Week 8 Recap & Social Standing Update!

Our Spring 2016 season is about to come to an end 😦 We had 8 weeks of fun and in my opinion this has been one of the best seasons ever! I saw a lot of you out at the end of season party yesterday, and our CC and board members did an AMAZING job putting that together and getting such an awesome night club to host us.

Now for a quick recap of Week 8 before we get into final Life of the Party point opportunities!

Last weeks theme was WAKA Con! I loved how creative you all were with this theme! It was a good theme to end an amazing season on.

The bar game last week was Year Book Awards: WAKA! Here are the awards that your fellow WAKA players voted you for!

• Team Most Likely to Win the Lottery but lose the ticket: Slow Yer Roll
• Best Dressed / Most Creatively Dressed: BURNS
• Most Fun Team to Play Against: Pumped Up Kicks
• Team most likely to think ‘It’s 5 o’clock somewhere’: Fisticuffs
• Most spirited team: Right ME-OW
• Team with the most creative name: Las Naran-hawgs
• Team most likely to play professional kickball: The Randall Stevens
• Team most likely to close down the league bar: Ball & Oates
• Team most likely to score multiple home runs in one game: Pitch Please
• Team most likely to bust a move while fielding: Huddle Buddies
• Team most likely to make Zia babies: Kick Long and Prosper
• Team most likely to take over the end of season party: Very Angry Gnomes
• Team most likely to hug someone (sportsmanship): Pumped 2 Kick
• Team most likely to be seen on TV/Radio: Pitches Love Kickball

The photo challenge last week was Comic Strip! There were so many awesome submissions, but the winner by a landslide was Kick Long and Prosper!

Now for an overall update on Social Points! If you haven’t already submitted your photos for WAKA pets, you are too late. Voting for WAKA pets started today and will run until Friday at 11:59 pm (day before the tournament). 1st place team gets 10 points, 2nd place team gets 6 points, and 3rd place team gets 3 points. Vote away! Your last day to submit WAKA Bonus Bingo pictures is this coming Tuesday! This week due to tournament schedule, there will be no theme photos, bar games, photo challenges, bar attendance, ref love, or waka love. So, if you want to get more points, your only shot at this point it winning some points with WAKA pet voting and finishing up the Bonus Bingo pictures! Here is where all teams stand for Life of the Party:

1. Ball & Oates: 360 points
2. BURNS: 331 points
3. Fisticuffs: 225 points
4. Pumped Up Kicks: 164.5 points
5. The Randall Stevens: 145 points
6. Right ME-OW: 134 points
7. Pumped 2 Kick: 114.5 points
8. Kick Long and Prosper: 112 points
9. Pitches Love Kickball: 93 points
10. Huddle Buddies: 66 points
11. Las Naran-hawgs: 35 points
12. Very Angry Gnomes: 32.5 points
13. Pitch Please: 5 points
14. Slow Yer Roll: 0 points

It’s a close race for the life of the party! The winner will be announced at the tournament after the final point tallies from the WAKA pet contest are entered. Also, remember to give your final charity money to Rebecca this Tuesday!

See you on the fields this Tuesday for the first round of tournaments and Saturday for the main event!

Week 8: Waka Con, Comic Strips, and Questions

Mesa ballers! It’s week 8, which marks our last week of spring season games before the tournament (and, you know… that end of season party everyone’s been talking about).

Details for the End of Season Glow Party can be found here, and you can learn more about the tournament here.

And now for your week 7 recap:

Last week, we asked you help us celebrate Cinco de Mayo on the fields. We saw quite a few margaritas and a LOT of festive costumes out there. Shout out to 99 Problems and Thunderbirds Return For Spring for modeling both tiny and gigantic sombreros in their theme photos.

For your photo challenge, we asked your team to take an awkward family photo. That’s because we like to think of Mesa as one big WAKA family — and your photos last week definitely lived up to the hype. BaeWatch won the challenge with the most Facebook likes, which is great because I’m not even sure what is going on in this photo but it definitely looks awkward.

Here are the results from the bar’s superlative challenge, where you nominated fellow league-mates as the “best of” for Mesa.

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BaeWatch was voted the league’s funnest team to play — which meant that they got to take home the SUPER SWEET MESA SHENANIGANS SWAG CAPE OF GREATNESS. Great job, Baes! Keep being you — fun and fabulous!

Now for your week 8 shenanigans:

This week’s theme is WAKACon!  So let your inner super hero shine — dress up as your favorite comic book character, super hero, or any other costume in honor of Comic Con. Be sure to post your pictures to the Mesa FB Page by Friday at 11:59 pm with the correct hashtags!

Photo Challenge: Comic Strip!

