Its On Like Donkey Kong

Champions for the FL Breaker League will be determined tonight after the playoff tournament was rain shortened on Saturday.

We were having a fantastic tournament with plenty of twists and turns until a monsoon decided to hit. The skies were looking angrier and angrier and the wind was picking up. Just as the semi-final games were getting started we saw some lightning and a gust of wind came that dropped the temperature about 20 degrees. It was amazing to see everyone break down their tents and vacate the field as quickly as they did. Well, except for Suck My Kick who decided to take the opportunity to play duck-duck-goose in the rain.

So tonight we will reconvene at the PAL fields for the final 4 matchup. Seminoles vs Suck My Kick and Barbara Ballters vs Booze on First.

Do you miss Donkey Kong? Wish you could play it again? Check this out.

Who will win the FL Breaker Spring 2011 Championship?

Breaker Week 3 Recap

What a beautiful night for kickball this week. The weather was great and there were quite a few good matchups.

Definition:
bloggable   
[blawg-uh-buhl]
–adjective
something notable that happens in a kickball game that might be of interest to readers of the blog.
Used in a sentence:
Ty came up and asked me if there was anything bloggable that happened in our game tonight.

We started things off with Masterbatters vs Barbara Ballters. The poor Masterbatters have had a rough start to the season, starting things out by facing to of the toughest teams in the league, and lost their first two games by a combined score of 19-1. They keep telling themselves that things will get better but only time will tell. Meanwhile, Barbara Ballters is one of the new teams that is finding their way in the league and have shown that they aren't exactly slouches on the kickball field. This game started out pretty close with a 1-1 tie until Barbara Ballters was able to get a bases loaded triple to open the game up. When asked about their performance, the always humble Barbara Ballters said, "We were awesome". Barbara Ballters won this one 6-2.

Field 2 stated off with Suck My Kick squared off against last year's champions, Balls and Dolls. Suck My Kick has quickly established themselves as one of the most fun new teams in the league. They blame their poor week 2 bar showing on the fact that they were still recovering from their mandatory team Spring Break weekend. Suck My Kick decided to motivate their team early with coordinating dance moves to the Back Street Boys. It seemed to work as they took an early 3-0 lead but that's when Balls and Doll's catcher, Matty B, sprang to action. Matty loves to talk... and talk... and talk behind the plate... and everywhere else. His plan to get into Suck My Kick's heads must have worked because the tables turned quickly and Balls and Dolls scored 4 unanswered runs. Suck My Kick's beautiful ladies decided to counter with some attempts at comedy that were about as successful as the Situation on the Roast of Donald Trump. Balls and Dolls took this one 4-3.



Our Field 1 late game was an epic matchup between the Seminoles and Booze on First. That chill up your spine, feeling of looming impending doom and concern that the gates of hell are opening up would be the Seminoles coming. For whatever reason, they always seem to get whatever team they are playing to get really fired up and agitated. Anytime the Seminoles play there is always the thought that maybe it would have been a good idea to have some riot police on stand-by. This game was no different. Already up 7-4, Seminole slugger, Salty, kicked a ball over everything. He rounded third to try to score a home run and dove into home plate, only to be thrown out with a quick throw by the catcher just inches from home plate. Unfortunately two unfortunate things happened. First the catcher grabbed the ball and spiked it a second time into Salty for good measure, then it turned out Salty hurt his shoulder on the play. Homeplate ref, Jon, took good control of the situation and gave a warning against unsportmanlike conduct before anything erupted. Seminoles won this one 7-5.

On a related side note. Everyone should remember that WAKA Kickball is a fun social activity and the reason WAKA exists is to create a comfortable atmosphere where people can meet new people and make more friends. Unsportsmanlike conduct should not be tolerated. Respect your opponents and your refs as you would a good group of friends.

