The Price of Victory

The Price of Victory

Considering we skipped the Week #6 recap, let's dive straight into Week #7 head on. No cute or clever introductions, just the nitty gritty meat and potatoes. But first, a special thanks to the Kickball Guru, Mr. David Garcia for picking up the slack last week and submitting the Games of the Week post. At least we had something to read on Wednesday. And while we are on the subject of the Kickball Guru, let's see how he did.

Match up #1 consisted of 4-Play v.s Kixxx. The predictions were as follows:

Spread: Kixxx -2.5

Over/Under: 6.5 runs

Prediction: Kixxx 4-1

Final:

Kixxx: 4

4-Play: 0

                  

Kixxx is still chugging along hard and despite one small misstep this season, they look poised to make another run at the King of Kickball crown. They are projected to take the #2 seed going into the playoffs. However there is one small hurdle standing in their way. The new sensation, Drinkers With A Kicking Problem are nipping at their heels. The Drinkers having convincingly made themselves the 2nd best team within the Sunrise Division. Next week they will have a chance to take their game to the next level. If the Drinkers can some how formulate a win against the Kixxx juggernaut, it will speak volumes. BUT, I sincerely hope they don't think they will be able to just roll up on Kixxx lightly. If there is one thing that Kixxx has shown Kickball Nation is to never count them out. They been humbling up and coming teams for many seasons now, for them its just another day at the office. Do NOT MISS this match-up.

Moving right along, Featured Match-Up #2 of the Games of the Week was the News Kicks on the Block v.s the Scoregasms. The predictions were as follows: 

Spread: NKOTB -.5

Over/Under: 3.5 runs
Prediction: NKOTB 2-1

Final:

NKOTB: 3

Scoregasms: 2

This game ended with a controversial final. The Scoregasms will tell you they were cheated out of a game. However some can argue they just didn't do enough to win it. The 1st cardinal sin you can commit on the diamond is to not to finish a play. Often players will try to shut down a play to argue a call, that is probably the absolutely worse thing you can do. Finish your play, then argue the point. It doesn't matter if that out could potentially be the 3rd out. That is just undisciplined defense. Its unfortunate when calls are missed, but it is part of the game. Either way, controversial or not, the New Kicks walked away winners on this one. The Scoregasms have to stomach a call, but it will be test to see how they bounce back this week. Its all about momentum at this point. Both teams are locked into the playoffs. The New Kicks have Its Burns When I Kick, which should be an easy confidence builder. However the Scoregasms will be facing a LTA team that has been flying under the radar. I think Los Totally Awesomes have an oppurtunity to catch the Scoregasms off guard and on tilt. It will be interesting to see how the Scoregasms respond after last week.

Match-up #3 featured an old school rivalry between two Original Six Members, the Drunken Monkeyz v.s the Shockers. The Kickball Guru made the following prediction:

Spread: Monkeyz -2.5

Over/Under: 6.5 runs

Prediction: Monkeyz 4-1

Final:

Drunken Monkeyz: 5

Shockers: 0

After being embarrassed by #2 Kixxx and then humbled by the up-and-coming Drinkers, the Monkeyz looked like the were in trouble. Their offense has been almost non-existent, but it is slowly starting to wake up. The question is will it be enough to keep up with the other powerhouse teams. Not to mention, their once dominating defense is only 7th best within the league. Beating a mid-range, but very good Lights Outs and then trouncing a declining Shockers isn't enough to convince Kickball Nation that they are back by any means. The were able to pull away from the Shockers, but the Shockers are also struggling in their own right. It always nice to see a good strong Rivlary game; however its disappointing when boths teams aren't playing at their peak level.

Match-up #4, and by far the most interesting, was between two rising stars. 2nd season hopefuls, Drinkers with a Kicking Problem and Suck My Kick, locked horns to see who, at this point, is the better squad. The Guru saw this in his crystal ball:

Spread: Drinkers -1.5

Over/Under: 5.5 runs

Prediction: 3-3 tie

Final:

Drinkers: 4

Suck My Kick: 0

Both teams have the personnel to put together a winner. A good amount of skilled athletes on both sides of the ball, thats for sure. What decided this game were all the mental errors out of the Suck My Kick squad and there were more than a few. SMK seemed to struggle on defense primarily. Many players were hesitant and confused on where to go with the ball after a catch and with the speedy, greedy Drinkers' kickers, that just spelled disaster. Compounding the defensive mistakes with some head-scratching base running translated into a 5-0 beat down. Oh and lets us no forget that SMK's leading offensive player managed to get himself thrown out of the game. The Drinkers are a solid squad and giving them any opportunity to make a play is going to put you in the grave. Suck My Kick was simply not mentally prepared for this game and considering the have an improving Drunken Monkeyz squad to deal with this week, they have no time to hang their heads.

Well that is all for now kickballers

Good Luck and Happy Kicking