This week, create a team comic strip using a series of photos to tell a joke, celebrate how amazing WAKA is… whatever you’d like! Make it your own! NO PHOTOSHOP ALLOWED, but you can use the phone apps to add filters, words, and put multiple photos into one. Be sure to post your pictures to the Mesa FB Page by Friday at 11:59 pm!

Bar Game: Questions

Questions is a game that is played by participants maintaining a dialogue of asking questions back and forth for as long as possible, without making any declarative statements. This week, your shenanigan ninjas (Ali and I) challenge you to an epic round of questions, “no” game style.

Here’s how: Each team will be given 3 clothes pins at the start of the game. You’ll take your clothes pins back and share them with your team. You can have 3 people wearing 1 each, or one person wearing all 3… the choice is yours. However, the pins MUST be visible the entire time you play.

Players wearing the clothes pins must speak and/or engage in conversation only using questions. If you’re wearing clothes pins and you get caught NOT speaking in questions by any one else, you have to give the team that caught you your clothespins. This means that you can get LOTS of clothespins for your team, even if you aren’t the one wearing the pins and forced to speak in questions! So go talk to the people that are!

The team at the end of the game with the MOST clothespins wins 10 social points, and the SUPER SWEET MESA SHENANIGANS SWAG CAPE OF GREATNESS.

Lastly — this is your LAST week to submit #WAKApet photos. That’s because you’ll be voting on your favorite WAKApet photo of the season NEXT WEEK on Facebook — so make sure you snap photos and post them on Facebook no later than this Sunday at 8pm. Remember to use the #WAKADog/#WAKACat hashtags!

See you on the fields!

 

 

 

 

 

GSPOT Contribution: How to make a Kickball Slip N’ Slide

Have you seen those awesome videos of a slip n’ slide kickball game? We definitely want to play it, so I did some research on supplies we will need if that ever happens!!

1. Roll of Thick Plastic Sheeting, 10 Feet x 100 Feet

This is your biggest expense (alongside the detergent, depending on what you get), and should run you about $60. Any legitimate hardware store should have this.

Tip: Don’t skimp by opting for a thinner plastic. You want the thickest plastic you can find (look for 6 mil) in order to prevent tears from use, rocks, etc., and to provide a little bit of extra protection for you and your friends from anything hard and sharp below.

2. Lubricant

To make sure you slide after you slip, you’ll need a generous layer of slime across your plastic. Some used baby oil, which works great but made for a greasy day. You can also use dish soap!

A cheaper but still safe alternative is Dishmate detergent by Earth Friendly Products, and at $15 a gallon you can buy a few and really keep the party going.

And, of course, any detergent works. But if you do this near water or in a public place with tons of questionably toxic soap, you probably deserve any complaints lodged your way!

3. Water…duh

In an ideal scenario, you’ll have access to a hose that can run at a trickle throughout the day, keeping your slip-‘n-slide wet and ready for the duration. If you’re buying one, get a long one, or a few that can easily connect to each other.

4. Blow-up kiddie pools

These will be your bases! The baseman playing defense will have to have their foot in the pool to get the player out, and the runner will have to have at least their hand in the water to be safe!

5. A Big Rubber ball

Not a kickball, but one of those really light, super large balls so people can play barefoot and it’s easy to catch!

6. Building it!

Building the slip-‘n-slide is easy. Begin by choosing your spot. You’ll want a flat space 10 feet by 100 feet, plus about a 40-foot “runway” on one end. Carefully and slowly walk the entire area and remove any sharp or hard objects that could rip the plastic or hurt when you’re sliding over them at top speed.

Once the area is clear, roll your plastic out. Either bury the edges or carefully stake it down (again, stakes ALL THE WAY into the ground so that they don’t protrude at all). Start with a generous soap application along the entire length of the plastic, and then give it a light watering.

You’re ready to go!

When you add soap throughout the day, it’s generally okay to put it just at the “take off” area. Your sliders will spread it for you.

Week 8: All things Comic Con – WAKA Style!

Welcome to our last week of season games! Were did the time go 😦 Luckily, we get to party it up this weekend at our end of season party THIS Saturday at Effex. I better see all of you there!

Week 7 was another week that amazed me! The theme last week was Cinco de Mayo and you guys pulled out all of the stops! So many teams participated, but my personal favorite was BURNS! 

The bar game last week was another one of my favorites. 5 teams battled out their decade describing skills and all teams were awarded social points based on how they finished. The winner of an awesome 15 social points was BURNS and P2K!

The photo challenge last week was ‘Awkward Family Photo’. There were a ton of submissions that were amazing! The winner with, by far, the most awkward family photo and by unanimous decision was The Randall Stevens!

Now for a quick Life of the Party update!

1st – Ball & Oates: 306 points

2nd – BURNS: 278 points

3rd – Fisticuffs: 188 points

Now onto  Week 8 Shenanigans!

