1. BARRACUDAS
Mascot: Nelson the Wonder Dog (He’s actually a Barracuda dressed up as a dog).
Motto: Put your shoes on
Following up a championship from a season ago, The Barracudas return a similar cast of characters. Two key losses from a year ago are speedster Matt Riley and heady kickballer Collin Baumchen. With those two moving on to greener pastures, we hope that our new additions can come in and contribute immediately. Last year we brought in three new female faces who undoubtedly contributed to the success we achieved last season. We are also happy to welcome the return of Lauren Adams (wife of co-captain Nick Adams) who was not able to compete at full strength last season as she carried a next generation KVKL all-star in her womb. Congrats to Lauren and Nick who brought Hudson Adams into the world a champion. I believe we were ranked 13th in the preseason last year, so that should tell you how useful kickball predictions can be (No offense Mick – I don’t know how good we’d be). We hope to compete and start off the season a bit smoother than last year. It’ll take another string of well executed kickball to achieve anywhere near the success we did last year, but that’s what the KVKL is all about.
Key Games:
– Week 5 vs. Screamers
– Week 7 vs. Slow Ride
Final Prediction: 6-1
2. SCREAMERS
The Screamers continuously live up to their name behind Captain Aaron Swaggerty who constantly heckles the opposition. I don’t know for certain, but from what I hear they’ve hit the recruiting trail hard this off-season and have made a few upgrades for the 2012 season. Over the past couple of seasons the Screamers have given a few of the elite teams a lot of trouble but have come up short more often than not. This may be the year they win a few key games and find themselves sitting pretty come post season time. They’ll likely have to navigate their way through a difficult pool if they play as well as I think they can.
Key Games:
– Week 5 @ Barracudas
– Week 6 GOTW vs. Slowride
Final Prediction: 6-1
3. SLOWRIDE
Motto: Why are you yelling bro?
Tradition: One big fart joke
Slowride enters the 2012 season trying to continue their winning ways. A season ago, they only suffered one loss in division play, and found themselves in pool #1 where they failed to win a game. After their slide, Slowride dropped to a #7 seed for the post season tourney. In the tournament they were not able to turn around their misfortunes and fell to the Screamers in a heated game in the second round. Slowride has added a few new pieces for this season, but the rest of the league will have to wait and see what they have in store. They are a totally capable team. Whether or not they can hang with the big dogs remains to be seen.
Key Games:
– Week 6 GOTW @ Screamers
– Week 7 @ Barracudas
Final Prediction: 4-3
4. DIRTY MIKE AND THE BOYS
Dirty Mike and the Boys are gradually growing into men in the KVKL. I can’t think of a better example of a team who has adapted to this league and gotten a bit better each and every season. I believe they’ve added a couple more pieces to their already speedy and sneaky attack. Will this be the year they move up as one of the leagues elite teams? Only time will tell. If so, they’ll have to find a way to win the tough, close games and hope for a couple upsets of their own. If they finish division play with a winning record they’ll have a chance to prove themselves in pool play against stiffer competition. But as kickball goes, confidence can be lost with a few consecutive losses. It’ll be interesting to see if the boys can play consistent kickball all season long.
Key Games:
– Week 1 GOTW vs. Asteroid Head
– Week 2 @ Slowride
Final Prediction: 4-3
5. ASTEROID HEAD
Last season was a pretty impressive season for Asteroid Head. They continuously played tight games with the top-tier teams and made their name known throughout the league. If they can improve on last year’s success, expect big things from this group of savvy kickballers. This team certainly likes to have a good time as well. It’ll be interesting to see if the confidence they built last season will carry over to this season or if they come out a bit lackluster. For a team I know little about, they are not to be overlooked.
Key Games:
– Week 1 GOTW @ Dirty Mike
– Week 7 vs. Rowdies
Final Prediction: 3-4
6. REPLAY ROWDIES
Fact: The Rowdies are a fertile bunch who have produced 3 rowdy babies and celebrated one rowdy marriage.
Motto: Rowdy RowdyUSA
It’s back to the drawing board for the Rowdies. This season they will be without a number of their key players from the past. Captain Dover has been scouting out rec leagues, ice cream socials, and handing out flyers after church in search of a few new replacements, so don’t count these crafty vets out just yet. This should be an interesting season for the Rowdies. They may take a step backwards from a competitive standpoint, but they’ll definitely still be a team who has a ton of fun while they play.
Key Games:
– Week 3 @ Dirty Mike
– Week 7 @ Asteroid Head
Final Prediction: 3-4
7. CHANNEL 6 TOE POKES
The Toe Pokes seem to be a team who is completely capable of competing every week, but seem to play up to the tougher teams and play down to lesser opponents. Assuming they have a similar roster to last year, they may have a bit of trouble trying to win consecutive games as the KVKL gets more and more competitive. The Pokes are a fun bunch of kickballers who seem to enjoy game of kickball more than worrying about the outcome every week. Cheers to that.
Key Games:
– Week 6 vs. Replay Rowdies
– Week 7 vs. Jazzhaus
Final Prediction: 2-5
8. JAZZHAUS
As the new kids on the block (sort of), I have no choice but to assume the Jazzhaus will struggle this season. As I’ve repeatedly stated, the league is more competitive than ever, making it even more difficult for the newbies make any big noise. The majority of this team is coming over after competing in the Lawrence Rec league last summer. It may take them a bit to get used to the speed of the game, but hopefully by the end of the year they’ll be getting better and better.
Key Games:
– Week 7 @Ch.6
Final Prediction: 0-7