How will you prepare for the next season of kickball?

Random Video of the Week

This week's random video showcases a home workout program. I know you all are looking to gain a competitive advantage for next season so here is your chance. OK well maybe not. I wasn't quite sure if this thing was real or not at first but apparently its for real. While I'm sure it would help with um... some things, I'm not really sure if its an effective training aid for kickball but I may be wrong.



but it's not just for the ladies. There's a version for the guys too.



Maybe if you guys work real hard you can end up like this guy...



Crazy!

Drink Beer, its good for you

Beer is better than water. At least according to the people at the Cleveland Leader. You know, Cleveland, at least they aren't Detroit. Anyways, someone passed this article over to me and I thought I should share it with everyone.


http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/3467

According to the article, its actually better to drink beer after an athletic event than it is to drink water. I'm not sure whether to believe that or not but if its true that means that kickballers are ahead of the pack. I guess I should point out that the article says moderate consumption.

Division History

So a couple of weeks ago I unveiled the History of Kickball on the blog and I promised in the comments that I would soon publish the history of the Breaker division. I was just waiting for the end of the season to publish it and it's now up. Just go to www.kickball.com/flbreaker and click on the division history link. You can learn all about the teams that have played in the Breaker division and how they did from season to season. Maybe you will learn a little something about your team that you didn't realize before.

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What did you find most interesting from reading the Division History

Congratulations Seminoles

Congratulations to the Seminoles, who were both regular season and playoff champions. The game of the playoffs was clearly their semifinal game against Quit Yer Pitchin. Quit Yer Pitchin took a 1 run lead in the first inning and the Seminoles weren't able to answer until the top of the 4th when they tied it up. After 5 the score was tied and WAKA tournament guidelines have extra innings being played Kansas City Style.

Kansas City style means that on defense you only play with 4 guys and 4 girls in the field and on offense you start the inning with a runner on second base. Not just any runner but the last kicker from your previous inning.

Neither team was able to score in the first inning of Kansas City Rules. In the 8th inning the Seminoles lead off by scoring 3 runs and thought they were ready to roll but Quit Yer Pitchin returned the favor and scored 3 in the bottom of the 7th to tie it up again. In the top of the 8th the Seminoles were able to post another 3 spot. Quit Yer Pitchin was unable to counter and the Seminoles moved on to the championship game.

The championship game itself may have been somewhat anti-climactic after the semifinals but it was another very tightly contested game. The lone run of the game was scored in the bottom of the 2nd inning and the Seminoles defeated Don't Touch Our Balls 1-0.

End of Season Party

Our End of Season Party will be held on Nov 21st at Ricks on the River

There will be free beer and some free food.

The party will be from 7pm - 11pm and will be a combined party with the Thursday night Bayshore division. Be sure to show up and show those Bayshore players that the Tuesday night crowd can party with the best of them.

Playoffs!

Gates will open at 10am. Games will be started on time so make sure you get there early and give yourself enough time to set up your tent shade. We are allowed to grill out so plan accordingly.

View Full Bracket



For the playoffs the fields will be switched around since we won't need lights. The fields will be set up in a clover leaf like set up. Field A and B will be close to where they usually are but will be back to back, kicking in opposide directions. Field C and D will be on the football field and will have a similar back to back set up. Field C will be closest to the fence next to the concession stand.

Reffing assignments are as follows: In the first round, if your team plays at 12pm you will ref the 11am game on the same field and vice versa. Each team will be responsible for providing refs for the round of games after your team is eliminated, so each team (with the exception of the finalists) will be responsible for reffing 2 games. Example: if a team plays at 11am and loses they will have to provide refs for the 12pm game on the same field AND for a 1pm game.

WAKA Division Tournament Guidelines

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Which of these top teams will win the playoffs?

Week 9 Recap

Week 9 was the last week of the season and some teams definitely looked poised for the playoffs. On the other hand, some other teams looked more poised for the bar (actually it looked like maybe they had been at the bar for hours before the games started). Lets get to the action.

Raging Balls took the field, determined to solidify their spot as the worst kickball team ever and they did nothing to disappoint. Vicious and Delicious tried to stall the beginning of the game so they could wait for their best players to show up until Raging Balls reminded them of who they were playing. V&D had only scored 14 runs all this season coming into the night but were able to put up a 9 spot against the environmentally conscious Raging Balls. Why environmentally conscious? Because Raging Balls did their best to get in touch with Mother Nature by tripping and hugging the ground on every play they could. This game was an absolute comedy of errors. How many errors? No one was able to count that high but at least 15. Vicious and Delicious won 9-0.

Speaking of blowouts, Field B's game wasn't much closer. Your Mom Makes a Dry Roast had some struggles at the beginning of the season but then all of a sudden one day remembered what it was like to play kickball as a kid and they just kept running, and running and running all over New Kicks On The Block. The Evil Empire lost 6-0.

Tech USA - Where My Pitches At and Anything But Blue Balls was a pretty interesting matchup. There was probably no other matchup this season that pitted two teams that were so evenly matched. The game didn't disappoint. This was a close one that went slightly in the favor of Tech USA - Where My Pitches At. Tech USA won 1-0.

Don't Touch Our Balls looked pretty confident coming into the night. They were faced off against the struggling We've Got The Runs. Unfortunately for DTOB, they were maybe a bit too confident. Rumor has it that a few key players were absent because they would rather play softball. Bad decision. Don't Touch Our Balls suffered a big upset at the hands of the blue team. We've Got The Runs won 10-0.

The Bull Gators continue to ready themselves for the playoffs and seem to be growing stronger each week. That's about all I've got on this one. Bull Gators beat the Balled and the Beautiful 5-1.

We learned something on Field B last night in the game between Kick In A Box and I Already Hit That. Costumes are cool but if you have a long, flowing costume, whatever you are wearing is an extension of your body. In one key play in the game, Erik was running the bases when Kick In A Box threw the ball at him to try to get him out. The ball missed him but clearly hit his bathrobe. That's an out folks. Kick In A Box put a whooping on I Already Hit That 7-1.

I didn't see the game between Quit Yer Pitchin and Ball Kickers but I sure as hell heard it. There was a whole lot of yelling and cheering going on over there. Apparently, all of that cheering was coming from the Quit Yer Pitchin sideline. They are clearly sharpening their teeth for the playoffs. Quit Yer Pitchin won 9-0.

In the game of the week, the Seminoles took on Suck My Kick. It was a close one but the Seminoles took it to clinch the regular season championship. Seminole player, Salty, said, "I knew after our first scrimmage that this team had something special, pure raw awesomeness". Wait what? First scrimmage? How often do they practice anyways? No wonder why they won so many games. Most teams just practice flip cup. Seminoles won 1-0.

End of Season Player Profile

Hopefully, this man needs no introduction. Well, maybe he does, because he doesn’t normally look like this. This is Ty. This is actually Ty sick. He usually looks happier than this. Unless he’s cleaning up someone else’s trash that’s been left on the field. Or penalizing a team for having glass bottles. So if you’re not one for following the field rules, this unhappy Ty might look familiar.

Ty’s the WAKA division head for both the Breaker and Bayshore divisions, which means when he’s not cheering on the Red Sox – or cursing the Yankees – he’s handling registration, drawing up the schedule, mapping out the fields, scheduling the off-field get-togethers, writing for this awesome blog, all that jazz.

