Sir Kix-A-Lot

This week was our last regular season game. They are only 7 game seasons, short, I know. But there is playoffs. Which, one would assume with going into this game in third place, we would make it to playoffs. But the actual rules of how to make it to playoffs seems to be the best kept secret in Austin. No one seems to know the rule of how anyone makes it to playoffs or if it's just the teams in your league or all the super social teams from all the nights of the week or if they just randomly draw names from a hat.



This week we played Sir Kix-A-Lot. Going into this week they were ranked at least in the top half of the league. Considering we almost lost to a team that was tied for last just the previous week, we knew we needed to play well for this game. So no Pink Panty Droppers or anything ridiculous like that. Of course, we still drank beer, we aren't serious enough about this to not do that. Who are we kidding?



I think the unofficial name for this game could've been the dust bowl. We played at one of the other, and not as nice, fields this week. It was pretty much just made of dirt with a few patches of what could be called grass. Anyhow, by the end of the game I was struggling to see. My eyes felt like I had been in the desert all day. But lets face it, the fact that I wear contacts and couldn't see well had little to no effect on the game. I just didn't enjoy it while I was there.



Apparently, Sir Kix-A-Lot likes to dress up for the games. Or it was crazy hat and/or sock day and no one informed any other teams. Oh, and one girl had a Tutu on, which I thought was quite hilarious.



They were also friends with the ref. Which meant that any call that was close went in their favor. And when players of the other team that weren't even on the field would throw a live ball back into the field, he would turn a blind eye. It was really just payback to us for the ref liking us the first few weeks. But after two ridiculous calls (that we whined and screamed about) you could tell he felt bad for favoring them. He even apologized for the call. But didn't change it. But that is when things turned around.



They took an early lead with scoring two runs. It took us a couple innings, but we finally scored two of our own. It was tied for a long time. I actually thought the game was going to end with a tie, but we finally hit that inning or two (which is what usually happens) where we got a streak of four runs (after the ref stopped favoring the other team). And that is where the game ended, me nearly blind, but the Bad News Brews with a win of 6-2.



Oh, I did get yelled at by a guy or two from the other team. I was on first (and well into being blinded) and had inched away when the next batter for my team hit a fly ball, I inched a little farther (I kept in mind that if they caught it, I would have to get back to first before the ball, so I didn't go too far). But sure enough, they caught it, and they were quick to throw it to first. I got there first, but man, it was a little too close for comfort. Then that's when the other team yelled at me, which I didn't understand. They said I couldn't get off of first. What? Why? You almost got me out because I did! I am pretty sure I see baseball players do that all the time. But this is kickball and maybe the rules are different (dang...still haven't read those). Two of the girls on the other team apologized for his yelling at me since they were standing right by first base, that made me feel better.



The first and second placed teams didn't lose this week so we are still ranked third. They finally sent out some sort-of criteria today for how you make it to playoffs. They said that the top quarter to half of the league will make it. Since there are sixteen teams in our league, I'd say we are in. Well, lets just put it this way, if we aren't, then it would just be a championship game and not playoffs. But looking at the only schedule they've posted so far, it looks like all the playoff games are played on one night for a possible 3 total games (if you make it to the final championship game). Oh, and I think they will be played at the the dust bowl location, so that is something to look forward to next week.



Now, don't get me wrong about this competitive thing. We like winning and all, but there is a point where want to lose. See the "prize" for the winning team is being bumped from the super social league to the (non-super) social league. The Austin Sport and Social Club calls the social league the league for players with kickball skills. Now we shouldn't make snap judgements, but one would assume that they are a bit more serious about their playing. Lets be honest, that defeats the purpose of joining a co-ed team that encourages drinking. So our best case scenario would be win the games leading up to the championship game then completely throw that one game. Throwing that game would be our prize for what we would consider the overall win. That would be so much fun, unless the other team was trying to do the same, then it would just be ridiculous.



Afterwards we went over to the Virginians and we played....well what do you think we played? Flip cup, of course! We did try to play 3 man, but the game just didn't catch on. I personally believe it is because it wasn't competitive enough. This group only likes high-pressure competitive games apparently.



Seeing as to how the next day was the last day of school, and only a half day at that, I did not feel bad about leaving around midnight. But I did feel bad after they fed us greasy pizza for lunch and then going outside in the blazing heat for an hour to see the kids off. That was not so fun with a hangover but I think it was still worth it with as much fun as we had!