COMPETITION: from another league in Brooklyn!!!
Guys, I have many different reactions to this new league. First, I say, the more the merrier. There is more than enough room for a billion kickball leagues in this Great City of Ours. If teams put up the $720 ante, which i do not find unreasonable, enjoy a nice Monday Night. You get a shirt with that, as well as some beer specials at sponsoring local bars. Its CO-ED rule is far stricter than ours, even makes me reconsider adapting it again, which, I did only a couple of days ago. So to Amy Short, the Commish over there: Kudos. Plus, she's the first Woman Commishioner of any league I know.
But they have FINES, and forfeits! If you alter your shirt, you're fined, and must pay the league. If a team violates the "ref" rule, it's $75. If you're not wearing your official uniform, you can't play. So they have issues similar to the ones we hate about the NBA. I have never even thought to tell a team to forfeit a game. Can its players dis the umps to the press, or is that a suspension?
Things happen so quickly. First we have the lights for the summer, then we don't. I am debating if it's a coincidence that once we lose our lights, the other league gets theirs in Prospect Park. However, if we got the lights there, would our league have transferred smoothly, because, everyone hates the idea of Roosevelt Island, and it's closer (at least by bicycle or car), and we could have it on the same night!?!
I am annoyed by the appraised culture of the other league. Jens and I set a tone for our league: free-wheeling, chaotic, but not outta hand. Countless hours I spent on this machine trying to make things cool for all, considering all kinda issues, making it appealing to as many types as possible. One of my biggest fears was that it would be too Hipster, and well, it is. But theirs seems like Lily-Cracka-Ass-Corporate-Whitey. I could be very wrong, and maybe Amy will strive to make her league as diverse as I want ours. I hope the Latin Kings and Chuck D. show up more often.
But folks knew our brand of k'ball was gonna be cool. If not, why did so many come? Let's face it: it is dope. I got this kind message from the Commish over in Seattle, Todd Arkley, just the other day:
kevin,
what can i say? i just spent the whole evening reading your whole weblog, watching videos, etc.
i love brooklyn kickball. there. i said it.
reading about your trials and tribulations in the blog, its as if we're sharing the same commish-mind.
i feel the same love and the same hurts all fuckin' season long. for real. god i love kickball.
it's retarded - i end up thinking, talking, writing, theorizing about kickball all the time. luckily, all the teams are becoming just as obsessed. our season is young - week #2 starts tomorrow and we'll be playing until the end of August. quick, check it out. www.arkley.net/kickball.
I implore everone to go to his site, because he and his brother's leagues are just like ours. They fuck around, drink, destroy other teams' symbols in effigy, and have a ton of fun. This is the part of America the world should know. Plus, it's not retarded, commishes like us have given their respective communities a chance to chill hard-core, forget about the bullshit in their lives, adapt different personas, make friends and lovers, and enjoy themsleves thoroughly. So many have told me that Kickball has either made them happy, or considerably happier than they were. At Sunday Night's End, I go around asking everyone if they had a good time, and almost invariably they say yes.
If i appeared like a grumpy Gus, then I'm a malcontent, but mostly, everyone got to do what they wanted. We want to keep it that way. Please encourage all your friends and teammates to come at 2 and keep our league alive.
But, if u go can do it, go ahead and join the other league as well; hell, I'm tempted. But remember what Sundays are about, albeit at 2, instead of 6. However, ya never know, we may have a miracle coming our way to reclaim the lights. But don't bet on it.
Guys, I have many different reactions to this new league. First, I say, the more the merrier. There is more than enough room for a billion kickball leagues in this Great City of Ours. If teams put up the $720 ante, which i do not find unreasonable, enjoy a nice Monday Night. You get a shirt with that, as well as some beer specials at sponsoring local bars. Its CO-ED rule is far stricter than ours, even makes me reconsider adapting it again, which, I did only a couple of days ago. So to Amy Short, the Commish over there: Kudos. Plus, she's the first Woman Commishioner of any league I know.
But they have FINES, and forfeits! If you alter your shirt, you're fined, and must pay the league. If a team violates the "ref" rule, it's $75. If you're not wearing your official uniform, you can't play. So they have issues similar to the ones we hate about the NBA. I have never even thought to tell a team to forfeit a game. Can its players dis the umps to the press, or is that a suspension?
Things happen so quickly. First we have the lights for the summer, then we don't. I am debating if it's a coincidence that once we lose our lights, the other league gets theirs in Prospect Park. However, if we got the lights there, would our league have transferred smoothly, because, everyone hates the idea of Roosevelt Island, and it's closer (at least by bicycle or car), and we could have it on the same night!?!
I am annoyed by the appraised culture of the other league. Jens and I set a tone for our league: free-wheeling, chaotic, but not outta hand. Countless hours I spent on this machine trying to make things cool for all, considering all kinda issues, making it appealing to as many types as possible. One of my biggest fears was that it would be too Hipster, and well, it is. But theirs seems like Lily-Cracka-Ass-Corporate-Whitey. I could be very wrong, and maybe Amy will strive to make her league as diverse as I want ours. I hope the Latin Kings and Chuck D. show up more often.
But folks knew our brand of k'ball was gonna be cool. If not, why did so many come? Let's face it: it is dope. I got this kind message from the Commish over in Seattle, Todd Arkley, just the other day:
kevin,
what can i say? i just spent the whole evening reading your whole weblog, watching videos, etc.
i love brooklyn kickball. there. i said it.
reading about your trials and tribulations in the blog, its as if we're sharing the same commish-mind.
i feel the same love and the same hurts all fuckin' season long. for real. god i love kickball.
it's retarded - i end up thinking, talking, writing, theorizing about kickball all the time. luckily, all the teams are becoming just as obsessed. our season is young - week #2 starts tomorrow and we'll be playing until the end of August. quick, check it out. www.arkley.net/kickball.
I implore everone to go to his site, because he and his brother's leagues are just like ours. They fuck around, drink, destroy other teams' symbols in effigy, and have a ton of fun. This is the part of America the world should know. Plus, it's not retarded, commishes like us have given their respective communities a chance to chill hard-core, forget about the bullshit in their lives, adapt different personas, make friends and lovers, and enjoy themsleves thoroughly. So many have told me that Kickball has either made them happy, or considerably happier than they were. At Sunday Night's End, I go around asking everyone if they had a good time, and almost invariably they say yes.
If i appeared like a grumpy Gus, then I'm a malcontent, but mostly, everyone got to do what they wanted. We want to keep it that way. Please encourage all your friends and teammates to come at 2 and keep our league alive.
But, if u go can do it, go ahead and join the other league as well; hell, I'm tempted. But remember what Sundays are about, albeit at 2, instead of 6. However, ya never know, we may have a miracle coming our way to reclaim the lights. But don't bet on it.