Name? Annie Age? 25

Best Tri-Decathlon event? Basketball. I’ve been playing it for 15 years so there’s no chance I’ll be losing this one.

Worst Tri-Decathlon event? It’s gotta be Mario Kart. I’m not hopeless but there’s no chance of me winning.

Favourite Mario Kart character? Bowser’s my favourite. That big spiky shell bashing the competition. He’s my only hope.

Favourite NBA Live team? Phoenix Suns. Steve Nash is a god. A three-point shooting, free-throw scoring, lay-up assisting god. Why shouldn’t I choose the best?

Centurion beer of choice? Strongbow Cider. Less bubbles equals more shots consumed.

Biggest sporting achievement? Being the MVP and captain in every year of basketball at high school.

Biggest sporting tantrum? I don’t really throw them. I’m too calm. Unlike Andy…

Powerade or Gatorade? Powerade. Yellow.

What animal best represents you? I would say a seal. They laze around a lot but when they play, they play hard.

Which actor would you get to portray you in a film? Um… can I say Natalie Portman? Yes? OK then, her, because she’s everything I want to be.

Favourite breakfast cereal? Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes! Absolutely. I would pour milk into the box and eat straight from the packet if it was socially acceptable.

Favourite fictional character? Elaine from Seinfeld. And Hobbes from Calvin and Hobbes. He’s the best friend anyone could ever have.

Elaine: Annie's favourite fictional character

Any hidden talents? Juggling. And being the best whistler in the world.

Favourite childhood TV show? Definitely Animaniacs. Those crazy monkeys/mice/don’t know what they were. One of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.

Most famous person you’ve met? Chris Isaak. “Sexiest” man on the planet. I don’t know why we went there but there was a CD signing of his a few years back. So completely random.

Who is your hero? Nigella Lawson, she’s putting the sexy back in chunky. She gorges herself on food constantly and looks hot in the process. Barack Obama too for the hope  he inspires, much like I will do in this competition.

What one superpower would you want? Flying, it’s like the best thing ever. It would make me unstoppable.

And finally, Ninjas or Pirates? Ninjas. No question. They would kick a pirate’s ass.

***

Part Two of the Tri-Decathlon player profiles will be posted tomorrow, as Andy runs through the same 20 questions posed to Annie. It should also be noted that this both profiles can always be viewed on ‘The Players’ page of the blog which you can get to by clicking here. Cheers.

Last night was a significant event in the preparation for the Tri-Decathlon as Annie and I - as well as future referees Capi and Jacky Le Tigre (aka Michael and Morgana) - went to Greenslopes for a spot of Tenpin Bowling.

Apart from being overcharged for the session (there was no word of $6 games not being valid during school holidays on the website - jerks) it wasn’t too bad at all.

To cut things short in the first game - the one where we weren’t suffering from arm and wrist pains of varying degrees - Annie scored a very admirable 99 while I won the day with 176. Nice.

Things that I enjoyed about the night were:

• The look on Annie’s face every time I turned around after bowling a strike, heh.
• Capi’s languid bowling style.
• Annie missing out on 100 by one pin. Ouch.
• Winning.

The arrogant, jerk-off part of me says that this is going to be a bit of a walkover but the kind, generous part of me (which many people might say they’ve never seen) suggests Annie’s not quite done and dusted in this event. To score almost 100 on a first return to bowling after 10+ years is hugely impressive and if she can just up her score by 20 or 30 and I have an off day then she’s in with a decent chance. 

I should add that unlike Geo Challenge (*boo* *hiss*) she’s actually allowed to practice at this one. However, given how tight Annie’s budget is at the moment I’m not sure she’ll be able to afford another game, particularly with the school holiday rules and all.

So, with the first week of the Tri-Decathlon consisting of Mario Kart and Bowling I think I’m looking good for an early 2-0 lead. And I’ll need it too, with Cooking and Geo Challenge following up the week after.

Photos to follow shortly.

Stepped into a “video arcade” today - I think that’s what the kids are calling it these days, right? - for the first time in clearly a very long time.  Johnny, my brother, and I played some air hockey to warm me up a little for that Week 2 challenge.  I got to say that despite the years gone by, I wasn’t half bad.  Definitely still got the lightning quick hand eye coordination necessary and suffice to say that I won our game.  Huzzah! (man do I sound old or what).  So am feeling confident for that one and am getting ready to scratch that up as a win fo’ sho’.

Lies.  All lies.  There absolutely categorically was no agreement about not playing Geo Challenge.  If we are encouraging practicing each challenge beforehand, why would we have an opposite exclusive arrangement for Geo Challenge?  It doesn’t make sense.  Just goes to show who I’m up against - already sore about the inevitable loss of one of the events and he’s calling foul play.  Andrew the cry baby.

And Michael and Alannah are my witnesses and backup on this - Michael believes me, since I am telling the truth, and Alannah although calling me a “sly dog” yesterday, after having seen Andrew’s sneakiness and faulty memory at work today in a remembering a bet they had between them, now also believes me.  To placate him though, I won’t play it again until challenge day although I’ve encouraged him to play it as much as he wants to get his score up, which he is refusing to do despite it all.  So be it.  He’s thinking I’m going to choke on the day, but I’m sorry to tell ya - there’s no chance.