Ty’s passionate about his dog, Bosco, cooking and – above all – kickball. The only thing that can keep him from playing is a minor case of Hamthrax (also known as Swine Flu). But Ty was always on hand to support his Raging Balls, even if we weren't that raging.

And for those of you wondering – yes, Ty’s single. So if you like talking about all things Boston-sports related while being cooked for, Ty’s your guy. He’s also pretty knowledgeable about music and could most likely whoop your ass in candlepin bowling. And his lap was made for bouncing on.

So next time you see Ty, thank him for all the hard work he puts into ensuring that we all have a great time both during and after games. And give the man a beer. Just make sure it’s not in a glass bottle.

Week 9

History of Kickball Followup Poll

Besides being in Ty's poll about which historic figure would you want to play kickball against, what do Napoleon Bonaparte, Abraham Lincoln, Socrates and Joan of Arc have in common?(select all that apply)

End of Season Party on Nov 21

The End of Season Party is on Saturday Nov 21st. The details are being worked out right now and you will be informed as soon as things are finalized. Be sure to keep the evening of Nov 21st available on your calendar for a fun time.

Don't forget that the playoffs are on Nov 7th.

Theme for Last Week

Well we were going to do a Halloween theme for week 9 but since we got rained out and there is no point in doing a Halloween theme after Halloween, Next week the theme will be Pajama party. Come dressed in your favorite pajamas for the kickball game. I know you all of course wear your WAKA t-shirts with your pajamas to bed so make sure you are wearing those as well. Extra cool points will be given to anyone wearing footie pajamas.

Week 9(ish) Player Profile - "I'm kind of a big deal"

You might’ve thought, “Hey, this week’s games were rained out, certainly there won’t be a Player Profile.” Think again, kids. I’m riding a high from waking up on a Wednesday morning without another “L” for the Raging Balls. Sure, we didn’t get a win, either, but any day we don’t get our hats handed to us is a good day. So let’s meet this week’s subject…

Here’s Natalie. Natalie plays for Kick in a Box (the purple team). Natalie may not look familiar – especially if you play on her team. Despite being the team captain, she’s attended “maybe two games” all season.

(This bit of information was supplied by Chad, Natalie’s teammate, who apparently serves as the secretary for the team, providing stats and sundry other information to Natalie.)

It’s not that Natalie enjoys shirking her duties – this is her fourth season playing WAKA and she's served as captain every time. Her job, though, keeps her busy with travel. She’s a project manager and “is a pretty big deal.” People apparently know Natalie. But I’m guessing some Kick in a Boxers would have a hard time picking her out of a line-up.

Natalie is originally from Baton Rouge and graduated from LSU, but let’s not hold that against her. She’s been here three years, enjoys bouncing on Ty's lap at kickball parties (funny - me too!) and loves the debauchery associated with kickball. Her most cherished memory of kickball was being carried out of MacDinton’s once, though she doesn’t really remember much about it. I’m guessing it wasn’t in some sort of “We Are the Champions” manner, as KIAB is 2 and 6 on the season.

If you’ve read this far, it’s probably only due to the fact that I haven’t provided the last piece of information you’re craving – Natalie’s dating status. I’ll let her tell you herself:

“I’m single. And ready to mingle.”

I’d wish you boys good luck, but with Natalie’s track record of attendance, you probably won’t see her again till halfway through the spring season.

History of Kickball

So we all know (or at least I know) that WAKA was founded in Washington, DC in 1998 and started its first season of play in Tampa in 2003 but what about the game of kickball itself? Most of us know of kickball from playing as a kid but what about kickball's origins? Historical records are hard to come by. Luckily, recent archaeological discoveries have helped solve the mystery of the origins of kickball.

A recent re-examination of the cave drawings at the Cave of the Trois-Freres in France by archaeologist Sir Douglas Graves have shed new light on the origins of kickball. These cave drawings show that a primitive form of kickball was played as early as 13,000 BC. It is believed that the game was of a spiritual nature to help prepare the men's mind and body before large hunts.

Kickball continued to be played in different forms throughout Europe and was easily the most popular past time activity of ancient people. Though many debate on the true reasons for the existence of Stone Henge, it has recently been proven that it was in fact the world's first kickball stadium. The Druids did not need a whole lot of room for the playing field because at the time the kickball itself was made of stone so bunting was quite prevalent.

In the first century AD an event changed the growth of kickball forever. Jesus of Nazareth had putting together a team of players for the spring season in the Jerusalem league. While Jesus himself did not play, he assembled the best 11 man team he could. Unfortunately he had 12 apostles and Judas Iscariot was the odd man out. Angry about being cut from the team, Judas promptly betrayed Jesus, leading to his crucifixion. Early Christians blamed the sport of kickball for the betrayal and as the church grew, they did their best to stamp out any evidence of the sport's existence. For that reason, most all historic records of kickball's existence were destroyed. Knowledge of the sport was close to being lost forever. The lack of a fun, social activity led to the dark ages.

In the 13th century, the Templar Knights were busy excavating the Temple Mount when they discovered a scroll with an explanation of the kickball rules. Kickball quickly became a favorite game of the knights. Because of the church's official position on the game at the time, the knights were labeled as heretics, eventually leading Pope Clement to issue the order to arrest all Templar Knights on Friday October 13, 1307 for their offenses of immorality. Many knights were tortured and killed for their love of kickball but some escaped and headed north to Scandinavia where they taught the game to the Vikings.

The Vikings were originally quite friendly and great ambassadors for the game. They loved introducing kickball to new people in the lands they discovered. Unfortunately, the Vikings soon got frustrated by the other teams' excessive bunting. Enraged by the difficulty in defending against the strategy, the Vikings would soon conquer any land who's kickball team dared allow a man to bunt. During this time it was not uncommon for the severed head of a bunter from a previous game to be used as the ball.

It was on a Viking expedition to North America that kickball was first introduced to the Native Americans. The Native American game took a slightly different form and much like their other favorite sport of the time, lacrosse, there was no limit to the number of players on the field at one time. As a result, the games were quite wild and fatalities were a common occurrence.

When Squanto introduced corn and kickball to the pilgrims, the new settlers were very excited to play the sport but due to their dwindling numbers from disease and starvation, they were concerned about the possibility of more fatalities from kickball. It was decided right there in Plymouth, in November 1621 that the game would again be limited to 11 players on the field at a time, greatly reducing the risk of death. It is believed that the great feast that followed the game was the inspiration to have a social gathering somewhere after the games, eventually leading to sponsor bars.

Kickball continued to find popularity among the colonists. Sam Adams, famed statesman, brewer and rabble-rouser, was the first to connect flip cup to the game of kickball, though at the time it was a much more difficult game as the cups were often made of pewter. On Mar 4, 1770 a group of Colonials, led by Crispus Attucks defeated a group of British soldiers, captained by Thomas Preston, in a tight kickball game. The next day the troops, who were still upset about the loss, fired upon the team and Crispus Attucks and some of his teammates were killed in the Boston Massacre and the seeds of the revolution were sewn.

On April 12, 1861 a game took place between the A-Ball-itionists and the ReBalls at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. There was a disputed call when one of the refs called a player out and players started arguing. Hostilities broke out and after years of fighting and more than 200,000 dead the kickball rules would forever change so that from then on, only captains could argue calls with a ref.