OK Back to the fun, Our next matchup was between D's Nutz and Asstastic Balls. I was told by Rob on Asstastic Balls that this was a boring game and gave me nothing bloggable. Luckily D's Nutz could remember something interesting. With no outs and runners on first and second, the D's Nutz kickers was able to kick a deep ball. The runner from second made it to third and decided to plant herself there, The runner from first rounded second and continued to 3rd, only to overrun the base and pass her already stationary teammate. Then the kicker, thinking he was going to be able to score a home run also ran past the stationary D's Nutter still standing on third. According to the WAKA Rulebook, rule 10.08: "Running past another runner is not allowed. The passing runner is out". Asstastic balls was also able to get that lead baserunner out too so what should have been a 3 run home run turned into a triple play with no runs scored. D's Nutz secret weapon computer program finally seemed to work out this week, or maybe it was just that they played Asstastic Balls. D's Nutz won 6-0.

Last but not least was 99 Problems and Jagerballs. This game started out out tight with no scoring by either team in the first couple of innings, though 99 Problems did their best to take advantage of what they viewed as a weak spot in the Jagerballs defensive alignment. In a strange twist of fate, as soon as Jagerballs adjusted to cover the weakness 99 Problems exploded on offense and put up about an 8 spot just in one inning. This game got pretty out of hand at that point and 99 Problems players started jokingly heckling each other. Though this ended in a blowout, vodka watermellon was enjoyed by all. 99 Problems won 12-2.

What might have happened if Jon didn't keep the Seminoles vs Booze on First game under control

Week 6 Recap

Week 6 wasn't quite as spooky as one might expect, being that it was the last week of games before Halloween but there was a bit of strange happenings going on. Only one team did the same thing this week as they did last week. Lets dive a little deeper.

Our first game on field 1 had Baller I Hardly Know Her locking horns with the Seminoles. Locking Horns is a rather arbitrary term as this one was really no contest. I asked the purple people eaters to comment on their loss after the game and their reply was, "We Sucked!". Josh said, "I didn't have anything bad to say, they beat us handily". Things are looking up for the Seminoles. They were able to crush an opponent with the opponent not having anything bad to say. That's what I call progress. Seminoles put a shellacking the purple team, 11-0.

Field 2 had Asstastic Balls taking on Multiple Scorgasm. Highly billed games rarely live up to the hype and this game between two of the best teams in the division seemed to live up to that pattern. Asstastic Balls must have forgotten that there was even a game this week because they were scrambling to get enough players there by the start of the game. I was told by one member of the pink team that this was due to complications with INS. Usually, Asstastic Balls has one good inning in the first and that was no different here as the Beast had a huge 2 run home run in the early frame. The scoring didn't stop there though as Asstastic Balls were able to put up lots of crooked numbers on the board. The Beast led the way the whole time on offense and defense. He made a great mutant like jump over a throw at home plate to score and at one point "don't kick it to the beast" was overheard on the Multiple Scorgasm sideline. Asstastic Balls won 9-4.

Balls and Dolls and Quit Yer Pitchin took to field 3 at 7pm for one of the best matchups this week. Gordon from Balls and Dolls got things rocking early when he kicked a 3 run home run but Jess wasn't paying much attention because she had stopped at second base and almost got run over before Gordon was able to yell at her enough that she started running. Good thing he didn't have to touch her to get her going but more on that later. Balls and Dolls took a 1 run lead into the bottom of the 5th until Adam from Quit Yer Pitchin (and apparently the Village People) scored the tying run. The 6th inning was filled with action. With runners on 1st and second and 2 outs, little devil Dorothy made a valiant diving effort to get to first safely but QYP's defense held strong. In the bottom half of the inning Courtney made her signature trip over first base and tumble move but to no avail. This one was finished at 7:48 so they had time for an extra inning but no excitement happened there. Tie 4-4.

It was appropriate that on Halloween theme night 99 Problems (orange) and Booze on First (black) faced off against each other. Let me tell you something about this Dexter led Booze on First team; they are the only team that hasn't won a game yet and are last in the standings but their defense is solid. Obviously, that means that their offense is a bit lacking. Note to QYP and Baller I Hardly Know Her; don't expect to score a lot of runs in your remaining game against the black team. This game took a 1-1 tie into an extra inning. 99 Problems scored in the top half but Booze on first mounted their own rally in the bottom half. On an overthrow play at home plate Booze on First had appeared to scored 2 runs to win the game, however the first base ref ruled that the second run that scored should have ended up at 3rd base due to the overthow because at the time the ball went out of play she had not yet crossed 2nd base. 99 Problems had their asses saved there by the Booze on First runner not hustling and a heads up referee. This one ended in a 2-2 tie.

