Sun City Kickball - Surprises!

And then He said, "Let there be kickball!"

Written by: Rich Alvarez

Although it's early in the SCK Fall 2013 season, there have already been a handful of surprises, both pleasant and unpleasant. There are a handful teams out there that are doing, or better yet, not doing what we expected them to do. The Wreck Division is starting to show Kickball Nation glimpses of things that were not initially anticipated.

Looking in on the Wreck Kids, it pains me to say this, but as of last week, the Toe Jammers are somewhat of a let down. Kickball Nation was expecting a better start from last season's Lone Star Division champs. Even though they have an even 1-1 record, there is still much left to be desired. Their 1-run win was against a second-season team in This...Pitch!, an opponent they should have been able to handle easily. Their only loss however was a bit more understandable as it came at the hands of a solid Just Kickin' It. Although losing 3-0 is ridiculously far from a moral victory. The Toe Jammers are unfortunately plagued by a massive kicking roster of 19 that does them more harm than good. Bundled with the fact that they are nursing a couple of rookies, the Toe Jammers have unwittingly put themselves in a precarious situation. 

Now with that unpleasantness out of the way, we can move onto some more pleasant Wreck happenings. 2nd season team Pitches Ain't S*** is off to a good 2-0 start. Although they haven't beaten any extremely experienced teams, they are creating a moderate amount of offense with 14 runs and a stonewall defense of 1 run allowed. Granted the results must be compared to their caliber of opponents, the Alcoballics and Pitches, Love Me. This coming week's match up against Just Kickin' It will be a good gauge for both teams.

Going into the Fall Season, Pitch, Please! was one of the squads expected to do well and is living up to the expectations. With a fair amount of kickball experience under their belts, they are showing what they've learned within the competitive world of the King of Kickball division. Now they are applying it within the Wreck group and it's paying dividends. With 24 runs scored so far and only allowing 4 runs, their stats are looking favorable. However these statistics may be deceiving as they've only played two rookie teams, the Hash House Harriers and Cool Arrows. This week will be the true gauge of success as they are slated to play a red-hot Just Kickin It' team.  

The Kickballaz are another kickball squad who has had early success beating up on the poor rookie squads. They have tallied 29 runs thus far, but again, they have yet to play a meaningful opponent. This week won't be any different as they are getting another rookie team in the Hash House Harriers. Looks like the Kickballaz are up for another 14+ run kind of night.

Last but not least, mentioned numerous times throughout this article has been the strong play of Just Kickin' It. JKI is currently 4th within the Wreck Division standings. Although they might not have the impressive statistics of the other 3 league leaders, they have played the tougher opponents with favorable results. This coming week they'll be facing another prime opponent in Pitch, Please!. With the Kickaholics and the Toe Jammers already notched onto JKI's win belt, they'll be looking to put another notch with a win against Pitch, Please!

That's all for now kickballers,

Good Luck and Happy Kicking

  

 

Lone Star Kickball Week 5 - Animal Style

Animal Style

Written by:Rich Alvarez

After some weather problems during Week 4, Lone Star Kickball continued on with Week 5 which included a full schedule and a re-scheduled game.

The re-scheduled game would feature Screamin' Kixxx against the rookie squad 915 Changos. Unfortunately a mis-communication led to the 915 Changos missing their 6:30pm game time, which may have not been such a bad thing for the Changos. They were facing a potential bloodbath at the hands of Screamin' Kixxx, who is currently LSK's lead scorer at 28 runs. Screakin' Kixxx would have easily put up another 16-17 runs towards their season total. The Changos were able to avoid a long, painful game. However even if the 915 Changos would have endured an early night loss, they still would have ended the night on a high note, as their second game of the night ended in a more favorable result.

On the scene of the win less teams, the 915 Changos and Da Krew would face each other in a battle to earn their first win. The Changos have shown to be the stronger team through the early part of the season. While the Da Krew continues to struggle in finding their kickball footing. Although the match-up started off close, the Changos quickly took control and ousted Da Krew to the tune of 9-3. 

Also during Week 5, the under-achieving Smoking Aces were matched up against Where's My Pitches At. WMPA has shown much improvement over the last couple of weeks, especia

lly during Week 4 as they almost took down the Animals, but were able to at least walk away with a tie. Their opponent the Smoking Aces have been inconsistent to say the least, but they were firing on all cylinders during this match-up. They quickly got their offense on track and finished the night with 9 runs, but only gave away 1 run. Things are looking up for the Smoking Aces as they are finally starting to gel together.