For most of history and up until WWII kickball was a sport that was played only by men. With so many men shipping off to war a new all female league was formed to help satisfy the public's desire to watch kickball. In 1943 the All-American Girls Kickball League was formed, only to be disbanded after 1954. The aftermath of the league disbanding left a void for women in kickball. The 1960's saw the rise of the Women's Rights Movement, leading women to fight for reproductive rights, equality in the workplace and equality in kickball. This movement resulted in the rule that a team is fielded by at least 4 men and 4 women for a game to be official.

Kickball continued to rise in popularity but the energy crisis of 1979 caused the game to lose popularity among adults. The shortage of gasoline kept many adults from wanting to drive any more than they had to, making it difficult to get enough people to a field after work for a game. As the game's popularity declined among adult players, it found a rebirth in American schoolyards in the 1980's and 90's.

In 1998 a group of friends were in a bar talking about ideas of how to organize people to bring them together for a fun time and to meet new people, and thus WAKA was born.

So now you know the complete and totally truthful history of kickball.

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Which historic figure do you wish you could have played kickball against?

Week 9 Games Rained Out

Unfortunately we got rained out in our last scheduled game of the season. It was pouring in South Tampa but for a while it looked like we were going to be safe at the PAL Fields but just as I set up all of the fields it started to rain. We held off for a while, hoping the rain would cease but to no avail.

Week 9's games will be made up next Tuesday.

Random Video of the Week

This week's video brought to you by the tourism board of Cleveland. Thank you to the cool people on Suck My Kick for pointing me to this video.

Which place would you rather to visit?

Week 9 Predictions

Can you believe that it's already week 9? Its crazy right? If you have had a good time, be sure to fill out your survey that WAKA sent you in your email. If you have not had a good time, be sure to delete that email quickly. So how is this week going to pan out? I'll tell you how.

Vicious and Delicious vs Raging Balls on field A
Vicious and Delicious has been on a terrible 3 game slide as of late. They started the season looking like rockstars and have ended it looking like burnt out roadies. Raging Balls is pretty psyched for the game, they can't wait for their first win of the season, even if it doesn't ever actually come. I think its finally Raging Balls' time to shine as they pull off the upset against the downtrodden Vicious and Delicious. Prediction: Raging Balls 2 Vicious and Delicious 1

New Kicks On The Block vs Your Mom Makes a Dry Roast on field B
If Vicious and Delicious loses and New Kicks on The Block win, this matchup will be rehashed in the first round of the playoffs. If not, then who knows what the hell will happen. I mean I'm sure I could figure it out if I wanted to and lay out all of the playoff possibilities with you but I'm feeling lazy so I would rather have the easy outcome happen. Prediction: New Kicks On The Block 4 Your Mom Makes a Dry Roast 3

Tech USA - Where My Pitches At vs Anything But Blue Balls on field C
How will ABBB play this week? Isn't that always the question? Have you wondered how crazy it is that a team with 4 words in their name is NOT the longest team name in the division? Ever wonder what the inside of a kickball looks like? Have you noticed that all of the sentences in this paragraph are questions? Have you thought to consider that that may be because ABBB is just one big question mark each week. Will they be good? Will they be terrible? Prediction: ABBB confound reality and both win by a huge margin and lose by a huge margin at the same time.

Don't Touch Our Balls vs We've Got The Runs on field D
We've Got The Runs captain, Anne, started her kickball career on Don't Touch Our Balls last season though it's not certain that anyone from DTOB remembers her. She's hoping they will remember her after this game as she hopes to knock off the kickball titans. I hope to win the lottery too. Prediction: Don't Touch Our Balls 6 We've Got the Runs 2

Bull Gators vs The Balled and The Beautiful on field A
The Bull Gators are probably the most improved team on the season. The Balled and The Beautiful improved for a little bit and then remembered that they weren't really all that good at this kickball thing. They are really good at having fun and wearing snuggies though. Prediction: Bull Gators 6 The Balled and The Beautiful 0

I Already Hit That vs Kick In A Box on field B
This could be the most fun game of the week. I fully expect Erik and the Limeys to show up in full Halloween costumes. I also fully expect to collect royalties if Erik ever creates a band called Erik and the Limeys. Prediction: Kick In A Box 1 I Already Hit That 0

Ball Kickers vs Quit Yer Pitchin on field C
Tuesday night is bobble head night. No, no one will be handing out little dolls. There should just be plenty of offense to allow Courtney to run the bases with her distinctive running style. Why should there be plenty of offense? Ball Kickers have a runs against average of 4.88. That's second worst in the division to Raging Balls and their astronomical 7.00 but Raging Balls is playing Vicious and Delicious who are notoriously quiet on offense. Prediction: Quit Yer Pitchin 8 Ball Kickers 3

Seminoles vs Suck My Kick on field D
This is the matchup of the week even though it may not count for anything by the time the game starts. Don't Touch Our Balls is the only team that can unseat the Seminoles but even if they win, it may come down to the Runs Against tie breaker (which the Seminoles currently have a slight advantage in). The only way for the Seminoles to lose the division is if DTOB wins and the Seminoles lose and give up more than 2 more runs than DTOB gives up. Confusing? Maybe but I'm sure the Seminoles are hoping that I didn't just jinx them. The division Regular Season Champion Trophy will be on hand for the game. Prediction: Seminoles 2 Suck My Kick 1

Week 10?

So here it is kids, We've got one week left in the season (or do we?) We've got a 9 game schedule and 9 games will count in the standings but we've got a week off between week 9 and the playoffs. This week was intended to be used if we had any rainouts but luckily we have had none so we can use that week as week 10 games that don't count towards the standings. Teams will get to choose who their opponents are. So far Raging Balls and We've Got The Runs have decided that they want to play each other and Tech USA wants to take on the Seminoles. If your team has a request to play a particular team in the non-binding week 10 matchup, either email me or comment on this post.

Remember, the playoffs are November 7th. Yes that date has been on the website since registration opened so no you can't claim no one told you.

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Requests so far:
Vicious and Delicious vs New Kicks On The Block (request made by anonymous)
Raging Balls vs We've Got The Runs (made by We've Got The Runs)
Don't Touch Our Balls vs Bull Gators (made by Don't Touch Our Balls)
Seminoles vs Tech USA (made by Tech USA)

Halloween Theme in Week 9

Week 9 will be played just a few days before Halloween so obviously it will be a Halloween Theme. Come dressed as whatever you will be for Halloween. Just make sure to have your WAKA t-shirt with you as well.

Week 8 Recap

This week's recap is being brought to you by the letter L (for late). I could give you an excuse as to why its late this week but as Anderson from Don't Touch OUr Balls was kind enough to point out. "Excuses are like assholes. Everyone's got one and they all stink." So that being said, lets get on with the recap before everyone forgets what happened.