Last but certainly not least was Masterbatters vs We've Got The Runs. I'm told there wasn't a lot of excitement in this game. We've Got The Runs once again had no runs. There was a green fairy in right field, making people hallucinate and a pink fairy prevented anyone from having breast cancer on the field. MacGruber was also on hand to make sure that no one exploded until the very end. I don't know what any of that really has to do with anything. Masterbatters won 2-0.

Seminole Lovin'

So there is this one team that everyone loves to hate. They've been around for a long time and they have won a lot. They are certainly one of the more competitive teams in the division which may fuel the hatred directed towards them but I tend to see a lot of the anger comes from some of the girls in the division directed towards the "skinny bitches" on the gold team. Trying to keep drama aside, I decided that this week the Seminoles deserved a little lovin'.

By a show of hands, how many out there associate the Seminoles with "sliding into bitches and wrecking them until the other team is fucking down to one girl"? The Seminoles certainly like to win and are fierce competitors on the field of play. Historically they have not done a good job of socializing with the other teams. Last season we even created an award named the Seminole Award that went to the least liked team in the season. They were so disliked that they didn't even earn their own award. That honor was bestowed on the now defunct Suck My Kick.

It seems like a bit has changed this season. We are starting to see more of them at the bar and while they haven't displayed much interest in participating in themes yet, they have been socializing with other teams more.

I sat down with a couple of Seminoles at MacDinton's this week to see what I could learn about them and you might actually be impressed. First of all, guys you might like this, they have a lot of single ladies on the team. For the girls out there, there is at least one single guy (there are probably more) and he's from Jersey. So ladies, if you are looking for a guido gorilla juice head to smoosh you may be in luck, or not. Its a Jersey thing.

One impressive tidbit about the Seminole ladies is that they are actually quite involved in charity. Quite a few of them are members of the Junior League and spend a lot of time, effort and money to help other people. Leslie, who is single and looking, likes to donate time each month to read to less fortunate children. Her love for children doesn't just stop there. She also works to connect children in foster care with permanent homes and was even able to help her sister give a permanent home to a child. I an also told that Lindsay, who is also single*, is probably the most involved person you can ever meet and she is constantly donating her time to the Junior League.

They want the division to know that the Seminoles have a good heart and do good for kids. In fact, next week some of the Seminole ladies will be out at the fields taking donations for the Junior League and selling tickets for their Holiday Gift Market. Proceeds will help support the League’s volunteer training efforts, leadership development programs, and community projects in the areas of foster care, literacy and education, and basic needs for disadvantaged children. I am told that one of the beneficiaries of fundraising will be Mary Lee's House which helps children who are victims of abuse and neglect.

So before you go hating on the Seminoles any more, keep in mind the good that they do in the community and maybe say hi to them at the bar. Next week, lets show a little love to the Seminoles. Guys, you might even score some extra points with the single ladies if you show your support for the kids.

What are your thoughts on the Seminoles?

* single may mean not currently engaged or married. This blog and its affiliates assume no responsibility or liability for any injuries that may incur, including but not limited to drinks in the face, slaps in the face or knees to the groin, as a result of any sexual advances you make.

Dry Fit

So in the WAKA Rule book is rule 2.01

2.01 While participating in WAKA kickball, players must properly wear and fully display the official WAKA athletic
clothing designated for their use. Teams with players who fail to abide by this rule forfeit that game.

So that means, if you have received your t-shirt, you have to wear it to play. But guess what, it doesn't have to exactly be the one you got at the beginning of the season. Don't feel like doing laundry? You are in luck, you can purchase additional t-shirts online in the WAKA store on www.kickball.com.

In the WAKA store you can order the cotton t-shirts like we are given at the beginning of the season (except it just says play kickball on the back) or you can be really cool and order the new dry fit t-shirts. These shirts are pretty slick and great in Florida. In just a few weeks we will be having our playoffs that will all be played in one long day. The dry fit t-shirts definitely make a difference so be sure to order one in time for the tournament.

