Kickball365.com Natl. Power Poll Vol. 4, Spring 1 (04-02-09)

[Lost_Sage]

Rank (Last) / Team / Division / Division Record / Tourney Record / Comments

1 Make It Rain, VA Recess (10-1) (6-0) Ran the regular season in a power conference, overcame division tourney loss to win NKL, 2-0 vs. the defending FC champs. Not a bad start.

2 Frosty Balls, VA Recess (11-1) (5-1) Cup holders until otherwise dethroned. Tourney champs in Recess, tourney finals at NKL. No one is looking past Frosty this year, two bounces be damned.

3 Meatballs, FL Beach (10-0-1) (4-2) Still the class of South Florida otherwise. If you think they aren’t hungry after last year’s FC final, you’re mistaken. Second consecutive Coconut Keg is still a really, really big deal.

4 Lock It Up, NY Liberty (0-0) (5-1-1) Key additions and subtractions, but nothing to suggest NYC’s banner squad won’t continue to be consistently competitive on the tourney scene.

5 The Others, DC Capital (0-0) (3-2) DC/NoVA’s superteam, the squad on a mission to bring the Cup back to the old heartland. A decent start at NKL, the world will be watching their first tilt as a whole squad in the hallowed grounds of WAKA’s founding conference.

6 Just Kickin’ It, FL Beach (7-1-2) (2-2-1) As consistently solid a team as there has been in SoFl as of late. If the “Screw” incarnation catches fire in Riptide or on the tourney warpath, look for a much deeper run at FC than last year.

7 Tricky Bunnies, FL Bedrock (10-0) (4-1-1) The ANL incarnation left something wanting that the Bunnies went out and scrapped for – a division crown. The team loves to run and will be havoc for anyone not familiar with their strength.

8 We Kick Your Balls, AZ Fire (0-0) (N/A) The desert’s top team is back in action this week. We’d love the southwest stake a claim on the travel tourney schedule – WKYB headlines a lot of overlooked talent. They won’t surprise anyone at FC this year.

9 Futon Queen Unbeatable, CA Studio (6-0) (N/A) SKG’s winter incarnation is leading the pack in North Hollywood, which is definitely more stacked than their usual home at Poinsettia Park.

10 Afternoon Delight, VA Recess (7-5) (N/A) An impressive run in Tidewater’s power conference earns this squad solid mention. Would love to see them in Vegas; or, for now, to keep the momentum into spring ball.

11 Riff Raff for Life, FL Beach (8-2) (3-2) The pink shirts deserve to be in any discussion of SoFla’s top teams. Consistently competitive, if always a few runs short of a division crown in a fiercely contested region.

12 Ballers and Shot Callers, DC Capital (0-0) (N/A) Hungry after an early exit in FC 08, watch for BSC to give The Others and the rest of the top teams a lot of competition (and trash talk, for that matter). Business just picked up in the Ancient Division ...

13 Balls Deep, FL Beach (6-2-1) (2-2-1) Another very tough FL squad, capable of giving anyone on the poll fits on any given day, but also of underwhelming.

14 Crazy Kickers, VA Recess (5-4) (N/A) Hard to count this perennial Poll mainstay and longtime franchise out, although you quite literally don’t know who will show up on any given season roster.

15 Alpha Omega, VA Recess (5-4-1) (N/A) AO had an admirable showing in Recess and handled the intensity of one of the country’s longest regular seasons quite well.

16 Bulletproof Tirgers, NY Star (0-0) (3-2) A major, major retooling of the old Fire, in what looks to be a more competitive than usual division in the Big Apple.

17 Champs Like It Tickled, MA Independence (0-0) (N/A) Beantown’s premier team set to kick off in a landscape much warped by the closing of key fields and the scattering of local competition to satellite leagues.

18 Best Coast Ballers, CA Gold Rush (0-0) (N/A) After a surprising loss in Golden Gate, BCB is back to the drawing board in Gold Rush to make another run back to FC. Still the top squad out of NorCal for now.

19 Ludicrous Speed, AZ Fire (12-0) (N/A) Ran the table convincingly in Arizona’s top league in the winter. Stepping aside for the spring, but likely to come back reloaded for a hot summer by the cacti.

20 Cobra Kai, FL Atlantic (5-0) (2-2) This Jacksonville squad turned quite a few heads in Ft. Lauderdale in January and could be quite the pest in their FC pool.

Watch List

North Hollywood Hoodlums, CA Studio (5-1) (N/A) A new Poll team in bright green? Seems like our SoCal sources are very up on this squad, which is hungry for some national respect ...

Liquor Box, CA Dogtown (N/F) (N/A) This potent half of the Superbad conglomerate is looking to protect the 1 seed in Dogtown against its other half ...

Los DPs, CA Dogtown (N/F) (N/A) So we’re anxiously awaiting the results of the DP-LB rumble before they activate their wonder twin powers and likely climb back onto the poll in combined form.

Super Skinnies, FL Central (0-0) (1-3) With a respectable debut at the South Florida open, expect even greater things from these baby blues as they destroy their Orlando brethren in division play.

Keg Kickers, DC Capital (0-0) (N/A) At the very least, this founding Association team and historical Capital Cup contender will make games interesting for the Others and BSC.

Caisson Steel Erectors, DC Capital (0-0) (N/A) Another founding team, they may have an easier path to a high seed given the weaker Wednesday team lineup.

Team Mandrake X, NM Mesa (0-0) (N/A) After pushing this squad for awhile, it certainly feels like put up or shut up time from the Land of Enchantment in general, which didn’t have a noteworthy FC showing last year.

Guy Fawkes Conservatory, CA Studio (4-0-2) (N/A) The Conservatory has dodged the L column, but it’s still unclear whether they’ll improve on a quiet Vegas performance last year.

Valley Girls, CA Studio (5-1) (N/A) The big yellow bus of valley gals – huge roster and all – is hanging on to the top stop in the Bitchin’ conference.

Stewie’s Sexy Party, MA Patriot (0-0) (N/A) SSP now has 2 national tourneys under its belt and is looking to close the gap even further this year.

[Paniky 69er]

No Dumpster Fire/Truck? How's Chipwich Nation stacking up? I hear they have some familiar names.

[Lost_Sage]

See entry 16 ...

Chipwich has a lot of LIU/YDIW folks on its 2 Thursday rosters ... we'll see what the full squad looks like soon enough (regular seasons start in 2 weeks for us) ...

No Dumpster Fire/Truck? How's Chipwich Nation stacking up? I hear they have some familiar names.

[KILF Hunter]

GREAT WORK!!

[JBoogie]

good job Sage....my top 5 would look the same.

[Lost_Sage]

Thanks! I'm counting on you guys to make my job extra hard in Capital (it hasn't been for a long time ... think back to the days of MLF, KK, CSE, DKU, and TF ... even the occasional oops upset from Superfriends or Big Kids ... I miss reading about those days, and thankfully you guys have made it more interesting as of late)

GREAT WORK!!

[Lost_Sage]

Thanks Jerome. Now what the what the hell to do / who the hell to rank in Riptide (given the overlap) ...

good job Sage....my top 5 would look the same.

[Retired]

Nice work Shane

[Blonde_Bieber]

WOW...I think 4 & 5 can certainly be reversed, just as a result of the NKL tourney and being >50% SoFlorida M2S.

And also, thanks Shane-O

[McCoy]

Thanks for the work Shane!

[JellyDogg]

Forgot about Cobra Kai. Their catcher is ridonkulously fast and quick. They'll be tough for anyone who draws them in Vegas.

[Jared It Up!]

WOW...I think 4 & 5 can certainly be reversed, just as a result of the NKL tourney and being >50% SoFlorida M2S.

And also, thanks Shane-O

quit being upset. we have reloaded!

[Paniky 69er]

So this poll legitimizes the VA Recess vs. FL Beach debate.

VA Recess has five PP teams, FL Beach has four PP teams (five if you count TB).

[JellyDogg]

WOW...I think 4 & 5 can certainly be reversed, just as a result of the NKL tourney and being >50% SoFlorida M2S.

And also, thanks Shane-O

quit being upset. we have reloaded!

You could say we have, too.

[Catch-22]

Thanks! I'm counting on you guys to make my job extra hard in Capital (it hasn't been for a long time ... think back to the days of MLF, KK, CSE, DKU, and TF ... even the occasional oops upset from Superfriends or Big Kids ... I miss reading about those days, and thankfully you guys have made it more interesting as of late)

GREAT WORK!!

