Beer Olympics

I (psuedo-sis) decided it was finally time to do a guest blog about something I seem to know a lot about-Beer Olympics at Hillstock.  For those of you who have not participated in Beer Olympics, I will offer a brief history of it’s origin and do my best to explain the ridiculous events it includes.  It all began  in 2006 when about 40, 20-somethings congregated near Gretchen’s Mirror and tried to figure out how we could entertain ourselves for the day somewhere near Babb.  I believe it was a few of the recent graduates from Washington and Lee who wanted to combine 2 of their favorite things: beer and sporting competitions.  As with the birth of any great idea, it was fueled by bloody marys, mimosas and good friends.  Over the years the games have morphed and been tweaked as different athletes compete, however, a few staples have been around since the beginning.  These games include kickball, paper boy, dizzy bat, flip cup and four square all of which are played with a beer in hand.

Our opening ceremonies included a delicious breakfast in true southern fashion including grits, egg casseroles,  bacon, sweet treats and ham biscuits.  The Olympic Torch was the center of our opening games and born out of sheer necessity, as it started off rather chilly for a morning in the middle of August.

After the opening ceremonies, we split into 2 evenly divided teams of white and blue with Brother Dear and Courtney attempting to lead their respective teams to victory.  From the beginning team spirit was high on both sides as many athletes slapped high fives, cracked open cold ones, shared chest bumps and team cheers.

The first event was a combination of paper boy and dizzy bat relay.  Both teams lined up facing each other and each team had someone in a wheelbarrow with a case of beer and someone pushing them.  It starts with the first person in line spinning around the bat 3 times and then catching and frantically demolishing their beer.  From there the wheelbarrow moves to the next person and tosses them a beer after they spin around the bat.  The team that finishes first sends their wheelbarrow back down the row and the 2 people must unequivocally terminate their beer in order to win.  In ancient times they competed for olive wreaths or crowns; we on the other hand competed solely for bragging rights and pride.

The second event of Beer Olympics was beer-in-hand kickball (pretty self explanatory).   Kirk shows his team spirit by sporting a Pabst Blue Ribbon headband while preparing to crush the kickball into the outfield.  It’s not a surprise that I cannot remember which team won because the camaraderie, never ending laughter, and destroyed coolers (thanks P.K.) were really what mattered out there in the big field.

This picture captures the Stone and Fullerton men observing beer-in-hand kickball.  Greg is scoping out the competition to see if his MVP status from the previous Hillstock is about to be challenged by an opponent.  Brother Dear is strategizing and taking the games very seriously, while Papa Stone’s face reflects the athletes’ feelings of elation and utter happiness.

The third event was a monstrous game of flip cup that included 15 athletes from each team.  Brother Dear about lost his voice trying to get both teams organized, quiet and ready to play the nearly 3 hours of flip cup.  This was the marathon portion of the Olympics and ended with an all girls team dominating the all boys team (way to go girls!).

After feeding the masses, cleaning and schlepping for the entirety of the games, Mama Stone gets in on a little beer-in-hand four square.  I believe she made it to the “king” position a number of times (nice work!).  During the 4th event, some athletes demonstrated their athletic prowess at bocce, horseshoes, hula hooping and soccer.

As any Olympian knows, it is vital to an athletes success to take care of the mind and body.  In the middle of the 4th event, some athletes decided that they needed to rest and massage their tired muscles.  These fine contestants took a break from the games but not from the drinking.

The closing ceremonies ended in the Tack Barn with all of the competitors reveling in new friendships, memories of the days events and in celebration of a very special life.