What t-shirt will you wear at the playoffs?

Week 6 Theme - Halloween

We've got one more week of play before Halloween so next week the theme will be just that. We should see plenty of ghosts and goblins and random sexiness. Teenage angst ridden vampires are not allowed but bayou vampires are.

Week 5 (but really week 6) Recap

Yesterday morning I woke up in Boston and it was 38 degrees. I was quite excited to hop on a plane and head back to Tampa for some exciting FL Breaker Division kickball action. Some teams looked a bit rusty after taking last week off. We even had a special guest this week. Some of you may have been asking, who was that guy with the cool WAKA kickball polo at the fields? Well that was MLoop. He is the manager for WAKA Kickball in Florida. He had heard that FL Breaker was the coolest bunch of people that WAKA had and he wanted to see it for himself. I think he was pretty impressed with what he saw.

Field 1, Game 1. This field and time slot for whatever reason has become 99 Problems home field and they took it once again in their matchup against Multiple Scorgasm. Both of these teams have championship potential and we may very well see a rematch in the playoffs. Multiple Scorgasm had the opening salvo with a run in the top of the first, countered by 2 runs by 99 Problems in the bottom half. The team in orange seemed to have 99 problems on defense in the top half of the second as they gave up a 5 spot. 99 Problems battled back hard thanks in part to some aggressive baserunning by Kacie aka Yellow Shoe but Ashley showed off her stunning defensive skills. Any ball up the middle was quickly gobbled up by Ashley, throwing a big "boo ya bitches" exclamation point 99 Problems way. The same defensive prowess could not be said of MS left fielder Kyle. In the bottom of the 6th "Miss Nevada" had 2 balls right in her face but spit them right to the ground. The come back just wasn't enough to overcome earlier defeceit. Multiple Scorgasm won 6-5.

Field 2 saw Booze on First take on the Seminoles. On paper, this should have been a blowout. The Seminoles came in with 3 wins 0 losses and a tie on the season, while Booze on First had 0 wins, 3 losses and a tie. Should be a no brainer, right? Wrong! This game ended in a tie and the Seminoles were not pleased but more on them later. Tie Game 1-1.

Asstastic Balls and Balls N Dolls matched up on field 3. Statistically speaking these 2 teams were pretty evenly matched. You have to consider though that Asstastic balls usually only has one really good inning, usually the first. Balls N Dolls were pretty motivated, considering that they were celebrating teammate Mike's birthday. Mattie B (the little Asian) may have had the play of the day. He was running the bases and charging towards third and decided to dive into third from about 10 feet away and somehow had enough momentum to make it to the base. Unfortunately, he was wearing a belt and all the sliding may have caused some damage. Rumor has it that there might have been some swelling later on that night which may or may not be related. Katie aka "Cliff Lee" looked pretty dominant on the mound. After the game was over, Balls N Dolls was pretty disappointed that their team cheer sucked compared to Asstastic Balls so Katie, Megan and Jessica channeled their inner cheerleaders and put Jess into a half (but no one could remember what it was a half of). Jess almost fell but Katie was able to save her. Balls N Dolls won 4-1.

The game between Masterbatters and Baller I Hardly Know Her had a guest ref. MLoop the Florida WAKA Manager took home plate ref. I didn't get a chance to see much of this game but I'm told that Josh pretty much sucked and couldn't do anything right, sorry Josh. After the game, Jessica from Masterbatters refused to give me a quote, I can't imagine why. Luckily another Masterbatter had some input to the game. "I like purple." Um... yeah, that's for that brilliant input. This game ended in a 3-3 tie.

Last but not least was We've Got The Runs vs Quit Yer Pitching. I don't know what to say about Quit Yer Pitchin this season. QYP has always sort of been a second tier team and they consistently go deep into the playoff but they tend to be terribly inconsistent in the regular season. We've Got the Runs tends to be consistently bad, especially in the getting runs department. Not this week. Heard from the light blue sidelines, "We've got the runs, someone call a doctor" Gross!. We've Got the Runs won 2-1.

