August 29, 1999

On Sunday, August 29, 1999, there were only seven brothers with enough courage to get on the field.  We all met at the masjid at 1715 S. 4th St. at around 10:30am.   We arrived at the battle ground about 11:30 and quickly got suited up for the upcoming adrenaline rush.  Since there were only seven of us we had to let a few non-Muslims play with us so that we could go on the course.  Our teams split up with me (Abdul-Qaadir), Umar, Muhammad Qasim, and Yahya on one team, and Abdul-Noor, Abu-Khalil, and Muhammad on the other.  We started out with a couple of speed-ball games and Abdul-Noor's team quickly jumped out to a 2-0 start.  In the first game I took a shot that got just above my visor and left a quarter-sized knot. Abdul-Noor got shot in the back in a daring move to get a shoot'em up advantage which left a knot on his back that looked like half of a peach.  From here we moved to the woods where the games really got rowdy.  We played a total of four games which gave my team a 4-2 series advantage.  In the woods we played capture the flag with the flag being closer to the end that Abdul-Noor's team was on.  So in the first game they quickly grabbed the flag and played possum with us.  Their strategy was to get the flag, post up, and let my team come and get it from them.  They figured they would eliminate all of my team by picking us off one by one.  Of course their plan didn't work this way.   We chose Umar, who was the smallest target, to be the flag-bearer.  We split up with two men on each side and one man up the middle.  Umar went to the left and took Muhammad Qasim to be his cover.  While I was posted up against a tree looking for my next victim I saw Umar on the ground blasting at some joker in a tree.  It was obvious Umar was under fire because the dust on the ground around him was popping up due to the paintball splattering.  Umar scored a couple of chest shots and eliminated the tree man.  We went on to win this game when Umar grabbed the flag and reached the other end unscathed.  The rest of the games we as exciting as the first.  

September 5, 1999