Not sure how many of you folks out there have taken part of the Commissioners new GOTW voting process on the website. It's a pretty clever way to get some of the more active folks in the league to help take the burden off one guy every week. On most weeks there's a clear cut match up of Top 10 teams or rising powers set to face off, it makes it fairly easy. This wasn't one of those weeks.
The House Softball official GOTW is Fat, Drunk and Awesome v. Vito Power, a matchup that pits #1 v. #12 respectively. But, given Vito's recent loss to Scard Hitless, and the fact the FDA beat Scared Hitless, all things being equal, we probably won't see #1 fall in the standings this week. But more than anything, maybe we need to look at what makes a game of the week.
It can't be what game would you "want to see". Come on folks, it's slow pitch softball, no one wants to watch it. For me it's, what game has the greatest potential to be close or evenly matched. That game may not always have the flashy league leaders in it, but hey, this is the House League, there's over 120 teams and everyone deserves some credit.
Softball Guys Game of the Week Honorable Mentions
#102 Ogers v. #107 Thomas Pain - These two teams enter their match up with 2 wins and 8 losses combined. It's pretty obvious that these guys are more interested in the sideline activities and enjoying a little recreational beer league softball than they are in the outcome of the game. For me, this is a pretty even match-up. OUTCOME: Thomas Pain 13, Ogers 9.
#50 Penn State v. #53 Keystoners - Both of these teams are better than I think most folks would realize. Both teams play quality opponents and neither team has lost to a "bad team" yet. The Keystoners are coming off a very close 7-4 loss to DGS and Penn State is only 2 games removed from a 7-4 loss of their own to Potomac Fever. This ones gonna be close folks. OUTCOME: Keystoners 16, Penn State 12
Softball Guy's Game of the Week
#38 Raucus Caucus v. #39 No Talent AZ Clowns - in a showdown of Western teams, this pits a 6-3 RC team against the 5-3 Clowns. The Caucus three losses have all been to Top 15 teams and while 2 of the Clowns losses were to Top 15 teams as well, they are coming off a shocking 3-1 loss to underrated #71 Two Drink Minimum. Both of these teams are former Congressional League squads that have crossed over to the Dark Side, this game will go a long way in pushing the winner to the tournament and up the rankings. OUTCOME: Raucus Caucus 19, No Talent AZ Clowns 17
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
Coming up Big
Following a flurry of great match ups last night, two teams made big statements with blowout wins while two other teams made big statements with high profile wins.
The Libert Square Sliders dropped the Hired Guns in grand fashion 20-4, putting themselves back into the top 15 at #11. Meanwhile, Texas Republic knocked off a very good Moderately Sober team 15-10 to cement their place as one of the elite in the league. The Big Lebowskis showed the great divide between Top 10 and Top 25 but trouncing #22 Ugly Mugs by 25, and Scared Hitless got a very healthy quality win by beating Vito Power.
All 4 of these games got a lot of pregame talk on the Smack Boards with a few very close predictions by some of the board faithful, but a more interesting story from last night? A young team that's been trying to prove their good for a few years now topped a usually strong, perennial playoff team.
Capitol Punishment beat Owego Fire Department by 11 last night, and while that might not be a quality win by the rankings #'s, anyone who's been around knows that Owego has been a solid squad. The question: is Owego pulling and FDA and taking a year off, or is Capitol Punishment actually THAT good? We'll find out in 2 weeks when CP starts a 3 game series that includes matchups against Big Riggin, Vito Power and the Hired Gunz.
Also, in an unherladed, must win game for two usual suspects come playoff time, the Dukes of Haphazard beat Cold Hard Cash to set up a run back into the post season.
We'll see wat next week holds.
The Libert Square Sliders dropped the Hired Guns in grand fashion 20-4, putting themselves back into the top 15 at #11. Meanwhile, Texas Republic knocked off a very good Moderately Sober team 15-10 to cement their place as one of the elite in the league. The Big Lebowskis showed the great divide between Top 10 and Top 25 but trouncing #22 Ugly Mugs by 25, and Scared Hitless got a very healthy quality win by beating Vito Power.
All 4 of these games got a lot of pregame talk on the Smack Boards with a few very close predictions by some of the board faithful, but a more interesting story from last night? A young team that's been trying to prove their good for a few years now topped a usually strong, perennial playoff team.
