Sunday(s) in the Park Where we once thought "the fertile crescent" was a hand salve.

Hello Kickballers,

It’s tourney time and you know what that means, Bracket Challenge.  The rules are simple: print out your bracket, pick your winners, and submit them by the time the tournament kicks off.

Here is the basic information from Mike Pergande, who will be collecting the brackets:

Free to enter. Prizes that have been donated are unspecified KVKL swag, Liberty Hall cinema tickets, and Up to Eleven concert tickets.

One entry per person. Please make sure to include your name and phone number/some way to contact you. Also, please predict a final score for your championship game as a potential tiebreaker.

To submit your entry you can:

1)Email your bracket to pergande@gmail.com

2)Drop your bracket off at the Eldridge between 4pm and 10pm on Friday and Saturday

It’s hard to argue about playing extra kickball. The weather alone was automatically like an extra shot of Everclear in the Kool-Aid.    Compliments to the KVKL Board for trying out something new this season.  Novelty is always appreciated in my book.

This week’s games went just about the way I thought they would, but on paper that meant a lot of upsets that could shake up tournament seeding a bit.  The Chalmersiz (Pool 2) defeated The Goats (Pool 1), Love Garden (Pool 2) defeated Das Boot (Pool 1), … actually to save you some time I’ll just say that at least one team from a lower ranked pool (and twice in many cases) beat a team from a higher pool with Pool 8’s lone game against Pool 7 as the only exception.  If that doesn’t cause some difficulty in seeding teams I don’t know what will.   The major issue always seems to be over which teams leap-frog another team from a higher ranked pool for tournament seeding.  The extra week has given us one more game for the resume, but as we’ve seen in this league time and time again, one game doesn’t necessarily represent the entire body of work.

We are hours away from finding out how the seeding will shake out and start talking matchups, toughest road to title, winners, losers, and the annual grumblings about who is the latest contestant on The Snubbed and the Loved.

I’ll cut it short today because I’ll be sandwiched between Cougar and Cobra Kie and joined by a few others tonight to break it all down – and that’s more kickball lovin’ than most can handle in a day.  Come on down to Harbour Lights and listen to a Cougar, a Cobra, and a ‘Cuda in this year’s edition of KVKL: Tournament Talk.

KM

I’m not sure that Rivalry Week is the proper term for the week, but regardless it is great to have an extra week of kickball on the schedule – and finally some relief from the weather.  It’s not supposed to get anywhere near triple digits today for probably the first time all summer.  Has anyone else noticed that Sunday has been the hottest day of the week all summer?  There are a bunch of great games this week that could all have huge post season tournament implications.  It’s definitely a week to make your mark and impress the board in order to get the best possible seeding.

The temperature during the GOTW should be absolutely beautiful.  Here’s to a great week of kickball.

If you’re heading down to the Replay after the game be sure to check out ex-kickballer Iain Ellis playing for the Leotards.  They open for Long Shadow.  The weather will be great. Come out and dance!

GOTW: Los Matadores > Hurtz Donutz (13-6)

I’m guessing the Matadores are coming into this game with a chip on their shoulder.  If they stick to their game plan they should be successful.  If they get too amped up and begin to make mistakes they could dig themselves a big hole.

The Hurtz Donut D-Holes have had quite an impressive season.  I’m willing to bet they approach this game with a much more playful attitude.  If they can keep their fun, light-spirited nature they should be playing some loose kickball could and come away with the win.  If they are having a bit too much fun they could be in for a long evening.

LYONS PARK

Lyons is the place to be for the most competitive games of the day.  Of the four games being played, five of the teams have been in the top pool at least once in the last two seasons.  If you need to do some tournament scouting, get out your clip board and head north of the river.

5:00 GAMES

Sacred Sword > Slowride

Both teams are coming off of huge wins a week ago after struggling a bit down the home stretch.  Another win will go a long way for getting a better seed for the tournament.  It should be a good defensive battle.

Goats > Chalmersiz

This game could easily go either way.  I’m giving the nod to the Goats only because of their offensive capabilities.  Chalmersiz have a great defense, but an error or two could ruin their plans.

