BLOG MOVED TO FACEBOOK!

Hey Everyone -

In order to reach all of our players, we have moved the blog and activity to Facebook. You can follow us here: WAKA Kickball - Minneapolis

Go sports!

Week 6 and 7 Results and Standings

Week 6: Fresh and Slippery Kicks of Ball Air

Week 6: The one that didn't slip away.

Plastic sheeting, baby oil, a 30th birthday and sunshine. This week had everything. The one thing Fresh Kicks desperately needed to make it a perfect day, was a win. With a strong defense all around in not letting Booze on First get to third all game, Fresh Kicks put themselves in the drivers seat. The slip n slide seemed to be a distraction for both teams, but Jackson in his old age was not affected. He was incredibly agile on the base paths as he came around third and slipped and slid to give Fresh Kicks a 2-0 lead. An insurance run was later added as Bakke proved yet again to come in clutch when the team needed it most. Not only did he score a run, but he threw a complete game shut out in kickball. After the game Bakke gave us his insight on why he was so successful. "I was just feeling it today. I do have to credit my defense, but I like when my ball is a little slick with oil, it gives me a little more movement and creates deception for the hitters". As the game ended, Fresh Kicks were dripping in oil, water and grass, but had big smiles on their face as they continued to slip as a team into the sunset. At the bar, they danced the night away as they collected another W on the flip cup table.

After two showers and plenty of scrubbing, I don't think my skin has felt this soft/moisturized in a very long time.

See you all next week!

Mid-Season Party (Saturday night at the Fremont)!

Happy Kickball Thursday Team Captains!

As you saw, we announced that the Mid-Season Party starts at 6 PM this Saturday at The Fremont. Please remind all of your players about the party - noting that registered kickballers party for free and guests can join for $20! Additionally, please stress to your players that flip cup will start at 7 PM (which is earlier than usual). The Fremont wants to open up the dance floor (where we host flip cup) by 9:00 PM, so we need to start early to end early and let the dancing begin.

I unfortuntely will be out of town this weekend - but hope every one of your can attend and have an extra drink for me. Grab a board member or Zack (who manages our Wednesday kickball league) if you have any questions.

See you tonight at the fields!
Jackie

Charity Update (WOOHOO!)

Greetings kickballers! Last week Jello shots were a hit, we sold out before the second round of games even started! Way to aggressively support Adopt-a-Classroom with your Thursday night habits!

***Looking forward***

Week 7 (June 15) will be fireball slushies week! Wear your flip cup shirt and get a dollar off! They will be as follows:
1 for $3
2 for $5
5 for $10

Find me (Shannon on Fresh Kick of Ball Air) on week 6 for a tasty preview and to buy your flip cup shirt!

Week 5 Scores and Standings

Uncontrollable Runs - Midseason Report

With 5 games having past already, the season is moving along far too quickly. Something amiss has been in the air this season, as the team has yet to have their entire roster at a game. The once proud defensive abilities of the Runs have fallen by the wayside, as the team is far more focused on "having fun", "beer in hand", and "it's only a game, Focker". Their so called Player/Captain/Coach/Mr Reliable/Mr Charming/Mr Humble/Mickey with the Good Hair has only been to 3 of the games so far, and is missing at least two more, as well as the playoffs. This lack of leadership has had a major trickle down effect on the teams bunting ability, defensive awareness, and apparently their general understanding of kickball.

All that said, the team remains 5-0 on the field, 4-1 in flip cup (due to a forfeit because our 5th flip cup player is a doctor and had to be at work at 5am, so the team couldn't wait any longer, while the opponents who will not be named, let's call them Team K This, stalled by eating dinner and playing king of the hill until he had to leave, but we aren't salty). Comebacks and close wins have been the tale of the regular season, as the team prepares for a playoff push without many of its players, missing due to lack of commitment, or lack of heart.