Suck My Kick and Bull Gators was a fierce matchup. Jay from Bull Gators was pitching some nasty stuff out there but the real deciding point of the game came on what can best be described as a hate play at second in the second inning (or was it the third). Bull Gators had runners on first and second. The ball was kicked to deep shortstop/short left-center field. All the Suck My Kick player had to do was step on second to record the second out of the inning and then quickly look home to prevent the Bull Gators girl from scoring from third. Inexplicably, rather than simply step on second base, the Suck My Kick player (with rage in his eyes) decided to throw the ball as hard as he could as the sliding Bull Gators base runner. He got the runner out but he threw the ball so hard that it bounced off of him and went deep into the outfield and allowed not only the girl who started the play on second to score but also the kicker. Bull Gators won 5-2

The early game on Field B was described to be as the Gun Show as many of the Seminoles players decided to cut their sleeves off like big tough guys and show off the biceps. Apparently it worked because this defensive showdown resulted in a 2-1 Seminole Victory. With that win, the Seminoles are one step closer to being regular season champs as they have a whole point lead and a 2 RA advantage in the standings. Next week the Seminoles could potentially lose and still win the regular season as long as they don't give up more than 2 runs more than Don't Touch Our Balls (and don't forfeit).

The Ball Kickers started the season off without being able to score at all. Then one day they started putting some points on the board and came into this week's match-up with 7 runs scored on the season. This week they almost doubled that total thanks in part to some monstrous kicks. BallKickers were winded after running around the bases so much in this one as they won 6-3. Next week, Javier from We've Got The Runs will be wearing his lucky 0 and 7 uniform. I am not sure how that works though since they are actually 2 and 6.

I Already Hit That hates drinks. That's right, they hate drinks. How else do you explain their behavior this week. On two occasions they kicked the ball right into cups of adult sports beverages. On one instance, the I Already Hit That player was clearly disturbed by the ref on a different field holding a cup (I might have just been able to end the sentence after disturbed and it would have worked too). The foul ball was kicked directly at the ref on the other field and knocked his adult sports beverage into the air. Perhaps they should have been more concerned about the game than cups because they lost at the hands of Anything But Blue Balls by a score of 1-0.

New Kicks On The Block were without their secret weapon, Rachel, this week. No worries as I'm sure they found some way to cheat anyways. They are the Breaker Division's Evil Empire after-all. Actually New Kicks on The Block were able to take advantage of 2 home runs while meanwhile Tech USA - Where My Pitches At blame their performance on guys who kicked like girls. New Kicks On The Block won 3-2.

The Balled and the Beautiful were pretty cold this week. In fact, one of their players had a snuggie. Seriously, just because the commercials say you can wear it at a sporting event, doesn't mean that you should. Even though it was in the correct team color, the snuggie was obviously too much of a distraction for the maroon team as they fell to the hands of Don't Touch Our Balls 3-0.

The wheels are falling off of the bus for Vicious and Delicious. They started off the season looking like one of the teams to beat and clearly had the best defense in the league. Now they have lost 3 games in a row and have given up 8 runs total in their last 2 games. All of a sudden they went from a top tier team to being stuck in the middle of the standings. Kick in a Box won this one 3-1.

Last but not least we had Your Mom Makes a Dry Roast vs Raging Balls. Ok so maybe the least. Raging Balls has pretty much clinched last place in the division. They haven't won a game yet and give up 7 runs per game on average but at least they have fun doing it with lots of team posters and cheering. Basically the only chance of Raging Balls not ending up in last place this season will be if they win their game next week AND The Balled And The Beautiful forfeits in week 9. Your Mom Makes a Dry Roast won 4-1 this week.

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Is the snuggie cool?

Player Profile - Week 8

This is Tiffany. She is single.

I’ve been informed that these are the only two things people care to know about the player profiles. Well, the only two things the dudes care about. So for anyone that wants to know, we’ll continue…

This week’s Player Profile features a member of Anything But Blue Balls – certainly one of the more fun, if erratic, teams in the division. Tiffany plays “all over” for the light blue team, which is now 5-3. Has being called out on the blog in recent weeks forced ABBB to step up their game? If so, could someone PLEASE start calling out Raging Balls?

Tiffany teaches the third grade. She also has an infatuation with mechanical bulls, sings bad karaoke and, admittedly, survives solely on beer. Hopefully she waits until recess to enjoy that last one.

What does Tiffany find to be easier – dealing with third graders or her teammates?

“Third graders,” Tiffany said, without hesitation. I’d tell you who she thought was better at kickball, too, but I hate being repetitive.

Tiffany enjoys her adult sports beverages during the game, but doesn’t let it affect her playing ability – she’s scored twice this year. Her most memorable moment from this season was when a pop fly bounced off of her chest and she ended up catching it from behind. (I’m guessing this was a memorable moment for a number of people who were watching that game.)

To the members of Tech USA - SMPU, don't underestimate Tiffany next week. She may look small, but she packs a punch. Just ask her teammates Jake and John - they still bear the scars of having made fun of her for being a Cowboys fan. Who knows what she's liable to do if you try to score on her.

Week 8

Random Video of the Week

Don't you wish you could move like this?

Week 8 Predictions

So did you guys miss me? Did you even know I was gone? Well I was. I was in Boston all weekend. In fact I still am as I begin to type this. I am at the airport waiting to get on my plane to fly back to Tampa. I hope you were all able to cope without me for a few days. I've heard that many of you guys don't like free beer. I must say that I am pretty disappointed in you all for that. So lets get on to my predictions.

Suck My Kick vs Bull Gators on field A
Bull Gators are really starting to take off. After a not so spectacular start to the season they have won their last 4 games in a row. Meanwhile Suck My Kick is one of the better teams in the division. This game may be the toughest one to pick this week as either team could easily walk away with it but Suck My Kick's defense is just a little bit better. Prediction Suck My Kick 2 Bull Gators 1.

Seminoles vs Quit Yer Pitchin on field B
With these two strong teams this may be the most anticipated game this week, much like the new movie Where The Wild Things Are. Expect the game to be much like the movie. Long, drawn out, runs about half an hour longer than it should, you can't figure out why everyone on the field is so unhappy and in the end you feel like part of your childhood has been ripped away and you will never get it back. Prediction: Seminoles 4 Quit Yer Pitchin 1

Ball Kickers vs We've Got The Runs on field C
If there is one thing I know, its that this game is not expected to be a barn burner. Both teams have struggled to put a whole lot of runs up on the board. Of course then again, neither team has played outstanding offense either so maybe there will be a lot of scoring. The crystal ball is pretty cloudy on this one but expect to see some fun times. Prediction: We've Got the Runs 2 Ball Kickers 0

I Already Hit That vs Anything But Blue Balls on field D
Anything But Blue Balls has strongly solidified themselves as the most inconsistent team ever. Last week they solidly defeated Vicious and Delicious (one of the better teams in the division) but in week 4 they lost to Your Mom Makes a Dry Roast 7-1. there is no rhyme or reason to their inconsistent ways. I guess it's all just about how they feel on any given day and how motivated they are. Last week they felt pretty good so this week I'm going to have to go out on a limb and say they will be satisfied from last week and not really care too much about this week. Prediction: I Already Hit That 6 Anything But Blue Balls 2

New Kicks On The Block vs Tech USA - Where My Pitches At on field A
According to the poll from last week, a lot of guys in the division think that Rachel on NKOTB is pretty hot. That could work in the black teams favor this week. Expect Mike to strategically place Rachel at shortstop in a tactical move that obviously places her almost halfway between 2 bases. The thought process is that as guys on Tech USA are running the bases, they will stop halfway between 2nd and 3rd to try to get Rachel's number. Such a distraction will allow Mike and Wes to hit the guys as hard as they can with the ball to get them out. The Evil Empire will stop at nothing to gain the upper hand. They better hope that l) There are lots of single guys on Tech USA and 2)They don't hit too many of those distracted baserunners in the head (which they probably will). Prediction: Tech USA - Where My Pitches At 4 New Kicks On The Block 2