Capitol Punishment beat Owego Fire Department by 11 last night, and while that might not be a quality win by the rankings #'s, anyone who's been around knows that Owego has been a solid squad. The question: is Owego pulling and FDA and taking a year off, or is Capitol Punishment actually THAT good? We'll find out in 2 weeks when CP starts a 3 game series that includes matchups against Big Riggin, Vito Power and the Hired Gunz.
Also, in an unherladed, must win game for two usual suspects come playoff time, the Dukes of Haphazard beat Cold Hard Cash to set up a run back into the post season.
We'll see wat next week holds.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Halfway there?
For some teams this is the halfway point, for others there season hasn't begun and for even more the season is starting to wrap up. But for the playoff teams, the crunch begins after the 4th of July.
It's about this time of year that the standings begin to gel and teams get a good sense of what they need to do to secure that playoff birth, or improve their seeding. For the first time in awhile, the field is pretty open for the top seeds. The re-emergence of Fat, Drunk and Awesome has landed them in the familiar territory of the Top 10, at #1 in fact. But, with games against DGS, Moderately Sober, the Dragon Slayers and a rather unusually high ranked Vito Power, FDA may find themselves sliding. Then there's the ever present DGS, Big Lebowskis, Pot Fever, Destroyers and Texas Republic lurking to take the top seed, but all 5 of those teams have rough final schedules ahead, most of them playing each other. Notably absent from that list, the Liberty Square "In"Sliders, the most obvious reason for that being that they've only played 5 games.
Knocking on the door of success are a fleet of teams who have always been good, but never really great. I mentioned Vito Power, who now sits at #6, they've got no breaks in their schedule basically from here on out, if they win out, they deserve the top seed, I find that unlikely though. Bases Loaded, Scared Hitless, Hired Gunz, Moderately Sober and the Big Sticks are all floating around the 8-15 range and could find themselves with first round byes if the current leaders beat each other up enough.
To date, not a ton of shocking news though. So I'll leave those of you still out there with my Top 10:
1 - Moderately Sober, yes, hidden in there record are quality wins over the Sliders and Slayers and only a 1 run heart breaking loss to Pot Fever.
2 - Fat Drunk and Awesome, they'd be #1, but a fairly weak schedule thus far.
3 - Texas Republic, still winning, still a top team to beat.
4 - Big Lebowskis, weak schedule, but still a heavy hitter.
5 - DGS, what can you say about a team that's always around.
6 - Scared Hitless, chance to make a statement against Vito Power.
7 - Vito Power, chance to make a statement against Scared hitless.
8 - Destroyers, great team, great people.
9 - Hired Guns, beating Big Lebowskis is a big win.
10 - Potomac Fever, play some more games, move up the list.
Most Beeriffic - Children of the Corn: From loveable losers to 8-0 this year, and some of the most prolific drinkers I've ever seen at Union Pub. These Children do Iowa proud.
It's about this time of year that the standings begin to gel and teams get a good sense of what they need to do to secure that playoff birth, or improve their seeding. For the first time in awhile, the field is pretty open for the top seeds. The re-emergence of Fat, Drunk and Awesome has landed them in the familiar territory of the Top 10, at #1 in fact. But, with games against DGS, Moderately Sober, the Dragon Slayers and a rather unusually high ranked Vito Power, FDA may find themselves sliding. Then there's the ever present DGS, Big Lebowskis, Pot Fever, Destroyers and Texas Republic lurking to take the top seed, but all 5 of those teams have rough final schedules ahead, most of them playing each other. Notably absent from that list, the Liberty Square "In"Sliders, the most obvious reason for that being that they've only played 5 games.
Knocking on the door of success are a fleet of teams who have always been good, but never really great. I mentioned Vito Power, who now sits at #6, they've got no breaks in their schedule basically from here on out, if they win out, they deserve the top seed, I find that unlikely though. Bases Loaded, Scared Hitless, Hired Gunz, Moderately Sober and the Big Sticks are all floating around the 8-15 range and could find themselves with first round byes if the current leaders beat each other up enough.
To date, not a ton of shocking news though. So I'll leave those of you still out there with my Top 10:
1 - Moderately Sober, yes, hidden in there record are quality wins over the Sliders and Slayers and only a 1 run heart breaking loss to Pot Fever.
2 - Fat Drunk and Awesome, they'd be #1, but a fairly weak schedule thus far.
3 - Texas Republic, still winning, still a top team to beat.
4 - Big Lebowskis, weak schedule, but still a heavy hitter.
5 - DGS, what can you say about a team that's always around.
