Kickball Ramblings: Buy Some Beer!

As you may have noticed, each week NAKIDs play quite a bit of flip cup. And of course, flip cup requires beer. With that in mind, I bring you another helpful suggestion towards making NAKID a better place for all of us: Mike’s Guide to NAKID Culture: Part Three - Buy Some Beer!

Here’s a familiar scenario at the bars: One team is gathered around a table playing some intra-team flip cup. Another team arrives to challenge them to a match. The challenge is promptly accepted, and the teams line up to play.

There’s just one problem: Nobody has any beer.

And I’m sure we’ve all been part of a flip cup match where the beer supply ran low. Inevitably, at least one very sad looking person will helplessly say, “There’s no more beer,” as if this is a problem far beyond their ability to fix.

Why did all the beer go away?

There actually is a solution to this problem: Go buy a pitcher! 

Some people in the league seem to think that the beer for flip cup is provided by a magical fairy who flies around the bars sharing Bud Light and goodwill with everyone.

Can I top you off?

I’m sorry to break this to you, but there is no magic beer fairy. Those pitchers that you are using to fill your cup are only on the table because someone went to the bar, ordered a pitcher, and then paid for it. (To be fair, they might have ordered from a waiter. That doesn’t change the point)

If you’re going to be playing flip cup, you’re going to be drinking beer. And while you may think it’s just swell to drink other people’s beer, I’m sure the people who paid for the beer don’t necessarily appreciate it as much.

So here are the basic rules: If your team challenges another team, make sure you bring some pitchers with you. 

And if you haven’t contributed any beer to the cause, and you notice the beer supply getting low, then you should buy the next pitcher.

If everyone adheres to these standards, then the drinking and flipping can continue happily well into the night!

Exalting and Smiting

And now I bring you a new feature called Exalting and Smiting in which I will either exalt those who have done something praiseworthy, or smite those who have done something meriting scorn.

Exalt – The Brew Whores

Apparently, there is an emerging force in the world of NAKID flip cup, and that force is the Brew Whores. In the early Wednesday flip cup championship, the final matchup saw the Brew Whores take on…the Brew Whores B team. (For those who are curious, the Brew Whores won.)

Does this Wednesday night dominance mark the coming of age of a new flip cup power? The Championship of the Universe will likely tell the real tale. But until then, enjoy the exalting!

Trivia Question

Last week’s answer: The picture was a close-up of Spider-Man.

Jesse was the only person with the correct answer. Let me know who you are, and I will make sure you receive your 20 cent prize.

This week’s question: What Disney movie was the first full-length animated feature to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture? 

Please answer either in a blog comment or by emailing TreachX@yahoo.com. Correct answers earn 20 cents

And finally, this week's link that may (or may not) be an embarrassing picture of Dan Boger: http://tinyurl.com/ybkc57b

NAKID + DC United + Beer = Awesome!

A couple hundred NAKIDs. A thousand beers. What's not to love?

NAKID got tickets for the DC United game and tailgated in full NAKID style--giant coolers with 1,000 beers, a grill cooking lots of meat, and a mix of field day and drinking games to make us all feel like kids again. With beer.  

Yeah, those are cooking up real nice.

 Dave doled out the meat to hungry NAKIDs. Weiner jokes ensued.



It's...GLORIOUS!

We had 1,000 cans of beer, perfect for drunkball, and the can prevents spilling during beer-in-hand kickball! What's beer-in-hand kickball, you ask? It's a game in which you play kickball WITH beer! We made up crazy rules (running backwards, skipping, etc.), and the drunken stumbling is always good for a laugh.

Sadly, there are no funny/crazy stories to share (at least none that we witnessed, leave yours in the comments!), but we all had lots of beer, lots of fun, and incredibly refreshing showers when we got home.

Kickball Ramblings: Flip Cup!

Flip cup has long been referred to as “the real sport of NAKID,” but I’m not so sure that really applies anymore.  As I’ve mentioned before, NAKID is home to some of the best flip cup players in the world. But in some ways, the high quality of NAKID’s top players has detracted from the quality of the flip cup action on a weekly basis.

But for at least one day of the NAKID calendar, flip cup does indeed reign supreme in NAKID. A day when all of the top players come out, competition is fierce, and champions are crowned. 

I'm talking about the day of the flip cup championship tournament. For the Sunday teams, that day was yesterday, and I got to witness some of the excitement.

