Trouble in Vegas

Trouble in Vegas. That's the name of a tournament. Accurately described by its slogan as "Best and worst idea, ever." You see, it's Las Vegas and there are a lot of ways to get in trouble. I know this because I've been going through a season (the one with the Minitature Killer) of CSI in anticipating for the trip. Making mental notes.....mainly of all the ways to get killed or sexually assaulted (many less ways to do this) in Vegas. Because of watching the show, every girl I saw I just assumed they were a transvestite or a prostitute. We also only saw 1 cop in the 4 days were there. I guess when you don't have laws you don't need cops. Then again, that creates quite the disconnect with the TV show.

Flight was uneventful. Eric asked why Republicans existed. You know, the usual topics of conversation. We started gambling immediately upon arriving in Vegas. You see, we chose the Thrifty Wild-Car (ain’t that cute) option. This meant that we were getting any car full-size or larger at $12 a day. Apparently this didn’t include the Mercedes S-Class, but did include the Chrysler Town and Country. Because that’s what we rocked in Sin City. A pair of mini-vans. Which, when you have 40 alumni in town is probably the best option.

The airport is at the opposite end of the strip as the Stratosphere. And since it was Thursday and 8 o’clock we drove down the strip to get to the hotel. The last time I was in Las Vegas was when I was 12, and although I had a great time I don’t think I appreciated the city enough. There is no (NONE!) doubt in my mind that Las Vegas is the weirdest city on Earth. The amount of money needed to design and build the hotels/casinos on the strip is absolutely ridiculous. They know what they’re selling, and they’re good at selling it.

Well, I learned on the plane that almost everyone was flying into Vegas on Thursday night so they could have an extra night of gambling and debauchery. I chose the flight so I could carpool with the Purdue kids and pay cheap Thursday night rates. I had no idea what I was getting into. I guess you can imagine what happens when people who haven’t seen each other in a while meet in a casino. Madness. I went to bed about 2:30. Apparently everyone else went to bed at either 430 or 630. The sleep I got was so terrible that I would wake up in the middle of the night and say, I can’t wait for my nap tomorrow. I only had a sportcoat to use as a blanket (note to self, never be homeless) and each time I woke up I looked at the beds hoping that the comforter fell off. No luck. I found out in the morning that I was sleeping next to the air conditioner. I also found out that everyone else in the room was super hot and not using their comforters.

Friday was a day of waiting. Well, waiting and the Monte Carlo catching on fire (Can't you just hear Billy Joel Sing. "We didn't start the FIRE, it's......). We were all anxiously waiting for the rest (the idiots who worked on Friday) of the group to get there. Finally everyone did. And Friday night turned out to be a replay of Thursday night (it was at this point that I began to see a pattern and was pretty sure what was going to happen on Saturday night). The tournament hosted a party at the bar at the top of the Stratosphere. It’s a pretty incredible view of the strip. There is also a rotating restaurant up top. No more rollercoaster though. Spangle lost a bunch of money. Doug won a bunch of money. Doug lost more money than he previously won. I lost $20.

Saturday was the pool play of the tournament. The fields were typical (I guess) desert (remember you’d rather have two deSSerts than one deSert) fare. Brown and dry. Temp was about 55 degrees (it’s a dry heat), but the 65 degree difference than what it was at Purdue when we left made it feel like we were playing pretty reasonable. Doug got hurt on the 5th point of the tournament. To his credit it stepped on an electrical cover and twisted his ankle. To the fields credit, it didn’t matter how it happened he was going to get hurt. Luckily, he was able to play through. Lost to some LSU/Texas alumni. Lost to some Washington alumni. Beat some team from Chicago.

Saturday night we venture down to the main part of the strip to eat at the buffet at Planet Hollywood. Our dinner corresponded with the Miss America pageant. Also being held at Planet Hollywood. Planet Hollywood had dancers on the black jack tables. Watched the fountain show across the street at the Bellagio. I cannot image how much that casino paid for that property. Then they just dug a hole and built a gigantic lake with a fountain show. People must have thought they were insane. Actually, I bet people just shrugged their shoulders and went about their business. I realized on Saturday night that I get no enjoyment from gambling at casinos (Churchill Downs, now that's way different) and was in bed by midnight (Total losses for the weekend, $27). I think the rest of the group made it to the room not much later. Apparently 3 consecutive nights is Vegas is one too many. Girth won a bunch of money at roulette. Lucky him.

The Sunday portion of the tournament was wet. We lost our first game to MSU alumni and vehemently tried to get out of playing Harvard, but they really wanted to play so we went ahead and lost to them also. Then we went to In-N-Out Burger. Except that Tarr thought he knew where an In-N-Out Burger was but instead took us to In-N-Out Bailbonds. What an idiot. Finally we made it. I don’t know what those people from California get all excited about. I mean, yes it was good, but it’s not like it was amazing or life changing.

Then we went to the airport and flew straight home without incident. SIKE. There was a 4 hour delay with our flight, and we didn’t get back to Indy until 430. Didn’t get back to Purdue until 6. I missed another class. I don’t really feel like I’m in college anymore.


It was a really fun weekend. But more about who I was with than where we were. I would have had just as much fun in Iowa. It's not like we did anything Crazy.

Song Recommendation - Home by Marc Broussard (A perfect song for the upcoming Mardi Gras)