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Email Alerts Twitter Facebook RSS FeedsLet the kicking begin!
Brooklyn Kickball returned to the dusty ball fields and bright overhead lights of McCarren Park Sunday night, as 32 teams kicked each other’s balls on the road to a championship.
The eighth annual Opening Day festivities were capped off by a rematch of last year’s epic final round series between The John Cougar Mellencamps and runner-up, Never Scared.
On Sunday, Never Scared earned its revenge, winning handily, 11-3.
Not that the former champions seemed all too worried.
“Our goal was to look good and have fun, so it doesn’t matter if we won or lost,” said captain Paul Cougar Mellencamp. “We lost our first game last year and then won 20 in a row before winning the championship.”
Still, Never Scared, which many kickball enthusiasts pick as the favorites to hoist the 2010 Kickie trophy, is hungry after finishing so close last year. Sunday’s resounding victory was a critical step towards its drive to the title, according to assistant coach Devin Vermeulen.
“We know what it tastes like,” said Vermeulen, referring to victory.
Other contenders waiting to dethrone the Mellencamps include The New Frontiersmen, Crucial Taunts, Majesty, Globetrotters and the pesky Bacon Bits.
The New Frontiersmen, led by Matt “Tiger” Sadewitz, boast a competitive squad of kickers, but the team dropped its first game to Brooklyn United, 14-8, in a late-inning rally.
The Bacon Bits should also be in the mix this year, after taking the title in its first season two years ago. The defense-heavy Bits are among the best fielders in the league, but they must find a way to score.
“We held the Mellencamps to one run last year. We can hold any team,” said Shaw.
And don’t count out the Crucial Taunts, which wrapped up a quick opening day victory. The keys to advancing far in the playoffs, according to captain “Hey” Kate Brown is “gym tanning, and laundry,” and keeping the roster together through a season with many bachelor parties and weddings.
“We’re wearing brand new lightweight Alternative Apparel t-shirts. We look great,” said Brown.
But the Mellencamps don’t share Brown’s aesthetic philosophy for victory.
“We are wearing the same exact outfit that we wore from last year’s final,” said outfielder Angelique Everett, who could not confirm whether her teammates did their laundry.
©2010 Community Newspaper Group
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