Okay, maybe it’s not the 10 track and field events you are thinking of at the Olympics but it’s pretty darn close.  For all you Vegas regulars, do you see what I did with the title?  Instead of the THEhotel (Mandalay Bay tower), I went with THEdecathlon.  Yeah, whatever I thought it was funny and clever.  Let me explain what THEdecathlon is.  It all started back in 2009 on a Vegas ride back home, hungover from a night out gambling and clubbing.  “Hey, we should start a new tradition where we compete against each other in different events and crown a champion,” said one hungover friend to another.  “Yeah, that sounds like a great idea, I’m pretty sure I could beat everyone at finishing a 6 pack of beer the fastest,” said the other hungover friend (please keep in mind, we were 26-27 – young and dumb). And so it began, THEdecathlon.  What started out as a silly idea on a car ride home has now turned into an annual tradition that my friends and I (known as “Da Kru” – young people slang) plan to participate in for the rest of our lives.  I guess you could say it’s our ‘Mah Jongg’ get together.

So the way THEdecathlon works is we vote as a group on 10 events we all want to compete in.  The first few years were mostly physical events (I’d say 7-8) with the remaining being non-physical.  As you can probably imagine, the events have slowly become non-physical and more indoors through the years.  Below is a list of the 10 events that were voted on for this year’s event.

 

Basketball Trifecta – layup, free throw, 3-pointer in the fastest time

Basketball Skills – highest score after 2 minutes.  Layup = 1 point, free throw = 2 points, 3-pointer = 4 points.  Ball must be cleared beyond 3-point line after each attempt.

Football Throwing Contest – competition on who can throw the football the furthest (we added kicking/punting as an option as well).

Sprinting – was supposed to be 400 meters but turned into 3x around the baseball diamond.  Good thing for everyone as 3x around the baseball diamond was more than enough!
Chicken Fight – hard to explain so I found this to  help me out.  Yes, it was as awesome as the video.

Bowling – highest score out of 2 games…with some side bets to make things interesting.

Beer Pong – 10 cups, 25 shots.

Mario Cart for Super Nintendo – Remember that game and console?  Well, we bring back the old school and go 2 tries on a randomly selected track for fastest time.

Flip Cup – 5 cups, fastest time.  For those not familiar, click here.  Kate, I will play you anytime you want.. 😉

Poker – No Limit Texas Hold’em.

After all 10 events the points were tallied up and a winner was crowned.  In the first few years, the events would take a lot longer because we wanted to make sure everything was fair and also had a lot more energy.  It seems like with every passing year, the events get a little less physical and the day a little shorter.  The terms, “man, we are getting too old for this” and “I need a nap after this” were heard throughout the day.  Even though the excitement for the events might start to fade, I hope the tradition of getting together and reminiscing about the good ol’ days doesn’t.  It brings me back to our college days when we would get together as a group and just have fun.  No bills, no jobs, no mortgages to worry about.  Just a bunch of friends hanging out, having fun and enjoying a little friendly competition.  This is exactly what I needed after having a pretty stressful and exhausting day at work on Friday.  It put thing into perspective and made me realize what’s important in life, friends and making memories.  Thank you guys for another successful and memorable year at THEdecathlon.  Until next year…

QOTP: “As we grow up, we realize it is less important to have lots of friends, and more important to have real ones.” -unknown