Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Flip Cupdate: Tournament Time

Quite a bit of shaking up throughout the standings after the busiest flip cup Thursday of the year. Suck My Kick rode a dominating 3-match clinic to the #1 seed in the tournament. Kicki Longstocking, Kick in a Box, and CBR all took their second losses of the season but also secured byes through the first round by going 1-1 on the night.

First round matchups are below, highlighted by the Wolfpac, who played a league-high 9 matches during the regular season and will take on the winless Anti-Heroes, and the 7-10-seed Bender Rehab-Cemento Cruz AZUL duel that pits two longtime league rivals who add their respective shirt colors to death and taxes as the only things you can count on in this life.

Check out the full schedule, standings, and tournament bracket here.

And here are the results from last week and the schedule for this week:

 

Rules for the Flip Cup Tournament of Champions:

- All rounds are Best of 7 (first team to 4 wins, don't have to play all 7)
- First 2 rounds: teams can agree on number of players (like regular season)
- Final Four: Seven players per side
- Higher Seed gets to pick table

First 2 rounds will be played Thursday, May 31 (Kickball Week 7)
Final Four will be played Thursday, June 7 (Kickball Week 8)
All games played at Nick's Beergarden

Happy Flipping!

Nice Kicks, Wanna Flip? vs. Just Hit It


Inspired by serious backflip action last week, Nice Kicks, Wanna Flip? took the field Zeus bolts a-thundering... unfortunately, Just Hit It got the better of them in the first inning and scored 2 runs. Not to be deterred, Nice Kicks held their ground with stellar pitching, solid fielding, and serious tunage. In the bottom of the 5th, their break came with Stephanie, and Mike immediately getting on base, followed by Alan's 2 run RBI. With a tie game on the line, and 2 outs Adam "I don't give a F if my roof is on fire/ Golden leg" Freid swaggered up to the plate, and kicked the walk off run, giving Nice Kicks, Wanna Flip? their second win of the season.

Later at Nick's, NKWF corrected the errors of Week 5 at the flip cup tables, handily beating Just Hit It. Kudos to all flippers, though, as hurricane speed winds made cup flipping a truly Olympian task.




Kicki Longstocking vs. Kick in a Box

The Kicki Perspective:

Kicki Longstocking had a tough game last week. I suppose we should pat ourselves on the back for some fairly solid defense. We just couldn't make anything happen on the offensive front. Oh well. Since I believe that only about three people on my team read this thing, the first non-Kicki to come up to me at the bar and say 'Woozle wazzle' will get a shot and a beer on me. This is a social experiment, so keep your mouth shut, Sean. Later that night at the bar, Kicki was delivered another tough loss at the flip cup table, but later managed to recover against another group of people wearing the same colored shirts. Worst. Kickball. Recap. Ever.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Bender Rehab vs One Kick Wonders




After weeks of effortless success and tedious domination, the One Kick Wonders decided to mix things up and play a more challenging game of kickball against Bender Rehab. This week, instead of playing with the standard kickball rules, the One Kick Wonders incorporated a more vigorous set of both physical and mental challenges. Instead of dealing with the monotony of trying to score points and strike the other team out, the objective of this week's game was to see which team could produce the most creative styles of kicking and the most number of variations of team members in the outfield. It was unfortunate that Bender Rehab was not able to adapt to the new rules as quickly as the One Kick Wonders were and failed to offer any sort of convincing competition. Like true artists, the renaissance women and men of the One Kick Wonders will continue to push boundaries and continue the search for a serious opponent.,

OKW

Flip Cupdate - Week 6

Week 5 saw another change at the top of the standings as the fall for Nice Kicks, Wanna Flip? from the top spot was as quick as the climb to it. NKWF lost both matches they played last week, including one to Kicki Longstocking, who regained the top spot with a 2-0 week (though it was close as the NKWF-Kicki match went to a tense Game 7).

This week is shaping up to be a crucial final week before the Tournament as the current 1 & 2 seeds as well as the current 3 & 4 seeds are matched up against each other. Stay tuned to see how it all shakes out when the Tournament Bracket is released right here early next week.

The full schedule and standings are after the jump - but remember: each team must complete at least 6 matches by the end of this week to be eligible for the Tournament. So for those of you who aren't there yet, get flipping!

