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Everybody Loves a Winner
By Joe McGivney
8/19/11
On Saturday, volleyballs flew all day on the sands of Riis Park as contestant’s fought for the fabled winner’s sweatshirts in the Rockaway Beach Volleyball
League playoffs. The weather was an ideal 84 degrees, sunny and virtually windless and the quality of play seemed to
match the quality of the playing conditions.
Nine different division champions were crowned by day’s end and the mood was both festive and bittersweet as the 2011 season ended and the joy of another
terrific year was offset by the sadness that many friends would go their separate ways over the next 10 months, not seeing each other quite as regularly
anymore. More than a few people were weepy! Commissioner
Patty Moule outdid herself again although she selflessly deflected credit to her committee of Rocky, Steve, Denise, John and Joe for a job well done.
Thank you all for making the season a great success and making Saturday one of the RBVL's most spectacular playoff days ever. Your camaraderie and
friendship elevate the league to heights no other league enjoys. As always, the exciting games, food (Kudos to
Beach Bagel
for the
delicious sandwiches and wraps)
and music (More kudos to DJ Brian from the Tubridy stable, DJ’s at Work, who
rocked the finals) help but you are what make the day so special. If you
need a DJ don’t hesitate to call
917-690-5140 and
let them know you liked Brian’s work at the beach.
The weather was perfect once again, making the season’s final weather record
12.5 good and 0.5 bad, an unprecedented streak.
The law of averages says rain coats and goulashes will be needed in 2012
because some rough spots are simply overdue but that is a ways off right now.
Nets were available at 9:30 AM and a Rockaway miracle occurred – everyone
showed up on time and set up the courts promptly.
At 10:30 AM, players were bumping, setting and spiking (and flubbing,
fanning and whiffing) in heated playoff action.
A five game match that had Rockaway Beach Digital Design edging the Flip Cup All
Stars highlighted the first two rounds of play in the Ocean Division which
resulted in top seed Freedhand’s facing off against two time champ, Sugar Bowl
in the final. This vintage duel
displayed the best ball of the day on the beach as it usually does when these
two rivals battle. Even though the
big hitters of Freedhand’s fired away, the setters were the true MVP’s and led
the crew to an overtime victory in game four to clinch the title.
The Ocean Breeze Division was won by 2nd seed, Dig This, in
convincing fashion. Their 9-0 day was
made possible by great
all around team effort and play.
Rosanne, Cathy, Stephanie and Elizabeth set beautifully and hitters, Braien,
Sean, Jesse and Vsevolod dominated the net.
Regular season champ, Bryan’s Auto Accelerator, was the runner-up and who
knows what might have happened if their Captain, Jimmy Mack, had not been
injured on the last Wednesday of the regular season.
Wait until next year.
Bryan’s exciting 21-19 5th set semi-final victory over JG Electric
was one of the tensest showdowns of the tournament.
Though they lost in the finals, the squad came up big winning the party
afterward.
Cubby, Jimmy Mack, Howie, Dickie, and Keith closed the beach at Riis Park in the
pouring rain around 10 PM Saturday.
Some things never change.
Two veteran teams waged an epic war in the first round of the Wave Division
playoff. The Blackwater Boarders
and the Cabana alternated wins until game 5 when the Boarders sealed the deal
with a 21-10 rout. The Wharf Rats
and the Mighty Boosh battled for the top spot all season in the Wave and
Saturday was no different. They met
in the last match and this time the Rats emerged victorious in four games (two
OT affairs) to claim the title. The
Miley
Home Improvement Posse
moved up to the Beach and won it just like they won the Boardwalk last year.
They are on a two year roll and promise to be a threat if they move to
the Wave next season. For two years
the squad has filled their roster with the same group of family and friends –
the
Miley boys, Bobby and Pat, and cousins, Owen, the "big" girls Caitlin and Meghan
plus the extended family of Erika, Devin, Caitlin, Kenny, Greg, Danny Zen Master
Debo Brown, Ryan, token fireman, Mark and executive chef Donna.
Owner/sponsor Bob Miley (aka George Steinbrenner) and captains, Joe
Wheeler and Carol Miley, would like to thank the RBVL for a great year.
Next year - three-peat!
ROC FAM won the regular season title and took the playoffs as well in the
Boardwalk division. However, it
took an epic showdown against their division rival, U Got Served with a 21-18
win in game 5 to do the job. After
losing the second game they appeared to be in trouble but they righted the ship
and finished strong. The Land
Sharks made the playoffs (everyone did) but exited very quickly.
That doesn’t mean they exited Riis Park quickly.
Once again, they were among the last revelers to go home.
