GAMLIO

Joep has made a number of very good friends in our time here in Ottawa. They are all 'Grown Ass Men Living in Ottawa' and they all have a great deal in common.

For example, they all love outdoor sports activities. They all also love beer. And most importantly they all love to do all of these things at the same time. A few months ago, while enjoying a few beers at the bar, Joep & Mike decided that it would be a good idea to arrange a man's event that would involve the 2 things they all love most. Outdoors sports and beer.

And so the GAMLIO Olympics was born.

The gusto with which the boys threw themselves into this day is unprecedented. I'm pretty sure that for a while there Joep was more excited about this day than he is about our wedding day. This is not an exaggeration. And its understandable.

For weeks the boys plotted and planned. Michael and Marcus were likely the most enthusiastic planners and Joep was mighty disappointed to miss out on the numerous planning meetings that took place (because he was in California, naturally) but the day was arranged with amazing precision. Teams of 3 were formed and events were planned.

The events of the day included:

• 3-on-3 basketball
• Baseball hitting - They actually invested in a ball pitching machine for the day ... true story.
• Tug o' war
• Rock throwing - This is exactly what it sounds like. They threw a rock and whoever threw it the furthest won.
• Golf - Just chipping and putting.
• Bocce ball - They made it more manly than it sounds. I'm not sure how but I believe Joep when he tells me this.
• Tire flipping - Again, they arranged a giant tire for the day ... this one hey just borrowed, not purchased.
• Rib cooking - This was one of my favorite events. Ribs were cooked and voted on. It was serious business.
• Trivia - Based on Canadian trivial pursuit card questions.
• Flip cup - The age old drinking game was the finale of the day.

The above list may not be exhaustive. I wasn't there so I may have missed a few events (I just promised Joep I would blog this for posterity). I do, however, know of a few of the highlights of the day. Firstly, the night before the Olympics Joep informed me quite late in the evening as we were just about to leave the house for a party that he needed to prepare ribs for the following day. Sigh.

The 2 of us then set about creating a delicious basting sauce for the ribs and getting the marinating. Joep then agreed that he would get up at 5am the following morning to put the ribs in the oven. Try to get Joep out of bed at 5am for work and you will struggle. Getting him out of bed at 5am to prepare ribs? Easy peasy lemon squeezy. After a relatively late night on the Friday he still bounded out of bed at 5am to get the ribs prepared. 4 hours later the ribs were prepared and Joep was heading off for his day of fun!

As I mentioned, I was not there to witness the craziness of the day but Joep provided me regular updates throughout the day. There were 12 men in total and the competition was stiff. A score board was carried around at all times to keep track and the points system was a serious one. Aykarumba. Joep's highlights of the day time activities were when he fell over during the tug 'o' war and also when he fell over whilst flipping the tire and landed upside down inside the tire. Slap stick comedy at its finest.

I joined the festivities in the evening in time for a bbq and to judge the rib off competition. The ladies were responsible for tasting and judging. Joep's ribs came in a very very very close 2nd to the winning ribs which left the score very very close. The winners would be decided by the final event of the day. Flip cup.

Let me set the scene for a second. Joep was in the blue team. They were ahead by a few points but in order to win overall they had to come first or second in flip cup. The white team was the only other team that were in contention to win. If the white team won flip cup and the blue team came 3rd then the white team would win overall. Tense.

The first round of flip cup saw Team White win! Yikes. And so it was down to the wire. Blue versus red. If Team Blue won then Team White would win overall. If Team Red won then ... Joep would be very happy. The flip cup was based on a best of 3. The first round was won by Joep's team. Excitement ensued. Round 2 was controversial. Team Red won however there was a discrepancy noted. They had flip cupped in the wrong order. When this was pointed out to Team Red there was uproar. Literally. Could this mean that Team Blue were the winners? No. The uproar lead to a group consensus, Team Red was given the win for round 2. And so it came down to round 3.

Team Blue was ready to go. Steve went first and did a stellar job of sculling and flipping. Marcus followed. Always the pro, he sculled and flipped in the time it takes me to pour a beer ... Team Red was neck and neck with Team Blue. Joep was up. He sculled and he flipped. The first couple of flips were unsuccessful. Thankfully this was also the case for Team Red. The tension grew. On the third flip Joep's cup landed in the middle of 2 slats on the table, wobbled around for a second and then ... settled! Nanoseconds before Team Red finished. The excitement!

Joep's reaction was one of the most awesome reactions I have ever witnessed. While his team mates jumped around like they had just won the gold medal for Canadian ice hockey at the Olympics, Joep ran backwards with a very serious expression on his face shouting 'BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!' while firing his hand guns at the crowd. He doesn't know where this came from. I don't either. But I would like him to repeat it. Often. It was hilarious.

And so ended the inaugural GAMLIO Olympics. Team Blue was crowned gold medal winners and awarded The Works vouchers (best burger joint in Ottawa) and a group of very tired, very intoxicated, grown ass men were chaperoned home by their respective girlfriends / wives.

Joep is committed to coming back to Ottawa next year to compete again. I've said 'we'll see' which usually means no ... but don't tell him that just yet.