Disappointing Start to the Tournament

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Good morning everyone, it's 6:15 AM here in Las Vegas, and it is the start of day 2 of our paintball tournament, the NXL Vegas Open. In about an hour and a half we'll be playing our first round of games of the day. Yesterday was a rough day, and a horrible start to our tournament. We were seeded 3rd in our bracket of 5 teams, and unfortunately, through bad luck of the draw, we had to play the top 2 seeded teams first. And it was a disaster right from the get-go. Three of our five starters (me included) are injured, although I was the only one not to take the field in the starting lineup. However, early into the day one of my other injured teammates had to come out, and by the end of the day the third injured teammate had to come out of the game. Although we have very capable backups, the fact that they don't play day in and day out with out starters meant it was tough developing great team chemistry on the field of play. By the time our third starter came out of the game with his injury, I couldn't take it anymore, and got medical clearance from the NXL to play with a very heavy knee brace on. I don't know the exact reason, but upon my return we went on a 4-game winning streak. I was pathetic out on the field trying to hobble around out there, but I chalk up our winning streak to an increase in morale from my teammates from seeing me take the field. In the end, we lost 6-2 in our opening round, and 5-4 in our 2nd round. We were down 5-0 in the 2nd round when I came in, and as I said went on a 4-game winning streak. In the end, the clock was our enemy, as I think if we had enough time for one more game we would have ended up tying the other team 5-5 and forcing an overtime. I truly believe in my heart we would have beat them in OT. I also truly believe that this particular opponent is probably going to win the entire tournament. They are one bad-a$$ team! We have a much more favorable draw today for our third and fourth round games, and I think we can pull off victories against these two teams. If so, there is a chance we can sneak into the quarter finals tomorrow. I do not plan to play today unless our backs are against the wall. Although I am already scheduled for knee surgery at the end of this month, I don't want to damage my knee too much more than it already is. Is anybody else doing anything fun this weekend? The photo is from our team photographer as she captured me coming off the field after time expired in our second round. In my disgust, I can be seen about to pull my mask off and throw it to the ground in frustration. Thank goodness she was there to scream at me to keep my mask on, because if I had pulled it off on the field of play and thew it to the ground, I would have incurred two penalties and been ejected from the remainder of the tournament.