King of Kickball Championship Preview

The Angry Umpire begged to do a Championship Tourney preview. Its not too bad. Could be better, but I think he is finally starting to get it.





Written by: James "Too" Big Vargas


Now that March Madness is over, the Sun City Kickball community can finally start debating who will wear the next crown as the New SCK King of Kickball. There are bunch of upstarts that trying to make a name for themselves. We've got new blood and we have old blood, we've got the young upstarts against the old grizzled vets. One thing is for sure, April 17th will be full of joy and great heartache for new and old alike.

The Violet Femmes, Family Jewelez, Multiple Scoregasms and The Pirates! all had great seasons. However I would be extremely surprised if any of them advanced deep into the tourney. It would be nice if there was a Cinderella during the tournament to spice things up a bit, but it will be a challenge. Good luck teams.Now that I got that out of the way, let me start with the teams that play in Group C.

The new kids on the block KNDBLS have burst on to the scene like a feisty Chihuahua in heat. They look to be primed and ready. They bring one of the best D's to each and every game. My only question is will they be able to score enough runs to keep up with the higher scoring teams in the league. Are they a one hit wonder or will they make a run at the King of Kickball crown, only time will tell. Vicious and Delicious have me believing that they can make a serious run or at least score a bunch of runs. Has anyone seen these PEEPS kick? They can put up runs in bunches and score with best of them. But how does that old saying go? "Offense wins games, but Defense wins championships!" And unfortunately for them they seem to have more holes in their D than some of my old socks. At the very least they will make it interesting, I can guarantee you that.

Balls and Dolls were viewed by many as a pre-season favorite. They have done nothing to disappoint, but they also have done nothing out of the ordinary. All season they have been the model of consistency with or without some of their key players. If anything keeps them in the hunt it will have to be their Defense. They have only surrendered 4 runs all season. That's just stupid if you ask me. But can a team with no wow factor really win it all? I doubt it, but something tells me that they won't go down without one hell of a fight.

I've already written of the other teams from Group B, all except for 1. I'd hit it! They have to be the best team to be on if you want to have a good time. They’re solid everywhere. They've can score runs and defend like their hair was on fire. Just keep in mind that all this came against the group that plays at Jimmy Ochoa. They had their chance to step up during rivalry week and came up short to the Drunken Monkeys 7-4. All this leads me to believe that they are just a bunch of pretenders. Even though I think they will exit quietly, I want everyone to remember what happened the last time people counted them out. They did the unthinkable, they made a nice run and won 2nd place at the Kicktoberfest tournament. I'm not saying that they'll do the same thing, but they play with the heart of champion that can never be counted out. And now on to the big boys.

Group A is full of teams that can win it all. Many believed that the Shockers would be at the top of that list, but thanks to this super competitive division everyone has started to think otherwise. The Shockers started off hot winning their 4 first games. That was until they met the machine called the Drunken Monkeys. They then stumbled against the Billy Badasses and ended with what might be a season saving win against Kick N Da Balls. All in all they seem like a team that is over confident and not as hungry as they should be. They have no killer instinct and might be the victims of an early exit from the tourney. Now, getting back to the machine know as The Monkeys. How in the world do these kats, I mean Monkeys, keep hanging in there and winning games with just 8 players. That is a true testament to their strategy and excellent coaching. The pitcher, Rich, is always boasting about how no one can play with them 8 on 8. I'm not going to dispute that fact after the terrific season they had playing shorthanded. They are the consensus pick to win it all according to the voters on the blog. I think their new rivals, Scared Hitless might have something to say about that.

Scared Hitless is one of the teams that made the short trip from the Thursday league and from the start they showed that they could not only hang but thrive in Group A. One of my favorite players plays for them. His name is Julian. He's certainly one of the best catchers in the league, too bad he decided to leave for Army. Some might think that this would weaken their D. Let me tell everyone right know that they didn't seem to miss a beat when they went up against the B&D during rivalry week. Their only weakness that I can see is the they seem to get a little hot under the collar when things are tight. Are they stressing or are they cracking under the pressure? The King of Kickball tourney will reveal all and we'll find out pretty soon.

And last but not least we have Where My Pitches At? If I'm not mistaken they are the defending champs for the Thursday league. I really don't know what to make of this team. At times I have seen them look like world beaters and others they look like a bunch of snot nosed rookies out there. With all that inconsistency there's no wonder they've scored about as many runs as they've given up. (25-19) If they plan on making any noise during the tourney they might want to pick up the concentration up a few notches because as they stand I can't imagine them going anywhere.

There you go people! This is what I think. And remember this is just my humble opinion and has nothing to with anyone else or SCK. So with all that said GOOD LUCK to everyone and may the best team win.