To be quite honest, I had my head in the clouds all day Sunday.  I was simultaneously preoccupied, confused, overwhelmed, anxious, nervous, and flippin’ excited about the 1st week of kickball.  My significant other (we’ll call her Tammy) considers me totally useless on game days.  Does she not understand the hysteria this league brings to the masses?  Obviously not.  She is sadly, on those Sundays, a kickball widow.  I probably should cut her some slack.  Moving on……

I’m anxious to hear what other’s thoughts and experiences were surrounding week one.  I only saw part of the Liberty Hall/Tellers match and then the two Hobbs games.   Frankly, I didn’t see enough of this game at South Park to speak with any confidence about those two teams.   Tellers is new(ish) and Liberty Hall should be better than a year ago based on shedule and player adds. 

The Love Garden squad had a tough outing vs. the Eastsiders.  Yes, some of the Eastsiders play Friday night ball.  Yes, they were more organized.  After the first couple innings though, the game was never in doubt.  LG looked out of sync and disoriented.  There were bright spots.  Dave (CF) had a fine defensive showing and Christian (SS) had a healthy game on both sides of the ball.  Keep in mind the Love Garden captains and (arguably) two best players were away on walkabouts.  Love Garden has many talented players from which to choose.  Their trick will be finding the right combinations.  I know captains Chris (LF) and Kris (3B) are up to the challenge.  Once the newness wears off, they’ll be fine.  For you Love Garden/Billy Construction/Love Garden haters out there, they ain’t dead yet.  Keep an eye on them as the season goes and don’t be surprised to see them in the championship game again. 

Milton’s/Kulhmania/Eastsiders (don’t you just love these name evolutions) was a different story.  If you’re not familiar with these guys, go watch them sometime.  They are consistently top two or three every year.  Why?  Maybe the best combination of power and speed up and down the lineup.  Solid core group of players/leadership and defensively sound.  Yeah, I know, Sun Creations, Yellow Sub, and Jayhawk Guttering are pretty good but not as consistent.  Early on in the game they got runners on and -BANG- fly ball scores two runs.  This happened three or four times.  Add one no doubt home run by the new left fielder named Chris (selected by Robert from another Friday night team).  Seriously, no wonder it’s the same few teams that reach the finals.  They have a plan and they follow it without much deviation.  Oh by the way, Dan (3B) had at least seven RKI’s (runs kicked in).  Those were mostly fly ball outs.  Proof that outs can be productive, if you weren’t sure already.  Heather (2B) was on base three/four times……nice balance from their squad.  They had an A game and might be setting themselves up as a dominant team in the league, again.  Nice game everybody.

Other games: this is where I really need input.  I participated in the nightcap and was adjusting to a new situation, so I’d rather not comment on the JG/SC match up. 

In case no one does (a real possibility), let’s briefly look at the scores:  Jazzhaus bombed West Coast Saloon.  Both new teams, Jazzhaus with far more experience than WCS.  I think Jazzhaus will surprise some people.  Wildman/Dead Cats lost a close one to Rangelife Records.  Rangelife looks to renew the legacy of Jensen’s, I think.  The Screamers beat AstroKitty handily and will be tested this week against Sun Creations.  Mad Greek put the hammer down on the Solidarity folk.  Ouch.  Know you know how it feels on the other side.   Under new leadership, Replay handled Weavers.  Blue Collar and Girls With Low Self Esteem (love that name!) played a tight one where the LSE’ers won by a run.  Yellow Sub dapper-dan’d the ‘Staches setting the weekend high for scoring.  The Eldridge needed late inning heroics to outlast the Sword.  The Brew Ballers won a very close match (actually a one run game) vs. Larry’s Buzz,  both teams equally matched.  Red Lyon dispatched Slow Ride with some solid defense.  Tellers outlasted Liberty Hall in another tight game and Free State openly smote Open Sky Landscape.

It’s tough to take away a whole lot of anything from the first weekend.  Except that people were fired up about kickball!  Apparently, most of the games went on without much controversy and people kept their heads.  So, I say THANK YOU ALL for a successful weekend and may many more follow.