Monkeyz Bow Down

As anticipated, the Week 3 match-ups followed the written IJK script almost perfectly, well almost. That was until the Shockers decided to ad lib, and in surprising fashion, convincingly beat the dreaded Drunken Monkeyz. However before we journey down that road, let's recap the two other marque match-ups of the night.

As predicted, the Balls & Dolls struggled on defense against the heavy hitting Kixxx. Kixxx has some very good offensive weapons and they were able to put them to good use this week. Unfortunately for the Bs&Ds their team's defense was borderline atrocious. Too many dropped balls, missed assignments, and overall poor execution. Kixxx was able to take advantage of each and every mistake and they put up a decisive 8-2 victory. Kixxx will head into an early bye-week next week. While the Balls & Dolls are going to have to quickly regroup and prepare, as they face their long time rival Shockers next week.

I'd Hit It got crushed at the hands of KNS this week. This was the general expectation through much of  Kickball Nation; however like they say, "Any Given Wednesday", just not this Wednesday. As always, Kickin' N' Screamin' is looking strong and showing that they are the team to beat. Their next match-up is against the wavering Drunken Monkeyz, should be a great game to watch.

And now comes the worst part, all was right with the world Wednesday night, that was until the Shockers decided to ruin my 3-team parlay by taking down the Drunken Monkeyz. The once again relevant, revived Shockers are again showing why they are always considered an elite team. IJK does it's best to give an objective point of view. Also I personally try to, "call it like I see it". No agenda, I follow the stats and evidence. By all accounts the Shockers should have lost to "the Machine". Now this was not just my opinion, this was also another generally shared consensus by other players and coaches. For example,  KNS Coach and kickball veteran, Rick "The Million Dollar Man" Delgadillo quickly conceded the game as over as soon as the Drunken Monkeyz scored their first run. However to everyone's surprise, that was not the case. The Shockers were not only able to beat the Monkeyz, but they were able to do it in convincing fashion. Hats off to the Shockers. Let's see if they will keep up their winning ways through the rest of the season.

Now on the Monkeyz side of the ball, the most interesting observation of the night was their complete and total mental shut down. As the mistakes started to compound, you could see and feel the frustration level rise. Even the half-hearted attempts to regroup and focus were in vain. Which unfortunately means the Monkeyz may be slipping on their mental toughness. Their next match-up is against powerhouse KNS, it will be extremely interesting to see how and if the Monkeyz bounce back. However it will hard to do against a very tough Kickin N Screamin.