The Vegas Sevens Is The Most Insane Annual Sporting Event In The United States

When the casinos of Las Vegas weren't pummeling the ever-loving shit out of me this past weekend, I was at the Vegas Sevens tournament, which is not only the most thrilling three-day sports spectacle in the United States, but also its biggest annual international competition, attracting beautifully-psychotic fans from both sides of the equator. Some of you have read my feature in Men's Health on last year's tournament and the 2016 installment proved even more exciting — a sumptuous feast of sublime passing, jaw-dropping runs, trouser-filling hits and a spray of dramatic upsets. In short, a flawless tournament, ultimately won by perennial Sevens powerhouse Fiji. I saw those dudes in the hotel on Saturday night, posing for photos with their fans and they looked and acted like they'd already won. Sixteen hours later, they made it official.Each year, the Kenyan side attracts thousands of rabid fans who flood the same section near the goal posts, waving flags and singing boisterous anthems in support of their team. Groovy dudes in megaphones lead the singing while other guys patrol the aisle to ensure that everybody's participating. In order to truly and deeply savour the essence of the Vegas Sevens tourney, you need to embed yourself in the Kenyan section during one of their matches, which is precisely what I did. It was all that and a Frito pie. Singing however, proved vexing for me because not all of their songs are in English so during those interludes, I sort of smiled and clapped like a marionette. Spying my rather awkward non-participation, one of the Kenyan aisle cops walked over and tried to help me with the words until I explained to him what I thought was apparent from my ghoulish white skin - I didn't know the words. With a booming laugh, he jumped down to the row in front of me and invited me to pound ferocious tribal rhythms into the steel bench between us. You just don't experience shit like that at a baseball game.  All three days boasted insane highlights and here are some of my favourites from Day 2.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT5q7Pe7OZs