The theme this week is WAKA-con! This can be whatever you make of it! You can dress up in Comic/Superhero style, disney style, Harry Potter style, or show off how much you love WAKA! In order for the WAKA points to count, you have to wear something other than just your WAKA shirt. Be creative!

The bar game this week is ‘Yearbook: Most Likely to…’. There will be a list of 14 ‘Most Likely To…’ and the list of our 14 WAKA Teams. Your team will select a WAKA team (or individual from that team) that best describes the ‘Most Likely To’ phrase. Each team will be used once. Sheets will be handed out on the fields, please fill them out and hand them to me at 10:00 pm at the league bar. Bring your own writing utensil! All teams who fill one out and hand it to me will receive 10 social points! Special recognition will be given to the teams/individuals who have the most votes in each category!

The photo challenge this week is Comic Strip! Teams will create a comic strip or comic scene and snap a photo. NO PHOTOSHOP ALLOWED, but you can use the phone apps to add filters, words, and put multiple photos into one. Put your best photo onto the Zia Facebook Page, and an expert panel of judges will vote. The winner gets an extra 5 social points!

Now for a quick Social Point update…

I’ve had a few teams ask when they need to have all of their submissions for social points in! This is the last week to post Photo Challenges, Theme photos, Bar attendance, #reflove, #wakalove, Bar game and GSPOT Contributions.

Saturday, May 14th (the day of the end of season party), will be the last day I am accepting WAKA Pet points. This is because I need to gather all of the photos, put them in an album, and voting will begin Sunday, May 15th. Vote for your favorite WAKA Pet photo until Friday, May 20th (day before the tournament). The teams winner of the WAKA Pet photo will receive an extra 10 social points!

Tuesday, May 17th (the day of first round of tournament), will be the last day I am accepting WAKA Bonus Bingo points.

Points will be tallied on May 20th after 12:00n and the Life of the Party winner will be told to our CC and presented their award at the tournament!

See you on the fields tomorrow, Zia!

 

GSPOT Contribution: 6 signs your kickball best friend is your real life best friend

In this day and age, it’s hard to find that someone whom you can call “best friend”because it seems like they come and go. With everyone trying to fit in competing for acceptance, the true meaning of friendship has long been distorted and sometimes forgotten.

But sometimes life cooperates; the stars and planets align to give you that window of opportunity to discover something really great. Here are signs that you’ve found your BFFL or best friend for life:

1. No Selfishness

You are generous to your BFFL – you may help them raise money for kickball charity, you tell them great job when they get out, and you pick up their tab at the bar when they lost their wallet or can no longer understand what’s going on or where they are

2. They are the first person you call when you are in trouble

Do you need a last minute ride to the kickball fields? Did you accidentally sleep in on tournament day? This is the person who looks out for you, knows you are going to screw up, and picks you up a burrito and coffee on their way to save your butt

3. They are the first person you call when you want to make trouble

Are you going stir crazy? Give your person a call, put some clothes on that make you look fabulous, and go tear up that end of season kickball party! You and your BFFL will own that club and make all kinds of trouble! The bouncers will definitely know your name by the end of the night

4. They are part of your family

Does your kickball best friend get invited to your family affairs? Does your parents actively ask how your kickball best friend is doing, and why they haven’t seen him/her in a while? This is a definite sign your KBFFL (Kickball best friend for life) is your actual BFFL

5. You can travel together

Is your KBFFL one of your traveling buddies you to go out-of-state WAKA tournaments with? Do you share a room and hit up the town with them? It takes a special kind of friendship to put up with you during those tournaments!

6. No need to pretend

Did you just make a terrible kick or miss a pop fly straight to you? Your KBFFL will give you shit and not even pretend to comfort you. You both know you f*cked up, and the beauty of your friendship is that you own it, laugh about it, and wait until he/she messes up so you can repay the favor

If one or all of these ring true, you have a KBFFL. They are the epitome of what it is to be a friend. They give “friendship” its true meaning and you know how difficult it is to find that. So you can afford to lose anyone… just not your KBFFL.

GSPOT Contribution: There’s no crying in Kickball

The whole reason to play kickball is to have a good time. Like the website says, “whether you are super competitive or just wanna party, we’ve got room for you!” Kickball is a sport everyone can and should enjoy. There are all kinds in kickball… and every single player needs to make it a point to have fun.

Hey new guy…

“ Don’t let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.” – The Great Bambino

To all the newbies.. you’ll get better with time and practice. Even if it takes you 6 seasons to learn how to bunt, that may or may not be the case for me, but you will get better. Getting better will of course make playing even more enjoyable. What’s the point in signing up just to stand on the sidelines?? Get your ass out there and do what you came to do, and enjoy the learning curve.

