in heaven there is no beer, but at potlatch you can't drink enough

Potlatch is the largest coed Ultimate tournament in the United States. It's held every year in Redmond, Washington just outside of Seattle. If you're a serious Ultimate player, it's one of the three major tournaments to which you absolutely have to go. So this year, I went.

Sam and I once again joined the ever spirited, much drinking Madtown Boozehounds who hail from the great state of Wisconsin. Thanks to them, we had an amazing time playing, drinking, eating, yelling, singing, drinking more, dancing, camping, and hanging out.

On Saturday we played four games, losing three and winning one. Eh. But the games were close and we had a great time playing. On Sunday, we won our first game and lost our second, eliminating us from the tournament bracket and allowing us to start our post-game celebrations earlier.

What really separates Potlatch from all of the other big tournaments is the mandatory fun time between games. Because Potlatch was founded on the Native American tradition of gift-giving (hence the name), after every game, the teams exchange gifts and play games. Our gift was genuine Wisconsin cheese curds to the team, and a bottle of Blue Moon to the MVP (Potlatch fell on the second full moon of this month, hence the blue moon reference). Our game was less of a game and more of a tradition. It involved the Boot, a glass Boot which holds 2 liters of beer. Drinking from this Boot is a Wisconsin tradition strongly upheld by the core Wisconsin players on our team. We all stood in a circle and passed the Boot around, drinking and spreading good luck with the other team.

Gifts we received from other teams:
Magically Delicious - Care Bear watch to the MVP, box of Lucky Charms to the team
Oversize Personal Items - Large inflatable penis to the team
The Full Moonty - A Polaroid picture of our team's butts and a bottle of tequila to the team
Professor Booty - Booty underwear to the male and female MVPs
Hawaiian Shirts - Big Butt drinking contest and a Margarita-ski to the team
Stella, the Pirate King's Daughter - Pirate gear and rum to the team

The party on Saturday night was hosted by the Red Hook Brewery which kindly supplied us with a never ending supply of beer. In addition, we were served freshly barbequed salmon, the best pieces of which were stolen from the grill by a certain Rick James and given directly to our team. Hurray for a man on the inside.

Last year, the Madtown Boozehounds won the party at Potlatch. I do believe we defended the title well this year, passing the Boot around to anyone who would partake, starting call and response Madtown! Boozehounds!, taking the dancing to a whole new level, and providing the soundtrack to the bus rides to and from the party. I am still humming "In Heaven There Is No Beer."

And that is that. For more pictures of the craziness that was Potlatch 2007, check out my photo gallery.