Last match-up of the night featured an onslaught of offense, as the Animals went Animal Style on the Billy Bad Asses. The Animals opened up an 11 run barrage during the 1st inning that the Bad Asses couldn't away from. However the Bad Asses were eventually able to stop the bleeding and mount a counter-offensive. It wouldn't last long though and wouldn't be enough as the Animals rounded out the night with a 14-7 victory.

Until next week,

Good Luck and Happy Kicking !

Just Kicking It Surprises the Toe Jammers

Written by: Mark Couto

Just Kickin It vs. Toe jammers

Game one at Memorial Field provided an interesting matchup between Lone Star League champs Toe Jammers against Just Kicking It (JKI).  Fresh off a dramatic come from behind victory JKI kept that momentum going with an impressive 3-0 victory.

JKI quickly put up all three runs in the first inning with well placed kicks and alert base running.  Not to rain on the JKI parade but the Toe Jammers didn’t help their cause as mental and fielding errors, in particular, the Toe Jammers catcher quickly unraveled their composure.  The first inning miscues were a dropped pop out to center field, a missed peg out vs. the easy throw to first, and an ill advised throw to throw that allowed a run.

The Toe Jammers were unable to mount a scoring threat against JKI. As JKI limited the Toe Jammers to only 3 hits through 5 innings with solid pitching and fundamentally sound defense.  The victory placed JKI a top the Wreck League standings as they turn their sights to a week 3 matchup against Pitch, Please.

SCK Week # 2 - Game Day Breakdown

New Kicks kicker blasts one!

Written by: Rich Alvarez

Now with all the Opening Day formalities behinds us, Sun City Kickballers can now get down to the nitty gritty of the regular season. There were some substantial game-play statements made on Opening Day, but will those statements carry over and continue through the regular season or can some of them be chalked up as flukes. We now begin the journey as we enter Week #2.

After an Opening Day disappointment, Pitches Love Me has a chance to rebound against rookie team the Alcoballics. Even within the Wreck Division and it's new "fun" rules, experience is a major player. Expect Pitches Love Me to use their experience to start heading on a winning streak, while the Alcoballics continue with their growing pains. 

The Royal Tenenballs are known for their fun loving ways, but now they are being recognized for their winning ways. This week they'll have kickball squad This...Pitch!, who is still a bit of mystery even in their second season of kickball. The Royal Tenenballs have some athletic players that seem to be making the difference, that being said, the Tenenballs will walk away winners in this match-up.

Veteran squad Pitch, Please is looking at another favorable match-up this week as they take on the returning Hash House Harriers. Last week they had Wreck newbies Cool Arrows and easily defeated them 11-0. Look for more of the same as the Hash House Harriers still need some time to get back into the swing of things. 

The Kickballaz had an impressive Opening Day match-up even by Wreck standards. They tuned up the Alcoballics 13-0, which was the most runs scored last week. This week they will have another lucky draw as they face another rookie team Cool Arrows. The Kickballaz will put up another heap of runs at the expense of Cool Arrow's inexperience. 

Rounding up the Wreck League, the Toe Jammers will be battling against Just Kickin It which should be a great game to watch. The Toe Jammers are coming a Lone Star Divisional Championship and are expected to do good things. However they are off to a slow start with their small 1-0 victory against This...Pitch last week. Now they will be locking horns with Just Kickin It who, just last week, had to battle back against a 1-4 deficit while playing a solid Kickaholics squad. They were able to come back with a 5th inning rally to win  5-4. With lofty expectations, the Toe Jammers may find themselves in an early season battle against a tough Just Kickin' It team. Don't miss this one.

In the King of Kickball Division, 3 of the 4 match-ups should be easy enough to decide. Kickin' N' Screamin' will be taking on the Scoregasms, who after falling to Kixxx 8-0 last week, are in no shape to wrestle with a powerhouse. Eyes will be on this game just to see if KNS can top the 8 runs Kixxx put up last week.

After an impressive display last week against KNS, although it was a loss, I'd Hit It will have a breather this week as they test the metal of mid-tier team Suck My Kick. This will be the 1st of 2 "easy" games for IHI, as they prepare for a marque match-up against Kixxx during Week 4. IHI will use the next couple of weeks to work on getting better and staying sharp. On the other side of the coin, SMK will be testing the competitive waters to see where they truly stand within the division and prepare for a 5 game onslaught of heavy hitters.

