The 1998 Spring in the Swamp Water Polo tournament that took place in Gainesville, FL this past weekend. The UNC Men's team marked their resurgence to glory with a 3rd place finish. After about a year of limbo land the team has finally come together played well to finish 3 out of 12. Thanks to all of you who busted your butts. Dom, Miller, Dave, Scott, Jason, Rich, Christian, and Andy We kicked ass! Our only defeat coming at the hands of a faster and "ringer full" team Miami Raiders. (Although some may claim Dom a ringer) We scored 24 goals to our opponents 20 for the 3 games To read about what others have said about the tournament click here and then click on News or Results.

Here is what happened from our perspective. Friday morning half of us hungover try to meet at Chinnesse 35 for a pre-drive dinner at noon and only an hour and a half we get out of Chapel Hill. Not exactly record time. But as we headed down the interstate - the 9 of us in three cars, the fun began. Our first stop for gas in some back woods Exxon in SC saw $1.30 for regular - thank God my car is good on gas and I did not have to fill up. Scott and Poindexter filled up their vehicle and washed windows while the old guys in Andy's car tried to take off with out paying only to get caught by some old dude. Back on the highway we see many cops but Jason now has the lead in Andy's Montero, and we are cruising. Right up until Scott gets pulled. 84 in a 65!!! That's a fast Jeep, Scott. Needless to say we were eventually split up completely. After a lovely dinner at McDonalds Andy got pulled. In Gainesville Christian dealt with joke hotel guy who speaks little English. Once everyone arrives Rich realizes he will be getting comfy with the floor and makes his nest and we go to sleep.

Wake up call! and out the door.

Our first game pitted us against the feisty Lady Gators, the third seed. It was a fun game but we did not run up the score and got rather complacent in the end but they only scored off a man up and a fast break, cause we were lazy. But the highlight of the game was the fact that most of us hooked up in the pool (according to Christian's criteria). The downside was when Scott got into a fight with #8 and kicked her in the face. Way to go Scott! He got gamed needless to say.

After that we all savored our victory thinking it was our last, seeing as UFb was next. After bageland and getting trash talked to us by the UFb guys we went back for a nap. 3:40 came around and so did the Tar Heels (to the pool that is).

We did not let up the whole game and suprised everyone. We won 8 to 6 behind Dom's 5 goals and a couple glorious stops by Dave "poindexter/subway" Efird in the goal. (Aaron's note: LATER MARTIN)

With our games done for the day it was time to party.

Jason and I got refreshments and the team shared in the celebration at the Budget Inn. Then it was nap time before dinner but Christian broke our TV after we lost to NCSU in b-ball. Fazzoli's filled our stomach's and then we went back to watch figure skating, i mean bobsledding. The front desk was called to fix the TV and when the manager arrived an hour later Dave and Christian were cozy in bed together in a room by themselves. What he must have thought. After much explaining we got a new tv just in time for us to go to the party. There were kegs and of course all our polo buddies. The Tar Heels then went to work except for Dom, he kept bitching about his ring or something. After many bets and scamming only one Tarheel proved victorious and thanks to Miller, Rich got to sleep in a bed. Thanks Carly, and Dom you better pay up!

The next morning we all leave and meet Dave Miller at checkout. We know we have a tough game but it is possible to win. We started out with a 2-0 lead thanks to Dom and Efird's 1 0n none stops but that soon ended and we went down by like three by half. They had these two bad asses, #10 and #2. In the third quarter we seemed to be on a comeback but my dumb ass with two majors doesn't get the call i want and gets kicked out again. Sorry guys. We ended up losing 12 -6. Oh well! Orlando then forfeited (we could have beat them anyway) and we got third. The ride home sucked, RAIN RAIN RAIN!!!! Oh, but, on the ride home Scott managed to fill a Gatorade bottle with piss while driving. A tremendous feat considering no cruise control in the Jeep. Anyhow that's the story from my perspective.

Congratulate our guys!

Jeremy