We won't disappoint. We figured them out:

[Paniky 69er]

I know more or less what both teams have. I think The Others has much more talent and depth than Lock it Up (quantity not quality). However, with LiU's smaller roster, I have a feeling that their team chemistry will come together quicker.

[JellyDogg]

I know more or less what both teams have. I think The Others has much more talent and depth than Lock it Up (quantity not quality). However, with LiU's smaller roster, I have a feeling that their team chemistry will come together quicker.

Smaller rosters just mean you get to the bottom of the order a lot quicker.

[Lost_Sage]

No problem, Troy! 4 and 5 was a tough choice -- was honestly back and forth on it a lot. I expect to revise you guys as we get through TKO, and as you go through Capital, which has a much, much tougher SOS than we have in NY.

WOW...I think 4 & 5 can certainly be reversed, just as a result of the NKL tourney and being >50% SoFlorida M2S.

And also, thanks Shane-O

[Lost_Sage]

Well, having watched Beach league games on Thursday night, Beach does have strong teams at 6-12 that can pull off the upset, play competitively, and put up great individual talent. I think top to bottom, Beach is the more well-rounded conference.

And yes, Beach is essentially 5 if you count TB, which performed much better than ANL (which was their Beach incarnation of sorts).

So this poll legitimizes the VA Recess vs. FL Beach debate.

VA Recess has five PP teams, FL Beach has four PP teams (five if you count TB).

[Lost_Sage]

No problem! Sorry for the delay! I promise to be better in the future!

Thanks for the work Shane!

[Lost_Sage]

No disagreements on the embarrassment of riches in terms of talent, depth, and experience on The Others ... but seeing the combined squad in action at TKO (and during likely Game of the Weeks vs. Keg Kickers and BSC and the Capital Cup), and as the roster holds up through the summer, will be more telling.

I know more or less what both teams have. I think The Others has much more talent and depth than Lock it Up (quantity not quality). However, with LiU's smaller roster, I have a feeling that their team chemistry will come together quicker.

[J Hard]

I'm actually a little upset Dumpster Fire wasn't ranked and You're Doing it Wrong was...I understand why you did it though...

YDIW will not be our Vegas team. The Fire already have a bid to Vegas and will probably put together our actual tournament team in the summer...

But great work, Shane.

[machinegunkelly]

trickies are definlty a beach team regardless of league....

no disrespect to make it rain..but who have they beat other than virgina teams?....thats my only question with ranking them #1....

So this poll legitimizes the VA Recess vs. FL Beach debate.

VA Recess has five PP teams, FL Beach has four PP teams (five if you count TB).

[Lost_Sage]

I honestly didn't how to treat the situation given the timing of when our leagues opened ... and what you guys were going to do between now and Vegas (which I know didn't include TKO).

And yes, if you come back full force in summer, then the polls down the road will reflect that.

I'm actually a little upset Dumpster Fire wasn't ranked and You're Doing it Wrong was...I understand why you did it though...

YDIW will not be our Vegas team. The Fire already have a bid to Vegas and will probably put together our actual tournament team in the summer...

But great work, Shane.

[J Hard]

No argument here. I know Oak and Karl are pretty bummed about missing TKO, as am I, just a busy time for the DF'ers...

We're trying out a lot of new things/players in spring season, including a monster of a player we recruited from Hoboken.

[Lost_Sage]

I agree -- how to represent their record confused me (should I have given all 3 marks - Beach, Bedrock, and Florida tourney)?

If you want to reach into historical SOS, many of the MIR stay-overs from the old Blue Balls franchise (which, admittedly, has changed personnel a lot since its first tourney in Richmond in 2006) have been playing tourney ball for a while.

trickies are definlty a beach team regardless of league....

no disrespect to make it rain..but who have they beat other than virgina teams?....thats my only question with ranking them #1....

So this poll legitimizes the VA Recess vs. FL Beach debate.

VA Recess has five PP teams, FL Beach has four PP teams (five if you count TB).

[kim dude]

I'm kinda surprised that we made the top 20...and that Crazy Kickers didn't make the list at all. I felt that my team had serious issues in certain positions last season, we'll see of we can fix that with the "new and improved" roster. I'm not complaining about making the list but since it was my first "competitive" season I thought we would have had to be better than we were. Does that make any sense? What the hell...yea us!!!

