Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Congrats to NYC Fun and the Mellencamps
This year's Final Night was surreal. Along the 3rd baseline, there seemed to be a crowd as big and unruly as Nascar. Seemingly everyone came out of the woodwork last night to check out the Final 4. The stort-staffed Burninators were visibly frustrated as loads of crap constantly came hurling at them. Some masked skateboarding dudes boldly took on our whole community, and while it had its funny moments, some guys just don't know when to quit, and then it got ugly. Note that sentiment for later on. Fortunately, there was no more than the usual shouting and pushing.
Meanwhile, behind the Commissioner's Booth, the Greenpoint/Williamsburg Orchestra, with the aid of power emanating from the Vitamin Water truck, blissfully offered our community with some recognizable tunes, most notably the jingle to the Mr. Softee truck. A month ago, we managed to get an MP3 of it by hooking up a digital recorder to the music box holding the song, so the Orchestra had what it needed to learn the official melody of McCarren Park. It was great to see the truck in the background while the minstrels strummed along.
This writer knew that no team is invincible, yet the conventional wisdom was that The Burninators were. Basically, an earler iteration of that team, the 2004 Pirates, were the heavy favorite, yet lost dramatically in the Finals that year too. But no one, except the John Cougar Mellencamps, seemed to learn from many sports lessons: the 1988 Dodgers whooping the mighty A's; the 1991 Duke basketball squad getting vengence over the reigning Champion and undefeated UNLV; or the 2004 Red Sox finally sticking to the Yankees in unprecedented fashion. One could cut the tension in their game against the Burninators with a Turkey's Nest straw. I saw a look of concern on Sports' face i had never seen before, and this is his third straight year playing on the Final Day of Kickball.
The first game of the night, The Regular Season Top-Point Earning Tigers v. The NYC Fun Club, was very anticlimatic. Although the Tigers manhandled the Funs during the regular season, their semi final game was basically over in the second inning, with the FunClub up 8-1. To their credit, the Tigers didn't have alot of unforced errors, just that the Fun Club simply registered hit after hit. Their captain later credited this writer with helping put together a sound lineup during a drunken and forgotten conversation at Royal Oak, the Fun Club's lair. Well, at least I was able to help some club win it all in some way.
So with that game over, it was time for the Mellancamps-Burninators match. Zach, the captain of the JCMs, and another of his players had just returned from a wedding, and so they were less than 100%. The Burninators had a serious loss in Ben Alexander attending a Mandy Moore concert in lieu of playing, and their "Golden Hands" nominee, Jason Whino, was injured. Nonetheless, they still had a great team with Sportz, Wheelz, the Beckies, Noah, etc, and remained the favorite. But the Mellencamps evolved into good fielders, and unlike many, were not going to give a game away. Well, this one, anyway.
For all of you thinking ties may be a bad idea during the regular season and first 3 rounds of the Playoffs, remember the Finals from this year. On the only night we couldn't have ties, we had two games going into extra innings. The Mellencamps played 18 innings on Sunday. Fortunately for them, they're svelt, and live on a healthy diet of Diane. The problem is, every year, we try to create a playoff system that's fun, intriguing, and fair, yet definitely not easy. No Champion has ever played anything less than 10 innings on the Final Night.
But at least the Mellencamps know what it's like to dethrone the Champs, and that must be consoling. When they scored that final run against the Burns, everyone let out a cathatic, primal roar: a great cheer remaining indelible in the minds of the Cougs.
The NYC Fun Club? God, I wish Kickball had Vegas odds. Really, going into Sunday, I imagine the betting would be:
Burninators: 1-1
John Cougar Mellencamps: 5-1
Tigers: 10-1
NYC Fun Club: 20 -1
We know the Fun Club has beautiful, naughty women, and like most of us, turned Sunday into the new Friday or Saturday, but we really didn't know much more about them. We definitely didn't think they would even advance to the Final night. A few people thought the "Dailey" Division was rigged by Kevin Dailey to give his Malones an unfair advantage. But as it turned out, that Division was tough, with its top three teams sweating it out until its respective Final inning. In the end, the Fun Club progressed through the haze of Prom-Booze and thick wafting smoke to emerge triumphant. Anyone can blame hangovers on anything, but the Fun Club just kept winning. They needed to come back 2 runs in the 9th inning of the Finals to tie the Mellancamps, and they did. They held off the Mellancamps in the 10th, and won the whole picnic on a dramatic, 2-out, bases loaded situation.
However, let a lesson be learned from that play: always play the bag first, and only go for the peg if you have no other recourse. Had the Mellancamps played the bag at second, that game may still be going on.
I would like to thank the following people for making the Finals special:
Chiara Sullivan, for being my favorite umpire ever, and to Adam, Nipple, Ballgame, Rich, and Shane for keeping things right and proper.
The Burninators
The Greenpoint/Williamsburgh Orchestra
Michele, for going shopping and basically doing everything i asked, including throwing bums out of the playing area.
The bums in the playing area.
And of course, the Fun Club and the Mellencamps. To the Mellencamps, we'll bust open that consolation prize at the Kickies.
Also, a message to the Pirates: I have never stolen anything from you, or deprived you of anything. I have catered to you, cooked for you, served whiskey to you, cleaned up after you, and got high with you. I see the humor in taking the Chuck D Ball, but I do not see the humor in not returning it in time for the Final's ceremony, and I do like being lied to my face, while you guys smirk at me.
We are at war. And, I'm not talking about some gay-ass, watergun fight. You never knew when you being were too much. I will teach it to you.