6 - Scared Hitless, chance to make a statement against Vito Power.
7 - Vito Power, chance to make a statement against Scared hitless.
8 - Destroyers, great team, great people.
9 - Hired Guns, beating Big Lebowskis is a big win.
10 - Potomac Fever, play some more games, move up the list.
Most Beeriffic - Children of the Corn: From loveable losers to 8-0 this year, and some of the most prolific drinkers I've ever seen at Union Pub. These Children do Iowa proud.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
2011 Season Around the Corner
It's that time again. I was walking down by the mall the other day and I saw a group of folks getting in some batting practice, a few minutes of pausing and listening to the crack of the bat and the slap of leather and I got that old fashioned feeling back. It's softball season.
The 2010 season was filled with excitement, great games and quite the drama if you followed the message boards (I'll assume most of you who read this blog don't spend much time on the Smack Talk board, but if you ever want some juicy daytime dramedy that puts General Hospital to shame, just check it out). There were upsets in the tourny, nail-biters in the regular season, lopsided pastings and games that turned into drinking parties. All in all, another success.
Sadly last season, I was mostly preoccupied and unable to fully focus on the league, I hope to provide the few of you who still read my blog with a bit more timely coverage. I'm working on my pre-season preview now, but until then, get out and smell the freshly uncut grass and get ready for softball!
The 2010 season was filled with excitement, great games and quite the drama if you followed the message boards (I'll assume most of you who read this blog don't spend much time on the Smack Talk board, but if you ever want some juicy daytime dramedy that puts General Hospital to shame, just check it out). There were upsets in the tourny, nail-biters in the regular season, lopsided pastings and games that turned into drinking parties. All in all, another success.
Sadly last season, I was mostly preoccupied and unable to fully focus on the league, I hope to provide the few of you who still read my blog with a bit more timely coverage. I'm working on my pre-season preview now, but until then, get out and smell the freshly uncut grass and get ready for softball!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Bracketology
The Brackets are up and there is sure to be some excitement during this years playoffs. Clearly the team formerly known as "Insliders" has pulled the easiest draw this year, with very little standing in their way of an elite 8 bid except perhaps an unproven Lebowskis team, but this could be the year the Big L's get the monkey's off their back. The toughest quarter of the bracket has to be DGS, Moderately Sober, Keystoners and Harry's Full Disclosure, with the Blue Pups coming out of the first round along with upstart teams like Scared Hitless, Hired Guns and the Dukes of Haphazzard. So, here are the softball guys predictions.
Again, skipping the first round and moving on to Round 2:
DGS handles Scared Hitless with relative ease, Harry's Full Disclosure gets knocked off by the Hired Guns, Moderately Sober puts up a strong battle to the Blue Pups but falls in their opener, and the Keystoners fall to the upstart Dukes who advance to the Sweet 16 as a 41 seed. Sliders, Destroyers, BIJ, Pot Fever, Dragon Slayers and Texas Republic all move on with relative ease. License to Ill finds itself the victim of a 45 seed WAsabi upset making them the second 40's seed to move to the Sweet 16, while the Liberal Agenda takes down the Cap City Flyers. Big L's escape with their first tournament win in 3 years, the Saints hold off the Big Sticks, Owego Fire Department falls to an underrated Vito Power, and Capitol Punishment gets taken out by the Get Fresh Crew ending their cinderella story.
Teams Advancing to Sweet 16: DGS, Hired Guns, Blue Pups, Dukes of Haphazard, Sliders, Destroyers, BIJ, Pot Fever, Dragon Slayers, Texas Republic, WAsabi, Liberal Agenda, Big Lebowskis, Vito Power, Get Fresh Crew.
Round 3: DGS, Blue Pups and Dragon Slayers all win with ease. Big Lebowskis, still drunk off their first victory fall victim to the Liberal Agenda and fail to see Sunday. Destroyers face off with Big in Japan and the sheer power of BIJ's music sends the Destroyers home, while the Insliders hold off a scrappy WAsabi team to advance. The game of the round sees Vito Power's pitching shut down Pot Fever, while Texas Republic handles the Saints on their way to a shot at a repeat.
Teams Advancing to Elite 8: DGS, Blue Pups, TR, BIJ, Insliders, Dragon Slayers, Vito Power and Liberal Agenda.
Round 4: DGS and Blue Pups face off in a classic battle of old school titans with DGS getting the upper hand. Texas Republic sends Big in Japan packing. Dragon Slayers fall to Vito Power, making Vito the highest seed to make the final 4, and the Insliders mop the floor with the Liberal Agenda.
