Yesterday’s game of SPUD took place in a grassy, mosquito-infested knoll in Humboldt Park on one of the hottest days of the year. If you’re following us on Twitter, you already know that the Venus Zine Office Team schooled everyone at SPUD, setting the bar high at the start of this summer tournament.

As the VZ team sized up the other teams from MyOpenBar.com, Mr. Design/Pitchfork, and WXRT, we realized we kinda had it in the bag. The other teams each had between four and six players, which paled in comparison to our team, which consisted of 11 all-star players, including our EIC, K. Tighe, publisher Anne Brindle, art director Denise Gibson, and a whole slew of staff and interns — all of us reluctantly anxious to get down and dirty.

In the end, we’re not quite sure if it was because our team was the biggest, or if it was because we kick serious ass at SPUD, (or maybe it was all the Miller High Life we downed) but Venus Zine won the first game of the season, and that’s all that matters.

Game on, guys — show us what you got!

Saucony Originals will descend upon Austin, TX once again this year to participate (unofficially) in this legendary festival showcasing over 1,800 musical acts from all genres from around the globe.  Check us out at one of the hottest parties all week!

Myopenbar.com & Saucony Originals Present Down & Derby

902 E Cesar Chavez Austin TX, 78702

Thursday 3/19

12p – 4p (Showpaper Day Party)

5pm - 8pm (Four Square Punk)

Friday 3/20

2p – 7:30pm (Four Square Punk)

8pm - 2am (Green Owl Records showcase)

Saturday 3/21

2p – 8p (Four Square Punk)

Dress up to get down – break out those gold hot pants, legwarmers and last year’s Winner/Loser headbands!  Saucony Originals will be the exclusive sponsor of a gigantic roller-skating dance party at an outdoor venue downtown.  We’ll have 200+ roller skates available for rental, DJs spinning hot jams and Four Square Punk to keep you rowdy and sweaty: three days of punk bands squaring off on four stages with the audience in the middle. There will also be plenty of Saucony Originals giveaways and the opportunity to win free shoes every time you skate!

Once more, we continue our path towards glory. Last week’s game against Time Out Chicago marked our third straight victory.

We have it on good authority (from our Swedish pal) that Kubb is played after barbeques all over Sweden, all summer, by blond, blue-eyed Viking descendents mellowed by generations of complacent city dwelling into thinking that lobbing blocks of wood towards other blocks of wood is an electrifying way to spend an hour or so. Okay, we might have added on a bit there.

Garin throws the first toss:

Matt lobbs a stick towards Time Out’s blocks (which isn’t nearly as dirty as it sounds):

Theresa, Colin, Joey, Garin, Hollis and Max share a laugh at the other team’s paltry throwing:

And Alan, free Sparks in hand, shows how to win through creativity, by hiding a block behind the untouchable King:

Okay, so we didn’t keep it there. But we won three straight games anyway.

Matt, Theresa and Hollis demonstrate how the game is won:

You can view all the pictures here.

Threadless, after the drinking session at the Clipper afterwards, we hope you’re on your guard for some heavy competition both on the field and in the bar…

We hesitate to use words like “dominate,” “slaughter,” and phrases like “wiped the floor with them,” but that’s what we’ve done the past two games on our inevitable domination of the tournament. Kind of like Julius Caesar’s ending the Republic, or the barbarians’ takeover of Rome, if you will. (See. You just learned something.)

First up, there was Whiffleball against the hapless WXRT:  

How can you compete against a 5′0 superstar like Garin?

Josh, Adam, Joey and Garin watch in awe…

…as Alan hits it out of the field:

Then Max scores a home run:

And gets a genuine man-hug from Joey in celebration. Look closely; this is not often documented on camera:

But the real success of the night was at the California Clipper:

[L->R: Theresa, Josh, Max, Hollis, Adam, Joey, Garin, Alan, Matt]

We managed to — quelle suprise! — out-drink everyone else. What a way to start a work week.

[View all the photos here.]

Next, we maimed UR Chicago during Capture The Flag. Literally.

Hollis runs at the speed of light:

Theresa attempts to get someone out by kicking them (unsuccessfully):

But no matter. Not only did we win, we discovered the open bar tab covers everything — including shots for [clockwise from left] Hollis, Adam, Garin, Theresa, Joey, Brian and Max:

And that sometimes, wonderful people even get us pizza to go with our drinks:

[View all the photos here.]

Not only did we blow through our own allotment of money for the open bar, we also used up the rest of UR Chicago’s tab. What – they’re not professional drinkers?

So we continue the push to defeat all the other teams and secure ultimate victory (and an open bar) for ourselves. In the meantime, if you’re reading this in Miami, NYC, Los Angeles, Honolulu, or San Francisco, go treat yourself to a free drink tonight. It’s on us.

Who knew Capture the Flag would be so hard? myopenbar.com had some fierce runners! Le sigh. The first lost is always the harshest. We have proof.

ooooooooo.

aaaaaaaa.

ssssssssss.

Oh well. At least there was ice cream.