On a positive note, the team will be adding to its growing list of mascots, as Matilda (Tillie) will be bringing Uncontrollable Runs to Mickey and Megan's home next Thursday (this is also our RSVP that we will not be at the game Thursday night - go team!)

Throwback Friday Photo: Summer 2012, the Uncontrollable Runs first season!

Fresh Kicks of Ball Air: Week 5 - David vs Goliath

With a beautiful June day above them, Fresh Kicks had their sights set as giant slayers. As the first inning progressed, a couple DEEP home runs gave Goliath an aggressive advantage. As Fresh Kicks slowly chipped away at the lead, it ultimately didn't matter as Goliath walked away with a 10-4 win. Although there was some #SCTop10 plays by Phil and Josh, it wasn't enough defense to stay within reach of UR. With likely our best game of the season, we kicked (decently) well and played good enough defense to get a win, but it wasn't enough on this night.

Fresh Kicks made their way to the bar a little light as most of the squad had other plans. Rookie Chelsea proved to be a team player as she showed up after work to get her flip cup game on. After a round of King of the Hill to prove the final five, Chelsea, Megan, Shannon, Liz and Cory approached the flip cup table with nothing but confidence. After a first game win, the confidence built. UR came back with two wins to put Fresh Kicks on the ropes. Fresh Kicks won the fourth game thanks to nothing but one flips by the entire squad. As game five was under way, Fresh Kicks didn't miss a cup, but when it came to the anchor of both teams UR was able to get their cup to stick 1/100 of a second faster than Fresh Kicks. With a tough couple losses, Fresh Kicks look to next week to bounce back on and off the field. If it's nice out, I look to bring a slip and slide out, so dress appropriately. I'll keep you updated.

Week 4 Standings

Fresh Kicks - Week 3

U.S.A U.S.A U.S.A. *slow music* (From the parking lot, Team Fresh Kicks approaches whilst listening to Bruce Springsteen). With nothing but red, white and blue on, Fresh Kicks came prepared to kick ball and flip cups. However, the kicking of balls came up short. As we continue to not keep the ball down when kicking, it continues to haunt us in the Win-Loss column. Fantastic pitching by Kris was not followed up by the defense behind him (Cory). With our third straight loss in the field, Team USA was not discouraged as they know the real talent shows up at that bar. As rookie Chelsea quickly learned that making the flip cup team was no joke, she tried to flip, danced and will be back to make the final five soon. Speaking of the final five, we can't forget about our fearless leader from afar Angie flying in to make a celebrity appearance for Fresh Kicks. Her on base percentage remained 1.000% and her flip cup percentage has suffered since the move to Maine. As Megan, Amy, Ben, Cory and Angie made the final five after king of the hill, it was evident that Angie had lost a step since her move to the east coast. Instead of her casual one flips, Angie was two and sometimes three flipping. It didn't matter though, because when the pressure was on and Don't Touch Our Balls approached the table the final five were locked in. Game one showed gave Fresh Kicks their first loss, but their composure was not affected. They knew they were the better team and they proved it as they rattled off three straight wins to take home the win in flip cup for another week. As the chants of U.S.A faded in the distance, the regulars at the Pint tipped their caps as Fresh Kicks of Ball Air walked away slowly with other flip cup win.

Week 3 Scores and Standings

Apologies, but your fearless blog leader was out of the country this past week, so I'm a bit behind.

Week 3 Schedule

Week 2 Scores and Standings

Week 2 Costume Contest Winners

Shockingly, Fresh Kicks of Ball Air won!