6:30 GAMES

Love Garden > Das Boot

It’s another great matchup.  It’ll be interesting to see if Boot can carry over the intensity from last week’s huge win (their first ever in against a pool 1 team I believe).  Love Garden looks to show that they easily could have been a pool 1 team.

Red Lyon > Liberty Hall

If Red Lyon continues to slide, their season could be in jeopardy.  However, they are a serious threat to better teams if they draw a low tournament seed.  Liberty Hall likely lacks the fire power to compete with Red Lyon’s speed and aggressive base running.

HOLCOM PARK

If you like offense, look no further.  I can’t even begin to estimate how many boots will stamp home plate this evening, but with eight games being played we’re easily talking 150 plus.

5:00 Games

Cork Suckers > Free State Growlers

The Cork Suckers have been on quite a roll, winning their past seven contests.  They come into this matchup with plenty of confidence, but watch out.  Free State has played quality competition and taken some tough losses over the past three weeks.  If they can keep their confidence up they could give the Suckers a run for their money.

Spacepussy > Bald Beavers

Ah yes, the Pussy Bowl.  Who doesn’t love that?  Spacepussy won their first matchup by seven runs.  This one should be similar.

Wildman Attack Force > Party!!

Wildman desperately needs a win for a confidence booster.  They really struggled in pool play and could use a win going into the tournament.  Party has shown glimpses of great kickball and continue to fly under the radar as a dangerous team.

Tellerdactyls > Jazzhaus

Jazzhaus is going for two consecutive wins after getting their first win a week ago.  The Tellerdactyls try to end a drought heading into the post season.

6:30 Games

Screamers > Shaolin Shadowboxers

These are two totally capable teams.  This is a game I which I could see for myself.  Lots of talent on both sides.  Hopefully everyone shows up and it’s a quality, competitive game.

Brewballers > The Rockets

Great matchup.  Let’s just say I’m picking against the Rockets cuz I like those guys and gals, if that makes any sense.

Dirty Mike & the Boyz > Harper Valley PTA

Dirty Mike keeps rolling after a big win last week.  Harper puts their magical 3 game winning streak on the line.  They won’t go down without a fight.

Ghosts > Balls Deep

The Ghosts have put up quite a few run the past few weeks.  If that trend continues Balls Deep is in trouble.  Balls Deep hasn’t had the offensive productivity they’d like to have this season.  If they can keep the game low scoring they have a fighting chance.

BROKEN ARROW PARK

5:00 Game

Channel 6 > West Coast

This looks to be an even matchup.  It all depends on which teams show up.  West Coast took a tough loss last week and look to bounce back.

6:30 Game

Gang Green > Asteroid Head

To me, this game is completely a toss-up.  I’ve seen Gang Green look as if they are starting to find their kickball groove, and look totally lost at other times.  Asteroid Head has the players to compete in most games, but I’m not sure they’ve put the same defense of the field twice all year.  If their players show they could easily win this game.

HOBBS PARK

7:00 Game

Pita Pit > Barracudas

It was a lopsided affair last time out.  Hopefully we can keep it a bit more competitive this time around.  The last two meeting of these teams have been blowouts for each respective side.  Hopefully this will be a down to the wire grudge match.

KM

Jazzhaus vs. Spacepussy

What a great week of games to end close out pool play.  There were a number of close games this past Sunday and several upsets (in my opinion). Let’s get straight to it.

A MUCH NEEDED WIN

I have to start off tipping my hat to The Jazzhaus.  They secured their first win of the season on Sunday over Spacepussy and it was a hell of a game.  Jazzhaus led nearly the entire game, but it was definitely a back and forth battle.  Spacepussy fought hard and kept the game close.  Jazzhaus didn’t falter and continued to eke out runs to hold onto a 14-11 victory.  Everyone in the league now has a win.  Great job Jazzhaus.

GAME OF THE WEEK

Love Garden came out and handled their business this go-around during their GOTW.  They looked confident and seemed to have a good strategy for the game.  They were consistent throughout the game and played well for the majority of the game.

Chalmersiz looked decent as well; they just had a few too many errors to come out victorious.  This game was a close one as many assumed it would be.  Don’t be surprised if you see either of these two teams (or both) duking it out again in a few week for the championship.