Don't Touch Our Balls vs The Balled and The Beautiful on field B
Remember earlier in the season when The Balled and the Beautiful used to lose to like everybody. They have turned it around a bit but unfortunately for them, this week they have to face off against Don't Touch Our Balls who are still fuming from their loss last week. Breaker division's original uber team will be looking to take no prisoners this week and fully intend on turning The Balled and the Beautiful into their own personal pinata. Prediction: Don't Touch Our Balls 6 The Balled and The Beautiful 1

Vicious and Delicious vs Kick In A Box on field C
Many of the usually jovial and funloving Vicious and Delicious players were put on suicide watches last week after their loss to ABBB. Therapists were stations on the skyway on bullhorns reminding the pistachio team that this week they play Kick In A Box (who has only won one game and that was against Raging Balls, like that counts). Vicious and Delicious should be taking the field with smiles on their faces this week, but it might be short lives. I am actually going to call an upset in this one. Prediction: Kick In A Box 2 Vicious and Delicious 0

Your Mom Makes a Dry Roast vs Raging Balls on field D
As I already mentioned, I was in Boston this whole weekend and as most of you know, I'm originally from there (if you didn't know that we obviously haven't actually met) so I was really happy to get the chance to watch my Patriots play with other Pats fans. I was really enjoying the game until I realized that the Tennessee Titans reminded me a lot of my kickball team, Raging Balls. They haven't won a game yet this season and the defense's greatest skill is to watch the other team put points up on the board. Basically, Raging Balls is hoping that Your Mom Makes a Dry Roast will forfeit this week but if they don't Raging Balls will do anything it can to put themselves in a position to win their first game of the season and then end up losing in the end. They are the lovable losers of the division. Raging Balls for Crystal Pitcher! Prediction: Your Mom Makes A Dry Roast 18,473 Raging Balls 1 (and number 1 in your hearts)

Party This Saturday

The division's midseason party will be held on Oct 17th at Elmer's Sports Cafe in Ybor starting at 6pm. There will be lots of free beer and some food as well. Be sure to come out and have a fun time with your kickball friends (and enemies).

Are you going to the Midseason party?

Refereeing

So there have been a few complaints about refs this season, more than usual. The WAKA Kickball rules aren't all that complicated and all the rules are listed online on the WAKA website. Unfortunately most of the problems though are coming not because refs don't know the rules as much as refs not paying attention. Next week, before the games are played I will hold a ref clinic at 6:30 on field A. Anyone who is supposed to ref next week should be there, along with anyone else who wants to get a better understanding of reffing a game. In the meantime you can click on the WAKA Rulebook logo to view the rules.

Lets hope this works but it sounds like most of the complaints aren't so much about ref's not knowing the the rules as they are about refs not paying attention. If you ref, pay attention and make the call when it comes to you.

How well do you know the rules?

Rachel's Got the Right Stuff - Week 7 Player Profile

Everyone, this is Rachel. Rachel, this is… well… the seven people who read the blog. Rachel plays for New Kicks on the Block (the black team), who are currently 3-4 on the season. She is originally from Gainesville, so her favorite athlete is, naturally, Tim Tebow. He’s also her favorite Scorpio, concussion-sufferer, messiah, etc. Rachel works at the University of Tampa handling Student Affairs. This opened up an endless line of questioning, but I soon learned that Student Affairs doesn’t mean what I thought it did.

Rachel’s played in the WAKA league for three seasons now. Her best play came during her first season when she kicked a home run, two fields over. The opposing team still has players searching for the lost ball. Rachel doesn’t consider Tuesdays to be a success unless she’s pegged a chick in the face with a ball. (I played against Rachel’s team in week one – some of our players are still seeing double. But that might be a byproduct of their awesome flip cup skills.)

NKOTB likes to listen to... NKOTB (what else?) before games, which serves two purposes: it pumps them up while annoying opposing teams. With a losing record, though, they might have to implement a dance number to turn things around. During the game, Rachel says her main job is to keep Mike plied with adult sports beverages so he’s "not so much of an a-hole." What say you? Is Rachel doing her job?

New Kicks on the Block has had an average post-game showing at MacDintons, but Rachel swears they’re excellent flip cup players. After pondering for a moment, she reconsidered and said, “Actually, I’m excellent.” Beware of Rachel…

Is Rachel doing a good job of keeping Mike from being such an a-hole on the fields?

No Glass Bottles

I know everyone is probably pretty tired of all of my reminders that we have to pick up trash and no glass bottles are allowed on the field but I'm going to have to remind everyone again.

We had a player who brought a cooler of glass bottles to the field on Week 7. Glass bottles are not allowed at the fields, that includes in coolers. The player was asked to leave the fields and the team was penalized in the standings.

Don't let that happen to your team. Be smart and follow our field policies.

Week 7 Recap

So you may have noticed that there were no predictions this week. There is a good reason for that. This weekend I was in Las Vegas for the Founders Cup. What is that you may be asking? Its kinda like the Kickball World Series. We had 72 teams come in from all over the country and the final game was between the Best Coast Ballers from San Francisco an The Others from Washington, DC. The Others won by the way but more on that tomorrow. Anyways, I came up with predictions but didn't have time to put them down. Ironically enough it turned out that my predictions were 100% accurate this week so the predictions and the recap would be exact, word for word. So lets get to the predictions/recaps, shall we.

Bull Gators took on Quit Yer Pitchin on Field A to start us off. I asked Courtney for details about the game but all she told me was that she was sad. Apparently there was lots of hugging and crying and carrying on on the Quit Yer Pitchin sideline after the game. Good for them that they have visions of Courtney's amazing bobble head running style to cheer them up. Bull Gators won 3-1.

Don't Touch Our Balls and Suck My Kick faced off in a heated battle. I guess Don't Touch Our Balls didn't know quite what to do after a loss because it's been a couple years or so since their last regular season loss when they didn't forfeit because most of the team had something better to do (as if there is anything better to do than kickball). There were a few friendly words shared after the game, followed up with threat of suspension from me so things settled down quite nice after that. Suck My Kick pulled off the upset and won 4-3.

Raging Balls and Tech USA played on Field C but if you want to see that recap you need to go to the live blog post, below.

The Seminoles took on We've Got The Runs on field D. We've Got The Runs was victorious... in scoring more than one run but they needed about 7 more or maybe 6 or maybe 5. There seemed to be quite a bit of debate over what the actual final score of the game was. Was it 8-2, 7-2 or 6-2, no one really seemed to know for sure but everyone had their own opinion of it. The Seminoles were ready to argue hard that they won 8-2. After being reminded that runs for doesn't affect the standings, only runs against, they replied, "But it makes us feel better about ourselves". So I guess the Seminoles can be helped a little with their apparent low self esteem since I recorded the final as 8-2 in the Seminole favor.

Ball Kickers and The Balled and The Beautiful faced off in a battle of the basement dwellers. Neither team wanted to be in 15th place. The Balled and The Beautiful just wanted it a little less and were able to distance themselves from the Ballkickers by winning 4-2.

