It’s All Very Good
By Joe McGivney
8/17/12
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, mostly sunny and virtually windless until midday 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 2012 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 for the
delicious sandwiches and wraps)
and music (More kudos to DJ Scott, who rocked the finals) help but you are what
make the day so special.
Nets were available at 9:30 AM and a Rockaway miracle occurred – everyone showed
up on time and set up the courts promptly, for the second year in a row.
At 10:30 AM, players were bumping, setting and spiking (and flubbing,
fanning and whiffing) in heated playoff action.
All four higher seeds won their first round matches in the Ocean Division
proving the regular season was a true indicator of ability.
Then the second round went the other way as Flip Cup beat out top seed
Freedhand’s and fourth seed West End Tents dispatched Gatemate.net.
The Quarterfinal match between Flip Cup and S&G started out with Flip Cup
going up 2-0 but S&G kept the match alive with the game of the day, a 28 – 26 OT
thriller. S&G also won game 4 in OT
22 – 20 but the comeback was ended by Flip Cup in Game 5.
The Semis between Freedhand’s and Flip Cup was a RBVL Classic.
Freedhand’s came charging out and won game one.
The strong ocean breeze put a premium on team play and Flip Cup regrouped
and won games two and three in exciting fashion.
Game four had Freedhand’s jump out to a 6-0 lead but hundreds of RBVL
players and fans witnessed the Comeback of the Year and the Upset of the Year as
Flip Cup rallied for a 21 -12 win to seal the match.
Unfortunately for Flip Cup and their fans, there was no Hollywood ending
in the Finals. They lost in four
well played but tough games. For
the second time in the past three years the Flip Cup All Stars knocked off
perennial favorites Freedhand’s. In
both matches Freedhand’s won the first game and were then swept away by the
younger squad. Liz Murphy’s
leadership and setting skills kept her team focused and raised the level of play
of her teammates. The depth at the
setting position kept all the girls fresh as Katey, Trish, and Jackie were solid
in the match, keeping balls alive and setting up the big hitters.
The Sica brothers, Mike and Brian, left it all on the court as Mike
suffered leg cramps late in game three, and Brian suffered heat exhaustion after
the finals. It didn’t affect their
play though as they passed and hit their way to victory.
Mike Gambino played one of his best games, spiking down with authority.
Kenny Kearns played like the wise veteran that he is, mixing up his shots
and scoring in every different way.
But just like in 2010 The Flip Cup All Stars couldn’t get over the final
hurdle in the finals, once again losing to West End Tents.
The Sica family fell just short of reaching super hero status – Mike
(Iron Man), Brian (Spider Man) and Trish the Dish (Trish the Dish).
Coach gave a yellow card to “Mr. Congeniality” Frank Ganun in the finals
and received a rousing ovation, the biggest of his playing and reffing career.
It seemed to quiet Frank down.
Teri Ganun inquired where she could buy those yellow and red cards and
wondered if they would work at home.
After the match, Coach did what he does best.
On Monday, he called Q104.3 radio station and had Ken Dashow play his 3
at 3 set about Alfred Hitchcock. In
case you were counting, the West End Tents have won 3 of the last 4 Ocean
titles.
This vintage final’s 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 West End Tents fired away, the setters,
Nicki and Katie, were the true MVP’s and led their crew to the championship.
The Ocean Breeze Division was won by top seed, Kenosha Kickers, in convincing
fashion. Their big day was made possible
by great
all around team effort and play.
That gave them both the regular season and playoff titles in dominating fashion.
The semifinals featured a dogfight between Casino Auto and JG Electric
which ended with a JG 21-19 win in game 5.
After that war, they had to face a well-rested Kenosha squad and couldn’t
pull it off. In the Wave, the
Boardwalk Boarders were discussing the benefits of sweeping through the first
round of the playoffs after winning the first two games against Connolly’s.
The extra rest would come in handy in the later rounds.
Well tell it to Bill Buckner and Greg Norman as the Boarders were stunned
losing the last three games and being knocked out in what could only be
described as a collapse. Connolly’s
picked up their game behind solid play all around, refusing to let anything drop
until they played Off the Net. Then
things dropped and Connolly’s exited.
The 6th seeded Miley Quality Home Improvement team beat the 3rd
seed, the 2nd seed and the 1st seed in three rounds to win
the Wave Division. This completes a
Three-peat for Miley, who won the Beach last year and the Boardwalk in 2010.
Miley’s goal moving up to the Wave Division was a three-peat but it didn't look
likely with the season they were having. After week nine they were in last
place. But somehow pulled it together and got the Miley MO-JO back in the
last two weeks and road the momentum into the playoffs. Facing 3rd place
team Cabana in the first round it went to five games and was intense to the
end. The fifth game was a nail biter with the lead switching back and forth and
Miley's won in OT. In the semifinals Miley's faced the 2nd place team
Healy’s and took it in four very competitive games. The final barrier to
the three-peat was the 1st place team Off the Net who hadn't lost a game in the
playoffs. Miley took the first two games despite the wind but Off the Net
battled back and won the third. But once again, Miley won the decisive
fourth game for the Wave Championship. Miley Quality Home Improvement is very
proud of the entire team and how they turned around the season by sticking
together and remembering the team motto, "If it ain't fun, it ain't worth
it." Thanks again to the Commissioners of the RBVL who once again gave us all a
great VB season.
