Ghost Man on Third: Week 8 (Sort Of)

GHOST MAN ON THIRD

THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE COMMONWEALTH DIVISION
"It's impossible to imagine Goethe or Beethoven being good at billiards or golf; but you know they were kick ass kickballers." - H.L. Mencken

WEEK EIGHT (Sort of): " Sitting here like uninvited company. Wallowing in my own obscenities. I share a cigarette with negativity. Sitting here like wet ashes."

Table of Contents:

I - We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat 
II – PLAYOFFS
III - Lights, Cameras, Action!
IV– Week 8 (Sort of) Recap
V – Standings & Schedule
VI – Announcements
VII - The MA Commonwealth League Presents Gilbert and Sullivan's HMS Pinafore.


PART I -" Long time coming, many served the few. And long to taste the shame that bows down before you."

I spent last week exploring the geography and cuisine of the Pacific Northwest. Since Seattle is the closest "big" US city to the orient, it's long been a hub of US-Asian cross-cultural intercourse. As a gormandizer of some discerning taste, whenever I travel I tend to avoid the generic restaurant chains that fester and plague America's strip malls like acne on a teenager's face. I seek out the out-of-the way, mom and pop place, for that is where the real living and dining tends to be.
On Thursday of last week, I found myself sitting in a fusion restaurant just south of Seattle's Pioneer Square, when I noticed that fugu was on the menu. Fugu is blowfish, and if you've ever seen the Simpson's episode "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" you know that while it's a great delicacy, if the wrong part of the fish is excised and served, it can cause great physical distress and even death. Now, since I didn't feel like tempting death that particular day, I passed on the fugu, instead choosing some mango and sticky rice.
It was shortly after lunch that I checked my email and saw the notice that the Week 8 slate of games was postponed due to rain. Here I was enjoying a post card picture perfect day in Seattle, a city whose rain-soaked reputation is well known, dry as a bone, while my home area was being innundated by rain. The irony was dripping (pun intended).
Then it struck me that irony is the fugu of human communication. It is often confused with sarcasm, but while sarcasm can be ironic, it's not always. Irony is also not simply coincidence. The coincidence must be incongruous between the understood meaning and the statement/situation. It's also extremely difficult to execute well. Kurt Vonnegut, HL Mencken, Oscar Wilde and George Carlin were savants of irony, and their works are a delicacy. The attempts of others at irony only cause pain, bloating and extreme physical discomfort. (See: Morisette, Alanis. Caliendo, Frank).

Then of course I realized that I was on vacation. So I then shut the laptop, and headed to the Experience Music Project, a museum dedicated to music and Seattle's influence on popular music as we know it. To honor Seattle, this week's band is Soundgarden. Not only is it one of the coolest names for a band, and the suggestion of Ball Buster Mike Haverty, but Chris Cornell shares my birthday, which while not ironic, is still kinda cool.

(Odd note only I'd be interested in. By naming Soundgarden this week's band, I've honored drummer Matt Cameron twice. He's also the current Pearl Jam drummer. And in the Muppet Band, Animal was the drummer. Coincidence? Maybe not.)

PART II – " I want to be king. I want to be king. So maybe now the pope will bow and kiss my ring. I want to be king."

PLAYOFFS: Today, July 31st was supposed to be the start of the playoffs. However last week's rain out has pushed the playoffs to August 7th.

Animal is My Homeboy has locked up the first seed and will play the fourth seed. Currently that team is Ball Busters, but a big Ball Busters victory over ADPI could cause those two teams to flip.

BRB is the second seed, and will face the third seed, most likely ADPI. 

The winner of the 1 vs. 4 seed will play the winner of the 2 vs. 3 seed for the League Title and the respect and admiration of their friends, family and a few dozen others.

PART III - "It's gonna be too dark to sleep again. Cutting my teeth on bars and rusty chains." 

Fall is fast approaching and as the azimuth of the sun lowers in our sky, lighting at Lowell Field will start to become an issue. Going forward for Week 8 and The Playoffs, it is imperative games start as close to 6:30 as possible, in order to allow for ample sunlight for the games to be played safely. I think we all want to avoid unexpected balls to the face, and the injury to person and pride they might cause. 