The Sun division produced one of the biggest upset of the day with 8th
seed, a Night Out, eliminating 1st seed, Coastal Real Estate in three
straight, 16-18-16. Unfortunately,
they could not keep up the pace and lost in the semi-finals to
Boarders Surf Shop 21-19 in the 5th set.
It’s All Good could not keep up the pace either after a round one victory
and went down in the semis to the Breakaways in four.
And in the hectic liquid marathon of playoff Saturday, TBG set a pace
that even he could not keep up with and he retired early.
In other words, TBG DNF.
Kirby, period. In the most exciting
comeback of the day, the Breakers went down two games to none before turning
things around with three straight wins (7-17-16) to take the title.
Elaine’s championship navy blue sweatshirt should match her black and
blue eye nicely.
In
the Sun Ray Division, Sal’s Auto Sandstorm sailed through the first two rounds
and led 2-1 in the finals before 6th seed, Sands Point PT, staged a
championship winning turnaround by winning the final two games 21-11 and 21-13.
Is there any connection between Captain Tom Touhey going on vacation and
missing the playoffs and Sands Point PT winning the title?
Draw your own conclusions.
The Moon Division featured the 2nd upset of the league leader by the
last place team when Robin Shapiro Realty Island took down the Odd Couples in a
five game thriller. It looked like
Denise might get a new sweatshirt for the cold Texas winters but alas it was not
meant to be as they lost a tight match to the Baranhas in the second round.
Then the 3rd seed,
White Horse Tavern prevailed in a five game finale.
The Baranhas were so close but were denied a league title once again.
They recovered from the tough loss and partied into the night as
expected.
In the Star Division, ServPro NW played back-to-back 5 game matches but ran out
of steam, losing to the Social Yachties 21-19 in their tenth game of the day.
The Social Yachties then ran out of steam as well, losing three straight
to champs, Rockaway Breakers. The
Breakers went 9-0 in dominating fashion and were led by brothers, Connor and
John McHale, products of the team’s rich farm system.
Team leader Kevin Gallagher has not been able to play much lately due to
a change in his work hours and the team rampaged to a league championship
without him. Some say it’s just a
coincidence but his softball team is in the title game for the first time ever
and he has not played there either.
Coincidence, not likely. The prized
hooded sweatshirts are always worn with pride and look terrific but none may
look better than Lord Voldemort’s, which will be accented by his two pink
scarves, which he previously won for being on the best party team in the RBVL.
The Breakers’ spectacular playoff run might make them the first team in
history to jump seven divisions from the Star to the Ocean Breeze next year.
They would then become the first team ever to compete wearing the coveted
pink scarves in either of the top two divisions.
As one of their aging, well past his prime, former greats, says,
“Everybody loves a winner.”
Five #1 seeds, two #2 seeds, a #3 and #6 ended up taking titles, making 2011 the
year of the favorites. One match
featured a high-speed collision between two teammates resulting in a broken arm,
a trip to the hospital, a bone setting and cast and then a return to Riis Park
for the rest of the day. That is
the stuff of an MVP.
Mary Ryan barely rebounded from being the runner-up in the BHYC Adult Musical
Chairs Game and fought through the disappointment to enjoy Saturday’s fun.
Eddie and Kathy are still happily married and celebrated by driving Joe and
Patty home after the dust had settled on all activities Saturday.
Much thanks from your carless leaders.
Mikey Sica and Liz Murphy did not win the Ocean championship but they were even
bigger winners when they got engaged on Saturday night at the Tiki Bar.
Can another generation (X or Y or whatever) of players be far behind?
Patty and Denise and the men of the RBVL committee would like to say,
“Thank you” to all the well-wishers for their kind words, hugs and kisses on
Saturday and all along the way. And
thanks to all who helped out on "Playoff Saturday," reffing, tracking scores,
updating the scoreboard and basically doing whatever was necessary to make the
day run smoothly. And a special
thanks to two young ladies who worked all year with their moms and did an
amazing amount of work, Caroline Brunner and Lauren Moule.
Well done! Everyone in
Rockaway is getting a bit verklempt just thinking about the season coming to
end. What the RBVL does for
Rockaway is quite magical. Just
because the league is officially over doesn’t mean that the volleyball games
must stop. It looks like the weekly
Monday night pick-up games at Steve’s 127th St. stadium will continue
for several more weeks. We hope to see many of you on the beach at 6 PM if you
are available.
As always, if you have any questions please call Patty at
917-613-0908. (Be sure to call
between 10 AM and 9 PM. Remember,
Patty has a life outside of VB, too.)
Or just check our website at www.rbvl.com.
You'll find the answers to most of your questions there, not to mention
pretty pictures and funny stories.
See you on the beach in 2012!
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