Mailbag

ouch77: I heard there where a couple of injuries in the last couple of weeks. Do people really injur themselves in kickball?

Yes! In any physical activity there is always a risk for injury. Most injuries that occur in kickball though can probably be easily avoided with proper stretching. People think, "oh well its just kickball" and don't stretch and that is a real easy way to pull muscles. The other way that people tend to get hurt is collisions. Sometimes that can't be avoided but if you aren't making an active play on a ball, get the hell out of the way of the baserunners and don't stand on the bases. Last but not least, if you never learned how to slide or dive correctly in sports, it's probably best if you don't try to learn on the fly.

timmy48: Last week you talked about the best team the league has ever seen, what about the worst?

Excellent question. There have been a few teams over the years that have struggled on the field (most of them where a lot of fun though) but the one that probably really takes the cake is Raging Balls. Raging Balls was my team in the Fall of 2009. We were bad, really bad. We couldn't catch, we couldn't kick, we couldn't run the bases very well (with the exception of yours truly of course). We didn't win a single game and in most games we lost in stunning fashion by monumental scores. We pretty much capped it off in the playoffs when in the first round we gave up 10 runs in just the first inning. We knew very early that we would be firing up that grill and enjoying burgers and dogs. If you notice pictures of that team you might find some familiar faces. After that debacle of a season the team broke up and was retooled into what is now 99 Problems. So if your team is having a rough season this year, remember that you can always improve in future seasons.

kickballstu: Your blog sucks. What does it take you to write it? 2 minutes? I could do way better.

Um... thanks Stu. Actually people ask me how long it takes to write the blog a lot. Truth be told, it usually takes me about 4 hours each week to come up with all of the content and write it for your enjoyment (which is why you don't usually see much posted on Wednesday morning). Actually, if you think you can contribute to the blog you can. Just let me know and I can give you publishing rights. It would be great to have someone who can do player profiles that I just don't have the time to do. There are a couple of rules though. First, you have to remember that this is an official WAKA Blog so the content should be posted with the idea that its purpose is to help promote WAKA and the fun we have while playing and socializing. Second, we don't use people's full names. We always use first names or nicknames. We don't want your drunken exploits on the flip cup table to be too googleable just in case you are a teacher or something like that. Third, be respectful. Its always good to poke a little fun here or there as long as its all in good taste. Kickball is fun and we want the blog to be too. So if you want to post content for the blog, just send me an email at tyrus at kickball.com.