Quidditch World Cup 2011

My first appointment for my omnipod is coming up tomorrow so I don't have much to update on that right now. However, I would like to talk about my trip to New York last November for the Quidditch World Cup.

We had been preparing for this trip since the beginning of the school year in August. After many, many practices we had finally made it to our destination: The Quidditch World Cup. This years cup was held on Randall's Island in New York City. Since this was in November it was really cold. Everyone came bundle up and tried to stay as warm as possible.

We got into New York two days early so that we could see some of the city while we were there. We ventured through time square and a very small portion of central park. We went to the zoo. We went and saw Avenue Q off-broadway. We went to the 9/11 memorial site. We went shopping at various stores, even one that had a Harry Potter/Quidditch section! To say the least, it was a lot of fun.

Through these two days in the city I always had to make sure that I had enough insulin and test supplies with me at all time and, since I'm a guy and don't have a purse, I had to carry a backpack around in which to carry this stuff. This was my first trip to a big city with just a group of my friends so it was exciting and yet a bit scary since I wasn't sure what would happen if my blood sugars went to high or too low.  However, the first two days of the journey passed without incident.

The next day we were up early for breakfast and then off to Randall's Island for the start of the World Cup.  We were all very excited and nervous since we really had no idea what to expect. Our first game of the day was versus the University of Ottawa. It was a morning game so I knew my bg levels were still good from breakfast but I had snacks in my bag just in case. We started off the world cup with a win over Ottawa. Our next game wasn't for a few hours but I had to referee a different game soon so I took off to grab some lunch before heading to that. However, this was the lunch line of doom because it went on for miles it seemed. Luckily, my blood sugar wasn't low and I didn't need the food right away. 

Our second game of the day was against the State University of New York (SUNY) Geneseo. We again won in a well fought battle and my blood sugars seemed to be behaving. With two wins under our belt we were feeling good going into the final game of the day that night versus Arizona State University (ASU). After having a dinner of Hamburgers and chips (not the best meal for a diabetic, but it was probably better than the waffles), I was ready for this game. This was the hardest opponent we had faced and they really held their own against us. At one point I managed to wrestle the quaffle enough out of the opponents hand that the ball was awarded to me. We ended up beating ASU after our seeker's third consecutive snitch grab. We were ecstatic having gone 3-0 on the first day. Back at the hotel my numbers were starting to decline from all of the activity. I got some food into me and went to bed.

Our first opponent of the second day was the final for our pool: The Delaware Valley Dragons. They had gone 0-3 on their first day and knew they could no longer advance. They were out for blood. However, we would not stoop to their level and easily destroyed them. I scored twice myself and had two other goals that should have counted but did not due to poor refereeing. It was a good start to the day. While we waited to find out our seed going into the finals we found time to relax a little bit and eat some food. We found out that we were seeded second.

Our first team to play was Ohio State University and then we would keep playing through the bracket, game after game until the semifinals. We beat Ohio State and then McGill and then University of Pittsburgh. We were on a roll. We had made it into the semifinals. My blood sugars were somewhat good and we couldn't be happier. There was one problem though. The food place had closed and relocated to the stadium for the semifinals and finals. This meant that I had no access to food really. Luckily, while they had us waiting I was able to eat some of the snack food I had brought as my meal. I then took a much reduced insulin shot and prepared myself for our final games.

Our opponent in the semifinals was the University of Minnesota. They were the underdogs of the cup at this point having been ranked very low coming in. After a very close game we ended up winning on the snitch grab. Our seeker was now 8-0 on snitch pulls. He had won us some of our games, but we knew going into the finals that we could not rely on this fact. Our final opponent: Middlebury. They were the undefeated champions of the world cup. We were the first time participants of the world cup. The stadium cheered for both sides. It felt amazing to have a stadium cheering for you.

The game started with one final "Brooms up!" The game up early for Middlebury. Then we started to come back. I came in and scored twice with quick passes to me as I waited by the hoops. But, alas, we were not quick enough in scoring when the snitch was caught be middle bury we were only 10 points ahead of them and then succeeded in winning yet again with a final score of 100-80.

My blood sugars and I had survived a tumultuous day (and weekend) that ended with with me being a part of the second best team in the International Quidditch Association's league. We were proud of ourselves for making it so far, but we hungered for more as we knew we would be returning to the next cup.

(On a side note, traveling to and from New York I had no problems with TSA so I'm very grateful for that.)

- Keep flying steady