After a rainy week, the clouds parted and the mood lifted for the start of the 2012 KVKL season!!  What a great day to kick off the first week of play.  Every kickballer seemed to be enjoying getting back into the swing of things.  And win or lose, it seemed like we were all having fun.

Here are my “Week’s Best” for Week 1 of the season:

Best ensemble: Mick Cotton, for his patriotic look; complete with red, white, and blue garter

Best facial hair: we’ve got a tie here people, with Todd Foster from the Red Lyon and Rob Zernickow of the Love Garden Squids and their matching biker style mustache/goatee combo

Cutest dog: Penelope AKA “Peepee”, beagle dachshund mix; believe me, definitely heart melting

Shortest shorts: Jen from Love Garden; dang girl…  looking good!

Best sportsmanship:  the amazing guitar playing by Brendan Costello at game of the week and his rendition of the Star Spangled Banner; what an outstanding way to begin Game of the Week

Least sportsmanship: whoever the guy was that thought throwing a Frisbee across the crowd was a good idea; come on dude, really?

Justin Wesley, who will portray Wilt Chamberlin in an upcoming bio pic, “Jayhawkers,” threw out the first pitch.  Sorry if you missed it guys, but it happened.  We’ve got some pull!  Hats off to whoever put that together.  Wesley looked like he was having a good time, throwing balls with players in their pre-game warm-ups.

Aggressive base running from early on and fast play by both teams during Game of the Week led to an exciting match-up.  There’s something about being under those lights that really brings out the best in every player.  From well placed kicks on both sides to solid catches in the outfield, both teams had a fine showing.   A nice soccer style swift kick to get the second out of the 9th inning was definitely the stand out play of the game.  Way to go pitch! That play led to a nice soft toss for a last out and the end of the game.  Reign of Terror (formerly Sacred Sword) pulled it out 7-5.

Despite the chilly weather, players and fans alike showed up in droves to watch the game.  Jello shots flowed like water (thanks Hannah!) and I do believe I spied a pony keg in a Gatorade cooler.  Why didn’t I think of that?!  Spectator involvement is always a big part of GOTW.  I mean, who doesn’t love sitting on cold concrete and yelling at Cougar at the top of their lungs?

Look out for more posts this week.  And if you’ve got feedback, let me know.  Any suggestions for “Week’s Best?”