Natalie, captain of Kick In A Box was probably disappointed that she missed this week as her team in Purple took on You Mom Makes a Dry Roast in Yellow. You see, Natalie went to LSU. Anyways, I don't really know much about this game since no one told me about it and I didn't see either team at the bar afterwards. What's up with that? Both team should take a forfeit for that but in any event Your Mom Makes a Dry Roast won, 4-3.

New Kicks On The Block and I Already Hit That faced off on Field C. In the last inning IAHT was down a run. They aren't used to scoring very often but they were able to put together a rally. They may have been helped by NKOTB's defensive alignment. Afraid of getting beat by the long ball they decided to play all of their players in the next time zone. IAHT was able to easily keep the ball on the ground and take advantage of the situation. Of course Mike has a different side to the story. He claims that NKOTB lost because he didn't wear his one sock this week. I Already Hit That won 4-3.

Anything But Blue Balls was able to solidify themselves as the most inconsistent team ever this week. There are days when they play like they have never seen a kickball and then there are days like in week 7 when they just dominate. Meanwhile Vicious and Delicious easily has one of the best defenses in the division. On the other hand, their offense has been their undiscovered Achilles heal. Unfortunately for VAD the arrow found the heal at the same time their defense finally let them down. Anything But Blue Balls won 5-0.

Live Blogging

So I am coming to you live from the fields tonight. I jacked my ankle up while in Vegas so I'm not playing. So I might as well use my new discovery that I can turn my Palm Pre into a wifi hotspot and report live from the field. Of course, none of you guys care. Why? Because you area all at the field and won't see this until after the games anyways.

Right now we are waiting for another girl from Tech USA to come otherwise they will have to forfeit and Raging Balls will win their first game of the season. This is pretty exciting actually.

7:15 update:

The last girl for Tech USA showed up at the very last second, just when Raging Balls was celebrating their "victory".

7:19 update:

Raging balls survived the first inning. Tech USA had some aggressive baserunning but couldn't take advantage.

7:22 update:
Raging Balls looked good in the bottom of the first with David leading off with aggressive base running to turn a double. Shaina got on. Will kicked a line drive out and David got doubled off. Brendan got a single. Greg just almost whiffed on a kick and kicked it behind him, only to then kick an easy ground ball out. After 1 the score is 0-0.

7:28 update:

It looks like tech USA likes to argue a bit. They should feel lucky that Sprint time might run a couple of minutes slow, allowing them to play at all and not accept a forfeit.

WOW. The Tech USA kicker just kicked a ball into right field for a routine out, right? No. It became a home run.

7:33 update

After 1 and a half, Tech USA 1, Raging Balls 0

7:39 update

Will just made a great catch off of his bald head and knocked himself down.

7:42 update

After scoring their second run of the game, Tech USA kicked out of order to record the third out of the inning. After 2 and a half the score is 2-0.

7:50 update

Raging Balls defense strikes again. After 3 and a half the score is now 7-0.

7:55 update

Raging Balls Scored! Raging Balls Scored! Raging Balls Scored! Twice!

7:59

Game shortened by time. 7-2 Tech USA. I also just ejected a player from the fields for bringing glass bottles to the field.

Post Game Update:

It sucks to not be able to play and just sit on the sideline watching.

Week 7

Random Video of the Week

This is just cool. Makes me want to play some Super Mario Brothers.

What is the greatest videogame of all time?

Beer Beer Beer Beer Beer Beer Beer

The Save the Date has been on the website for some time now and now we have the details. The division's midseason party will be held on Oct 17th at Elmer's Sports Cafe in Ybor starting at 6pm. There will be lots of free beer and some food as well. Be sure to come out and have a fun time with your kickball friends (and enemies).

Was Shaina Safe?

Shaina from Raging Balls was seen at the bar last night, still claiming that she was safe in last weeks game. Tell us what you think.

Was Shaina safe?

Week 6 Results

We've Got The Runs and Tech USA - Where My Pitches At got things started out for us in Week 6. These two teams battled it out in a defensive showdown for most of the game. The major play of the game came late when We've Got The Runs had a runner on first. Their kicker whiffed on a ball but the ball hit his back leg and went into fair territory. He then let the ball hit him as he was trying to run down to first. That's a double kick outside of the kicking box and an automatic out. Tech USA wins this one 1-0.

Last week, Your Mom Makes a Dry Roast had to forfeit for not having enough girls. This week they were able to take advantage of their opponent not having enough girls as The Balled and The Beautiful were more Balled than Beautiful. They played a game that didn't count that was filled with fun, and a player falling down after he kicked the ball supposedly because "home plate was slippery". The best moment of the game was when one of the players on one of the teams (withholding details to protect the identity) was called back to the plate for munting. His response to the munt call was, "I have thin legs, the ball doesn't go very far". Classic. Your Mom Makes a Dry Roast takes advantage of the forfeit.

Quit Yer Pitchin took on I Already Hit That on Field C. Highlights from this game include Ryan striking out and a volleyball bump pass to end the game. In the 5th inning I Already Hit That kicked the ball to Patrick who volleyed the ball to Katie who caught it for the last out. If field C looks a little more like the Grand Canyon next week, don't worry, that's just where Erik slid into third. Quit Yer Pitchin won 2-1.

The early game on field D was probably the matchup of the night. Vicious and Delicious and Suck My Kick were both poised to take advantage of any mistakes from the top two teams. These two defensive juggernauts did some serious battle but Brian Henriquez was somehow able to score the games lone run. Suck My Kick 1 Vicious and Delicious 0.

Don't Touch Our Balls destroyed Raging Balls. While our last game was filled with excellent defense, this one not so much. Don't Touch Our Balls broke Barry Bonds record for most home runs in a single season, in one game. The team in green now gives up 7.5 runs per game on average. Raging Balls were able to score 4 runs, impacting the standings and giving the Seminoles the leg up in the tiebreaker for first place. Oh yeah and Ty made an absolutely dreadful play on a ground ball. Don't Touch Our Balls won 14-4.

New Kicks On The Block took on the Ballkickers this week in a game in honor of breast cancer awareness. The Evil Empire, deciding that since they were playing the pink team, should allow the other team to win. Ballkickers, who had only scored 1 run all season, were able to get 4 home and won the game 4 to 1. There was some debate over whether New Kicks On The Block truly intended this game to be in honor of breast cancer awareness or if they just made up the excuse after they lost. To prove the doubters wrong, Mike was offering free breast exams at MacDintons. So the debate continues, did New Kicks On The Block lose because of breast cancer awareness or did they lose because Mike had 4 tallboy Icehouses in hobo bags before the game? According to Rachel, "Mike is more fun to play drunk than sober because he's not such an asshole".

The Seminoles and Anything But Blue Balls did battle this week. When I say did battle, I mean argued a lot. The Seminoles were accused of making up rules, like the catcher has to stay behind the kicker until the ball is kicked (actually that's rule 8.04). I know the Seminoles get a lot of heat for arguing the rules but the truth of the matter is, as a team, they probably know the rules better than anyone else and are sometimes unfortunately more than happy to argue that point. Anything But Blue Balls suffered another frustrating defeat and lost 6-3 agains the Seminoles.