 

Fresh Kicks of Ball Air

Words. Explicit words. Lots and Lots of explicit words. Fresh Prince played well, but some people decided to bend them over without lube and give them a loss. Fresh Kicks crushed it on the base path, but the runs were not enough. Bakke pitched well, but it was not enough. The defense behind him was less than subpar (Tom, we are talking about you). Phil, Danny, and Lana crushed it at the plate with four of the six runs. After the repeated pounding by you know who, Fresh Kicks headed to the bar to be irritated and annoyed. A solid showing at the bar for Fresh Kicks allowed for multiple people to make the FINAL FIVE. As some veterans fell (Tom), some rookies decided to make a name for themselves (Bakke & Megan). As the flip cup team approached the table to face Sons O Pitches, they chuckled as they saw the fear in their eyes and poop in their pants. Fresh Kicks took care of business per usual and won 3-1. For the second week in a row, Fresh Kicks won best dressed as Amy, Shannon and Cory all took home the prize.

Kick This Weeks 1 and 2

Week 2 Schedule

Best Dressed Week 1 Winners!

Woohoo!

Week 1 Scores and Standings

Fresh Prince of Ball Air (Week 1)

Well, well, well. As my hair whips through the wind on my way home on my bike, I think about week one from a kickball and social standpoint. From a kickball standpoint, there isn't much to talk about. Some of us walked to the wrong field (Amy, yes give her shit) and rest of us found out that scoring in a beer league kickball league is a lot more strategic than expected. As we STRUGGLED to score runs, we found our stride in the field on defense. With Phil, Josh and Jackson all making fantastic plays in the field, we kept the game within reach. However, our kicking skills were vastly under par. Next week, lets keep the ball down and let the other team work as we run the bases. Now, the social standpoint of kickball. I'm thinking, lets introduce all the rookies to flip cup and what kickball is all about. Fresh Prince - Fuck that shit, can you use your finger to flip a plastic cup 180 degrees before the person across from you? Well, some of the rookies can, and some of the rookies decided to peace out before the real competition began. As we played king of the hill to narrow down the flip cup squad, newcomer Megan found her flip cup stride and made the FINAL FIVE. As Drunks on a Pond approached the table, Tom looked at Jackson and Jackson looked at Shannon with a small chuckle. Fresh Prince knew that Drunks on that Pond stood no chance in flip cup. After a decisive 3-0 win in flip cup, FPOBA chanted U.S.A, high fived and took on any competition that thought they could beat us in flip cup (FYI, they failed). Congratulations to Shannon, Matt, Cory and Tom on winning their own battle of king of the hill. (Fuck you Jackson, you got lucky and won on a technicality). Congrats to Tom on winning Best Dressed for week one!

Per the FPOBA criteria, we win in Flip Cup and compete in Kickball.  I look forward to seeing all you faces next week!

(editors note: blog received at 12:05am from FPOBA. That shows dedication, heart, and true character. That's a manager any team should covet.)

KICKBALL STARTS TONIGHT!

This season, we will be playing at Bryn Mawr and partying at The Pint in Downtown Minneapolis. Here are some key details for our first game this Thursday!

This week’s Theme:  SPORTS JERSEYS. With the Twins playing in town, and the start of our kickball season, we invite everyone to wear their favorite baseball jersey, t-shirt, hat, etc. to kickball this week. New Teams – themes are important. Each team dresses up according to the theme and there are special “Best Dressed” prizes handed out at the bar. The full social schedule is available here.

Shirts Update:  Our shirts have been ordered (they should arrive next week), but we expect you to wear baseball jerseys this week anyways!

Schedule/Scores:  Following games each week, every captain and home plate ref is responsible for texting both team's scores to our GMOT inbox (612-467-9252). You can also email them, and a game write-up and photos, to the same inbox at editorGMOT@gmail.com. We are finalizing the full season schedule, but week 1 and two are available here. Remember to also text your flip cup scores!

Note to team captains – find Jackie when you arrive at the field for a new scorebook for this season.

Alcohol Policy: Remember everyone, Minneapolis Parks has a strict no-alcohol in the park policy and have their own department to patrol this. No visible cans, coolers, etc. Keep it classy kickballers! And consider yourself warned.

