 |  ON THE ROAD WITH TOM RYAN |  |
| ON THE ROAD WITH TOM RYAN | |
| 2-25-01 Monkeys Take Mardi Gras by Storm Due to a scheduling snafu that gave the 5-2 Philadelphia Wings a bye on the weekend of the Mardi Gras Tournament, I got a chance to take my road show down to New Orleans. New Orleans is one of my favorite cities in the US. The past two years I have made it down for the second weekend of Jazz Fest; an awesome few days of music in the city with arguably the richest music tradition in the country. Sometimes it is hard to believe that you are still in the US when you are down there. They operate on a whole different set of laws and mores. The Crease Monkeys men and women's teams flew down at various times on Thursday. I teamed up with circuit veteran Suzy Ware, Erica Antonito, and Larry Rohleder at Pat O'Brien's for Happy Hour Hurricanes. After a couple of Pat's specialties, we headed to a Bourbon Street balcony for some dinner. During my shrimp and chicken Jambalaya, we were entertained by the music coming from an establishment across the street. A musician would routinely pop in and out of the entrance playing the chest washboard. We formulated a plan and headed down to the street. After a quick stop in a souvenir shop to pick up a round of feather boas, we headed in to hear the music. It turned out to be an interactive music jam of sorts. Suzy was easily coerced into strapping on the washboard, and with spoons in hand started strumming out a fat rhythm as we all freaked to the Zydeco Jam. Being a drummer, Larry was a natural, and with the trio of washboarders rocking out to "When the Saints Go Marching In," it soon became apparent that we would for the rest of the weekend be known as the Varsity Saints Boa Club. I desperately wanted to see more music, so I convinced Heather Kormanic and Jessa Phoebus to accompany me to the House of Blues to see George Clinton. We ended up only staying for about 3 songs because it just wasn't what we needed. I decided to call it an early night, as is typical for my first night in New Orleans…living in Baltimore, I am not use to the altitude (10 feet below see level). Friday we faced off against a Swedish team called Stora Ballobas. The team consisted of at least 10 or so native Swedes with a few Baltimoreans and the like thrown in. Our squad was pretty stacked featuring fellow Philly Wing Jake Bergey, Team Toyota and NY Saints' Gewas Schindler and Mark Frye, Billy Serino and Brent Rothfuss from Rochester, NY, and attackman Andy Lopatin. Our defense was lead by fellow New Jersey Pride member (MLL), John Ciliburto, Lax World of Annapolis' own Brendan Bellotte, MAB's Stas Kotula, Mike Ryan and our stellar goalie trio of Billy Hunter, Chris Mitzel, and Harry Mazaheri. Our roster consisted of at least 25 - 30 guys, so it was easy to outrun the Swedes. The game ended with 22-2 score. The tournament sported free massages and $5 all you could drink adult beverages for the weekend. We hung out for a bit and watched some games, trying to restore vital carbohydrates. |        |
| We headed back to Bourbon Street on the Crease Monkey's Team Charter. We killed some time in our room playing various bead tossing games… you know like, throw the beads around the door handle, throw the beads in the ceiling fan, etc. After about an hour of that, I donned my Mardi Gras colored boa and headed out with Jake Bergey, Lars Peterson and Brendan Casey (both Canton, NY natives) to see KID ROCK live at the University of New Orleans. I have liked Kid Rock for a couple years now and have only seen him play with Phish in Vegas this past fall. Gewas, Frye, and Brendan Bellotte also met us there. It was an entertaining show…lots of energy… a bit different of a scene than the Phish and other jam bands I usually go to see. Kid was even accompanied by my friend Dan Radebaugh's favorite country singer, David Allan Coe for a couple tunes. |  |
After the show we headed back to the French Quarter, grabbed some Dominoes, and ventured to Bourbon Street. We decided to check out Headquarters, i.e. Patty O's Courtyard, to see what was up. A good crowd of Monkeys and other tournament teams were in attendance enjoying their Hurricanes. I lost Lars and Brendan but found some other friends under the elevated space heater. Despite the southern locale of New Orleans, it was pretty cold for most of the weekend. I wandered around a bit and headed home…clocking in at 3am…a much better performance than the night before (I think I was starting to become acclimated). 11 o'clock gametime came a bit too early for some, as Bourbon Street stays open all night. The weather was sunny but blistering cold. On the drive to City Park, we got a view of a parade's floats lined up for an afternoon ride. The floats are notoriously elaborate. Krewes work year round to prepare for the festive occasion of bead tossing and general jubilation. Unfortunately, that would be the extent of our parade experience. Our goalie, Billy Hunter, defied the temperature and took his warm up shots with only his underwear, cup, and helmet on. A move that he realized would have been better left as a thought. Our first game was against the Boston Blitz. They only had 13 or 14 players, one of them being fellow Bowdoin alum, Ben Chasset. Their small numbers caught up with them quickly, and by the second half I got the rare opportunity of taking face-offs. I tried the laser a couple times without much success, so I decided to stick with what I do best and let Boston's Jay Fevic clamp it and battle for the loose ball. This seemed to work a bit better. I think we negotiated a shortened second half, because although I know I ran a lot, I played midfield for the entire fourth quarter (typical quarters were 20 minutes.) |