Our final game of the night was Kick In A Box and Bull Gators. This game was a barnburner with runs being scored all over the place. In fact at one point during the game the Bull Gators defense was able to record a triple play but still ended up giving up a run on the play. Offense was the name of the game, except for when Jay fouled out. That highlight was certainly less than a key offensive moment. Bull Gators come out on top in this slug fest, 8-7

Week 6 PLayer Profile - The Balled and The Beautiful

This week we’re profiling Delarna of the Balled and the Beautiful, and it’s obvious which of those categories he falls into. D, as he’s also known (not to be confused with Sweet Dee from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” – though he has been known to shout “I’ll eat your babies!”), is no stranger to kickball, but this is his first season in WAKA and he’s enjoying it. His favorite part of kickball is watching the girls run. But, not one to play favorites, D also enjoys watching the boys run. And he’s seen plenty of that, as TBATB have had 21 runs scored against them.

D considers himself the A-Rod of his team, as he goes “wherever they need him.” Janitors do that, too, but I don’t think they compare themselves to Yankees players.

I asked his teammate Bob what D’s best quality is:

“His laugh.”

Hmm. Not his kicking? Fielding? Base running? Chugging? Flip cup?

“His laugh.”

Well, there you go. He hasn’t had much to laugh about, though, as TBATB have lost five games. D likes losing, though. His favorite way to lose is by forfeit, for not having enough girls.

I asked D what his biggest accomplishment of the season has been – “Scoring two runs in a game.” I'd say that's quite an accomplishment for an individual. Then again, I'd think it'd be quite an accomplishment for my team as a whole.

The maroon team has been making quite the showing at MacDinton’s after the games, so next time you find yourself across from him at the flip cup tables, ask him about The Great Kickball Debacle of 2008.

Week 6

Random Video of the Week

This week's video is a 2fer. Why? Because its funny. You may have already seen these but if you haven't, you are in for a treat. These two commercials were made by the same guys.

Urban Ninjas

So this week's theme is urban ninjas. I admit that although I think that ninjas are pretty cool and could totally kick a pirate's ass in a fight, I had no idea what an urban ninja was. Erik defines it as getting dressed up like your surroundings to blend in but I found this video on youtube with a slightly different definition. I have to say, I am impressed. If anyone can do this stuff on the fields your team automatically wins a million to nothing.

Who would win in a fight?

Week 6 Predictions

Week 6 is here. Holy crap! Can you believe it's already week 6? Here are my lousy predictions for week 6.

We've Got The Runs vs Tech USA - Where My Pitches At on field A
Don't expect this game to be a barn burner as neither team has been terribly successful in scoring, (yes Anne, I know you guys scored 2 last week). Here is the way this one will go down. It will be a tightly contested game until the 4th inning. At that point Anne will break out her reportedly delicious homemade chicken nuggets for her team who will become distracted and give up 3 easy runs. Prediction: Tech USA - Where My Pitches at will win 5-2

The Balled and the Beautiful vs Your Mom Makes a Dry Roast on field B
This won't be the most exciting game ever. Neither team is competing for the regular season championship and the way that Raging Balls and Ball Kickers are playing both teams should be safe from being in the bottom of the pack. This may be the least interesting kickball game of all time. Prediction: does anyone really care?

Quit Yer Pitchin vs I Already Hit That on field CThis game could be interesting considering the theme of the week is Urban Ninjas. What the F*** is an urban ninja? Its getting dressed up like your surroundings so you blend in. That could prove an advantage to I Already Hit That who always gets dress up. Why is that? Because Quit Yer pitchin will think they are kicking the ball into an empty field and all of a sudden that patch of grass will pop up and lo and behold, it's Erik making a fantastic catch. Prediction: I Already Hit That pulls of the upset and wins 3-2

Suck My Kick vs Vicious and Delicious on field D
This game could be the most interesting game of the week. These two teams are poised to to take advantage of any mistakes from the Seminoles or Don't Touch Our Balls. The survivor of this game may have a shot at the regular season championship. Prediction: Vicious and Delicious wins 1-0

New Kicks On The Block vs Ballkickers on field A

New Kicks On The Block likes to beat up on defenseless teams and just run up the score. They also like stealing candy from children, stealing food from homeless shelters and kicking old women in the shins. Prediction: New Kicks On The Block will embarrass themselves by running up the score 583-0

Raging Balls vs Don't Touch Our Balls on field B
Earlier in the season, Don't Touch Our Balls was caught arguing about physics in their game against the Seminoles. Meanwhile, the Raging Balls had a hard time counting to 3. That has changed as since Heidi came in to take the reigns as team captain. She has hired tutors for the Raging Balls and they are now studying advanced calculus. Prediction: Don't Touch Our Balls π Raging Balls φ

Seminoles vs Anything But Blue Balls on field C
Rumor has it that Anything But Blue Balls is a little pissed off about their loss last week. I fully expect them to show up with torches and pitchforks ready to topple over anyone who gets in their way this week. Unfortunately for them that group standing in their way is the Seminoles, with their ceremonial spears. Prediction: Seminoles win 3-0

Kick In A Box vs Bull Gators on field D
Kick In A Box wants to prove their one win this season wasn't a fluke. Unfortunately that one win came at the expense of Raging Balls so it wasn't so much a fluke as it was more of an inevitability. This week Kick In A Box might actually get their fluke. Prediction: Kick In A Box wins 2-0

WAKA Kickball on NBC Sports

Here is a great article about WAKA Kickball on NBC Sports. Be sure to check it out.

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/33071922/ns/sports-other_sports//

Your Turn To Grade

Earlier I made grades for each team. Now it's your turn to grade the season. I've given you 3 areas to comment on. You can grade your level of fun on the fields playing kickball, your level of fun at the sponsor bar, MacDintons, and your fun reading the blog.

How would you grade playing kickball?

How would you grade the fun at MacDintons?

How would you grade the blog?

Theme for Week 6

The theme for week 6 is Urban Ninja. What does that mean? Well I didn't know myself so I had Erik give me a definition:

"The definition of Urban Ninja. Dress up to blend in with you environment whether it be a set of bleachers, a cone, trash can, grass, whatever."

I am sure we will see Vicious and Delicious and I Already Hit That out there dressed as whatever.

For week 5, how could we not give it to I Already Hit That for their sports attire theme. I mean really they had a guy dressed in a wrestling singlet. They guys gotta get something for that, and it's not dignity.

Crystal Pitcher

So you all know now that the regular season champions and the Tournament champion get trophies (and an invitation to play in Vegas along with the 2nd place tournament team for the 2010 Founders Cup). What some of you new players may not know is that there is another award to be had. Its probably the most prestigious award of all, the Crystal Pitcher.

The Crystal Pitcher is awarded each season to the team that is the most fun, shows the best sporstmanship and the most team spirit. In the past 2 seasons I Already Hit That has claimed the prize. Do they have what it takes to pull off the trifecta or is it time for some new blood?

The Crystal Pitcher is voted on by the players and the ballot takes place at the End of Season Tournament on November 7th. If you haven't done so already, start taking a look around and taking note of who the fun teams are to determine who is the most deserving of this season's Crystal Pitcher Award.

---

Which would your rather have your team win?

Midseason Report Card

Now that the first half of the season is over with, we can take a look at where each team is and give them grades. I will evaluate the team's overall grade as well as in 3 categories, offense, defense and fun. Of course fun is the most important. Some say that kickball is a sport that is played at the highest level in the 5th grade so all that competitive stuff doesn't mean much. We are a social organization so this should be fun right? That other stuff is really meaningless. So lets go in alphabetical order, shall we?