All three Sunday divisions were scheduled to have their championships yesterday. By nature, this was a bit of an inconvenience for the 2 o’clock teams. Since the tournaments couldn’t begin until all of the day’s kickball games were completed, players on the early teams had to wait around almost three hours before they started.

Then again, I suppose extra time hanging out at the bar with your teammates isn’t the worst fate that a kickballer has ever suffered. 

Finally, the 2pm teams were summoned to the upstairs of My Brother’s Place so that the tournament could begin. The upstairs of MBP is not the largest area in the world, and when about ten teams are crammed inside, it seems even smaller. 

Considering that most of the people in the room had been running around in 90 degree weather earlier, it was not the best smelling room either.

Unfortunately for the teams not playing in the first round, waiting downstairs wasn’t a great option. The bar staff apparently thought it would be a good idea to crank up the music to a deafening level, despite nobody dancing, or even showing any inclination to dance at that point in time.

Despite the large number of teams involved, the tournament ran smoothly. With four tables set up, multiple matches could run simultaneously, and the resulting action was fast and furious. When a team won a round, they had almost no time to recover before they had to face their next opponent.

Plus, it is almost shocking to see how quickly and efficiently a flip cup game can go when the competitors concentrate on the game at hand. Flip your cup, refill, and repeat!

I’ve said that in NAKID, you can usually pick the flip cup winner ahead of time. Vegas sports books would likely go broke if they had allowed wagering on NAKID championships. So did we get any surprises this time around? 

Not in the 3 o’clock division, in which the Xtacles (they’ve won a few times before) defeated the MMofos (also no strangers to flip cup success). For the 4 o’clock teams, the Vinegar Strokes emerged as champions, which just means that Jim, Alena, and Dana added another medal to their already large collections.

However, for the 2 o’clock teams, the result was a slight surprise. WAD has been in the league for many seasons, and while they’ve been a contender in the past, they’ve never been able to capture a flip cup championship. Yesterday, their day finally came as they outlasted the competition and hoisted the trophy!

Perhaps this will inspire other teams to improve and break through, and we might get some more surprising results in the future.

Trivia Question:

Last week’s answer: NAKID has offered six different sports: Kickball, softball, football, ultimate Frisbee, bocce, dodgeball.  I also would have accepted seven if you included volleyball since the first season of that will take place this Summer.

Alena was once again the only correct responder and she earns herself another 20 cents.

This week’s question: This picture is a close up of a famous cartoon character.  What character is it?

Please answer either in a blog comment or by emailing TreachX@yahoo.com.  Correct answers earn 20 cents.

We will conclude with yet another Link that may (or may not be) an embarrassing picture of Dan Boger:
http://tinyurl.com/3rdhxke

 

Ask the Kickball Ramblings

It’s once again time for “Ask the Kickball Ramblings” in which I will attempt to answer some questions supplied by actual NAKID players. Some of them are kickball related, some are not. But hopefully they can all get along peacefully.

Q: Why can’t we pitch overhand?

A: Because overhand pitching can be very difficult to kick against. NAKID used to allow overhand or sidearm pitching, but the pitchers got too darned good at it. Because the game is called "kickball" and not "pitchball," a change was made to make it more fun for everyone to play.

Q: Holy crap, the NHL is STILL going on?

A: Yeah, the season does seem to stretch on, doesn’t it? Not that anyone in DC really cares, since approximately 90 percent of the local hockey-following population stopped paying attention as soon as the Caps were eliminated.

Q: Why don't more girls in the league want to have sex with me?

A: It's probably because you're either aiming too high (lower your standards - everyone's pretty in the dark!) or because girls think you're creepy (don't silently stare at a girl for hours. It tends to unsettle them)

Q: Why don't more guys in the league want to have sex with me?

A: Obviously I made this question up, since no girl would ever actually ask this. Seriously ladies, if you're ever in a slump, just go up to a drunk guy and say "I want to have sex with you." I'm guessing you'll have at least a 50 percent success rate.

Q: What’s the best place to play flip cup?

A: Some people prefer the basement of Hamilton’s, since it has somewhat of an underground, fight club-like feel. Others like the ground level of My Brothers Place as the windows provide a connection to the outside world.

Honestly, as long as there’s enough room to fit everyone on the table without getting bumped constantly, then any spot is a good spot for flip cup.

Q: Why aren’t the people on my team hotter?

