The best cheesesteak in philly...

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Please put your hands together for the 2008 Cheesesteak Sevens Champions: Western Potamic! Thats not a typo folks, thats how they spelled it on the brackets and at least one referee referred to us as such. First and foremost, let's acknowledge the roster:

The Beard, Bible, Brent, Fish, Josh, Nelson, Pat, Jimmy, Sunshine, Scott, Reuben, and Koz.

This was a marathon of a tournament and I commend everyone on their patience, perseverance, and ability to sit in the shade for extended periods of time. Lets start from the top, Read More for this heroic tale of courage, valor, and Vitamin Water.


We arrived successfully at the tournament and Fish did an excellent job of laying claim to one of the few remaining shaded areas under a tree in the 90+ degree heat of the day. Fish was promptly voted man of the match for his efforts. His reign, however would begin brilliantly but end prematurely.

First Match: vs. Media (W) 26-22

We were ready to go by the scheduled kickoff time at 10:20. The same could not be said for our opponent. Media is a Division I club from the Philly area and had 3 players by the time we took the field. Counting down to forfeit we agreed to take the win and play a friendly match using our players as whores. At three minutes to the deadline more Media players arrived and they were able to form a full side.

The match got underway and West Pot drew first blood when Josh picked off a Media pass (no pun intended) and returned it 20 meters for the try. Fish was the feature player during the match by not only scoring his first sevens try but capping his effort with a second try in the latter half of the match.

The score tipped both ways in the 14 minutes we were playing. West Pot surmounted the first challenge of the day to win 26-22.

Vitamin Water and Plink-O

We left the field and returned to the cool refuge of Fish's tree on the bank of the Delaware River. While reviewing the previous match and trading information about our favorite adult websites, someone spotted a Vitamin Water truck creeping ominously toward a spot not far from our campground.

Hasty comparisons were made to the Red Bull promo cars that distribute *free* product to the heathen masses. West Potomac, wanting to be that heathen mass descended opon the Vitamin Water truck like zombies to a protagonist trapped in a boarded-up house. Coolers overflowing with Vitamin Water, "Vitamin Energy," and "Smart Water" were opened to the ravenous thirsts of West Potomac. What followed was an electrolyte fueled gluttonous orgy of sugar-filled caffeinated energy drinks. Scot's cooler was filled to the brim with Vitamin Water & Vitamin Energy prompting calculations to determine the Euro-Vitamin Water exchange rate and the ability to use "Smart Water" as tolls on I-95.

As if there was not enough to distract us from this rugby stuff Vitamin Water set up a Price-is-Right style Plink-O game. Bible earned Plink-O man of the match honors by winning Vitamin Water sunscreen and lip-balm for the team. But I digress.

Second Match vs. Renegades (W) 21-19

Our next match was against our familiar opponents, the Renegades. Hopped up on Caffeine, sugar, and Electrolytes, everyone expected the Renegades to be an easy match on our way to Cheesesteak history. This would only be wishful thinking as the Renegades stunned us in the first half by going up 3 tries to 1. The play of the game was made by Pat, who broke a 40+ meter run to give us our first try in the first half to keep the match close. The Renegades played tenacious defense and forced several penalties from West Pot.

The second half saw an epic turn-around thanks to two tries from Bible and late game defensive improvements from the whole West Pot side. The gentlemen of West Pot were able to hang on in a cliffhanger to win 21-19.

Third Match vs. Grizzly Mints (L) 26-32

The match against the Grizzly Mints was eagerly anticipated by everyone present in the Slug Sevens in mid-June. We lost to Grizzly that tournament and we were craving the sweet taste of revenge.

Unfortunately, the story of this match was a breakdown arising from a combination of heat, third match fatigue, and mental instability resulting from an overdose of "Vitamin Energy." We missed tackles and lost focus of the fundamentals of the game. Grizzly Mints capitalized on our mistakes and jumped ahead, West Pot was unable to mount a rally and fell to the...uh..."Mints?" 26-32

Despite the loss, there were several outstanding efforts. Jimmy made the play of the game by breaking a 50+ meter run, then tripping 5 meters from the try line. He then rolled, recovered and popped to Scott who put the ball down for the score. Brent made an excellent try run after throwing the ball into the line-out and receiving a clean pass from Koz in the first position. Finally, in the closing seconds of the match Bible kicked the ball out of a Grizzly Mints ruck and pounced on it for the last score of the match.

The Long, Long wait...

Our first match was scheduled for 10:20am and started around 10:30 am. The second match was slated for 12:00 noon and started close to 12:45 pm. The Third match didn't kickoff until nearly 3:00 pm, although it was supposed to start at 2:00 pm.

Over three and a half hours passed from the end of our third match to the kickoff of the championship. We finally stepped off the field around 7:00pm. Personaly I sympathize with the organizers. The city of Philadelphia double booked one of the fields with a soccer club, necessitating our second match being played at the halftime of a soccer match. Several teams suddenly dropped out of the tournament after disappointing performances, causing the brackets to be done and re-done again. I do however concede that better planning on the part of the hosts could have circumvented some of the unfortunate situations that developed. I commend the organizers for handling the chaotic situation admirably.

Because of the long wait, Fish and Jimmy departed after the third match for DC. This resulted in the impeachment of Fish as man of the match after a stellar performance in the first three games.

Championship vs. Second City (W) 21-0

West Potomac was sitting 2-1 after pool play. With the dust settled and the brackets reseeded we were placed to face Media again in the semi-finals. Media had other thoughts when they left to go home after failing to qualify for the premier playoff bracket. Having been given a bye therefore in the semi-finals (I think Bible may have "done" some "convincing" of the female bracket drawer) we were in the finals.

The other semi-final match featured Second City against our friends at North Bay. North Bay's side was half players from their high school program and half old boys. At the social the chief organizer was astounded when she learned of the young players from North Bay. They played well and impressed everyone who watched them on the pitch. Unfortunately, Second City bested North Bay to advance to the finals.

West Pot exhibited the best defensive show of the day against Second City, shutting them out. One factor that may or may not have contributed to this was the 3.5 hour gap West Pot had before the final match compared to 1/2 hour for Second City. Nonetheless West Pot played an excellent match. Josh displayed an amazing performance. Bible launched a high arching pop kick aimed right at the try line. Josh gave chase and met an opponent right under the ball as it came down. Somehow Josh used his lanky arms to wrestle the ball away and put it down for the score. Josh scored again after taking a vicious tackle and coughing up the best dry-heave of the night.

West Potomac finished the day 3-1 with this last victory, 21-nil over Second City.

Epilogue:

Well shit we won. Here's the final try count:

Bible: 4
Pat: 1
Brent: 4
Scott: 1
Josh: 3
Fish: 2
Reuben: 1