Welcome...to another season (of kickball).

Can you smell the fresh cut grass, the bug spray, the smell of cheap canned beer, and of course the smell of a new rubber kickball? I'm so excited I can barely type. Yes my friends, it's time once again for kickball season. And of course the Toki-Yo Go-Go's will be back. (Darren, if you could write some cool inspirational and reflective email on our heritage, yet looking forward to this season, that would be awesome).
Go team.
-Jay

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Reflection by: Darren Higgins

In, but part-time.
No to new T-shirts.

Per Jay's request, a brief but moving reflection on our team:

The Go-Go's are nice. We wear purple and purple is a nice color. Like the sky at the end of another victory. Yes, the sky is the same color if we lose, so that wasn't the best analogy. OK. Moving on: We won the title once, almost won it twice. I liked winning the title better than not winning it. So, I don't know, I guess let's win it this year. Because winning is fun. And we like to have fun. Shit. This isn't working out. Sorry, Jay.

DH

Our Best Loss Ever!

Last night, the Toki-yo Go Go's (9-1) played in a championship game against Das Boot (9-1). Both teams had an exceptional season!  It all came down to one final game. Who would go home with this year's trophy?

Below, Seth and Jay are sporting their game faces and Miya is smirking while the previously recorded voice of Jed Baker, (singing our national anthem) blasted out of Jeff's boom box. The Boccé league even stopped to salute.

Both teams were a part of the traditional "coin toss" to see who would be in the field first. We lost. 

Then, we got things started. We all depend on Jay Curley's spreadsheet to help us stay organized on the field. Das Boot played strong and was able to score 7 runs in one of their innings! We were discouraged but, Miya kept us motivated when she said, "The BFP is going to have such an awesome story to write about when we make THIS AMAZING COME BACK!!" Yeah! Our spirits were high and the score in the final inning was 12 - 15. Victory was still within our grasp. Marin was next to kick with 2 outs. We just needed to get on base. He kicked an amazing kick. Das Boot was just too good. They brought their best game to the championships and caught everything, even Marin's final kick of the season.  
It was close but, in the end we lost by 3 points. Despite our loss, Miya spontaneously produced two bottles of champagne for the team and we toasted each other and a pretty damn good season. 

Nice one Go Go's!!

The season begins.

I am a proud member of the Tokyo Go-Go’s kickball team. There are 11 teams in the league that gather on a weekly basis for some friendly competition, occasionally some whining and of course some post game dining. There are 5 different games played simultaneously with the extra team taking on the responsibility of “reffing” the games and cooking dinner for the 160+ people making up the league. Once the games are over, all hell breaks loose and the masses descend upon the plates of hot dogs, hamburgers, veggie burgers and snacks. It’s quite a site to see.

Our 2009 kickball season officially started last night! Since we were the extra team on Week 1, and rained out on Week 2, the game we played last night was our first. We were missing quite a few of our ringers but, our spirits were high. Our pre-game, dynamic stretching was solid and included high kicks, lunges and calf stretches. We were ready. 
Our team started off strong and went into the mid game beer social with a 7-3 lead. Our opponents, “Camel Hump This” were tenacious and tied things up in the sixth inning. 
The pressure was on as our opponents took the field. We scored two runs during our last ups. Then, it became a game of defense. Keep the lead. 
Camel Hump This were too good. They kicked the ball far into right field and brought three people home. We lost the game but, we gave it a great fight.   

It was a tough way to start the season but, the beer was cold and the sun was shining. Not a bad way to spend a Thursday night (photos courtesy of Greg Comollo).