A: Genetics?

Q: Burger King is dropping their King mascot from their commercials. Is there anything that can be done about this?

A: There are a few options:

1. Organize a boycott of their restaurants until they bring him back. 

2. Start up a Facebook group, since that worked really well when people wanted Betty White to host Saturday Night Live.

3. Go on a murderous rampage through Burger King’s corporate headquarters while screaming “Long live the King!”

If those options all fail, all is not lost.  If you really miss looking at pictures of creepy guys with beards, here’s this week’s Link that may (or may not) be an Embarrassing Picture of Dan Boger:

http://tinyurl.com/5s3a8yn

Q: Tourists keep walking across our fields during games. What’s the best way to keep them away?

A: It amazes me that some people can be oblivious to the fact that an organized sports game is taking place where they are walking. And yet, just about every week, games will be interrupted by a wandering tourist.

To remedy this problem, I prefer the simple technique of shouting: “Hey dumbass! Get off the field!” The look of bewilderment that follows is usually good for a quick chuckle. Also effective is throwing the ball really hard at their head.

Q: What would be the most effective super power to have when playing kickball?

A: At first I was going to say super speed, since that would allow you to make every play in the field and never get thrown out. But even more effective than that would be telepathy. You could make everyone think you kicked a home run when you were really just sitting on the side of the field drinking beer.

Q: Should I wear my wedding ring while playing?

A: In theory, kickball is a non-contact sport, so you shouldn’t have to worry about a ring induced injury. On the other hand, it might unexpectedly come off your finger, which isn’t good. Although it is somewhat amusing to have an entire team search through the grass for a ring.

Trivia Question

The answer to the last trivia question was: Sex Cymbal has never won a flip cup Championship of the Universe title. And I’m sure they’re all really pissed off about it.

Correct answers were supplied by Moira S and Dana W who will each receive 20 cent prizes.

This week’s question: Throughout its history, how many different sports has NAKID offered? (Note: Flip cup does not count!)

Answers can be submitted either via comment or email to TreachX@yahoo.com

How much does the Boomerang Bus rock? Let us count the ways...

This past weekend NAKIDs boarded the Boomerang and headed to the Vintage Virginia Wine Festival. Needless to say, hilarity and blackouts ensued.

However, as the Brewer enjoyed the ride to the festival, she noticed people around her marveling at the sayings about alcohol written on the roof, the stripper poles in the aisle, and the copious amounts of beer. Clearly these are newbies, and she guessed there are more out there, so here's some quick info about the Boomerang.

Did you know you can buy a ticket for the Boomerang and ride it around the city on any weekend night? Better yet, use the code NAKID and get 20 percent off the ticket price! They'll pick you up in Arlington or DC and take you to some clubs where you won't have to pay a cover or wait in line. They'll even make sure to circle the block a few times so you can maximize your time on the bus with the free beer you brought with you!

The buses also take trips to wineries during the summer and go to concerts out at Jiffy Lube Live. In fact, we love the Boomerang so much, here are the top 10 reasons the Boomerang rocks:

10) They drive you from club to club saving you money on cabs, saving your feet from walking, and saving you from a potential DUI
9) It's BYOB--bring along whatever alcoholic beverages you want (don't forget the ice and coolers!). You also get drink specials at the clubs!
8) Make an awesome playlist on your iPod and hook it up to their speakers to start your own dance party on the bus. Who needs a club when you can be your own DJ?
7) You can get a big group together and buy out an entire bus, then decide on your own itinerary for the night. Want to hit up National Harbor? No problem! How about touring strip clubs? Wouldn't be their first time!
6) You get to skip all the long lines at the clubs. Taunt all the people who have been waiting for an hour, but remember to tell the hotties to meet you inside
5) You don't have to pay a cover at the clubs! Those people waiting will also have to pony up $20, so tell the hottie you'll buy him/her a drink with your $20 if they ever manage to get in...sucka!
4) They're starting up a Boomerang Boat to tour the Potomac. You could be on a boat!
3) The bus hosts are super fun (especially NAKID's own Kelly J.!!) and we've heard they have "very talented gyrating genitalia" . . . true story
2) They give NAKIDs 20 percent off the ticket price just because we're so awesome

and the number one reason is...
1) You can work the pole on the bus and come out ahead on the night!

So check out what the Boomerang has to offer this summer, use your 20 percent off code (NAKID), and go nuts!