As we tried to stay warm between games, we watched an evenly matched LSU club team battle The Texas Longhorns. Both team's rosters consisted of players who were relatively new to the game. The game went into 2 OT's with the Longhorns capturing the victory. Our semi-final pitted us against Lakeshore from Chicago. The Lakeshore squad had bumped the Crease Monkeys out of contention this past fall in the Chicago Shootout. Despite a 5-5 halftime score, the Monkeys would not be denied and headed to the beer truck with a 14-6 win. The Mardi Gras Tourney has been awarded the prestigious TR Tournament Award for Best On-Site Post Game Party. Saturday's festivities were augmented by a sound system fueled by DJ Chris Mitzel. Highlights included a dance floor throw down by Monkey Kristin Lonergan and some unknown stud, and the fake fight sequence performed by Mo Duff and Darah Ross. At 5pm we all jumped on the Monkey Mobile and headed back to the Quarter. It took us a bit longer to make it back to the Andrew Jackson due to parade detours. The Crease Monkey's threw a party at the AJ, complete with invitations. Although initial estimates had us getting ejected from the hotel by Saturday night, the adverse weather conditions kept the outdoor garden party to a dull roar. At about 11 we rolled on over to O'Brien's Headquarters for our daily Hurricane fix. Team Toyota's Steph Radebaugh made her Mardi Gras debut and was instantly inducted as a junior member of the Varsity Saints for their "Back on Bourbon Street Tour". (See photos) When it came time for a change, Brendan, Lars, and myself headed to Razoo's. Despite a failed ron dez vous with other Monkey's, we hung out in a "soft spot" of their outdoor section for a while. After Brendan and Lars went home, I wandered around Bourbon Street for a while trying to find some friends. Unsuccessful, I decided to cut my losses at about 5:30 and call it a night. The championship game was scheduled for 1pm against the Atlanta based Southern Empire, a team that had knocked us out of the Chicago Tourney back in 1998. I scored off a busted play about 30 or 40 seconds into the game, and we never looked back. Team MVP, Jake Bergey, continued his strong performance on attack with 3 or 4 goals, while John Ciliburto showed why he was the most outstanding defenseman, dominating everyone he covered. It was a Hollywood ending as the Crease Monkeys defeated the Southern Empire 13-7. The Women's Tournament Champion Monkeys livened up the post-game party. Activities consisted of boat races and other relay races. Once again the Lady Monkeys showed their prowess as they defeated a male medley squad in the "Finish your beverage…sprint to the other end…spin around a lacrosse stick 5 times with your head down…and sprint back event." When they cut us off, we piled on the bus and headed home. |     |
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A few of us showered up quick and headed over to Harrah's Casino before our team dinner. In an unprecedented series of events, all five of us that went over, left as winners. I would have to take some of the credit for our success on the black jack table, as I was the prime instigator of the Table Karma. Table Karma is a skill I developed at the Vegas Tourney. In essence, it involves building positive energy amongst the players and dealer. Sitting in the all-important number 7 seat, I orchestrated it to perfection. Jake was the big winner with $240 while I cashed in at about 2-hundo in the black (which made up for blowing at least that much on Thursday). Billy Serino pocketed a respectable chunk, while I think my roommate Lars left with an extra Jackson (which is good considering he was about to loose all his chips ten minutes before we left). Brendan didn't bet, which is classified as a win in my book.
We headed over to the Acme Seafood House for some authentic Nawlins grub. I chose the New Orleans Medley, which consisted of gumbo, jambalaya, and a banger. I also scored Billy's fried shrimp, which topped things off nicely. I elected myself social chair for the evening so I quickly tried to gather up info on the evening's activities. Unfortunately neither the Wild Magnolia's (a.k.a. the Mardi Gras Indians) nor the Rebirth Brass Band were anywhere to be found. So we settled on The Rock and Bowl. A bowling alley that sports live music. The music turned out to be about as lively as my bowling game. Despite my best efforts, I was voted Most Likely to Throw a Gutter Ball for the Class of 2001. Nevertheless, it was fun and a good change of scenery. After leaving the R&B I had to bow out and I ended up crashing at Brendan's nearby pad. I was awakened the following morning by Lars cranking I Fight Authority…Authority Always Wins by John Cougar Mellonballs, on the stereo. We ordered some breakfast and sat around listening to tunes. I called the Andrew Jackson to let them know I would be over in a bit. When I showed up at the AJ, they had already packed up my things and moved them out. This was fine except for the fact that my new camera that I got for christmas turned up missing. I did some quick shopping for presents and jumped in an airport shuttle. As you might expect Stas and I were the first two picked up so we spent the next 30 to 40 minutes driving around the Quarter picking up passengers. No worries though. I made it home in one piece. I am hoping to make it down to New Orleans again in May for Jazz Fest. I have a feeling, however, that the Wings will be either playing in the NLL finals that weekend or celebrating a Championship. Either way is a no lose situation. All in all, a great trip. I just wish I had gotten to see more music. |