To those of you who aren’t quite the Michael Jordan of kickball…

Not all of us can bunt beautifully down third every single time, or launch it into a different field, or catch all the balls.. or any of the balls for that matter. I probably don’t even need to tell you to have fun.. Chances are you are the ones who fall into the… “just wanna party” category. When you aren’t all that good, you gotta compensate by having an even better time.. It then becomes your job to make sure everyone else is enjoying themselves. Keep the hot heads cool, they newbies in the game, and the good times rollin.

To those of you who kindof are the Kobe Bryant of kickball..

We get it.. you’re good at kickball.. you’re probably good at a lot of sports. That’s freakin awesome, and we are most definitely jealous. Just remember not to be a dick about it.. If your team is up by 12 and there’s no chance in hell the other team is going to score, there’s no need to contest every.single. call. You’re going to win anyways!! Mercy call our ass and enjoy yourself for once in your life.

To the hot heads..

Four words.. Settle the **** down!!! It’s only kickball my friend. I whole heartedly believe the reason you get so upset is because you are super passionate about the game and dedicated to your team.. but you aint gotta pop off at every little thing. Have a lil sippy sip of your drank n’ walk it off.

To all the beautiful people who enjoy this ridiculous game..

The more fun you’re having the better you are going to play. Speaking from personal experience, the madder you get the worse you are going to play. Don’t let a bad call, a dropped ball, or a blowout rain on your parade.

There are going to be bad calls. Our refs are GREAT, but they’re human.. and humans only have 2 eyes.. unless you’re Fetty Wap or Slick Rick. You’re going to make a bad play.. again, you’re a human. No matter how bad you’re playing or how many runs your team is down by… try to have fun! There are certain teams you are never going to beat because they are just that good, damn them. If you know these guys are going to crush you.. come up with some creative ways to keep your team in good spirts.. maybe keep a waterbottle filled with not water at 2^nd, everyone plays with drink in their hand, or why not try switching up the line-up.. you never know.. maybe your 3^rd baseman should have been pitching all along. But If you let your temper get the better of you.. things are going to go downhill quickly. Bad moods are contagious… so don’t be the person that gets the whole team fired up. Next thing you know balls are being overthrown, players who aren’t the captain are telling off the ref, and your best kicker is fouling out.

No matter what kind of player you are or which way the game is going.. just remember kickball is supposed to be fun.. if you’re not having fun.. get your shit together and start having it!

Week 7: Cinco, Phrases, and Awkwardness

Welcome to Week 7 Zia Ballers! Only two more weeks left in the regular season; where has the time gone?! This season has been so much fun, thanks you all of you guys who dress up in theme, hang out at the bar, and buy people free drinks and take selfies with them 🙂 Keep up the AMAZING work!!

Week 6 was one of my favorites so far. The theme last week was Skorts & Scotch, and I had no idea how fancy you guys could all be! Everyone looked amazing in their sweaters, golf attire, and fancy shoes.

The bar game last week was Pink Elephant where players from each team had to rest a slinky on their forehead. It was a close game and it came down to a few seconds. Pumped Up Kicks came out with the win with an amazing time of 1.59 seconds!

The photo challenge last week was Peek-a-Boo! A total of 4 teams submitted their photos to a panel of expert WAKA judges. With a landslide win, Fisticuffs came out with the photo challenge win and an extra 5 social points!

And now for a social point total update after Week 6 Shenanigans:

1st – Ball & Oates: 254 points

2nd – BURNS: 227 points

3rd – Fisticuffs: 149

And now onto Week 7!!

The theme this week is Cinco de Mayo! Get out those ponchos, sombreros, mexican prints, beads, and your masks to celebrate the upcoming Cinco De Mayo! Can’t wait to see what you guys come up with…and remember, Krystin may be giving out some CC social points for extra involved theme costumes!

The photo challenge this week is Awkward Family Photo! Let’s face it, your kickball team is basically your family, and all families have one (or lots) of weirdos. Take a picture of your kickball team posing for an awkward family photo and post it to the facebook page by 11:59 pm on Wednesday. This photo must have at least 8 players! Krystin will send them to the expert panel of WAKA judges to determine the winner!

The bar game this week is Catch Phrase! Multiple teams will have the chance to earn points this week! 2 players from each team will meet in the middle of the bar and I will place them with another team (4 players from 2 different WAKA teams will be 1 catch phrase team). Catch Phrase teams will nominate 1 player within their team of 4 to read the word on the game and explain the word to their teammates without saying the actual word. There is a beeper that gets faster and faster – if your team is caught with the buzzer when it ends, your team is eliminated! This will continue until there is one team remaining! To see it in action, watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b6ErST1dz8

See you Tuesday, Ballers!