week one 2003

Shock and Awe! John Brennan’s Stelths had a score to settle for two years. Kerry Hills eliminated them in 2001 from the playoffs and they took a year off preparing to get them back. Although Kerry Hills has split into two this year, The Stelth’s pounded the elder half of the ex-champs into submission. John Brennan Jr. and Pat Benn were in mid- season form already, and Stevie Wallace was exceptional. Laura Brennan, Michelle and Justina’s sets showed why Patty made a mistake by putting the Stelth in the Beach Division. For the Hills, the ancient Chinese proverb of divide and conquer held fast as they lost a total of ten games. The younger version went down to Abbracciemento 5-0. Welcome to the real world of the Ocean Division. The younger Hills have some solid players but lack the team effort displayed by the cagey veterans of Abbracciemento’s.

Fillmore is at it again! Jimmy the Cheap Bastard Katen just keeps getting worse, and a special thanks to Mrs. Maloney for dressing her husband in her favorite dresses. I think that Jim McDonagh should go shop in Mr. Maloney’s wardrobe. Thanks to a back injury, Pat Sluyk is on the sidelines where he belongs. Next week his brother Jim will hopefully join him. The girls as usual are getting older each year, enough said (by Tim). As a team they would like to thank Tim the Great (As reported by Tim) for keeping this team motivated, to win 2 of the 5 games. His teammates would like to point out that Tim’s trip to Montreal for a soccer tournament was time wasted. His “Pele”esque move, by trying to hit the volleyball with a sissor kick, landing flat on his back, and embarrassing the team led directly to a total collapse after that. Any young females out there? Fillmore hasn’t handed in their roster yet.

The Wave Division’s Jameson’s got rid of their dead wood and began with a 5-0 record.

The Rugby Fisheads would like to thank Regina for going to a stupid Bronx Girl Dinner and leaving Renee’ and Ëllen to eat sand for five straight games. Luckily they stood up strong and were able to salvage two wins against the Federations. The Feds meanwhile are happy to be back where they belong, winning matches. The addition of Ryan Ford added some stability to the aging squad, once his teammates realized they should get out of his way and let his solid skills lead the way. Big Brian O’Hagan showed no signs of rust from his three year lay off.

Mark Gentile could finally smile. Two straight championships were not enough to get him to smile. Something was always missing. After going two and three against Healy’s, Mark was reciting poetry, “Coppersmiths is finally having fun, because they got rid of the mean one, and kept the better sister.”

Speaking of the Queen of Mean, Marie’s Traitors easily handled the depleted Bikini Bottom All Stars, 5-0. Ex-BBAS players, Bernie and Rich were too much for their old team.

The Irish Circle provided a great spread of food as usual, under tough circumstances, with the delay and all.

The executive committee is made up of many parts. The Media Committee, which handles these articles for the Wave and the web page, The Finance committee, the Organization Committee, and last but also least, the Equipment Committee. They had nine months to check all the nets and balls and were happy to report two weeks ago that everything was ready to go. Unfortunately tonight when it was time to set up, four of the fourteen nets were not functioning, and the balls were as deflated as Rocky and Steve’s ego’s. Good thing these aren’t paying positions.

Most of the league felt a little weird about the rally scoring. A spokesman for the Sharks said that he thinks rally scoring is fishy. The lengths of the games seemed Okay though, and once we get used to it and the wind dies down so we don't have to keep switching sides, we'll feel right at home with it.

RBVL Exhibition Night Rained Out

Should we have expected anything different? After one of the worst winters ever, the 2003 Rockaway Beach Volleyball League got off to a slow and wet start, as a continuous driving rain kept the three hundred players plus off the beach for another week. Fortunately though, it was only Spring Training and would not have counted in the standings anyway. In true Rockaway fashion though, the bad weather could not dampen our spirits as many players and team captains made their way to the Kerry Hills Pub, where they took care of some administrative duties, and were served some great food, courtesy of Kerry Hills. The Beach Division was the only one to have perfect attendance with every team represented. They take the early lead for the Party championship.

Team Captains got a first hand look at the new divisions and schedule, which appear now on this page. With the new four divisions, games should be more balanced and competitive. The divisions will now go by names, not colors. The divisions, top to bottom, are called: Ocean, Wave, Beach, and Boardwalk.

The Ocean Division picked up two teams, last year’s White Division winners, Kerry Hills Eiele, and a new team, Marie’s Traitors. Both teams are split-offs from last year’s top two division winners. Marie’s Traitors split from Coppersmith’s Bar & Grill, after it was determined that they had gone over the Ego Cap, established in 1997. The Kerry Hills Eiele was a case of the kids feeling its time to leave home and start a life of their own. Led by Kenny Kearns, Eiele, wants to follow up on some bold predictions made at last years awards party. Perennial kid, Peter Kearns is the only member who doesn’t need to carry proof. The squad was seen in the backyard planning their attack against their oldest rivals, Abbracciamento’s. They mutually agreed that simply showing up should be enough strategy to defeat the long-in-the-tooth gang.

The Wave Division has the bottom four from last years Red Division along with two top teams from the White Division, the Rugby Fisheads and Fillmore Insurance. People have already come to label this group 1B since the level of play is so close to the top teams. With both teams from the Rugby Club included, spirited rivalries are guarantied.

The Beach Division starts off with the top four finishers from last year’s Blue Division and is supplemented with three “new” teams, on which many former players can be found. Former champions It’s All Good, Irish Circling Sharks, the Beach Club, Kerry Hills Pub and the Beach House all know how to win, promising to make this battle a free-for-all. Watch out for the youthful, athletic Tap & Grill Cheese Fries who took their nickname a little too seriously and showed up at the meeting with cheese fry yellow jackets.

The Boardwalk Division is comprised of the bottom four teams from both the old White and Blue divisions. With another year of experience under their belts and with eight evenly balanced teams, expectations are high for an exciting title race. The drinking title could be even closer but keep an eye on Connolly’s Island and their motivational drinking funnel. The new Irish Tunes squad attempts to join two separate groups of men and women and turn them into a team. Haven’t men and women been unsuccessfully trying to do this for centuries? Maybe Wonder Woman and Boom-Boom have the secret formula for success!

Next week, 5/28, is opening night and nets will be available for set-up at 5:45 p.m. so that the games can begin promptly at 6:30 p.m. Daylight is still at a premium so get to the beach early. The post-game party will be at the New Irish Circle and there are rumors of an exciting, upgraded menu for the players and referees. (The refs are the ones at the front of the food line.) More than a rumor is the fact that DJ Teddy will be spinning and a good time is in order. See you on the beach and at the Irish Circle.