TOUGH DEFEATS

Pita Pit suffered their first loss of the season this week as well, and it happened in unlikely fashion.  The game final was 10-5, while Das Boot somehow managed to put up 8 of those runs in the first inning – unbelievable.  With the loss Pita Pit becomes the last team in the league to lose a game this season, per usual.

It was also a great victory for Das Boot who came into the game 0-2 in Pool 1.  I’m sure most of you have seen the picture of Das Brad’s foot/ankle.  It doesn’t look pretty.  Hopefully it’s not end of his season.

Wildman Attack Force fell again for the third consecutive week losing to Hurtz Donut 8-3.  The loss drops them to 0-3 in pool play.  They have some work to do if they are going to turn it around for post season play.  Luckily for them they get one more tune up game with week 11 this year.

Red Lyon also took another tough loss this week, which gives them losses in three out of the past four weeks.  Sacred Sword defeated them 11-7, a huge win for Sacred Sword who has struggled of late as well.

The Goats likely felt like they let one slip through their fingers against the Barracudas as well.  The Barracudas came out pretty flat and the Goats were painting the lines with great kicks in the early goings, scoring in every inning through four innings to take an 8-2 lead going into the top of the 5^th.  From that point on the Goats wouldn’t score another run although they had runners on base and in scoring position a few times.

The Barracudas opened up the flood gates offensively, scoring 13 runs over the final 5 innings – including two home runs – and made some key defensive plays to keep the Goats from scoring.  It was definitely a game of momentum and when it swung in the Barracudas favor it swung hard.  It was one of the more dramatic kickball games I’ve ever been a part of and luckily for us we came out on top.

DOWN TO THE WIRE

There were also a few close games this week that sounded like great matchups.  Dirty Mike and the Boyz finally pulled out a close game, winning 9-7 over a Brewballers squad that has played well lately.

Channel 6 won a close game against Balls Deep as well, winning by the same margin, 9-7.

Lastly, the Rockets squeaked out a one run win over Gang Green 11-10 after suffering a tough one run loss to Balls Deep a week ago.  They continue to do exactly opposite of what I predict so maybe for their benefit I’ll pick them to lose for the remainder of the season.

It was a great week of kickball and I’m looking forward to the remainder of the season.  It’s sad that we are so near the end but it’s been a fun season so far.  From here on opponents and outcomes will be somewhat unpredictable, which always makes for some intriguing games and stories.

Cheers to the final month of kickball,

KM

It’s hard to believe that we are already heading into the final week of pool play.  Teams have one last chance to test themselves against opponents of similar skill, and then we’re on to rivalry week and ultimately putting on our dancing shoes for the big event, the end of the season tournament.

If Mother Nature keeps us dry, rivalry week should add an interesting new twist to the schedule.  It will be interesting to see how the matchups work out and if it shakes things up for tournament seeding.

GAME OF THE WEEK

This is definitely the showdown I’ve been looking most forward to since the pool scheduling came out, and it’s fitting that they are the only two teams playing this week who are 2-0 in pool play.  These are two of the KVKL heavyweights and both have significant upgrades this season.  One of the beautiful things about bringing on new players is the fact that other teams don’t really know how to play you until they’ve seen a couple of spins through the kicking order.  Being a bit abstruse is extremely advantageous in sports, kickball included.

The Chalmersiz have been climbing the contender ladder for a few seasons now and they should be amped up to show what they can do under the lights.  I’m hoping a few GOTW shenanigans will keep them loose on the field and ready to show what they are capable of.  They have a solid defense and force opponents into playing their style of kickball.  If they execute the way they are capable they could wind up on top in this one.

Love Garden has likely been playing with a bit of a chip on their shoulders after suffering a tough loss in week seven.  They have a couple of upgrades of their own and should be ready to display their talents in a forum where they’ve struggled mightily in recent years – Hobbs Park Games of the Week.  This team is riddled with emotion and is a formidable force to face when they are high on the hog.  They can also implode a bit when the ball isn’t bouncing their way.  I’m guessing they come out focused tonight and ready to take care of business.

Either way, you’ll likely see the victors cutting some rug on the Replay dance floor after the game, but will it be an enchantment under the sea or a Candle “pants off dance off”?  The journey begins with the setting sun.