IL Beach League!

For the first time ever, WAKA Chicago is running a summer beach league! It's going down at Montrose Beach and is only the third WAKA-run beach league in the country. Plenty of Millennium-ers are talking about it at the bar, so use the comments section here to discuss who's in and who needs a team!

Registration is open now and here are the dates you need to know:


June 6 & 13 - pick up games
June 20 - Opening Week
July 4 - No Games; Grilling and Fireworks to celebrate Independence
August 15 - Week 8
August 22 - Rain Week/Playoffs
August 29/Sept 5 - Playoffs

Kicki Longstocking vs Cemento Cruz AZUL

From the desk of Kicki:

The Blue team really blew it when they tried to beat Kicki Longstocking in both kickball and flip cup. Oh man, they must have been quite blue in the face. I think I even saw some of them crying into their Blue Moons at Nick's. The wind just blew in Kicki's favor last week, what can I say? Just ask Sean Wade, he kicked a home run well into the blue sky. Speaking of Sean, after sliding last week, his leg sure is black and blue. Also, big thanks go out to Kathryn for the Chick-fil-A, but bring some blue cheese next time! BLUE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Nice Kicks, Wanna Flip? vs. CBR


MVP: Patrick Ian "Packy" Morgan caught the ball mid-backflip.


Kick in a Box vs. Just Hit It



Kick in a Box celebrated at the bar after victories on the kickball field and at the flip cup table.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Flippin and Floppin

Nice Kicks, Wanna Flip? moves into 1st place this week after taking two matches last Thursday and watching both previously undefeated teams - Kicki Longstocking and Suck My Kick - go down.

Kicki lost the Das Boot Rivalry challenge to Bender Rehab in a match up that saw both teams playing to their strengths - Bender chugging and Kicki flipping. This time, the chuggers were just a bit better. Meanwhile, Suck My Kick went down to a surging Kick in a Box team that moved all the way up to 3rd.

Only two weeks left in the Flip Cup regular season, so make sure to get your games in or catch up where you need to! Playoffs begin in Kickball Week 7, May 31.

Full results and standings after the jump...

Monday, May 14, 2012

Suck My Kick vs. Kick in a Box

Kick in a Box remained victorious this week. Standout plays on the field included a fantastic snag in left field by Angelo, a home run kick by Matt and some crazy behind-the-back toss from first baseman Pete to pitcher John Matthew that didn't work out but looked pretty cool. Standout players at the bar included Amy, Blanch, Amanda and Erin for their spectacular interpretation of "Total Eclipse of the Heart."

Nick Kicks, Wanna Flip? vs. Anti-Heroes

Coming off the high of their first non-loss, the Nice Kicks, Wanna Flip? squad took the field with determination, purpose, and apparently a touch overserved. The top of their kicking order again proved lethal, as 7 runs were scored in the first inning. I lost track of who kicked a home run that day, and can’t find my clipboard to help me out… so if anyone has seen that beautifully highlighted sucker I’d really love to get it back.  (side note… I know the Anti-Heroes were truly jealous of this powerful tool I possessed, as they really did include it while talking smack about our team. You’re digging deep when you’re down 9 runs and talking smack about the other captain’s clipboard…)

I’d also like to credit a non-homerun to Manning, as yours truly was too slow on the bags (in sheer awe of his kick that went through the arms of several Anti-Hero outfielders) to round the bases in time. I’d also like to attribute some of our momentum to the bitchin’ beats that were playing in the background. Our tiny boom box will make more appearances. Get ready for impromptu dance parties, other teams.

Yadda yadda kicks, yadda yadda fielding… What the NKWF squad was MOST concerned about was flip cup. Unfortunately, we must have left Anti-Heroes quivering in their gym shoes, as only a few made it to the bar. Props to those people, though, they were ultra delightful, as well as formidable flip cup opponents, many of them double flipping. But again, to the victor go the spoils, as NKWF took all 7 flip cup games.
In conclusion, yay to Nice Kicks, Wanna Flip? for pulling in a great win at the field AND at the flip cup tables.

1…2…3… KEVIN!!!!