PART IV – "Black hole sun, won't you come and wash away the rain. Black hole sun, won't you come. Won't you come?"

Week 8 was rained out. You already knew this, but I felt this needed a section anyway. Enjoy some photos from previous weeks that I haven't posted. 




PART V: "Naked in the cold sun, breathing life like fire. Thought I was the only one, but that was just a lie." 

1.) Animal is My Homeboy (7-0-0) 14pts, run diff +20
2.) BRB (4-3-0) 6pts, run diff + 1
3.) ADPI (2-4-0) 4pts, run diff -9
4.) Ball Busters (1-4-0) 2pts, run diff - 16

Schedule for Week 8, July 31

6:30 - Animal is My Homeboy vs. BRB
(ref -ADPI, equip Jim)

7:15 - Ball Busters vs. ADPI.
(ref - BRB, equip - Jim) 

PART VII: - " Cause down below the truth is lying, beneath the riverbed. So quench yourself and drink the water, that flows beneath her head." 


Announcements, Announcements, Announcements

ROCK ON: Ball Buster pitcher Mike Coen is a multi-talented individual. Not only does he spin that red ball like a madman for his team, but he's also the lead singer in the band Midatlantic. On Friday August 1st, join Mike and his band at Bill's Bar in Boston, for a show that will be in the words of Wesley Wills, "ROCKIN".

Check out the band's music video!

FALL LEAGUE: An email went out to the entire league from WAKA. There will be a fall MA Commonwealth League. Jim will be announcing information soon. Thank you for your patience. 

CHARITY: The official charity for the MA Commonwealth League is the Cure Alzheimer's Fund. Please check out their website: http://www.curealzfund.org/ League-wide fund-raising information will becoming soon to help fight this terrible disease.

WEBSITE: Check out the League site at

https://www.kickball.com/macommonwealth/index.php

Check out the photo albums from league members!

To add your photos email Steve Sweetser at ssweetser@gmail.com

GHOST: As always a copy of this newsletter can be found at the GMOT Blog, along with a ton of other useful information. Also the comments are active, so if you want to trash talk, feel free.

https://www.kickball.com/macommonwealth/gmotweek1.htm

BOCA BAR: Those hot steamy nights of summer are upon us. The BOCA BAR, the official bar of the MA Commonwealth league is the perfect way to fight the muggies, celebrate a kickball victory or mute the sting of defeat. Join us every week, at 11 Pine Street, Waltham. Team shot specials, great appetizers, 15% off fantastic food influenced by Costa Rica, and free wings with a Bud Light pitcher.



PART VII: " You hide your eyes, but the ugly truth just loves to give it away."

One of the keys to successful manipulation of irony is drawing upon a common "truth". We all know that root canals are painful, so saying "As pleasant as a root canal" is obvious irony, because of the juxtaposition of spoken pleasure and understood pain is incongruous and discordant. (Unless of course you like engaging in activities that require an agreed upon safety word).

The common truth of this league is the dominance of Animal is My Homeboy. They sit today on the precipice of regular season perfection, having survived all comers, winning big, winning small, and just plain winning. Their season has been a truly remarkable display of teamwork, drinking, shoelessness and determination to achieve total victory.
Could this be their weakness? Has their play been so dominant that hubris and pride are setting in among the charges of Captain Isaac Gerofsky? Pride goeth before the fall, and do Animal is My Homeboy possess this potentially fatal flaw? I'm sure the folks at BRB would love to hang the first loss on the Crimson Tide of Animal, perhaps exposing them to defeat in the upcoming playoffs.

Could there also be a miracle in the making. ADPI and Ball Busters have been maddening, showing both flashes of kickballian brilliance (holy crap, my spell check said kickballian is a word. I thought I was pulling that one out of my ass. Behold the power of kickball in our language) and stretches of near-ineptitude. The jeckyll and hyde routines of both teams have been maddening to the kickballian (I'm getting my money's worth) pundits out there. Could they be poised to make a cinderella sprint to the title?

Will this season turn out to be a pleasing savory feast of winning for Animal is My Homeboy, resulting in a championship, or will they be left wrything in demonstrable discomfort, disembowled by an unlikely cinderella? Whatever happens, it'll be worth watching. Get your popcorn, (or Asian cuisine) ready.

- David, Team ADPI