Predictions:

GOTW: Love Garden > Chalmersiz 7-6

Pool 1

Pita Pit > Das Boot

Pita Pit rolls on just like a season ago.  Boot hasn’t had the offense to put up a fight so far this season.

Goats > Barracudas

A battle for second place in the top pool.  Should be a good one.

Pool 2

Hurtz Donut > Wildman Attack Force

Both teams are searching for their first win in pool play.

Pool 3

Los Matadores > Party!!

Probably one of the more compelling games this week.  Party!! has somehow flown under the radar all season long.  This could be a close one and the outcome could shake up seedings a bit.

Shaolin Shadowboxers >Slowride

The Shadowboxers are looking to finish up their good season on a high note.  Slowride could really use a win for a morale boost and hope to avoid falling apart down the stretch as they did a season ago.

Pool 4

Screamers > Free State

Screamers look to close out pool play undefeated.  They will be a tough out come tournament time.  It’ll be interesting to see where they land.

Red Lyon > Sacred Sword

Red Lyon is looking to get back to form. Sacred Sword, well, back to the drawing board.

Pool 5

Corksuckers > West Coast

The Corksuckers are on quite a winning streak lately and look to carry their momentum into the post season.

Liberty Hall > Asteroid Head

Liberty Hall can get back to .500 with a win, but don’t sleep on Asteroid Head.  Every now and then they really show what they are capable of.

Pool 6

Channel 6 > Balls Deep

Cougar kicks a walk-off grand slam, takes 5 whiskey shots, and C-walks all over Replay tonight.

Gang Green > Rockets

Rockets…I love you, but the growing pains continue.

Pool 7

Brewballers > Dirty Mike & the Boyz

The Brewballers are back on track. Dirty Mike and the Boyz have lost a number of close games this season.  This week will likely be no different.

Ghosts > Tellerdactyls

Toss up.  First to 10 wins.

Pool 8

Harper Valley PTA > Bald Beavers

The pirate ship sails into battle on a two game win streak hungry for more.  Good thing they bring cookies.

Jazzhaus > Spacepussy

Will the last defeated team find their first win of the year?  Not if there’s pussy control.

***Home Team in Bold***

KM

With the 2012 Olympics kicking off in a couple of days I thought it would be fitting to share this little gem.  Of all of the events that we will all be enthralling ourselves in over the next couple of weeks there is one sporting event that probably doesn’t get enough credit for the amount of grueling and strenuous training athletes must undergo in an effort compete at the highest level – Race Walking.  That’s right; you walk as fast as you can for a gold medal and national glory.  Here’s how it works:

The basics

In Race Walk events, an athlete must (to the human eye) be in contact with the ground at all times, unlike in running events, where both feet are momentarily off the ground. The leading leg must be straight from the moment it is first in contact with the ground, and the technique looks very different to ordinary walking. Athletes must be incredibly disciplined to fight the urge to break into a run for extra speed.

The Race Walk events start and finish at The Mall. Athletes race over a 2km loop, taking them up The Mall towards Buckingham Palace, around the Victoria Memorial and up Constitution Hill towards Hyde Park Corner before returning to complete the loop.

Competition format

The Race Walk events are all straight finals – the first athlete to cross the finish line is the winner. 

Keys to success

Athletes need incredible amounts of stamina, endurance and mental strength. The pace is punishing and winning athletes must combine their speed and discipline right to the finish.

Breaking the rules

Judges are stationed at points along the course and will be looking closely at the athletes’ technique. If a judge is unhappy about any aspect, they will show a yellow paddle to the athlete as a warning. If an athlete is clearly not complying with the rules, the judge will show a red paddle. If an athlete is shown three red paddles by three different judges they are disqualified.