Although it will be the Game of the Week, the Smoking Aces should easily handle the mighty unicorns of Los Totally Awesomes. The Smokin Aces will be looking to work of their offensive prowess and see if they can string together more than one run. Los Totally Awesomes will have to really be on their toes if they hope to keep up with an extremely talented Smoking Aces team. Check out all the Live Kickball Action on Rio Pod Co TV at 9pm.

Last but not least, defending champions Kixxx will be taking on the scrappy squad of the New Kicks on the Block. NKOTB had a good showing against the Smoking Aces last week, a couple of miscues made all the difference. They tend to play Kixxx well and is always a treat to watch. Kixxx finished Opening Day with a 8-0 stomping of the Scoregasms. Hopefully they won't be flying too high going into their match-up with NKOTB. Very interesting match-up here.

That is all for now, Good Luck and Happy Kicking!

   

Fall 2013 - King of Kickball Predictions

Written by: The Kickball Guru . . 

SCK Fall 2013 will kick off tonight, and many people wonder what happened to all the competitive teams as we are now down to 1 division of 8 teams as opposed to 2 divisions of 8 last season. So what happened to the other teams and who is sill around? While we lost thundercats, drunken monkeyz, balls and dolls, sit on my base, drinkers with a kicking problem, lights out, and rollin balls due to time constraints and other teams creating hybrid/super teams, we also lost pitch perfect and kickballaz to the wreck league. So now only 8 teams remain and here is a breakdown of what to expect and what their final records I believe will be.

8. Scoregasms- The scoregasms are coming off their worst season ever played here at SCK. They only won 2 games last season in which both were by forfeit. Does this mean they are no good? Absolutely not. Lack of practice, too many roster changes season in and out and also losing their pride in Tony to go ump hurt them greatly. So what do I expect from them? Well with the talent pool being so deep in every team, I believe this is gonna be a really bad season for the scoregasms. This just goes to show how stacked this division is this season.

Spring 2013 Record- 2-6

Fall 2013 Prediction- 0-8

7. Suck My Kick- Suck My Kick is also another team coming off their most disappointing season after showing so much promise the 3 seasons before that. Losing some of their better players and their pitcher didn't help. This season they picked up a past championship winning pitcher in Rich who knows how to control the game properly. Only question is, can he lead this team to a decent season? Very doubtful. I'll look at this season as a rebuilding/chemistry building one.

Spring 2013 Record- 2-6

Fall 2013 Prediction- 1-7

6. LTA- Chuck is back on LTA and he has brought back some true vets to help make LTA relevant again. Bringing some of the ex pandas will help him on both offense and defense. Every season Chucky grows as a player and is starting to looking more and more promising as a pitcher, and that will bring any team he is on success. However, he will have the same issue as the scoregasms and SMK. Just way too uch competition in the division. The best part for LTA is that they can not do any worse than last season

Spring 2013 Record- 0-8

Fall 2013 Prediction- 2-6

5. New Kicks On The Block- Domino and his family decided to give it a go for another season after contemplating retirement after last season. The only thing that changed that was all the questionable calls against champion kixxx left a sour taste in their mouths. So how will they fare this season? They are #5 on my list because they will be playing smoking aces right off the bat with absolutely no practice. So that leads me to believe they will drop one early. Other than that they should beat up on the teams listed above

Spring 2013 Record- 5-2-1

Fall 2013 Prediction- 4-4

4. Smoking Aces- Now comes the only unfamiliar name on the team sheet of the king of kickball division. The smoking aces are the reason for the league losing 3 teams to make 1. So is this a super team? Many would say yes considering that they have a total of 3 championships on this team alone. While they have a lot of talent on this team, the pitcher (Mike) always seems to make his teams fall apart. Don't get me wrong he is an above average pitcher but loses his cool way too quick and gives up on his team (quarterfinals vs thundercats). Now if he can keep it together, this team will do a lot better than I think. Another big issue is that they need to have 1 coach only and not 5. In my humble opinion it needs to be Reid Hanson and he should not let anyone else tell him otherwise. If they can get it together within the first 8 weeks, expect to see them in the final four at the very least.

