It's 7:20am in Johnson City, TN. I'm sitting at an open computer on the 3rd floor of an old student fellowship campus house on the campus of ETSU. 7 of us arrived here last night after playing 18 holes of disc golf in Knoxville. In about 30 minutes, we're headed out to try and play 4 different 18 hole courses by the end of the day today.
We went to "bed" around midnight. Bed meaning really really old couches spread throughout the 3 floors of the house. I finally fell asleep around 2:30am. Woke up around 6:45am. I'm really exhausted, but ready to hit the courses!
These old campus houses are amazing. There's probably 3000 square feet of space in here. Room to sleep 30-40 if they wanted. Old, crooked, creaky hardwood floors. Huge back deck. Old tired walls filled with event flyers and student's favorite scripture verses written in Sharpie marker. Two kitchens, a wide open gathering room on the main floor. A dingy smelling basement with a warped floor and an old Nintendo 64 with some cool games like hockey and Mortal Combat 4. And it works. But there's only one full bathroom. And the toilet in it barely flushes. Definitely not a real livable house. But I don't think anyone actually lives in here, so I guess it doesn't really matter. Even so, as I sit here and type, it's almost like I can feel the ghost of a frustrated college student breathing on my neck, as if he thinks I'm writing an important term paper than he can copy verbatim and turn in to the professor before I do. Kind of gives me the old Blair Witch Project goose bumps. I think I'll go ahead and stop before an exorcism become necessary.
bad night of sleep in a campus house
who says disc golf is a sissy sport?
Some of you who've read my recent disc golf addiction post are probably thinking, "wow you go out in a field and throw a frisbee, big deal". How wrong you are. There are many terrifying dangers in disc golf. Thorn bushes, throws across water, mosquitos, being embarrassed by far more talented teenage players, and (as you can see above) getting your disc stuck in a tree. In the last week, I've experienced all of these dangers, and I have the bruised ego and annoying scratches to prove it. A sissy sport? Yeah, right. Let's see Peyton Manning try it.
disc golf addiction
I'm addicted to disc golf ... again. Took up the "sport" in 1999 as a complete novice, loved it, and played it ALL the time. Was pretty good, I guess. Got burned out, life changed, yada yada.
Went out again this past Sunday for the first time in years, and was embarrassed by some friends from church. They were good. I stunk it up. But it rekindled the flame. Bought 3 new discs on Monday, played Tuesday during lunch, played today during lunch. Already my old skills are coming back to me. It's awesome! Maybe Erin (my lovely wife) will let me play after work...and then maybe again this weekend. If I'm lucky, maybe she'll start using it as a way to shoo me away if she's mad at me for some reason..."I'm mad at you right now. Why don't you just go play disc golf or something!" On second thought, that may not be good logic.
Interested in playing? Check out this database of courses. I'm sure it's not 100% complete, but it lists over 2400 courses, so maybe there's one near you! In a way, it's kind of like tennis....all you'll need to do is invest about $30.00 in 3-4 discs, and go play as much as you want. It's great. (yeah, right) Seriously, go find some discs. You'll thank me. (you do realize all it is..) Yes, I know it consists of throwing weird, hard plastic discs at chain linked baskets. If you haven't tried it, you just don't understand. (yeah, just like I don't understand soccer or hockey or Big Brother 8 on CBS) Fine. I get your point.