Tampa Takes Vegas

Over the weekend WAKA hosted its annual Founders Cup in Las Vegas to crown the worlds best kickball team. Panik Attack from the VA Recess division in Norfolk, VA defeated The Other Shot Callers from the DC Capital Division in Washington, DC. The final game was an intense one with both teams tied at 2 after regulation. In tournaments we go into "Kansas City Rules". What that means is that you can only take the field with 4 guys and 4 girls in the field and a baserunner starts the inning on second base. You can check out the division tournament guidelines for a full description but be warned that its not actually called Kansas City rules in the guidelines.

Panik Attack was able to score 4 runs with Kansas City Rules. The Other Shot Callers were certainly not out of it since there can be a lot of scoring in KC rules but they were called out in a huge play that put a significant wrench in their rally plans. Their baserunner was running towards third and didn't realize how close the play was. He looked like he was going to turn 3rd to start on his way home but his base coach physically held him up to keep him on the base. That's a violation of rule 6.02.

6.02 Base coaches may not physically assist runners while the ball is in play

and 14.02h

14.02 An out is: h. a runner physically assisted by a team member during play.

It was a pretty heated moment but in the end the ref made a tough but correct call, killing the Other Shot Callers rally. Its always good to know the rules. The final score had Panik Attack on top 6-2 and they took home the $10,000 prize.

All in all the teams that played in Founders Cup were pretty intense. Most of the teams had curfews for their players and rather than drink or gamble on Friday in Vegas, they chose to do drills and wind sprints at the fields.

Then there were the fun games, The Kickball Games. The Alcoballics from the Thursday night Bayshore division represented themselves well in that tournament. They got all dressed up in a bizarre Miss America pageant and played the whole day in their costumes. Not only did they win all 4 of their games played but they won the award for best team performance ($1000 prize) and probably could have taken more prizes (definitely best costumes) but they were only allowed to win one. You might recognize "Miss Nevada" as your own Kyle from Multiple Scorgasm. If you tip him nicely next week he might invite you into the champagne room. "Miss New Jersey" apparently got checked out from a few guys before realizing that he was a dude. To prove his masculinity he got married to his girlfriend the next day.

The Alcoballics did a great job of representing Tampa at the Kickball games and hopefully next year we can see more teams go and party it up in Sin City. Be sure to check out the winning performance below. NSFW

Rule Time

So the Billy Madison clip brought up a couple of interesting things. Though Billy certainly doesn't necessarily follow the rules there is a nice little collision at first base that bring up a couple of rules that are worth mentioning.

Billy wasn't using a safety base in his game like we do but there is good reason why we use it. I remember when we didn't have it and we had a few injuries at first with bodies colliding.

The rule states:

1.06 - Optional Extra Base – The option of using this field setup must be made by the division board of directors
each season via formal vote and approval at a scheduled meeting prior to the third week of games played. Once
use is approved, this extra base must be used for all games of that division season and division tournament
games. If the extra base is used:
a. The Extra Base is only available for runners traveling from home plate (see Rule 10.06);
b. Fielders trying to make an out on first base must touch the base in fair territory (the First Base). Runners
hindered by a fielder touching the base in foul territory (the Extra Base), will be safe;
c. When a play is attempted at first base, a runner who touches the First Base prior to being called safe at the
Extra Base shall be called out, except under the exception in Rules 1.06f and 1.06g;
d. Once a runner has reached first base safely the runner must start the next play on the First Base. Any runner
standing on or touching the Extra Base at the beginning of the next play will be out;
e. No additional base may be used at any other base;
f. The runner is permitted to use the First Base if avoiding collision with a fielder in foul territory. In this event, the
fielder in foul territory is permitted to tag the Extra Base (see Rule 14.02o);
g. The runner may use First Base if attempting to advance to Second Base, or if there is no fielder on First Base.
A runner (see Rule 1.06a) using or touching First Base in any other circumstance is out.

So basically speaking, when you are the kicker running down to first base, unless you are trying to turn towards second, you should always hit the safety base (in foul territory). By rule, if you hit the first base (in fair territory) you are supposed to be out. And no ladies, you do not have to touch both bases. I have seen some interesting footwork by people slowing down so they can hopscotch at the last moment and tag both bases.