ROC FAM
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. All the
higher seeds won along the way setting up a final matchup of 1 vs. 2 against
Kerry Hills. ROCK FAM won in 4
games and wonders if 2013 will bring a
three-peat. The Beach Bums mirrored
the exploits of the Miley Posse by beating the 6th seed, the 2nd
seed and the 1st seed, Sal’s Auto to capture the Boardwalk title,
Captain Bobby Balmes made some of the slickest pick-ups from the waiver wire
filling out his roster with champions.
And it doesn’t hurt to have Bay Ridge represented on the squad.
The Sun division regular season leader, the Stanii, faced off against perennial
league member, It’s All Good, who made it up from the 7th position,
led by the Goldberg Boys, Patrick and Alex, who
have assumed the roles formerly held by Brian and Allison Bagley in the family
volleyball hierarchy. They run all
over the court retrieving balls while the veteran (old, washed up) players
remain, unmoving in their own tiny circles of death.
Their superior efforts just fell short of bringing the family a
championship. Talk arose that the
youngsters might be picked up by teams in higher divisions but Uncle Cement
Shoes has a contract on his refrigerator that appears to have been signed in
Goldberg blood. The kids cannot
leave until they bring home a title.
It shouldn’t be too long.
CNN reported that It’s All Good 2012 championship sweatshirts were reportedly
being worn by the children of Senegal, who always get a fresh supply of losing
team shirts. Now they have the 1986
Red Sox, the 2004 Yankees and the 2012 It’s All Good models to wear around the
campfire. Kirby, period.
The Stanii want to thank Kevin Begley for being the glue that held the
team together. He was the addition
the team needed to change from being unglued last season to being a cohesive
team in 2012. Playing good friends,
It’s All Good, in the finals was a nice way to end the season, especially when
both groups joined together for a Walkway Dance at the after-party.
But the real kudos go to our #1 fan, Joanie.
She not only came to every game, she brought the 10 by 10 tent to shelter
us, the champagne to celebrate us and also the wisdom to let us know when it was
time to switch to light beer during the season.
Joanie, you're the best!
Stay tuned for the next episode of Keeping Up with the Kanel-dashians.
Last year, Debbie left It’s All Good and joined the Stanii just in time
for a championship. But what about
daughters, Jackie and Michelle from ROCK FAM and
Janine from the Sand Spikers? Who
will be moving where? Who will be
dating NBA star, Dwight Howard? And
who will be doing the laundry since she did not win in 2012?
We shall see.
The Sun Ray Division
produced one of the biggest upset of the day with 8th seed, Notorious
D.I.G.’s, eliminating 1st seed, Atlantic Service Sandsharks in three
straight but then things got dicey for the Notorious ones.
To win their prized sweatshirt they beat the Comeback Cats 24-22 in game
5 and the Attack Pack 23-21 in game 5.
Wow! Two overtime wins in
successive game fives!
Unprecedented! That sweatshirt was
well-earned. The
Moon Division went according to regular season form matching up the top two
teams in the final match. For the
second year in a row the Social Yachties ran out of steam, losing to the champs,
William J Lachner Painters (formerly the Rockaway Breakers).
With two sweatshirts in two years, an unnamed player is enlarging his
closets to make room for the new winter wear. (And
his pink scarves.) Lachner’s
spectacular back-to-back playoff runs might make them the first team in history
to jump six divisions from the Moon 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.”
Congratulations, Benita. In the
Star Division, the Hamilton Hardware Hammerheads peaked at the right time and
took home a coveted title with victories over Wii Not Fit, Servpro NW Brooklyn
and EZ Company. That was a lot of
hard work for the 5th seeded squad but they persevered.
Three #1 seeds, one #2 seeds, two #3 seeds, a #5, a #6 and a #8 seed ended up
taking titles, making 2012 the year of the underdogs.
Only 4th and 7th place look jinxed.
The RBVL does not like to leave anyone home so the two teams who were eliminated
from the playoffs were invited to play each other in the Fun Bowl.
They played and they had fun.
The IFMA’s prevailed over Simba’s Pride 21-15 in game five and both teams
were rewarded with a case of their favorite beverages for taking the time to
come down for the fun of it. After
all, isn’t that the point?
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
three young ladies who worked all year with their moms and did an amazing amount
of work, Caroline Brunner and Lauren and Juliana 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. Action should continue
around the beach for several more weeks. Don’t forget to
check our website at www.rbvl.com.
You'll find a lot of playoff pictures shortly.
See you on the beach in 2013!
Practice week is scheduled for 5/22/13.