Congrats to NYC Fun and the Mellencamps
This year's Final Night was surreal. Along the 3rd baseline, there seemed to be a crowd as big and unruly as Nascar. Seemingly everyone came out of the woodwork last night to check out the Final 4. The stort-staffed Burninators were visibly frustrated as loads of crap constantly came hurling at them. Some masked skateboarding dudes boldly took on our whole community, and while it had its funny moments, some guys just don't know when to quit, and then it got ugly. Note that sentiment for later on. Fortunately, there was no more than the usual shouting and pushing.
Meanwhile, behind the Commissioner's Booth, the Greenpoint/Williamsburg Orchestra, with the aid of power emanating from the Vitamin Water truck, blissfully offered our community with some recognizable tunes, most notably the jingle to the Mr. Softee truck. A month ago, we managed to get an MP3 of it by hooking up a digital recorder to the music box holding the song, so the Orchestra had what it needed to learn the official melody of McCarren Park. It was great to see the truck in the background while the minstrels strummed along.
This writer knew that no team is invincible, yet the conventional wisdom was that The Burninators were. Basically, an earler iteration of that team, the 2004 Pirates, were the heavy favorite, yet lost dramatically in the Finals that year too. But no one, except the John Cougar Mellencamps, seemed to learn from many sports lessons: the 1988 Dodgers whooping the mighty A's; the 1991 Duke basketball squad getting vengence over the reigning Champion and undefeated UNLV; or the 2004 Red Sox finally sticking to the Yankees in unprecedented fashion. One could cut the tension in their game against the Burninators with a Turkey's Nest straw. I saw a look of concern on Sports' face i had never seen before, and this is his third straight year playing on the Final Day of Kickball.
The first game of the night, The Regular Season Top-Point Earning Tigers v. The NYC Fun Club, was very anticlimatic. Although the Tigers manhandled the Funs during the regular season, their semi final game was basically over in the second inning, with the FunClub up 8-1. To their credit, the Tigers didn't have alot of unforced errors, just that the Fun Club simply registered hit after hit. Their captain later credited this writer with helping put together a sound lineup during a drunken and forgotten conversation at Royal Oak, the Fun Club's lair. Well, at least I was able to help some club win it all in some way.
So with that game over, it was time for the Mellancamps-Burninators match. Zach, the captain of the JCMs, and another of his players had just returned from a wedding, and so they were less than 100%. The Burninators had a serious loss in Ben Alexander attending a Mandy Moore concert in lieu of playing, and their "Golden Hands" nominee, Jason Whino, was injured. Nonetheless, they still had a great team with Sportz, Wheelz, the Beckies, Noah, etc, and remained the favorite. But the Mellencamps evolved into good fielders, and unlike many, were not going to give a game away. Well, this one, anyway.
For all of you thinking ties may be a bad idea during the regular season and first 3 rounds of the Playoffs, remember the Finals from this year. On the only night we couldn't have ties, we had two games going into extra innings. The Mellencamps played 18 innings on Sunday. Fortunately for them, they're svelt, and live on a healthy diet of Diane. The problem is, every year, we try to create a playoff system that's fun, intriguing, and fair, yet definitely not easy. No Champion has ever played anything less than 10 innings on the Final Night.
But at least the Mellencamps know what it's like to dethrone the Champs, and that must be consoling. When they scored that final run against the Burns, everyone let out a cathatic, primal roar: a great cheer remaining indelible in the minds of the Cougs.
The NYC Fun Club? God, I wish Kickball had Vegas odds. Really, going into Sunday, I imagine the betting would be:
Burninators: 1-1
John Cougar Mellencamps: 5-1
Tigers: 10-1
NYC Fun Club: 20 -1
We know the Fun Club has beautiful, naughty women, and like most of us, turned Sunday into the new Friday or Saturday, but we really didn't know much more about them. We definitely didn't think they would even advance to the Final night. A few people thought the "Dailey" Division was rigged by Kevin Dailey to give his Malones an unfair advantage. But as it turned out, that Division was tough, with its top three teams sweating it out until its respective Final inning. In the end, the Fun Club progressed through the haze of Prom-Booze and thick wafting smoke to emerge triumphant. Anyone can blame hangovers on anything, but the Fun Club just kept winning. They needed to come back 2 runs in the 9th inning of the Finals to tie the Mellancamps, and they did. They held off the Mellancamps in the 10th, and won the whole picnic on a dramatic, 2-out, bases loaded situation.
However, let a lesson be learned from that play: always play the bag first, and only go for the peg if you have no other recourse. Had the Mellancamps played the bag at second, that game may still be going on.
I would like to thank the following people for making the Finals special:
Chiara Sullivan, for being my favorite umpire ever, and to Adam, Nipple, Ballgame, Rich, and Shane for keeping things right and proper.
The Burninators
The Greenpoint/Williamsburgh Orchestra
Michele, for going shopping and basically doing everything i asked, including throwing bums out of the playing area.
The bums in the playing area.
And of course, the Fun Club and the Mellencamps. To the Mellencamps, we'll bust open that consolation prize at the Kickies.
Also, a message to the Pirates: I have never stolen anything from you, or deprived you of anything. I have catered to you, cooked for you, served whiskey to you, cleaned up after you, and got high with you. I see the humor in taking the Chuck D Ball, but I do not see the humor in not returning it in time for the Final's ceremony, and I do like being lied to my face, while you guys smirk at me.
We are at war. And, I'm not talking about some gay-ass, watergun fight. You never knew when you being were too much. I will teach it to you.
Here's something to help you, lifted from the Kickbacks' website:
