Obsidian Potency 3.0
Kickball Season 2 [Fall 2007], Week 1: Demolition/The Bad Guys
posted Friday, 24 August 2007
I'm not talking about Ax and Smash, either. Last night, after being on trains for 36 of the previous 48 hours, my kickball team played its first game of the fall season. We have changed our playing night (used to be Wednesdays, now Thursdays), colors (from royal blue to black), and team names (from The Freqs to Cobra Kai). The guy a lot of my teammates didn't like is now off the roster, but due to an overflow from another division, we ended up with a packed roster with some new players.
After last night's game and happy hour, I woke up thinking: wow. Just, wow.
Did that game really happen yesterday?
I think the team we played was called In A McFlurry. They are new to our kickball league. We showed up with 23 people. Co-captains Greg and Katie had put together fielding and kicking lineups to handle the overflow. One of my roommates is on my team, as is Becks and her cousin James. I wasn't really looking forward to the game. For one, I was tired. For another, with so many people it meant that I wouldn't play the field every inning, and I might only get up to kick once. Yippee.
Then the game started.
We let them kick first, and held them scoreless. Then we came up to kick. As usual, Dave and I kicked first and second respectively to get on base, followed by Cat, Justin, Katie and Greg (or some approximate order). This was like no other 1st inning I've ever seen. By the end of it, we were up 6-0.
By the end of the second inning, we were almost all the way through our 21-person lineup. Our new girls were kicking remarkably well, and our old girls all got on base - even the ones that didn't normally kick safely. It helped that the opposing teams' fielders were incredibly sloppy. There was a glaring defensive hole for them in left field...and we were up 10-0.
By the end of the third inning, we'd lost the shutout...but we were up, oh, about 13-1 or 14-1. I seriously lost track. This game was becoming a complete laugher.
In the 4th inning, I was shocked to find that I was up again. Do you have any idea how many runs we had to score to start going through our lineup again? Greg suggested that I try kicking long - after all, we had such a huge lead that there was no need to bunt to get on base. He also quietly motioned for me to kick towards left field. So I did. I kicked hard to left outfield, and got a single (it would have been a double, but Becks was on second and she couldn't have advanced without getting out at third). Their defense was REALLY bad over there. We both scored anyway, so it didn't matter. Not that we needed to score at that point. I was up twice, kicked safely twice and scored twice.
The umpire was a lackadaisical douchebag who openly said he didn't want to be there, tried to call the game twice and barely enforced the rules. For instance, the opposing team paid no attention to batting lineups after the first inning and had some of their best kickers kick 4 times or more. It didn't save them. To their credit our opponents, despite getting stomped, refused to surrender when the ump suggested calling the game.
Ultimately, this was the most lopsided game I've ever been a part of, and I'd really rather not be a part of such a lopsided affair again. That said, it's better to win one of these than to lose one. In case you didn't know, Cobra Kai is the evil dojo from The Karate Kid. The Cobra Kai logo is emblazoned on each of our shirts as an extra decal on the sleeve. It is a black fist that says "Strike First - Strike Hard - No Mercy." We certainly lived up to that last night. Final score: Cobra Kai 16 (officially), In A McFlurry 1. I say 'officially' because I think we actually scored more like 21 runs, and we just lost track. The ump didn't even care enough to keep score.
Needless to say, we probably have a target on our backs as a team. Wednesday nights has long been more competitive than Thursdays, so maybe we were just taking advantage of the gauntlet we faced last season. Maybe the Thursday teams aren't ready for us. Who knows. All I have to say is: Hello, Thursday nights. Say hello to The Bad Guys.
Happy hour is definitely better on Thursdays. The turnout was huge, and the people seemed more fun than the Wednesday crowd.
After last night's game and happy hour, I woke up thinking: wow. Just, wow.
Did that game really happen yesterday?
I think the team we played was called In A McFlurry. They are new to our kickball league. We showed up with 23 people. Co-captains Greg and Katie had put together fielding and kicking lineups to handle the overflow. One of my roommates is on my team, as is Becks and her cousin James. I wasn't really looking forward to the game. For one, I was tired. For another, with so many people it meant that I wouldn't play the field every inning, and I might only get up to kick once. Yippee.
Then the game started.
We let them kick first, and held them scoreless. Then we came up to kick. As usual, Dave and I kicked first and second respectively to get on base, followed by Cat, Justin, Katie and Greg (or some approximate order). This was like no other 1st inning I've ever seen. By the end of it, we were up 6-0.
By the end of the second inning, we were almost all the way through our 21-person lineup. Our new girls were kicking remarkably well, and our old girls all got on base - even the ones that didn't normally kick safely. It helped that the opposing teams' fielders were incredibly sloppy. There was a glaring defensive hole for them in left field...and we were up 10-0.
By the end of the third inning, we'd lost the shutout...but we were up, oh, about 13-1 or 14-1. I seriously lost track. This game was becoming a complete laugher.
In the 4th inning, I was shocked to find that I was up again. Do you have any idea how many runs we had to score to start going through our lineup again? Greg suggested that I try kicking long - after all, we had such a huge lead that there was no need to bunt to get on base. He also quietly motioned for me to kick towards left field. So I did. I kicked hard to left outfield, and got a single (it would have been a double, but Becks was on second and she couldn't have advanced without getting out at third). Their defense was REALLY bad over there. We both scored anyway, so it didn't matter. Not that we needed to score at that point. I was up twice, kicked safely twice and scored twice.
The umpire was a lackadaisical douchebag who openly said he didn't want to be there, tried to call the game twice and barely enforced the rules. For instance, the opposing team paid no attention to batting lineups after the first inning and had some of their best kickers kick 4 times or more. It didn't save them. To their credit our opponents, despite getting stomped, refused to surrender when the ump suggested calling the game.
Ultimately, this was the most lopsided game I've ever been a part of, and I'd really rather not be a part of such a lopsided affair again. That said, it's better to win one of these than to lose one. In case you didn't know, Cobra Kai is the evil dojo from The Karate Kid. The Cobra Kai logo is emblazoned on each of our shirts as an extra decal on the sleeve. It is a black fist that says "Strike First - Strike Hard - No Mercy." We certainly lived up to that last night. Final score: Cobra Kai 16 (officially), In A McFlurry 1. I say 'officially' because I think we actually scored more like 21 runs, and we just lost track. The ump didn't even care enough to keep score.
Needless to say, we probably have a target on our backs as a team. Wednesday nights has long been more competitive than Thursdays, so maybe we were just taking advantage of the gauntlet we faced last season. Maybe the Thursday teams aren't ready for us. Who knows. All I have to say is: Hello, Thursday nights. Say hello to The Bad Guys.
Happy hour is definitely better on Thursdays. The turnout was huge, and the people seemed more fun than the Wednesday crowd.
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