week10

The Rockaway Beach Volleyball League completed the 2017 regular season Wednesday night at Riis Park and 10 teams were declared regular season champs. Kobeyaki Got Kills, JG Electric, Pico, Notorious D.I.G.'s, Kevin C. Buckley's Sandstorms, Breezy Point Lumber, Rock Beach, Bulloch’s Tows in the Sand, Rathbones and DysFUNctional all finished on top of their respective divisions but now the real work begins. The battle for the coveted championship sweatshirts begins and ends tomorrow on the beach. After a rare rainout last week the weather returned to gorgeous Wednesday night, allowing for top notch play at all levels. The RBVL 2017 Playoffs will be played by all divisions on Saturday, August 12^that 10:30 a.m. sharp. 10:30 is both the start time and the forfeit time for game #1. Nets will be available for set up and practice at 9:30 a.m. and must be up by 10 a.m.

Just as a reminder, when the matchup is 1 vs. 8, the 8 seed is the home team and responsible for setting up the net. So the lower seeds are stuck putting up the nets. It’s good to be the King (higher seed)! Any ties in the standings were broken by a head-to-head tiebreaker. The standings reflect the tiebreakers so if it says you are in 4^th, you are in 4^th. All matches are best of 5 games to 21 points – win by two points and no cap. Round 1 - 10:30 a.m.: 1^st place vs. 8^th place, 2^nd place vs. 7^th place, 3^rd place vs. 6^th place and 4^th place vs. 5^th place. Round 2 - 12:00 p.m.: 3^rd/6^th winner vs. 2^nd/7th winner and 4^th/5^th winner vs. 1^st/8^th winner. Round 3 - 2:00 p.m.: CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES. The Beach and Moon Divisions have slightly different schedules in that the top two teams in those divisions have a first round bye. In their round 1, 3^rd place plays 6^th place and 4^th place plays 5^th place. In round 2, the 3^rd/6^th winner plays the 2^nd place team and the 4^th/5^th winner plays the 1^st place team. Round 3 is the Championship. For the playoffs, all teams must bring enough black garbage bags to take care of all of their garbage. The bags should be placed at the flagpole. Absolutely no bottles are allowed. If you get a fine we will not be issued a permit for next season. All nets must be off the beach by 5 PM at the latest. Rainouts during the regular season are rare but occasionally happen. (I.e. last week) A rainout has never been declared on a playoff Saturday. If the weather is poor, prepare for a long day at the beach in between rain showers. And get ready to eat and drink all day.

Your Name Could Be Here___ finished in 2^nd place, their highest positioning in many years so the love fest continues into the playoffs. The squad wouldn't have been able to compete all season without the steady contribution from the ladies - Caroline, Olivia, Liz, and Ann Marie. Y.N.C.B.H. has made Mr. Happy very happy, content, pleased, glad, joyful, cheerful, exultant, ecstatic, jovial and delighted. (Thank you, Roget.) And teammates thank him for putting together one of the most fun and enjoyable teams out there. Fam’s Breakaways led by John, Kyle and Nicole took the first three games en route to winning a tight match over Whit’s End, who were at their wits end having lost the three games by a mere 6 combined points, which is the closest you can get. However, led by Mark, Kate and John they rebounded to win the last two. The match was so even that the total points scored by each team was 100 to 98 after 5 grueling sets. Coach had the right idea but missed out on a few details when recapping the beginnings of the RBVL in 1990. By naming a few people as founding fathers you run the risk of forgetting a few folks who were there with them. So a special shout out to everyone who played in that first season, 1990, and especially to those who are still playing. And how about a little love and ink for Tommy “Moose” Reilly, who is still going strong. And don’t forget our first president, Sue Brown, who was always a threat to cartwheel across a dance floor with or without Bobby Fash.

The Bell Harbor Yacht Club did it again, hosting the best party of the RBVL season. Carlos and his daughter fed the masses hamburgers and hot dogs all night long and Mary Morgan of Ludwig’s worked her usual magic with a terrific hot food buffet. Just ask the refs. The adult musical chairs game was bigger and better than ever with chairs filling both rooms on the first floor. What’s next, chairs on the stairs winding into the upstairs area? Committee member Denise made the final four but was disqualified for playing without a beer in her hand. (That is a rule the RBVL is contemplating for next year’s volleyball season.) And the grand winner was Patrick “Triple Crown,” “Russell Westbrook,” “Now You See Me, Now You Don’t,” “What Blood Oath?” Goldberg. He’s just lucky that Caroline is underage or she might have taken him down. Maria Perez is a reporter/photographer from the Wave and many of you met her during the season. She took pictures and gathered quotes at the beach each week and was a welcome addition to the RBVL experience. Thank you, Maria. Keep up the good work. We hope to see you again next year. If you have any final thoughts or comments please contact Steve Gifford via e-mail at irvman331@verizon.net.

See you on the beach, tomorrow!