[krabbas]

I'm kinda surprised that we made the top 20...and that Crazy Kickers didn't make the list at all. I felt that my team had serious issues in certain positions last season, we'll see of we can fix that with the "new and improved" roster. I'm not complaining about making the list but since it was my first "competitive" season I thought we would have had to be better than we were. Does that make any sense? What the hell...yea us!!!

Crazy Kickers were #14.

[1st2third]

Thanks for adding CK to the list. I think we'll have a more decent showing in Spring ball. We made to many changes in Winter and we just never came together even though we did have decent talent. Congrats Trey. You guys deserve it.

[TheState22]

always fun to read these, thanks Shane!

[Zak]

Hartford is a little behind in registration, but if the friend groups turn into teams, we have 3 teams that I think could be Watch List worthy, Cunning Stunts, Dateline Specials, and Team Ramrod.

Other teams from Boston with Watch List potential; Electric Mayhem MA-Independence, and if they are returning Baggers, Dirty As Wholes, and First Base is for Making Out

[Howitzer]

Thanks Shane for all your hard work. We really appreciate it! Interesting you put us one and two, I really didn't expect that. Don't think we deserve to be number 2 with the way we played, but thanks anyway!!! You Shane!

[Kickbot]

Great job, Shane. This poll is a tough thing to put together.

Let me clarify something. YDIW is not DF. We were originally going to enter DF in NY Star, but some crucial people wern't available. Those of us that were around decided to play anyway. Since we didn't have a big chunk of our core, we decided to play under a different name. DF is going to K365 and Vegas and is the team that accomplished everything that got us on this list. YDIW is not.

Also, why are we ranked 3 below Balls Deep when we beat them handily in FTL?

Thanks, Shane.

[MEATBALLKEVIN]

great job!!!!

i would of put those fla teams in the same order too.

mb,jki,tb,rr,bd

thing is jki and tb have the same 3rd baseman so its hard to really say who is better.

[Paniky 69er]

no disrespect to make it rain..but who have they beat other than virgina teams?....thats my only question with ranking them #1....

Nine of our starters on the current roster, and ten of our starters from our Spring Roster were on Blue Balls. So the core of our team has beaten Sofa King, Dumpster FIre, Frosty Balls, Afternoon Delight, Alpha Omega, Crazy Kickers, The Others, and Friends with Benefits. That's a pretty good start.

[MEATBALLKEVIN]

Destination Vegas is the best team currently playing in FLA . haha

[Lost_Sage]

Great, thanks for reminding me of that next poll headache of mine ...

Destination Vegas is the best team currently playing in FLA . haha

[Lost_Sage]

I know it's not ... it was a hard decision between making your ranking a swan song of the past 6 months ahead of the hiatus/rebuilding phase you guys are taking, or taking the snapshot, right now, and expecting you guys to be higher in the pool once you do get a squad for K365 and qualify another squad in the summer. I opted for the latter approach -- either one would have been an imperfect answer, frankly.

Great job, Shane. This poll is a tough thing to put together.

Let me clarify something. YDIW is not DF. We were originally going to enter DF in NY Star, but some crucial people wern't available. Those of us that were around decided to play anyway. Since we didn't have a big chunk of our core, we decided to play under a different name. DF is going to K365 and Vegas and is the team that accomplished everything that got us on this list. YDIW is not.

Also, why are we ranked 3 below Balls Deep when we beat them handily in FTL?

Thanks, Shane.

[kim dude]

Sorry, CK somehow I guess I missed you. Damn that reading comprehension thingy.

[kitkat]

Sorry, CK somehow I guess I missed you. Damn that reading comprehension thingy.

Hey Kim_dude....thanks for thinking of us to begin with, and feeling bad when you thought we weren't on the list. Means a lot. Our team was definitely totally different this winter season...hopefully we can step-it-up this Spring! Great folks on that team we just couldn't get it together. It also didn't help that we didn't have our "new team bonding party" till towards the end of the season! Then once we had the bonding party, games were canceled the next few weekends!! Oh well....Its gonna be a tough season in Shore this Spring! Can't wait!