Tales of Kickball Glory, Part XXVIII

We had a kickball playoff game tonight. It was kind of iffy for a while, seeing as how we dug ourselves into a 4-0 hole after the first inning. But we stuck with it, held on, and went into sudden death rules after 6 innings. And we won.

(Also, it managed to stay comfortably over 60°F, which is nice for the first week of November in Virginia.)

My own performance was somewhat lackluster on the offensive side -- I had a fly out that (unintentionally) became a sacrifice RBI, as well as another fly out that just... sucked.

However, on the defensive side, one play that didn't suck, came when I was fielding at first base. The kick went to third, and the throw to first went slightly... wide.

I dove and managed to stop the ball, but I ended up hitting the deck, with my head was closer to the base than my feet. So, I cradled the ball to my body with my right hand, then with a fervor (I was told, later) seen only in Press Your Luck contestants giving their best "Big Bucks, No Whammies!" slap, reached out and tagged first base -- with authority.

I made the play, and (I was also told, later) took some of the wind out of the other team's rally.

Plus, I later made the last out of the game.

Adult kickball, as I like to say, is 30-45 minutes of light- to moderate-physical activity, followed by 3 to 4 hours of heavy drinking.

But every once in a while, it offers a bit of redemption.

Tags: fxa kickball, spitzer swallows

What Is, Stumbling My Way Into the Championships?

Back in September, I blogged about winning at Jeopardy night (sorry, "JOTTpardy" night) at Jimmy's Old Town Tavern (primarily because the frontrunner forgot to answer Final Jeopardy in the form of a question).

I got a call this week from Jimmy's saying, "Congratulations, you're in the finals." I replied, "Huh?"

I knew the three best scorers from all the weekly winners would get to play in a championship game, but I figured that my point total was low enough to keep me out of the Top 3, so I pretty much forgot about it.

I was sort of right -- apparently, one of the top 3 finishers had been an out-of-towner and wasn't going to be available, so I moved up into the championship game. (Kind of how Maverick and Goose made it to Top Gun after Cougar turned in his wings.)

Anyway, since crowd participation is allowed (and even encouraged -- you can shout out the answers), if you're going to be around next Tuesday night (January 29), stop by Jimmy's Tavern in Herndon about 8:30 pm or so and give me some help, and I'll buy you a beer out of my (presumed) winnings.

Tags: jimmy's tavern, jottpardy

My Friends Are a Bunch of Useless Drunks

And yet, Tuesday night, I still managed to eke out a win at "JOTTpardy," a flavor of Jeopardy at Jimmy's Old Town Tavern where crowd participation is not only allowed, it's encouraged. Without a single correct answer from my compatriots.

I got there late during the qualifying rounds, so I was thoughtfully volunteered to go up, but I made up for it in the tiebreaker (movie quotes -- easy ones, too: The "census taker" bit from Silence of the Lambs and the "mad as hell" bit from Network).

Now, going in, I had pretty low expectations. In high school, I was on an "Academic Challenge" quiz show team. We were smart. We practiced. We got stomped.

(Just like in the Voight-Kampff test, reaction time is a factor.)

I did OK in Heroes (song titles) and Spam Trivia, got blown out in Canadian Provinces (spelling) Carls, and, um . I managed to steal enough points that I was in second place going into Final Jeopardy, which was Bush Cabinet members.

I bet it all (less one), and as it turns out, got it right (I mean, really -- the Secretary of which Cabinet Department would you expect to make an appearance on Jeopardy?).

It would have been all for naught, though, since the guy in first place got it right, too... except he forgot to answer in the form of a question.

Hey, I'll take what I can get:

Tags: herndon, jimmy's old town tavern, reaction time is a factor

Little Victories at the Bowling Alley

Monday was the 13th and final week of our bowling season. This past season is one that I'd mostly like to forget, save for two events that happened this week:

* Someone, who may or may not be on our team, who may or may not have the initials "Tom Pitts," managed to let go of his ball on the backswing. It landed with a thud behind him.

That happens sometimes (not yet to me, though). However, the ball, which had a bit of topspin on it, rolled forward verrrrrry slowly into the gutter, making it halfway down the lane before stopping dead.

Oh, and did I mention that it was in the gutter of the lane next to our lane?

I was laughing so hard I cried.

(In subsequent trips down the lane, though, I think he had a death grip on the ball, which may or may not have led to a string of 4 strikes in a row. Hey, whatever works.)

* I was in the anchor position again tonight (which is pretty fitting, since I've been a drag on the team for most of this season). In the third and final game, the team scores were pretty close going into the 10th frame.

I got a strike, then knocked down 8 more. It was a split -- it was either a 6-7 or 7-9 (I'm not sure which, but the 7-9 is much harder, so it was probably the other one) -- so there were 2 pins remaining in the back: one on the left and one on the right.

I was the very last bowler of our two teams, and didn't look at the final team scores (didn't know... didn't want to know), but I figured we'd already lost, so I just went for it, starting on the right side (I bowl lefty) and aiming at the right side of the right pin.

I barely nicked it. It started wobbling. I thought it was going to stay up, until it slowly tipped over to the left. It fell over and tapped its neighbor, which also started wobbling, then fell over.

So I picked up my split. In the process, my team won by 1 pin.

If I'd known I'd needed one to tie, I would have probably gone for one (and missed).