Teams Advancing to the Final 4: Insliders, DGS, Vito Power, Texas Republic.
Round 5: DGS faces long time rival Insliders (or Liberty Square Sliders) in a game that goes into the 7th inning still up for grabs. Some clutch hitting and defense by DGS secures a bid for the title. Texas Republic has ridden their offense into this semi-final game against Vito Power, but Vito's pitching dominates the pace keeping them in the game, but in the end, TR holds out and wins a shot at a repeat.
The Championship: Texas Republic enters this game looking for their second straight championship but are foiled by the Commissioner and his old guard veterans as DGS wins the championship. Meanwhile, the Insliders avoid losing the 3rd place game because there isn't one.
Again, skipping the first round and moving on to Round 2:
DGS handles Scared Hitless with relative ease, Harry's Full Disclosure gets knocked off by the Hired Guns, Moderately Sober puts up a strong battle to the Blue Pups but falls in their opener, and the Keystoners fall to the upstart Dukes who advance to the Sweet 16 as a 41 seed. Sliders, Destroyers, BIJ, Pot Fever, Dragon Slayers and Texas Republic all move on with relative ease. License to Ill finds itself the victim of a 45 seed WAsabi upset making them the second 40's seed to move to the Sweet 16, while the Liberal Agenda takes down the Cap City Flyers. Big L's escape with their first tournament win in 3 years, the Saints hold off the Big Sticks, Owego Fire Department falls to an underrated Vito Power, and Capitol Punishment gets taken out by the Get Fresh Crew ending their cinderella story.
Teams Advancing to Sweet 16: DGS, Hired Guns, Blue Pups, Dukes of Haphazard, Sliders, Destroyers, BIJ, Pot Fever, Dragon Slayers, Texas Republic, WAsabi, Liberal Agenda, Big Lebowskis, Vito Power, Get Fresh Crew.
Round 3: DGS, Blue Pups and Dragon Slayers all win with ease. Big Lebowskis, still drunk off their first victory fall victim to the Liberal Agenda and fail to see Sunday. Destroyers face off with Big in Japan and the sheer power of BIJ's music sends the Destroyers home, while the Insliders hold off a scrappy WAsabi team to advance. The game of the round sees Vito Power's pitching shut down Pot Fever, while Texas Republic handles the Saints on their way to a shot at a repeat.
Teams Advancing to Elite 8: DGS, Blue Pups, TR, BIJ, Insliders, Dragon Slayers, Vito Power and Liberal Agenda.
Round 4: DGS and Blue Pups face off in a classic battle of old school titans with DGS getting the upper hand. Texas Republic sends Big in Japan packing. Dragon Slayers fall to Vito Power, making Vito the highest seed to make the final 4, and the Insliders mop the floor with the Liberal Agenda.
Teams Advancing to the Final 4: Insliders, DGS, Vito Power, Texas Republic.
Round 5: DGS faces long time rival Insliders (or Liberty Square Sliders) in a game that goes into the 7th inning still up for grabs. Some clutch hitting and defense by DGS secures a bid for the title. Texas Republic has ridden their offense into this semi-final game against Vito Power, but Vito's pitching dominates the pace keeping them in the game, but in the end, TR holds out and wins a shot at a repeat.
The Championship: Texas Republic enters this game looking for their second straight championship but are foiled by the Commissioner and his old guard veterans as DGS wins the championship. Meanwhile, the Insliders avoid losing the 3rd place game because there isn't one.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Tourny Time
With the Tournament just around the corner and the standings about to go dark, it's time for the Softball Guy to make some predictions. All predictions below are based on the current projections for the tourny and that all teams will hit 10 games (a current point of contention), but the end result will likely be close to the same.
Skipping the first round and going directly to round 2, it's easy to see Pot Fever, Liberty Square Sliders (surviving the Blue Pups), Dragon Slayers, DGS, Destroyers and Moderately Sober to win their match-ups. The Dude and the Big Lebowskis also should prevail, but without a Tourny Win to date, we won't put them in as a lock just yet. Owego Fire Department could suffer an upset at the hands of the sneaky 44th ranked Big Riggin who will have knocked of the Big Sticks in dramatic fashion, but likely escape to play again. BIJ wins, but is scared by a renewed FDA team, meanwhile The Diplomats lose to the Tourny tough Saints. Capitol Punishment celebrates their rise from most Beeriffic a year ago to #15 overall with a close game but eventual loss to the Hired Guns, but the Keystoners hold off the 24sixers to advance. Texas Republic gets a scare from the formidable Vito Power, who manages to escape the Raucus Caucus in a one run affair, but TR pulls out the W and continues on toward a repeat. Harry's Full disclosure loses to the Get Fresh Crew, while License to Ill and the Cap City Flyers manage to win their matchups.