OK so Annie has returned from the coast and I feel a little happier. Just a little.

We celebrated her return with a little bit of Mario Kart Racing and I have to reiterate again that I have this event well and truly in the bag. She’s a quick learner and certainly improved as the day went on but you can’t beat 10 years of shell-firing, power-sliding, track-memorising experience and unfortunately (for her) that’s what she’ll be up against.

However, it seems I have a lot less to be cocky about when it comes to Geo Challenge. For those of you who aren’t aware of Geo Challenge, it’s a Facebook application which tests your geography knowledge via questions about flags, country shape and city locations. Early on I was doing a bit better than Annie but since then she has been playing it practically every day and her score is now WAY ahead of mine.

Annie the Cheetah/Cheater

Now, although I can be arrogant I remain a just and fair person at heart and Annie’s consistent training at Geo Challenge has irked me. You see, we made a gentleman’s agreement aimed at kerbing addiction to the game which outlined that neither person was allowed to practice Geo Challenge until 24 hours before the time of official event.

Conveniently Annie “forgot” about this agreement and went ahead improving her score while I sat rooted on the same points. I had thought about taking up this gross injustice with one of the designated referees for the Tri-Decathlon but looking at the amount of events I’m sure to win, I’m happy to let her have this one.

And if she wins, I can just point out the fact that she’s a dirty, rotten cheat.

Avid readers of this blog - the kind of which I’m certain Annie and I just don’t have yet - will have noticed that things have gone a bit quiet lately.

The truth is that with Christmas and the turn of the year just passed Annie and I have spent little time together and even less time practicing for The Tri-Decathlon. Indeed, apart from endless amounts of Mario Kart Battle I’ve done virtually nothing. Not that it’s going to stop me from winning, of course.

She thinks she can beat Toad with Wario. What a fool.

JLT didn't like losing.

My best Toad impression.

Anyway, Annie is due to come back from the coast at some point in the near future so things should get a bit more serious soon. In the meantime, enjoy these photos of Alan Goat, Jacky Le Tigre and myself playing Mario Kart.

The visit of one Alan Goat (Alana) and the lingering presence of Panda Bear (Pat) at home meant that yesterday afternoon was filled with Mario Kart goodness. And as with tennis the other day, things are looking good.

Although the official Mario Kart event is about winning races we played some three-way Battle. It was pretty sweet.

From my memory we played 12 rounds and the final scores were 8-2-2 (Andy-Panda Bear-Alan Goat). Woo! Not entirely sure how Alana managed two wins when she was driving around as a Bomb Kart for most of the game but there you go.

My only disappointment was that I didn’t win any games with my beloved Toad. Sure, he’s not ideally suited to the Battle arena but it would have been nice to build up a bit of a confidence with the character I’m pinning my hopes for glory on. Alas, it was not to be.

Oh my god - would you listen to this guy?!  OK fine I admit it - I wasn’t the best out there, but hey give me a break.  It’s been like a decade since I’ve played.  But you know what?  Despite that extended sabbatical, I was pretty darn good I reckon and with a bit more practice and skill-refining, I am definitely going to come back with a vengeance. 

He thinks he’s got it made?  Ha!  Yeah right.  The only way for Andy to go is down - and that’s exactly where I intend to send him.  Oh it is so on…

I’ve just spent a night down at the Gold Coast with Annie at her brother’s place. Between a rowdy night on the balcony and some relaxing by the pool we were able to get in our first lot of ‘official’ training. And no it wasn’t Mario Kart, it was a casual game of tennis.

Annie and I paid $10 to hire the racquets and balls from a really weird guy at the counter at the hotel. She went for a slightly misshapen Wilso, leaving me with a nastily flurescent Pro Kennex.

Annie’s got a decent forehand and moves around the court OK but her lack of backhand and a truly horrendous serve means she’s going to struggle to win this one. My forehand was working well and most of the time I put backspin on the ball Annie struggled to get it back. Definitely something worth remembering.

Tennis is far from my strongest event but even so I can’t see me having any problems beating Annie over three sets. Anything less than 6-2, 6-2 would be a surprise.

Hello and welcome to The Tri-Decathlon!

The idea for the Tri-Decathlon was something that Annie and I came up with on in early December. We’d forever been competing in all sorts of ways - from games on the PS2 to shooting hoops at the half-court down the road - and thought it would be awesome to take it to the next level.

The Tri-Decathlon is what we came up with. Thirteen different one-on-one challenges across six different fields culminating with an epic Centurion drinking session to cap the winner. Nice.

The first challenge will kick off on the week starting ending the 24th of January and the Tri-Decathlon will finish on the 7th of March with a massive celebration party and the dreaded Centurion. If things are tied at 6-all at that stage it could be quite an event, so those lucky enough to get an invite would be silly to refuse.

Anyway, that’s about it for now. Annie and I are nutting out the specific rules for the Tri-Decathlon over the next few weeks and the official launch of its companion blog will be on the 20th of December. So stay tuned.

Farewell for now and remember that I’m a better human being than Annie and you’re going to watch me prove it.