Friday, December 12, 2008

When college drinking games collide with your own kids!


In college, I was part of a group of people who were the best and the brightest of our time.....we were the Right Stuff, Top Gun and Fist Full of Dollars all rolled up into one. This was circa 1986-1988 and long before "youts" walked around aimlessly listening to iPods and iPhones and chatted on their Blackberry's....we fought hand to hand with UNO cards....not silly Texas Hold'em or Halo3...no this was smelling your opponent and utilizing tactics only used till then by Defense Department officials holding off the Ruskies!! We enforced a rule-set that allowed the Draw 4 and Draw 2 cards to be run consecutive to each other. e.g. If your mean-spirited fellow threw down a Draw 4 on you and you had one.....pass it on! Draw 8 to your neighbor.....if HE had a Draw 4, then Draw 12 to his neighbor....you see where this could lead with cheap Natural Light beer and liquor? And yes...I once lost a game by the score of 500 something to 1 to Kareem (I forgot your nickname, sorry)...but and here's the kicker....now with children.....I find they don't exactly like that rule set. I must simply smile and laugh now when my 6 year old "Draw 4's" me.......although in my head.....I long to pull the reverse card and SLAM it back into his face. Aghh....college games are hard to play again with grey hair.....but maybe someday I will teach him the TRUE game with all it's possibilities. Or maybe I will fall into league and teach him Texas Hold'em at age 6 and let the next 14 years serve as practice before I push him to the Pro circuit and reap the retirement that UNO never gave me.

2 comments:

  1. LOL... I LOVE uno!! I also like making rules up as I go. So I warn you against EVER challenging ME to a game ;)

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  2. As winner of many of the UNO tournies Alex speaks of, let me make it clear: The rules were clear at the start. They were not made up ad hoc.

    1 - Wilds and Draw 4's? Drop'm any time you wanted. Doesn't matter if you have another play.

    2 - I've gotten more than one draw 12. I have SEEN a draw 16. My favorite is when someone would "go out" with a draw 2, but it ould come back around as a draw 8, and then someone else would go out, and they'd be screwed.

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