Dragon boat pho the win

Since 2001, it has been my goal – nay – my destiny to eat a bowl of pho out of a trophy. And not just any trophy – the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival trophy.

For eight years, I have been chasing that elusive prize. For eight years, my teammates and I have given blood, sweat and tears only to be thwarted by our competition.

I have gotten close with some teams where I could taste hints of sweet, mouthwatering victory. With the Vietnamese Professional Network group last year, we finished third, losing a heartbreaking quarterfinal match. With Team AsiaXpress.com in 2002, we captured the gold in the "heavy boat" division (there were two different sets of boats that year, one being heavier and, thus, making our scores slower in the initial time trials), but no trophy came with that victory.

Add in the bronze we received in 2001 and that adds up to three medals – but zero trophies.

Oh, how I yearn to bring that grand prize to a pho joint with the rest of my team after the races, have the restaurant fill that cup with a pho dac biet, and then sitting down and indulging in delicious triumph. I can see it now: rice noodles and a bevy of beef cuts mixed in with tasty tendon slices and textually intriguing tripe all soaking in a boiling beef broth.

I'm salivating just thinking about it.

I know my plan seems a little silly – the trophy is pretty tall and sitting down to eat may prove difficult. Give me a booster seat, let me stand or give me a straw, I don't care, I will enjoy my sweet victory.

Let that be a warning my team's competition, I'm hungry for victory.

See you on the waters.

Joe is paddling with PowR3d by Chopstix and is about to participate in his eighth Colorado Dragon Boat Festival. The one year he didn't paddle was in 2004 because he didn't have a team.