Friday after school Lee and I headed to Chicago for the weekend. Saturday morning he and his college buddies were playing in the Numb Thumb Snow Down. It is an outdoor flag football tournament the first weekend in February?!? Who does that?
Yep the temperature at 8:00 on Saturday morning was 5*F. Add in 20mph winds and it turns out that it felt like -16*F. Who doesn't want to play football in that? 
The games were out in the middle of what could have been the artic tundra. There was a heated tent.......which ended up blowing over mid morning. There was no shelter from the wind and cold aside from your vehicle. Jessica and I spent the day driving the Jeep from field to field to watch. Thankfully our team had a few extra players and so when they were not in the game they could come and sit in the back of the Jeep to warm up.
The games were out in the middle of what could have been the artic tundra. There was a heated tent.......which ended up blowing over mid morning. There was no shelter from the wind and cold aside from your vehicle. Jessica and I spent the day driving the Jeep from field to field to watch. Thankfully our team had a few extra players and so when they were not in the game they could come and sit in the back of the Jeep to warm up.
It was a double elimination tournament, and after losing their second game they had to work their way through the losers bracket. They were tough though because they all are so darn competitive. Not only do they not like to lose they are also competitive with one another. Really though, after the first loss, I don't think anyone would have been sad if they'd lost another game and been allowed to go home and unthaw. As they worked their way up the bracket it became more about trying to win as they already were pretty much frozen.
As you read you might be thinking just how cold is -16*? I think this picture does a great job of illustrating the conditions that the guys were playing in.
Can you believe that the condensation from his breathe made an icicle??? We'd heard that being out in this weather for more than 30 min put you at high risk for frost bite. They weren't joking. To prevent lost noses the guys smeared vaseline on their exposed faces and we just hoped for the best.
They came back and ended up playing in the championship game. After eight games in 8 hours.....they won! They got t-shirts, a trophy, and $250. I don't know if it was worth it but now they have bragging rights and a new football memory to talk about besides college intramurals.
Here is the team of men who survived:
And the spoils of war:
Of course you know that these boys will have to play again next year to defend their title.....and get a tshirt.
3 comments:
You guys are crazy but I'm not surprised at all that you did it!! I was just telling my friends yesterday that I think you could be on The Amazing Race someday! I'm glad you won a T-shirt from something other than college intramurals! : )
You beat me to posting the pics!!! You did a great job describing the weekend!!! I wouldn't have chose anyone else to sit in the Jeep for 8 hours keeping the portable locker room heated!!! It was great times on Saturday and we look forward to seeing you two in a few weekends!!!!
You crazy kids! I got chills just reading about how freakin freezin cold it was. What a good wife you are to sit through it all (even if you were in the Jeep). Love ya!
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