert me in the team's time of need, and they complied and stuck around for our last game; Nottingham A.... Bollocks!?! But I didn't let the team know of my knowledge that we were gonna get smashed. The way I managed to remain strong was to come right out and say to the guys, 'Lads, we're gonna get dicked on!'. Now, I know this looks bad, but what I was trying to achieve was a bit of sarcasm to settle the team. But the fact that I may have said it in my serious/'Oh shit' voice, this may have been the wrong move.

Anyway, Nottingham beat us, but not by much, and I can safely say we gave them a good game. So medals were now out of reach, and this was the last game of the day. Time to get some fancy dress on and some drinks inside us to drown out the sorrows of the day. The party theme was "C", and only Morgan and I from the old boys turned up. Morgan hadn't been playing all day due to the rugby, but was playing the next day (Sunday) having had an interesting Friday night. It is a story to tell at a later date, and surly to become one of his many anecdotes. So we went as Torys. If you don't understand why that counts as a "C" theme, then I hope you never have children. So in our fine threads, we rock up to the party, DJed by ATM who did a fine job with the Drum'n'Base, and we Drum'n'Basted it out till the early hours, and you can see the look of two upstanding party members below. (See what I did there? The word party? Still thinking of having kids?)

So 0730 came, and there was the wake up call for Cardiff. Bad times, I didn't want this to come. I'm not gonna lie, I was feeling worse for ware, and we couldn't even get a medal. But still, my team needed me... Oh wait Andy F was here today, so they didn't. Hello lie in!!! So I got down to the lakes before our first game at about 0900, and had a bacon roll to get me going, a bit carby for my liking, but it did the trick.

Now I can't remember who our first game was against, but I think we beat them, which leads me to believe they weren't very good, and therefore it must have been Bath or someone like that. Anyway I remember losing two out of the three and not feeling particularly great about it, so that's where the talk on polo stops.

So what's left to say, well the weather was good and the tournament was decent also, I feel that the weekend went down well and hopefully other uni's enjoyed it also.

Till next time...