Spring 2013 Record- 12-10-2

Fall 2013 Prediction- 5-3

3. I'd Hit It- While many always give this team a hard time and never give them the credit that is due, I have always considered them to be an elite team. Have they had their not so good seasons? Sure but they seem to become more and more consistent. With their catcher only getting better it seems like Lucas doesn't have all the stress in the world to have to win games by himself. He needs to start believing in his team. The moment when he tries to do everything himself, that's the moment they lose. Example was the championship last season. Will it look better for him this season? I believe it will. Will he make the championship? Yes. Will he win? Probably not.

Spring 2013 Record- 5-1-2

Fall 2013 Prediction- 6-1-1

2. Kixxx- Last season there was finally a new champion after 5 seasons. Kixxx came out and put I'd Hit It away convincingly by dominating them 4-0. Will they be back to back? Possibly. The only concern here is that they lost their 3rd and 1st basemen. They lost the two people who run the team properly. They lost two big kickers in their line up. How much will this affect them? Not so much considering they picked up 2 really good players. Only problem is that those two do not really play either one of the positions that Raul and Joe play. So This might be their toughest season yet. 

Spring 2013 Record- 6-2

Fall 2013 Prediction- 6-2

1. KNS- After losing in the semi finals for the first time since they lost to kixxx back in their first season, word on the street is taht KNS is coming back with a vengeance. Did Kixxx awaken the sleeping dragon by knocking them out early last season? It will be tough to tell as I have heard that Rick did not get the players that he was hoping for this season. With that being said, KNS is still the most consistent team SCK has to offer and no one can argue that. So will they do well? Absolutely. Will they get sent home early again or are they championship material again? Only time will tell but don't think they will do any less than what they did last season.

Spring 2013 Record= 8-0

Fall 2013 Prediction- 7=0=1

Don't forget to check out the game of the week today at 9pm at Alta Vista. We have KNS vs I'd hit it. Tough game for both teams to open the season. Good luck to all the teams

Lone Star Kickball Breakdown - Fall '13

It was only a matter of time before the growing popularity of competitive kickball spawned a new local league. Lone Star Kickball is the new kid on the block and will be looking to make its mark on the local El Paso sports scene. LS Kickball is a Thursday night kickball grass league, featuring national Kickball 365 tourney rules. After the lack luster El Paso Kickball, continuously failing competitive players, LSK will be looking to become the premiere grass kickball league in El Paso.


 Although LSK's inaugural season only features 7 teams, the league size is considered on-par for any new sports league. However for being such a small league, the talent pool is huge. The best and brightest local kickballers all signed up to try their hand Thursday nights. Let's take a look at the inaugural team's for the LSK Fall '13 season.

After looking at the team list, three team names immediately jump out as unrecognizable. 915 Changos, Da Krew, and Where's My Pitches At.

The only intel I could gather up on the 915 Changos is they are a Three Legged Monkey team, the league's sponsor. I'm not sure if that means the team is made up of staff, patrons, or actual 3 legged monkeys, but nevertheless my gut tells me this may be one of those inexperienced teams that is putting in their first attempt at kickball. Unfortunately for these rookies they are in a fairly fierce group of experienced kickball teams so they will have to learn the game fast or they are doomed to be the league's punching bag.

Da Krew

The other team that is unfamiliar is Da Krew kickball squad. I had a chance to see them briefly play this past Thursday night. The team contains a group of young and seemingly athletic players.  However the lack of experience is more than evident. To steal a classic line from the movie Days of Thunder, they "looked liked a monkey fuckin' a football out there". Their roster doesn't contain any recognizable names, although my understanding is some of the roster has some kickball experience. On a bright note, they had an awesome female in right field, didn't catch her name. Anxious to see if their first game was just Opening Day jitters. Maybe they can cut down the kickball curve quickly.

The last team mystery team is Where's My Pitches At!. I do know that they are a disgruntled Epk team that was looking for a better home and may have found it at LSK. Other than that, info on this team is also sparse. I believe they were a playoff team within Epk, semi-final team, but don't take that to the bank, need to do some more research. We will see what they have within the coming weeks.




The next group of teams are all filled with seasoned kickball veterans. Starting off with the Billy Bad Asses, aka the Shocker Killers. The Bad Asses were Sun City Kickball regulars, although they no longer exist, a portion of their players reside with current SCK team Pitch, Please. The Billy Bad Asses do not have a marque roster, but they have always been known for tenacious play. Not sure how much experience they have playing on grass, as they earned their stripes playing on a traditional dirt diamond, but they should be ok regardless. Worst case they have the 3 inexperienced teams to beat up on, but don't count them out on the more competitive side. Back in the day when the Shockers were the KNS of now, they had a knack for taking down giants.