Charity Update: If you’ve played past seasons, you know how much fun our charity nights and mid-season/end-of-season parties can be during the season. We are excited to announce that we will be supporting Adopt-A-Classroom this season. Are you interested in helping out? If so, let Shannon know!

Sponsor Bar Reminder: Join us every Thursday night at The Pint for team flip cup and awesome kickball specials. We hope to see everyone this week for the following kickball specials:

• $7 Pint Burger Basket with Fries
• $7 Chicken Tender Basket with Fries
• $10 Pint Light and Pint Dark Pitchers
• $5 Jameson Drinks
• $4 Rail Drinks
• $3 Fireball Shots
• PLUS - 15% off the full food menu

Additional Key Dates:

• May 5 – Final Day for Players to Register (and final shirt order)
• June 10 – Mid-Season Party (Details TBD)
• June 24 – Saturday Playoffs
• July 29 – End-of-Season Party (Details TBD)

Team/Player Policy: WAKA is a social sports league open to all skill levels. Our goal is to have a league full of teams that participate on and off the field. All teams are encouraged to join us at The Pint, our league sponsor bar, following each week’s games. All teams are also eligible to have free agents added to their team if needed to ensure all teams are "full" within our league.

Boot By The Foot (Season Preview)

What's up bitches, y'all are looking at the returning champs.  We beat the league's least favorite team (Uncontrollable Runs) in OT last year with an extra dose of pepto bismol and just being the better team. If you disagree, you can ask Tom where the trophy is.  Additionally, it's been brought to my attention that a certain individual in the league thinks we used steroids when in fact our only advantage was completely natural - being better, sexier, and lots of gin bucket.

Cheering for our team has some obvious pros and cons.  With the pros mainly being that we are led by the sexiest man in the league (shouts to Sammy Sam), we bring a lot of booze (hey cops, it's non-alcoholic), and we are very friendly.  The cons are a tad worse, as we have the worst name in the league, we have the league's most annoying brother-sister combo, and we punish errors with shots of fireball.

As an aside, we would like to welcome everyone to the league and look forward to a fun season filled with plenty of laughter and even more Henny.  If you're curious who we are, look for the WWE championship belt.

(Editor's Note: I struggled to copy and paste this onto the blog. The four championship rings kept hitting the keyboard)

Thursday MN Twin Cities Schedule (Weeks 1 and 2)

We have added two teams to the league, so the schedule has changed slightly. We will update with the rest of the schedule when available.

KICKBALL THIS THURSDAY!?

I can't believe it is finally here. I can't believe how late I am to posting a kickoff blog too, but now is not the time. All of your clever NSYNC "It's going to be May" jokes have finally reached complete hilarity, as May 1st has arrived.

With that, the opening ceremonies to the 2017 Spring WAKA Kickball Season begin this Thursday, as teams from all over the Twin Cities vie for kickball immortality.

After last seasons incredibly surprising championship, one that is still being contested by the losing team (sure seemed like Paige's team was kicking a lot further than normal that day. I'm not suggesting anything related to steroids, just saying it's convenient is all), we are ready to wash ourselves of the stink from 2016, and start fresh.

Heavy favorites, the Uncontrollable Runs, also known as a combination of the Patriots, Spurs, and Fergie, have added two new players to their arsenal. Age is starting to become a factor for this supreme team, but resilience is their middle name, as well as excellence and ball kickers.

Thursday looks like it should be a lovely day. Maybe a little bed bath and beyond, I don't know. I don't know if we'll have enough time.

See you on the field. Don't forget your coozies.

A Messsage From Your VP

Wow, what an awesome kickball season!  The weather was gorgeous all fall long, the kickball games were amazing, and the Fremont post-game bar brought it!  I had such a great experience as my first season sitting on the board and am already looking forward to the spring kickball season as President.  If you can't wait until spring, then look for e-mails about a possible dodgeball or winter games league through WAKA.

See you soon,

Kyle Johnson