Just so we’re clear, I repeat, you can win a gold medal for this.  If Race Walking is an Olympic event I think we should petition to get kickball in as well; maybe in another couple hundred years or so.  The times to beat in Race Walking you might ask?  Here you go:

Men’s World Record in 20 km – 1:17:16

Men’s Olympic Record in 20 km – 1:18:59

Men’s World Record in 50 km – 3:34:14

Men’s Olympic Record in 50 km – 3:37:09

Women’s World Record in 20 km – 1:25:08

Women’s Olympic Record in 20 km – 1:26:31

One glorious Sunday evening after kickball out at the Douglas County Fair Grounds I bring up Race Walking as the “must see” event of the Olympics.  To my surprise, of the handful of people I was hanging out with, there was a nationally competitive Race Walker in my midst, Robyn Cottin.  I shit you not.  I wasn’t sure whether to ask for an autograph or get a celebrity picture or both.  Instead I decided to play it cool and asked her to demonstrate the technique.  She immediately obliged and next thing you know everyone was Race Walking all over the place.  Here is what resulted:

The Technique

The Race

After reviewing the tape and talking to my coach I’ve decided that Race Walking is not my strong suit.  However, if I ever have children I might become a strict disciplinarian in the art of Race Walking (and probably Curling – never hurts to double dip right?) in the hope that one day Marshall will be synonymous with gold medal winning Race Walker (or Curler, or both).

I highly recommend going to the website at the bottom of this post and familiarizing yourself with the sport.  Check out the course they walk described above as well.  I mean, they start and finish at “The Mall”.  You can’t make this stuff up.  Okay, so you start out at the mall, make your way down to the food court at Buckingham Palace, make a couple of returns at the Victoria Memorial, head up Constitutional Hill towards Hyde Park Corner en route  to Mister Bulky’s, and then loop around towards the food court again for a slice of Sbarro’s pizza on your way back to the mall entrance, and repeat.

It’s awesome, it’s exciting, and it’s only days away.

London 2012 Race Walking Official Event Page http://www.london2012.com/athletics/event/men-20km-walk/index.html

Enjoy,

KM

I didn’t get a chance to see a lot of the action going on at various games throughout the league this past Sunday.  For about 30 seconds I thought about going to watch one of the 5:30 games, then I realized that air conditioning just had its 110th  anniversary a couple of weeks ago, so I opted to share in the glory of cold air while sitting on my couch gazing out the window.  I was brought back to reality when I left for our game.  The summer heat swiftly dropkicked me in the face as I opened the door.

Speaking of dropkicks to the dome piece, that is exactly what Pita Pit did to us on Sunday.  As I stated in my preview, the team with the least amount of mistakes would triumph, and that’s exactly what happened and then some.

In our sixth game out of nine as the away team, the Barracudas have grown quite accustomed to kicking first.  We started out with a couple of runs and seemed to be off to a competitive, quality start.  Then came the defensive side of the game, and boy was that a mess.  We quickly allowed one run and had a chance to end the inning up by one, but a fly ball to left with two outs was dropped and Pita Pit took full advantage of it ending the inning with 4 runs.  And that is pretty much the story of our defensive effort this past week.  We failed to make plays that more often than not have been routine for us over the course of the season.

Offensively, we had a few chances, but Pita Pit squashed them with great defensive plays of their own.  I can’t remember what inning it was, but at one point we had battled back to within two or three runs and had a golden opportunity.  Our first kicker of the inning crushed a ball into deep left for a home run.  Our next two kickers got on safely, still with zero outs, and from there we didn’t convert or even advance another base runner that inning.  This happened around the late middle-third, early final-third of the game and from then on we had no offensive confidence.

I definitely compliment Pita Pit for coming out and taking care of business.  I felt like we gave them a lot of runs early, but by the end they were taking full advantage of their lead by placing great kicks everywhere on the field and running the bases aggressively the way you should when you are trying to deliver the death blow.  They came out with a vengeance on Sunday to pay us back for the spanking we put on them in the tournament last season.  I know the revenge tasted sweet because they were fired up and took it to us.  No question about it, they deserve to be the only undefeated team remaining.  Hats off to you boys and girls for keeping your strangle hold on the best the KVKL has to offer.

The GOTW was a fun one this week as always.  Of the two teams squaring off, Das Boot is a splintered team from the Goats of old.  I believe Das Phil told me that there are actually 5 players on Das Boot from the original Goats and 4 players on the Goats now were from the original team.  That’s pretty cool stuff for a rivalry game.

The Goats controlled the lead for the majority (if not all) of the game, but it was only a one run game for a few innings.  Das Boot was unable to get a rhythm going offensively – something they’ve struggled with all season – and couldn’t muster up any runs to overtake the Goats.

The Goats on the other hand found the exact rhythm they need.  This was accentuated during the final two inning thanks to the boost of confidence they got from the baby goat prancing around the field during the 7^th inning stretch.  Revitalized, they kicked it into overdrive and didn’t look back, walking away with a 16-8 victory.

There seemed to be a lot of tension at the GOTW this week.  I’m not sure what that was all about.  Was it a full moon or something?  At one point I looked back and there was fight be broken up.  It looked like a fake ass Wrestle Mania style fight scene, with every one pointing at each other and making empty threats.  I have no idea what was being said, but that’s what it looked like from the field.  From what I’ve gathered, it was all over jello shots.  Jello shots have become a staple at nearly all of the Game’s of the Week this season, so it’s sad to see this happening.

I’m sure those of you who witnessed this debacle can tell the story better than I can, but I’d like to know exactly what happened.  Good ol’ FB has been blowing up about this topic and it seems that it stemmed from the slingshot approach to delivering the shots.  I didn’t get hit with one or see what happened, but I do know that the slingshot was super tiny and couldn’t shoot a jello shot further than 50-60 feet (about the distance from home to first base).  I only bring that up because I’ve watched people launch the shots as hard as they can across the stands and there have been no problems before now.  I was actually hit in the face with a jello shot while taking a jello shot a few weeks back.  I just laughed it off as a reasonable expectation in the environment we’ve created.  It doesn’t make launching them right or wrong, but this isn’t the first time we’ve seen jello flying around the stadium so I’m not sure why there was a reason to actually fight on this occasion.

I’d also like to address the bottle rockets.  I was the home plate umpire and I was distracted by the bottle rockets.  At first I thought they were kind of fun, until I realized they were being shot right as the pitches were being delivered.  I’m not real big on guns or explosives so I feel free to consider me your everyday wimp.  However, when everyone on the field is focused on the ball approaching the plate I find it a bit disrespectful to blow up a nearly invisible firecracker; especially when the flight pattern is about as predictable as Rick James after 10 shots of tequila and a few rails.

I apologize for the long ranting about these matters, but at the end of the day we are all at Hobbs to have a good time.  If startling players with fireworks is your idea of a good time please just don’t come to the games.  Or go try it at a professional game and see how long you have your front teeth.  Let’s all respect the game and the environment.  We are already walking a tight rope with our ability to play in the environment we do.  It looks like we need a few whistle blowers to step up and call out the people doing these things and other inappropriate things during the games.  Remember, one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch.

Cheers,

KM

Sporting events are often cancelled due to inclement weather: rain, snow, lightning, gale force winds, etc., but are they ever cancelled because of extreme heat?  I feel a bit sorry for those of you who have to play at 5:30.  It’s going to be a brutal, sweltering mess out there today.  If it hasn’t stopped us before it shouldn’t stop us now.  Everyone needs to be sure to drink plenty of fluids all day long and be sure to keep on drinking them as you sweat your asses off on the diamonds today.  Das Boot is offering free coconut water suppositories as a GOTW favor for anyone interested.  Just get in touch with Das Brad and he’ll administer the goods.

Once again there are a slew of great matchups this week; top to bottom.  It seems like everyone has fun this time of year because even the teams with very few wins on the season get a chance to play equal competition, elevating the intensity levels a bit, even if the dramatic antics are all good-natured.

GAMES TO WATCH

Barracudas @ Pita Pit, 7:00 PM Hobbs

The last two undefeated teams square off to determine who will stand with the sole unblemished record.  This game could go a lot of different ways, but any way I look at it looks like a 50/50 toss-up.  Of course, it’s a bit difficult for me to give an objective outlook as a participant.  Whoever can limit the mistakes the best wins.

Wildman Attack Force @ Love Garden, 5:30 Holcom Gold

Love Garden might have fallen to the second pool this season, but the competition is nearly just as strong, an homage to the strength of the teams in our league nowadays.  I expect business as usual for Chris Ford and the squids.  I’m willing to bet they took an extra hour in the film room this week too preparing to play an unknown opponent.

Wildman will try to get a signature win against one of the big guns in the KVKL and they have the fire power to do it.  It’s all a matter of which team shows up to play.  This one has the potential to go down to the wire, but if Wildman gets rattled they may get a bit embarrassed.

Screamers @ Red Lyon, 5:30 Broken Arrow

Whether they know it or not these two teams are built and play very similarly.  If and when their players show up they are two of the better teams in the league; built on smart kicking and quick, aggressive base running.  They also both play a male (captain) at pitcher, a dying art form in the KVKL.  Hopefully for everyone involved all the players show up and it’s a good, fun-filled kickball game.

Harper Valley PTA @ Spacepussy, 7:00 Holcom Left

A clash of the fun-loving masters of Sunday Funday.  I personally wish this game could be rescheduled so everyone could witness this one playing out.  I imagine there will be nonstop hootin’ and hollerin’ and maybe even a hootenanny or three.  The only real concern I see is whether or not the game will be completed before the sun goes down.  If not, no big deal.  Just pull up the vehicles and throw on the high beams.

One of these teams will emerge with a two game win streak and a comfortable position in the driver’s seat of Pool 8.  The over/under on this one has to be about 32 runs.  Here’s to hoping for a bottom 9, two out play at the plate to decide the winner.

Cheers,

KM

Predictions:

GOTW: Das Boot > Goats (8-5)

Pool 1

Pita Pit > Barracudas

Pool 2

Love Garden > Wildman Attack Force

Chalmersiz > Hurtz Donut

Pool 3

Los Matadores > Shaolin Shadowboxers

Party > Slowride

Pool 4

Red Lyon > Screamers

Sacred Sword > Free State

Pool 5

West Coast > Liberty Hall

Corksuckers > Asteroid Head

Pool 6

The Rockets > Balls Deep

Channel 6 > Gang Green

Pool 7

Dirty Mike & the Boyz > Tellerdactyls

Brewballers > Ghosts

Pool 8

Spacepussy > Harper Valley

Jazzhaus > Bald Beavers

***Home Team in Bold***

And then there were two.  Only two undefeated teams and two defeated teams remain.  Congrats to Harper Valley PTA and to Spacepussy on your first wins of the season.  On paper they both look as if they were high scoring, high-octane kickball games.  I’m interested in finding out if the Harper Valley vs. Jazzhaus game was a back and forth battle all the way down to the wire or if late game heroics prevailed.  Regardless it was a one run game so there had to be some nervous moments.  Next week these two teams square off against each other.  The victor will be able to claim a two week win streak and a commanding lead in the pool.  Good luck to both squads.

Just as I figured it would be, predicting the outcome of games in pool play is quite a bit more challenging because the teams are matched up so evenly.  Congrats to Los Matadores, Screamers, West Coast, Ghosts, and Harper Valley for proving my picks wrong.

Out at the Lyon’s fields there was definitely some competitive kickball action.  All four teams from Pool 1 played at Lyon’s West and there was a Pool 2 game and a Pool 3 game going on at Lyon’s East.

Los Matadores finally got another chance to play some good competition.  Their division schedule was front heavy with competition so it has been about a month since they have been truly tested.  They didn’t disappoint either, securing a nice victory against a wavering Slowride squad, 10-4.

If I wasn’t playing at the same time I would have loved to see the Chalmersiz vs. Wildman game; my favorite on paper this week.  Since I was playing I didn’t get to see any of this game but from the sound of it, it seemed to be a good one.  The Chalmersiz harnessed some of the powers that Mario Chalmers himself brought to town and were able to hold off Wildman to claim a 6-3 victory.

At Lyon’s West Pita Pit jumped out to an early lead over the Goats and didn’t look back.  The Goats struggled to find any offensive rhythm and Pita Pit took advantage of a few early Goat errors to jump out on top.  Pita Pit played lock down defense and slowly stretched their lead, eventually winning 8-2.  This had to be one of the quickest kickball games I’ve ever witnessed.  It was kind of impressive how quickly the innings flew by.  I’m sure the Goats disagree with me as they ran out of time to mount a comeback.

