The Searcher

Dragos goaded me a couple weeks ago into joining his (yeah, he's co-captain) Ultimate team for this fall. We had our first practice (six of fifteen showed up) on Wednesday night over at Tantra Park near his apartment. It was pretty fun, as we combined with two other teams and scrimmaged for a while. In the process, I managed to wipe and fall on my ass several times in addition to catching a disc with my face (it left a nice cut on my forehead). Having shown up in my tennis shoes, I quickly learned that cleats are a good equipment choice. So, I decided that this Saturday I would procure some cleated shoes. Today I followed through on that plan, but it didn't go quite as smoothly as I had anticipated. I trekked across Boulder to four different sports and/or shoe stores looking for the proper footwear. First, I went up north to Rocky Mountain Soccer. The workers were nice, the store was small but well-stocked, but the prices were a bit on the high side. So I ran across the street to Sports Authority in the dilapidated shopping center that also houses the DMV (an experience in itself). They carried far more shoes but none were in the size I needed. I didn't feel like buying shoes that were too small and not being able to return them, therefore wasting my money. Leaving there empty-handed, I jaunted down 28th to R.E.I. and quickly discovered that they don't carry soccer/football shoes. With instructions to look down near a local hardware store, I set out and came across Famous Footwear. They carried the proper shoe styles but were also bereft of my size. After visiting McGuckin's Hardware for a bolt for my desk, I came back down south to Play It Again Sports. The place was small, busy, and ill-stocked. With the advice to try Dick's down at Flatiron Crossing, I jumped on the highway (after getting $10 worth of gas) and discovered another Sports Authority outside Boulder. This was after circling the shopping center for ten minutes trying to find the store itself, as the signage was less than helpful. Once again, their selection had been ransacked. Feeling near the end of my rope, I finally arrived at Flatiron Mall and the Dick's. Behold, they were replete with both styles and sizes! Furthermore, an attendant actually helped me find the correct size (11.5) for these Nike football shoes. I ambled around the store for a few more minutes, browsing the wares, before checking out. The pricetag on the wall had read something like $34, but the shoes actually rang up at $24, with a total of $27.08 after tax ($10 cheaper than inferior shoes at the other stores). Patience pays for itself.