In the 3rd round, we see some real match-ups, the biggest being the Liberty Square Sliders v. Moderately Sober, with the Sliders tournament roster prevailing to advance closer to their eventual non-existent 3rd place game. The Big Lebowski's, drunk with the joy of their first win ever, fall to their much hailed friends the Destroyers in another epic game. Texas Republic knocks off the Bubby despite his 7 HR's in that game, while DGS, Dragon Slayers, Pot Fever, Keystoners, and BIJ all win handidly.
The Elite eight sees the Destroyers fall to the team formerly known as the Insliders, Texas Republic knock of the Dragon Slayers, Pot Fever advance easily to the final 4, and DGS takes down Big In Japan in extra innings.
The Final Four pits DGS against the Liberty Square Sliders and Pot Fever against Texas Republic. In a shocking upset only to Robbie Softball, Texas Republic explodes for a route of Pot Fever, in the game TR rocks the sage pitcher for 4 HR's and advances to the championship to defend their title. LNF's Sliders put up a fight against the Commish and longtime rival DGS, but the resistance is futile and DGS escapes a nail-biter again for a win.
Texas Republic marches into the championship game confident of a repeat, but poor weather turns a sloppy game against them, dragging their power down and allowing for the linedrive hitting DGS to make it a game. Both teams keep it close through 6, but in the bottom of the 6th DGS drops 5 runs on TR and it proves too much for the Lone Star team to overcome, effectively ending their bid for immortality and returning DGS to their former glory.
Skipping the first round and going directly to round 2, it's easy to see Pot Fever, Liberty Square Sliders (surviving the Blue Pups), Dragon Slayers, DGS, Destroyers and Moderately Sober to win their match-ups. The Dude and the Big Lebowskis also should prevail, but without a Tourny Win to date, we won't put them in as a lock just yet. Owego Fire Department could suffer an upset at the hands of the sneaky 44th ranked Big Riggin who will have knocked of the Big Sticks in dramatic fashion, but likely escape to play again. BIJ wins, but is scared by a renewed FDA team, meanwhile The Diplomats lose to the Tourny tough Saints. Capitol Punishment celebrates their rise from most Beeriffic a year ago to #15 overall with a close game but eventual loss to the Hired Guns, but the Keystoners hold off the 24sixers to advance. Texas Republic gets a scare from the formidable Vito Power, who manages to escape the Raucus Caucus in a one run affair, but TR pulls out the W and continues on toward a repeat. Harry's Full disclosure loses to the Get Fresh Crew, while License to Ill and the Cap City Flyers manage to win their matchups.
In the 3rd round, we see some real match-ups, the biggest being the Liberty Square Sliders v. Moderately Sober, with the Sliders tournament roster prevailing to advance closer to their eventual non-existent 3rd place game. The Big Lebowski's, drunk with the joy of their first win ever, fall to their much hailed friends the Destroyers in another epic game. Texas Republic knocks off the Bubby despite his 7 HR's in that game, while DGS, Dragon Slayers, Pot Fever, Keystoners, and BIJ all win handidly.
The Elite eight sees the Destroyers fall to the team formerly known as the Insliders, Texas Republic knock of the Dragon Slayers, Pot Fever advance easily to the final 4, and DGS takes down Big In Japan in extra innings.
The Final Four pits DGS against the Liberty Square Sliders and Pot Fever against Texas Republic. In a shocking upset only to Robbie Softball, Texas Republic explodes for a route of Pot Fever, in the game TR rocks the sage pitcher for 4 HR's and advances to the championship to defend their title. LNF's Sliders put up a fight against the Commish and longtime rival DGS, but the resistance is futile and DGS escapes a nail-biter again for a win.
Texas Republic marches into the championship game confident of a repeat, but poor weather turns a sloppy game against them, dragging their power down and allowing for the linedrive hitting DGS to make it a game. Both teams keep it close through 6, but in the bottom of the 6th DGS drops 5 runs on TR and it proves too much for the Lone Star team to overcome, effectively ending their bid for immortality and returning DGS to their former glory.
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