Let's GO!
Today was the day we finally got to go to Sun City. It's like South African Vegas. I'm talking like luxury hotels, the Game reserve, Golf Course, and GAMING TABLES. This was the day aside from the matches I looked forward to the most. Myself and Fitzpatrick senior were trying to come up with any plausible way we'd be able to hit the blackjack tables and today we got to.
The casino is awsome. It's alot like in the US except its quite a bit smaller. There is also an auto shuffler that the dealer keeps putting cards into so they dont have to shuffle at the end of each shoe. We sat down right at 1pm when the tables started and bought in 300 rand on the 50 rand minimum table. Shaker lost 400 real quick. Fitzpatrick junior pretty much sat on his stack of 200 on and off and Mike Jones made like 300. Dave and I were the high rollers (mainly because he knows how to play and I ask him what to do). We both cashed out a 1000 and found ourselves just begging for another 2 hours on the tables.
It should also be mentioned that there was a mini golf game played. Ryder cup style. Me, Healy, Shaker, and Jones against the Fitzpatricks, Ally, and Spencer. We led through the first 9 but I put a few fives on the back 9 that I'm not exactly proud of. I was the hole in 1 leader with 4 but finished with a tragic 54 (2 strokes from last).
After the gaming and mini golf we jumped on an open air bus and hit the game reserve. A three hour tour through an African landscape was pretty sweet. We saw Elephants, Springboks, some other deer looking deal, some birds that this lady in the back was freaking out about, some hippos, some rhinos, and a sick leopard. There were only 15 leopards in the whole area so we really lucked out on seeing it. It got pretty cold and the sun went down about 6:30.
As degenerate gamblers, we all like to put some money back on the table given the chance. We went back into the casino for dinner and were alotted 45 minutes. Come on tell me you didn't think we were gonna play the slots. Everyone lost a minimal ammount of money just giving the machines a try. Fitzpatrick senior tossed a couple hundred rand in the machine without blinking and eventually won a large sum of credits that equaled out to about 500 rand. When asked why he put so much into start he simply let us know that "Shooters keep shooting."
Surprisingly, a night of setback occured before bed time.
More tommorow
Also sorry about the lapse of the delegate of the day I'll have the rest up tommorow as I have to run to Ellis park for the match now.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteTim,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the detective work and observations on security at the stadia. One other question...did you notice how in stadium security is armed and dressed? Did you see security in full riot gear? What about the guard dogs? When you get a chance, ask Dave Fitz. about the militia we saw at the Inter vs. A.C. match in Milan. It was fascinating to watch how they deployed...a bit like the guard at Buckingham Palace only a lot darker, with really really big riot clubs, shielded helmets and snarling dogs. Just wondering if you were seeing the same thing there.
On another front, I was wondering if you all had been hearing anything further about the controversy surrounding the new adidas ball. I'm including a link here for you. Back in the early Spring, there was a lot of backlash by players about the new ball that adidas was introducing at the World Cup. Several international players said it was, in fact, a "voodoo" ball that had a mind of its own with little true or expected bounce. Any chatter about that? Any evidence that it is inferior...ask the Messrs. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Healy and Mr. Starr for their take. Wonder if the "Brit keep" may have been the victim of the "voodoo" ball...seriously, today I was talking to Alex DosSantos, one of the captains of our men's team (whose following the blogs by the way) and Coach LaBranche. We all agreed, it's part of the game, those nasty goals...but oh, so painful to watch. Not that we want to give the goal back....But you can't help but believe that that goal will be a recurring nightmare for that man until the day he dies. Goalies...big glory, big risk...which explains why there are millions of goalie moms, dads, grandparents, and assorted friends and family members that close their eyes for p.k.s!
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/5235679/ce/us/adidas-surprised-timing-complaints-ball&cc=5901?ver=us
There is a video embedded in this about the "voodoo" ball...anyway, thanks so much for the great updates! Glad to hear that Professors Hamakawa and Covell are snapping photos and singing their way through SA!
Blog on! Enjoy! My best to all....
Dr. Walker
June 15, 2010 6:24 PM
not surprised, dave's been talkin about the casino for months.
ReplyDelete