Moving onto the most recent championship team, the Animals. These Animals currently hold the title as the Sprummer '13 Epk champions,  a major note worthy victory. The title was earned on grass which is why they have thrown their hat into the ring with LSK. A solid roster and they have a pitcher/catcher combo that is a force to be reckoned with. Although they don't have the big names like a couple of the other teams, they have the power and skill in all the right places.

The last two teams have undoubtedly the biggest names and most experience. First up we have Screamin' Kixxx, which is basically Kickin' N' Screamin' sprinkled with a handful of Kixxx players. They are an extremely seasoned traveling team and have proven themselves on the grass. Again, they are the team to beat. Every time they travel out of town they get closer and closer at winning an Kickball 365 title. This extra practice should come in handy come tourney time.

The next big team is hybrid Smokin' Aces. They are a combo Thunder Catz, Drunken Monkeyz, and last but not least the Shockers, aka Sit on my Base. Three veteran SCK teams have combined to make the assumed monster that is Smokin' Aces. However Im not convinced they will be as dangerous as Kickball Nation is predicting them to be. It takes more than grouping a bunch of all-stars to make a good solid team

Well that in a quick nutshell are the inagural Lone Star Kickball teams, but the conversation doesn't stop here. Tune into the new IJK Ustream show to get an in-depth look at each team and their rosters.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/itsjustkickball

Until next time Happy Kicking and remember It's Just Kickball.

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Kickball All-Star Roster

In honor of the MLB All-Star game this past week, IJK constructed an All-Star Kickball roster to recognize the best players in the following categories: Best Male and Female Offensive Player, Best Male and Female Defensive Player, Best Catcher, Best Pitcher, Best Defensive Team, and Best Offensive Team. 

Through your nominations and research It's Just Kickball has come up with the final results! View the webshow edition here : http://www.ustream.tv/channel/itsjustkickball

Best Offensive Team

1st Team: Kickin' N' Screamin'

2nd Team: Kixxx

Honorable Mention: Drunken Monkeyz

Best Defensive Team

1st Team: Kickin' N' Screamin'
2nd Team: Kixxx
Honorable Mention: I'd Hit It

Best Offensive Male
1st Team: Albert Villegas - Kickin' N' Screamin'
2nd Team: Joe Davila - Kixxx
Honorable Mention: Kixxx Line Up

Best Offensive Female
Rocio Sandoval - Kickin' N' Screamin'
Michelle Enriquez - Thunder Catz
Sarai Rubio - Los Totally Awesomes

Best Defensive Male
1st Team- Heribeto Sosa - Kickin' N' Screamin'
2nd Team - David "Domino" Fernandez - New Kicks on the Block
Honorable Mention - Angel Meza - Kixxx

Best Defesnive Female
1st Team - Nadia Morales - Kickin' N' Screamin'
2nd Team - Ashleign Decker - Drinkers with a Kicking Problem
Honorable Mention - Kelsey Masters - Kickin' N' Screamin'

Best Catcher
1st Team - Marco Gallegos - Kickin' N' Screamin' 
2nd Team - Reid Hanson - Drunken Monkeyz
Honorable Mention - Aaron Bracamontes - The Royal Tennenballs

Best Pitcher
1st Team - Rick Delgadillo - Kickin' N' Screamin'
2nd Team - Lucas Quimiro - I'd Hit It
Honorable Mention - Jose "Pipi" Delgado - Kixxx

It's Just Kickball teams up with Rio Pod Co.

It's Just Kickball is pleased to announce that through a partnership with Rio Pod Co. , IJK will be bringing kickball enthusiasts live kickball action during Sun City Kickball's Fall 2013 season.

We will be live podcasting featured games, as well as bringing you a    post-game wrap-up report to get you all the scores, news and catch some player and coach interviews.

Also be sure to tune into Rio Pod Co's newest sports show - Who's on First - Sunday evenings starting at 5:30pm MST. Catch some informative yet comedic takes on current sport headlines, as well as tuning in for the It's Just Kickball Report, which will feature local league analysis, as well as national kickball news. Don't miss out Kickball Nation!

You can search and download Rio Pod Co's app from the Google Play Store or listen in through Stitcher.

Happy Kicking!