Anything But Blue Balls
Overall: B
Offense: C
Defense: B
Fun: B+
After half the season Anything But Blue Balls is right in the middle of the division for Runs Against and Runs For. ABBB may be the most inconsistent team in Breaker. They can come out and shut down the other team or get demolished. Win or lose, this is probably the most relaxed group out there and they are fun to hang out with.

Ball Kickers
Overall: Incomplete
Offense: F
Defense: F
Fun: Incomplete
On average they give up more than 6 runs per game and score... well they have only scored 1 run total so far this season. That's obviously a recipe for disaster so you would hope that they are at least fun, right? Well we just don't know. They seem like they would be a fun bunch and gave plenty of material to Shaina for her interview with them this past week but has anyone seen a pink t-shirt at MacDinton's this season? Seems like they are pretty MIA at the sponsor bar.

Bull Gators
Overall: B
Offense: C
Defense: A
Fun: B-
Bull Gators are in the top 5 teams in the division for defense and haven't given up more than 3 runs in any game this season. If they were half as good on offense they could be on the top of the table. They had one good offensive explosion when they scored 8 runs but other than that scoring has been relatively scarce. On the fun scale they seem like a cool enough bunch, even if I don't really know anyone on the team.

Don't Touch Our Balls
Overall: A
Offense: A
Defense: A+
Fun: B+
On average, Don't Touch Our Balls gives up less than a run per game. In fact they have only allowed opponents to score in 2 of their 5 games so far. Couple that with an offense that scores 5 runs per game on average, you've got a winning combination for sure. They can always be seen at MacDinton's and their unofficial spokeswoman, Scarlet, has a propensity for making some ridiculous quotes.

I Already Hit That
Overall: B
Offense: D
Defense: B-
Fun: A+
Second worse offense in the division but their defense isn't half bad. All of that is irrelevant though because this team is all about having fun. Winners of the Crystal Pitcher Award over the last 2 seasons, they love to dress up for theme games, sing karaoke and socialize at MacDintons. There is nothing better than that.

Kick In A Box
Overall: B
Offense: C+
Defense: C-
Fun: B+
Kick In A Box is a team that is a lot better than what their record shows. They haven't really done anything exceptional on the kickball field yet, unless you count beating Raging Balls exceptional but most people wouldn't. This team is mostly made up of my old teammates so I've to to love them. They always make a respectable showing at MacDintons.

New Kicks On The Block
Overall: B
Offense: B-
Defense: A-
Fun: C
If it wasn't for just a couple of mistakes here or there, the Evil Empire could be the best team in the division. They have a strong defense and their offense is solid. I had to give them a C on fun because even though they are actually fun, they are definitely gaining a reputation as the Evil Empire. It could have to do with their black t-shirts, or it could have something to do with my blog posts. Either way you can't give the Evil Empire anything higher than a C for fun.

Quit Yer Pitchin
Overall: A
Offense: A+
Defense: B
Fun: B
Quit Yer Pitchin has the best offense in the division and can pretty much score at will. Believe me, I know, they scored 7 runs in the first inning against my team this week. They are one of the teams that are just waiting for the Seminoles and Don't Touch Our Balls to falter so they have a chance at rising in the standings. They are a fun team and routinely have a good showing at MacDintons but sometimes they can get a little heated on the field.

Raging Balls
Overall: A++
Offense: C-
Defense: F-
Fun: A+++
Raging Balls is my team and we haven't won on the kickball field yet. Statistically speaking we have the worst defense in the division but at least we aren't last in offense. We do have a lot of fun and we kick ass at flip cup and always have a strong showing at MacDintons.

Seminoles
Overall: A
Offense: A
Defense: A+
Fun: B
The Seminoles are in a heated tie for first place and there is good reason for that. They are tied with the divisions best defense and are only second in overall offense. They also know the rules better than any other team, evidenced by their leather bound laminated rule book. Veterans may know the Seminoles from past seasons as the villians of the division but they are a new Seminole team and you can't argue with the fact that they have plenty of team spirit.

Suck My Kick
Overall:B+
Offense:A-
Defense: B
Fun: B
Suck My Kick is sitting on the second echelon of the division. They started off the season as the epitome of average but have since improved their play and now have a potent combination of offense and defense. Does anyone have anything bad to say about this team's demeanor? No, they are just a chill bunch.

Tech USA - Where My Pitches At
Overall: B+
Offense: C
Defense: A
Fun: B-
A new team to the division, Tech USA - Where My Pitches At has already discovered how to play excellent defense. It is only a matter of time before they start figuring out how to put more points on the board. We could probably stand to see more of them at MacDintons.

The Balled and the Beautiful
Overall: B-
Offense: C-
Defense: C
Fun: B
This team just won their first game of the season this past week. By looking at the season stats, its amazing that they hadn't won before. They aren't going to overpower their opponent but they are just good enough to pull of a few wins in the season.

Vicious and Delicious
Overall: A
Offense: B
Defense: A+
Fun: A
Vicious and Delicious is tied with the best defense in the division, led by some incredibly skilled female players. If they could get a little bit more of a spark on offense they would really be rolling. In fact they have only one blemish to their record so far, a 2-0 loss to New Kicks On The Block. If nothing else, Vicious and Delicious loves to get dressed up for theme games for some fun times.

We've Got The Runs
Overall: B
Offense: C-
Defense: D
Fun: A
They are maybe best known for their obligatory 1 run each week (even though they scored 2 this week) but at least they score. They may not be the best kickball team but they certainly do have fun and I have been told that the chicken nuggets that they make are legendary.

Your Mom Makes a Dry Roast
Overall: B
Offense: C
Defense: B
Fun: A-
They are decent enough on offense and decent enough on defense. None of that matters though. Their team name is Your Mom Makes a Dry Roast and that's pretty cool. That automatically gives them extra fun points.

Week 5 Player Profile - Ball Kickers!

This week’s Player Profile introduces us to Nick from the Ball Kickers, or as the rest of the league refers to them: That Pink Team. How did Nick feel when he found out what the team’s color would be?

“Distraught.”

That sentiment surely applies to their season thus far, as the Ball Kickers are… 0 and 3? 0 and 4? When a debate surfaced regarding their record, another Ball Kicker chimed in, “Whatever game this is, we’re 0 and that.”

This is Nick’s first season playing WAKA (not that the record reflects that). He saw some folks at MacDinton’s on Thursday nights and thought it sounded interesting. Deciding that the Thursday night league was lame (I’m editorializing here), Nick and his friends joined the awesome Breaker division. The majority of the Ball Kickers work with Nick at a mortgage contracting service company “kicking people out of their homes.” Does Nick find it at all ironic that he evicts people from their homes professionally, but is unable to get anyone out at home on the kickball field? Yes, yes he does. And Nick hates irony.

Nick would like everyone to know his astrological sign is Taurus. Nick’s teammate Frank would like everyone to know Nick’s a Cancer… to the team. (Why am I here? This thing writes itself.)

Nick touted the Pink Team’s flip cup skills, but we have yet to see them show up en masse at MacDinton’s tables. Ball Kickers – the gauntlet has been thrown. See you next week!

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