Kicki Longstocking vs. Bender Rehab

I love playing a team obviously overcompensating for their small penises.
The team that talks itself up the most, Bender Rehab in case you haven't heard, proudly wears the color pink, because it represents the color of their bush league playing abilities. They come onto the field strutting their toned asses (see picture below), with loads of jello "shots" that have less alcohol content than a keg of Zima. To top it all off, they come bearing a custom flip cup table even though they have the flip cup skills of a pixie stick.
If you've ever heard of Bender's trips to national kickball tournaments, you would have good reason think they were a decent team. You would be wrong, of course, but it would be a reasonable assumption. In fact, if Laurel and Hardy ever come back from the grave and decide to put on a kickball skit, they will find much inspiration from the unintentionally comedic team that is Bender Rehab.
Bender led off from the top of the first inning, but that ended fairly quickly as their first three swingers proceeded to strike out three times to our pitches. It's not that that our pitches were fast or sneaky. It's that their foot-ball coordination might actually be helped by a good dose of Parkinson's. So, after about two minutes into the game, better known as The Domination of Bender, started the bottom of the first, which turned into 45 minute barrage of kickballs into BFE Canada. We decided that even though they might be terrible kickball players, they were people too, and we gave the inning to Bender, so at least three more of their players would get a chance to swing at the ball. Since the score at this point was something like 538-0 we decided to help them out. Knowing that even slow pitches might be beyond their abilities, we just placed it on home plate. If toddlers can learn to play baseball via teeball, couldn't Bender learn to play kickball in the same manner?
Apparently not, since even with ball just sitting there, motionless, the inning ended just as quickly as the first one, and in the same manner as well, with each player swinging and missing.
After the assault, there was the official Kicki Longstocking-Bender Rehab Das Boot competition. You would think a team with their own Das Boots would actually be able to drink a beer or two, but apparently they only use it for Lemonade to go with their alcohol-free Jell-O. It was three on three Kicki vs Bender, and when I finished mine in 1.4 seconds flat, I thought I was seeing triple, but, nope, what I saw was actually there: three Benders leaning over the garbage can puking their guts out. As expected, we beat Bender at their very own Das Boot challenge.
Finally, it was time for the flip cup competition. Once again, given their obnoxiously pink flip cup table, you may think Bender were masters of flip cup, but the only thing they are masters of is Sucking. If Sucking was a sport, Bender Rehab really would be America's Team. They would probably win the Olympics year after year as well. As their bodies were already wasted from a few sips of alcohol from the Das Bootdown, they spent the entire time trying to finish that first drink and never actually got to flipping. As such, yes, Kicki destroyed again.
It was a good game, Bender, if you want to call it a game. Maybe next season you'll get to kick a ball or two.
Love,
Kicki Longstocking
Oh shit yeah! Oh fuck yeah! Ole shit fucking yeah! You know Bender Rehab be on the prowl for one more week of this kickball shit. Oh and look who we played last week, Kicki Longstocking. Now hey, let me lay down some knowledge on those of you who are not knowledgeable about this knowledge. From day numero one, Bender hath been layin' the smacketh down on this kickball group of kickballers. They want to be Bender Rehab, but guess what, they never will be because we put the BE in Bender Rehab! Suck it, Kicki! I will offer one quick Bender tip to those struggling teams: Never change your shirt color. What has two thumbs and prefers not to do the laundry for weeks on end? This guy! C'mon, it was so obvious! Thanks to having the same shirt color, I have been able to hold on to countless quarters. This comes in handy for shit like feeding the meter, getting yummy snacks from the vending machine and flattening coins on railroad tracks. Ya ever see that shit? It gets so damn flat. Aw yeah! Ole!
So, as far as the game. C'mon you know how that went. Let me offer some more wisdom. Bender's key to kickball pre-gaming:
1) Pucker: Once, I changed the P to an F on the bottle. Fucking hilarious.
2) Four Loko: Little known fact: Rink has this shit hidden in his cellar. Not the fake stuff. Real, fucking, Four Loko. Take this to Rush and Division and you'll be a king for a night.
3) Jello shots: I guess Rink once met Bill Cosby. Rink says he was "cool". You can't make this shit up, bro.
4) Combine all three: Think Irish car bombs, but for real fucking men. Mix and match colors. Taste the rainbow, yo.
Alright, there's your lethal combination for kickball success. Ole!
Of course, this did not let us down. I think we won something like 10-1. I don't know, I have difficulty counting during kickball (See 1-4 of the pregame guide). So does Rink. Oh shit, here comes another Bender tip/secret: Rink soaks his headband in Sparks the night before a game. (The original recipe! His cellar be deep!) So yeah, he's basically soaking up that shit through his forehead and his gorgeous highlights. No homo, bro.
Now, let's talk the bar. Das boot! Das boot! Knowing our weakness, (flip cup, so juvenile), we quick-witted Kicki into a match of Das freakin' boot. Now, here's something you may not know. We basically got the Kobyashi of boot drinking. Instead of swallowing wieners, he swallows beer...out of a boot! So we won. 3 for 3. No puke-age, whatsoever. I took that shit down like a pro. Sure, my liver probably hates me, but Rink said he'd buy me a new one in a few years.
Til' next week! OLE!!!!!






Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Flip the Def Ale With All the Fly Women*

As we enter Week 4 of the flip cup season, it's becoming more and more clear which flipping teams are for real and which need to hit the practice tables.

Kicki Longstocking continued their dominance last week by downing CBR 6-1 and improving to 3-0, while Suck My Kick matched their undefeated record by handing the Wolfpac its first loss of the year. Full results and standings are after the jump - remember, each team needs to play at least 6 matches by the end of Week 6 to be eligible for the Flip Cup Playoffs. Feel free to use the Mid Season Party this Saturday for make up games, just make sure to report your scores.


One Kick Wonders v Trashwater Boys

The OKW Perspective:

Per usual, the One Kick Wonders triumphed over the opposing team in kickball. This week's opponent was the Trashwater Boys. From an athletic perspective, it was obvious that the Trashwater Boys were not a real threat. The One Kick Wonders managed to have almost every team member score at least once and effortlessly finished the game with a score of 11 to 5. However, one cannot deny the pure genius of the opposing team's styling choices. The coach was dressed in a dove-grey fitted blazer and lightly distressed denim. Another member of the opposing team was dressed in a pair of homemade jean shorts (jorts, if you will). The jorts served as both a courageous fashion statement and also a serious distraction during the game. Needless to say, the jorts stole the show and all other details of the game pale in comparison.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Nice Kicks, Wanna Flip? vs. Cemento Cruz AZUL

From NKWF:

In an attempt to create a funny parody of a classic summerhit, it has come to this captain’s attention that our first non-loss should betold in amore epic tone, and end with some YouTube videos.
With the Zeus bolts threatening to char us all, Nice Kick,Wanna Flip? took the field. After 2 losses, we were determined to… not lose.And indeed, we took the field by storm scoring 4 runs in the first inning,three of which came from Adam Fried, who took the sage advice of “Kick the sh*tout of that ball” (from yours truly). With some solid fielding, the score was4-2 up until the 5th.
Unfortunately this rookie team still has a few kinks to workout, and allowed the tying runs to come in. As the storm loomed and kegs atNick’s threatened to run dry, we left the field with a tie. BUT IT WASN’T A LOSS!

In their jubilation, Nice Kicks, Wanna Flip? narrowlydefeated their formidable flip cup opponents in a score of 4-3. With a non-lossand a flip cup win, this goes down as the most successful week we’ve had thusfar.
In closing, the future is looking bright for this fledglingteam with tenacity on the flip cup tables. We would like to leave you, dearreaders, with some of our favorite tunes, the ones that PUMP US UP.




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From Cemento Cruz AZUL:

What a game we had on Thursday. While there was lightning and thunder in the sky there was also some commotion on the field. Good commotion that is. Azul started out the game strong, kicking in 2 runs in the first inning. Although they thought they did well, Nice Kicks came back and scored 4 runs to double the progress that Azul had made. The rest of the game it was up to Azul to make things happen. Although we had some strong innings and some promising moments we were unable to get any more people across the plate until the 5th when it was do or die. In the 5th inning we managed to fill the bases up. Rachel and Byron both got on base and it was up to Eric "Pedo" Pedersen to tie this game. And that is exactly what he did. With a big kick to the outfield both Rachel and Byron crossed the plate (with Byron sliding in making it a close call) and the game was tied. It was now up to Azul to take the field and hold them in order to end the game 4-4. Things were not looking good for Azul when Nice Kicks Managed to load the bases. But a slow kick to 3rd basemen, Pedersen, a hesitation to run by one of the Nice Kicks players and before we knew Azul had 2 outs and were ready to end this game. The next kicker came up. He waited for his pitch and kicked a pop-up to the outfield. Now, being the captain and the one he kicked it to I knew that if I didn't catch this ball I would never hear the end of it. So I called it and kept my eye on it until that ball landed right in my arms! Game over! We came back and tied the game. I can't say the same for flipcup as they definitely beat us in that. I am going to blame that on the short tables. It is so much better using the tall ones. Til next time!

Monday, May 7, 2012

Trashwater Boys vs. Suck My Kick (Week 2)

(Sorry these are late..)





Kick in a Box vs. Anti-Heroes

KiaB came out with utmost regard for efficiency with the storm clouds rolling in behind us (or so we thought).  Kicking was just an average day with 13 runs for 14 people playing. True highlights in the field of play were Nancy Diehl with a full sprint running catch, Dustin Axe leading off the game with a head first dive running to first, and Beth Davis’ graceful slide into third. The real hero of the game though was the absence of the injury bug and everyone escaped to play another day. At the bar the story of efficiency stayed consistent. The team motto of why flip twice when you can flip once was put into action as we finished 6-1 in our race to 7. Another day, another win…onto week 4.

CBR v Kicki Longstocking (aka Big Head Greg and the Kicksters)

The Kicki Side of the Story:

Kicki lost, and that's OK. Were we even trying to win? Not really. We could have gone up there and meticulously bunted, bunted, bunted and booted. But, c'mon, that's boring. You know it, I know it, we all know it. Bunting is hardly an excuse for fun. After bunting for 6 seasons, my eyes are now open. That home run last week, it changed me. I see things in a whole new light. Yes, I am enlightened. The satisfaction of extra bases is all too great. Sure, a double is possible on a bunt via an errant throw, but again, boring. You achieved nothing. You let the other team mess up. Bravo. Will bunting win games? Of course. You better bet Kicki will bunt their way through the playoffs. (Watch out, second place.) Teammates of mine are more than welcome to bunt. Feel free. But you better believe that I will be kicking for those unreachable fences every single chance I get. (Which is exactly that. A single chance per game. We have a large roster.)


Now, flip cup, that's another story. There is no bunting in flip cup. No real strategy. Drink your beer and flip your cup. Simple as that. With something so straightforward, it becomes that much more apparent the true depth of your team. Your time at Nick's will, and should, far exceed your time on the kickball field. And during those hours, Kicki will be handing you your ass in flip cup.

Your kickball spiritual guide,
Greg













 
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From the Desk of CBR:

Last week, Cheeky Bonnie Raitt went to bat with Kicki Longstocking and took the W 6-0. Stellar play from pitching phenom' Goetsch, first base wonder' Dr. Nagglesworth, and a stand out supporting cast brought home the bacon. Shout outs to the Marshall's and McFadden's for keeping it real and Andrew Weithe for his strong effort and nice shoes. Off the field, post game flip-cup ended in a CBR loss. Regrouping over the weekend, teammates were overheard building momentum: 'Cause you can't, you won't, and you don't stop / MCA come and rock the sure shot.' Robert Downey, Jr. looked on -- impressed.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

When I Flip, You Flip; We Flip

With the weather looking questionable for the games tonight, a quick reminder that Nick's Beergarden will still be open and tonight would be a great opportunity to catch up on your team's flip cup match ups. 

Through the first two weeks of the season, here are the results we have so far:

 
Which leads to standings that look like this:




Four teams remain undefeated, including three (Kicki, SMK, and CBR) that are also undefeated on the less-important kickball field. Coincidentally, the schedule for this week pits Wolfpac v Suck My Kick and Kicki v CBR, so those standings should look much different tomorrow.

Teams do need to complete at least 6 matches through the first 6 weeks of the season to be eligible for the flip cup playoffs in Weeks 7 & 8, so get flipping!