The 7:00 game was an important one for the Barracudas this week.  Last season, Das Boot played one of the most flawless games of kickball I’ve ever been a part of as they took us down in the first week of pool play in Pool 2.  They were the last team to defeat us so we really wanted to play well and come away with a win.  Fortunately for us, we played really well on Sunday and jumped out to an early lead.  It was likely our most complete game of the season and we caught a few breaks as Das Boot laced some great kicks that were right at our defenders.  I wouldn’t say this about many teams, but Das Boot has a lineup that can look scary from top to bottom – guys and gals.  Keeping them off the base paths is crucial to finding success against them.  I like a lot of their players too so it was a fun game for me personally.  Thank you Brad, Chris, and Phil for bringing the competitive, friendly shit-talking.  It always makes for a good time in my book.

The GOTW was a great game as well.  Sunday evening Mother Nature decided to loosen her strangling death grip of triple digit heat and the cool air made for a wonderful atmosphere for kickball.

It took a couple of innings for both teams to shake off the big game jitters, but once they settled in there were some great kickball moments. My favorite memory was when there were two different slides into third base on the exact same play, leaving a cloud of dust hovering over the stadium for about 10 minutes.  Both players were safe, by the way, making it even more awesome.

Party!! opened up the scoring with an early run, but from there Shaolin channeled their inner Wu and went to work just as Inspectah Deck suggested they should, “Bust this, I’m kicking like Segall, Out for Justice/The roughness, yes, the rudeness, ruckus”.  Before long they were wheeling around the bases and took a commanding lead.  Credit Party!! for fighting back though.  They never gave up and made a push of their own.  In the end there just wasn’t enough time and Shaolin claimed the “W”, 9-6.

It was a big win for the Shadowboxers, who I’ll assume celebrated like ODB would have had he woken up in the middle of the night and found a 12 piece of fried chicken under his pillow: Chicken Fairy bitches!

Lastly, Happy belated birthday to Adam Brazil who celebrated his 28^th birthday with a victory under the lights.  He was one of my first teammates five years ago when I began playing in this wonderful league.  Timely flies when you are having fun.

Stay hydrated,

KM

Now to the good stuff, pool play.  I wish we had more weeks of equally paired kickball play because there are always so many great matchups this time of year.  My game predictions so far have been fairly accurate, but now it gets really tough.

Looking up and down the schedule there are good games throughout the league in every pool.  The first week of pool play is an important one for determining how your team will finish out the season.  Win or lose, these last three weeks are a final chance to gear up for post season play and assess your teams capabilities against equally matched competition.

The Game of the Week

The Shadowboxers are coming off a huge comeback win last week against Red Lyon.  They’ll be hoping that they can carry some of that 9^th inning mojo over into tonight’s game against Party!!. I’ve played with many of the guys on this squad before and when they all show up to play they can be one hell of a kickball team.   In such a big game as tonight I expect them to be ready to demonstrate their skills on the kickball diamond.

I haven’t seen Party!! play much this season, but I hear they can be pretty deadly.  I’ve also heard that they don’t live up to their name much and there is little partying involved in their gaming experience.  We’ll see if that changes tonight under the lights or not.  Several of their players are veterans from the dominant Jazzhaus of old.  It will be interesting to see them compete against a quality team on the big stage.

If you’re free today I recommend getting out and checking out some of the other games around the league as well.  It’s that time of year where knowing the competitions strengths and weaknesses will be crucial moving forward.  That’s about all I have this morning.  Good luck to all and hopefully we’ll have a weekend full of close scores and nail-biting outcomes.

Cheers,

KM

PREDICTIONS:

GOTW: Shaolin Shadowboxers > Party!! (11-9)

Pool 1

Pita Pit > Goats

Das Boot > Barracudas

Pool 2

Chalmersiz > Wildman Attack Force

Love Garden > Hurtz Donut

Pool 3

Slowride > Los Matadores

Pool 4

Red Lyon > Free State

Sacred Sword > Screamers

Pool 5

Asteroid Head > West Coast

Corksuckers > Liberty Hall Late Fees

Pool 6

Channel 6 > The Rockets

Gang Green > Balls Deep

Pool 7

Brewballers > Tellerdactyls

Dirty Mike & the Boyz > Ghosts

Pool 8

Jazzhaus > Harper Valley

Spacepussy > Bald Beavers

***HOME TEAM IS BOLD***