Here is another one.

10.02 Obstruction. Fielders must stay out of the baseline. Fielders trying to make an out on base may have their
foot on base, but must lean out of the baseline. Runners hindered by any fielder within the baseline, not making
an active play for the ball, shall be safe at the base to which they were running. Runners may choose to advance
beyond this base while the ball is still in play.

If you are a fielder and you are not actively making a play on the ball, get out of the way of the runner. If you would rather stand on the base, its a good way to get yourself run over. Also, unlike in baseball, you may not intentionally block home plate from runners scoring, even if you are making a play on the ball.

These rules are in place for safety and we don't want to see anyone get hurt. You can view all of the WAKA rules by going to the rulebook online at www.kickball.com/rules and checking out the Rules FAQ.

Kickball in the Media

Kickball is kind of a big deal. You may have noticed. Well other people have noticed as well. I will soon be on a plane, heading to Las Vegas where about 80 of the best and most fun teams will be converging for the Founders Cup and Kickball Games. But kickball is not just cool to us and other grownups who lust for a return to our grade school glory days.

Last year's Founders Cup saw a little coverage on ESPN.com and had a nice little video piece along with an article.




A couple of years ago Bill Clinton autographed a WAKA Kickball to help raise some money for charity. Can you blame the ex-Prez for being a fan? There are always lots of good looking women at a WAKA game.


It has also made a little bit of an impression on Hollywood. Earlier this season I shared with you an excellent episode of The Boondocks which I am sure you all took the time to watch the full episode.

Kickball has also showed up in a couple of other places in Hollywood. The Jonas brothers did a charity kickball game last year but we won't get into that and please don't hold that against the sport.

Perhaps because the movie was ahead of its time but there is a deleted kickball scene from the movie Billy Madison. The movie came out before WAKA ever came around so maybe that was part of the reason why the scene was deleted. The world just wasn't ready for it.

Billy Madison Kickball Game
- Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

Kickball was also referenced in the movie Mr Woodcock. I couldn't find a clip of it in English but I did find a clip dubbed in Spanish which kinda makes it a bit funnier. Kickball is one of the few words I can actually pick out in the clip.


For those of you who have as broad of a knowledge of Spanish as I do (none), here is the partial transcript in English:

"According to my syllabus we should be well into wrestling by now. But because of your lack of focus we've yet to get past the fundamentals of kickball. Kreamer, first rule of Bunting.

Um, do--don't--

There is no Bunting in kickball, Kreamer. Set of ten. Henderson, is there a reason why your shoe is untied?

- Um--

- You see on the kickball field, a screw-up like that can put you in a wheelchair. You'll end up writing your name with a pencil taped to your head the rest of your life. Set of ten. Until you learn the basics of any sport you cannot participate in it let alone excel in it."

So, what did we learn class? There is no bunting in kickball and always make sure your shoes are tied.

There are even be a few celebrity WAKA players in our Hollywood divisions but if I told you who they were, I would have to kill you.

So be sure to tell all of your friends how much fun WAKA Kickball is and how much of a big deal you are for being a part of such a big deal. They might get jealous and sign up next season too.

Pirate theme Recap

I have to say, Week 4's theme was a lot of fun. We saw a lot of people out in those pirate costumes and we even learned something very valuable (no not just that the Pirate's favorite letter is Arrrrrrrr). So Caitlin from Booze on First was telling me that if you go into your account settings on Facebook there are a few options for changing your language. There are a few English options, including English (US), English (UK), English (upside down) which is incredibly annoying and even English (Pirate) which is sort of hidden halfway down the list.

That's right, if you want to get ready for Gasparilla way early this year you can just go into facebook and change your default language to Pirate. It puts Cap'n in front of all of your friends' names and asked "What be troublin' ye?" instead of "What's on your mind?".

Good luck getting back to the right place in setting to set it back. Here is a hint: Yarr Vessel > Ye Ships Rigging > Tongue. So not only is Caitlin quite lovely but she's also quite talented as well. She does speak fluent Pirate afterall.

Here are some fun pics from this week's Pirate Theme: