WINTER 2011 - WEEK 9

Playoff Schedule

It's that time of year again, where the games actually matter. A new season starts as every team in the league has a chance to win it all or go home, disappointed and unfulfilled. As The Lakers proved, it doesn't matter if you won championships in the past or had a great regular season- it's one game at a time and anything can happen. Good luck to all of the teams.

Final Regular Season Standings

Game Recaps

Balls Deep vs. Hot Box

When the season schedule was released, no one would have expected tonight’s game to be a regular season statement game.  As the season progressed and the wins piled up for both teams, the weight of this match up grew to heights not imaginable for a simple kickball game. A dream match up of the two top teams in the league, the reigning champs Hot Box and the undefeated newcomers Balls Deep. A rivalry intensified by a tie in the Das Boot challenge and through the personal relationships the opposing players have with one another- from high school friends, to co-workers to siblings. As 9:00 approaches, the tension builds up as Hot Box dawns their usual black warm ups to remind the league who is still the reigning champ and taking the role of villains. Balls Deep in their baby blue shirts warm up with a quiet focus and mentally prepare for the heavy weight match up. A statement for the playoffs needs to be made tonight, and both sides know it. Striking first, Hot Box scores a run quickly and the momentum swings in their direction. Balls Deep, never falling behind all season, isn’t fazed and continue to fight on, hoping to find the breaking point in their opponents. Out after out ends each inning as defense becomes the dominating theme. Dirt, sweat and adrenaline fill the air. Frustration builds as each side looks for a weakness in the other that may or may not exist. No holding back by either side. A second run by Hot Box increases their lead, but Balls Deep is relentless and soon scores their first run. Both dugouts cheer while those on the field are quiet with determination, knowing that this game isn’t over until the final out is called. Balls are bunted and balls are kicked deep, but no success for either side. Balls Deep needs to make a move as another Hot Box run is scored. Miscommunication on the bases leads to missed opportunities. In any game that has this much meaning outside of a championship, any small error is costly. In the end, the errors would lead to the first loss of the season for Balls Deep as they could not overcome the 3-1 deficit. Both teams gain a new respect for one another, and as the 1 and 2 seeds heading into the playoffs, the next time they would meet is the championship game. If the cards fall into place, this will happen, but in the playoffs, a new season begins and anything can happen.

Editor's Note: Once again I didn't receive any pictures or recaps from teams, so this week I will be doing movie recaps.

Thor

It's summer, so it's time for all the big, blockbuster movies to start rolling out. Last week we had Fast Five, which made a crap load of money and sealed the deal for a Fast Six, with the obvious porn parody to be called Fast Sex. Thor is the first superhero movie of the year. It comes from the people who brought us Iron Man. Unfortunately, they're also the same people who brought us Iron Man 2 and The Incredible Hulk. Thor isn't your everyday superhero where he is already a god from Asdor with powers and doesn't spend half the movie either making a suit or discovering them. His backstory is that he pissed his dad off and got sent to Earth as a punishment, where he decides that he'll stay and become Earth's protector. He fights his brother Loki and a couple of other godly creations. Explosions, funny one liners and probably several references to the upcoming Avengers movie are throughout the film. The guy who played Captain Kirk's dad who died in the first 10 minutes of the movie is Thor and Sir Anthony Hopkins plays his dad. Everyone in the god realm speaks English, but with a British accent. This is common for any movie that has gods or powerful beings. It looks like this is the legacy of British imperialism where it's safe to assume that gods all originate from England because if you have an English accent, your're automatically smarter than anyone else in the room.

Something Borrowed

Somehow Kate Husdson snagged another big paycheck to star in a movie I'm assuming is based on a book written by a woman. This movie bombed and possibly cost someone at the studio realeasing it a job. Somehow Kate Hudson will get another role next year and ruin another life. I just hope she doesn't ruin Muse by dating its lead singer the same way she ruined every movie since Almost Famous, which was her only good role. This movie has it's typical girl loves a guy who she's best friends with, but doesn't have the guts to tell him so he falls in love with her female best friend. Hilarity and awkwardness ensue as she struggles with this dilemma as she tries to be supportive while struggling with her true feelings. This is a complicated tale which has never been told before, so I won't ruin the ending for those of you out there dying to see it. Ginnifer Goodwin of Big Love fame stars as the woman in distress, Kate Hudson is her man-stealing bestie, and Colin Egglesfield is the guy everyone pines for.

Jumping the Broom

Unless there's a Tyler Perry at the front, I have no interest in it. The IMDB summary for this one says : Two very different families converge on Martha's Vineyard one weekend for a wedding. Sounds like something written by Shakespeare. It also did better than the Kate Hudson movie, so it's either good or Kate Hudson is that bad. You be the judge.

WAKA on ESPN

The Mike and Mike show on ESPN is the airing of a talk show hosted by Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic. Mike Golic used to play pro football. If you still don't know who he is, his older brother is Bob Golic, who also played pro football and was on Saved By The Bell: The College Years playing the RA in the dorm everyone stayed at. Below is a video of Mike Golic talking about his experience with WAKA and his chance to throw out the first pitch at a game.

WINTER 2011 - WEEK 8

Current Standings

Game Recaps

Ace of Base vs. Two Girls One Base

Down 9-4 in the bottom of the fifth and facing their first loss since their last loss, Ace of Base took a few grape Jello shots and rallied.  The Aces scored four runs quickly thanks to Brad’s chicken dance in the baseline between first and second, and in stepped Stephanie, clutch and cool as the other side of the pillow.  A majestic grounder off the French girl’s foot sent her beloved bf, Aaron, in a full body heave to home plate for the tying run.  One play later Lenny and the opposing first baseman tumbled to the ground in a lurid embrace (perhaps because of the Jello shots, perhaps not, that’s their business), sending Natalie to third base with one out.  Yet Two Girls One Base proved every bit as finger lickin’ good as advertised, doubling up the Aces on the last play to preserve the tie.  Following the hard fought tie, teams retired to the bar in order to eat Mac and Cheese as fast as humanly possible…you know, like adults do.  Lenny emerged the champion, hoovering the bowl in a record time of one minute and twenty-eight seconds.  Paramedics would pump his stomach two hours later.  They found four of his own fingers, a quesadilla wedge, six quarters, and the straw from his vodka/sprite, but no traces of the Mac and Cheese.  The bar games also carried over from last week as Rafa learned that if you’re going to screw your girlfriend, the less fun way is to do it at quarters (Rafa, i hope your couch is comfy my friend).  And Aaron maintained the status quo, making no significant contributions.

(This week's update is from guest columnist Rob Sitter)

Balls Deep vs. Wasted Talent

Balls Deep won their 7th game of the season tonight 6-0 over Wasted Talent to remain the only undefeated team in the Dogtown league this season. Wasted Talent leads the league in forfeits and so Balls Deep wasn’t sure if there was going to be a game. Eventually the team did show up, although not in their WAKA shirts, which was confusing to their opponents. Not knowing that this was the team they were supposed to play, Balls Deep didn’t warm up and were strategizing for the macaroni & cheese eating competition at Brennan’s and which color shirts would be worn at the end of season party. Due to the lack of preparation, the game started slowly as Balls Deep only had a 1-0 lead heading into the third inning, relying on defense to keep Wasted Talent from scoring any runs. The game was soon blown wide open, being led by Kristen McManus, who got her first kick and RKI of the season. Bryan Benamor almost had a 2 run home run, but he slipped coming around third and ate dirt, forced to settle for a triple. Wasted Talent tried their best, with the best example being the girl playing third base getting run over and still holding onto the ball to get the out. Throughout the game, they had great attitudes and exemplified why we play kickball, which is to have fun, win or lose. Having a happy hour before the game may have contributed to the positive environment. Defensively, Balls Deep played a strong five innings to notch another shutout, including impressive catches by Jackie Wyler and Matt Horan.

Celebrating win number 7.

Editor's Note: Since I haven't received any other game recaps, I will be doing reality show recaps to avoid the newsletter being short and boring. This will stop when you guys start contributing.

The Amazing Race

The five remaining teams are in Switzerland this week, vying for the final four spots in next week's finale. The detour options this week were to either finda dummy in a snowfield or winch a guy out of a crevasse. The rescues proved to be difficult as the current leaders, Zev and Justin end up in last place. Sticking with the stereotypes this show likes to enhance, the next challenge is to make a gnome out of Swiss chocolate because that is all they do in Swtizerland- climb mountains and eat chocolate. There was some confusion and tempers flared as people's work got mixed up and the goths, Kent and Vyxsin (who spells her name in the worst possible way) and the Harlem Globetrotters, Flight Time and Big Easy, really got into it. In the end, the goths incurred a 30 minute penalty thanks to them taking a forbidden taxi to the Pit Stop. Unlike the other penalty they recieved earlier in the season for taking a wrong flight (they must not read very well), this one resulted in them being sent home. Which is good, because they annoyed me and it's hard to believe that they're really dating. Kent wears more makeup than Vyxsin.

Dancing with the Stars and American Idol
People either danced or sang to extend their fifteen minutes of fame, judges made snarky comments that were probably written by someone else and America voted for their favorites. In the end, people who we will never hear from again except for when their mugshots are on TMZ got sent home.

The Real World: Las Vegas
The biggest homophobe in the house, Dustin, turns out to have a gay webcam past. It's hard to hate the guy since his mom is bipolar and all, but he overcompensates way too much. This revelation rocks the house and instead of focusing on which club to get drunk at or which bed they were sharing tonight, their focus turned to whether they wanted Dustin to stay in the house. He downplayed how graphic his film work was, as Heather questioned their relationship and if she should get tested (being on this show, they all should get tested more often than pornstars) and Leroy was actually the voice of reason, telling Dustin he should have been honest from the beginning. This show sucks now.

Mac n' Cheese Challenge Results

The Challenge this week was to eat a bowl of mac n' cheese as fast as you can, any means necessary. Each team provided one challenger to represent and we saw people using their hands, faces, ketchup and beer to win the $100 prize. It wasn't pretty and actually a little disturbing, but in the end Ace of Base wanted it more and proved they have the best gag relfex in the league with a time of 1 minute, 28 seconds.

Final Time Results

WT: tapped out at 1:30
BD: Tapped out at 2:30
Dp's 2:34
Greenorea 2:25
OKW: 2:22
WSFL 1:57
Toot it and Boot it: 1:45
Ace: 1:28 - WINNER!!!!

Season Schedule 

End of Season Party

On Saturday night, Busby's West was overrun with kickball players wearing red, yellow and green shirts celebrating another season of Dogtown kickball. With beer tickets in hand, sharpies to write on the shirts and a do it yourself photobooth, it was a success. Below are some of the pictures taken by the Snapyourself booth. If you want to see all of them, the website is: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/snapyourself