Welcome to the inaugural BD softball awards for playing a part in and out of the soft ball Team



MVP : caroline P



Most Improved
Antonio


Commitment to cause
Louisa


Gym membership award: Woodley

Special Mention:Louisa harker


Best play Double play
Ian W and Rob Sw


If i contact something will die award
Calvin S

Special Mention:
Ian W and Callum W




To cool for School
Callum
Special Mention Gemma DH for that roll





We love ringers award for playing fro the bulldogs

Jess p
matt h
Lousia
John (caroline's boyf)
Gorana




The team we liked
man eating badgers facebook or Think Tank, cheers guys

Think Tank had 18 players , and their own catering.. mmm ...They also took the game seriously , and had loads of fun...

Bd batted first , and ravi, having forgotten his belt played like a four year old, clutching his jeans running the bases, when he wasn't sliding completely unnecessarilyinto bases. no runs but plenty of great hitting... and lots of style..

Think Tank batted , and were very good at hitting and fielding (and catering)

however it was during the second inning when our first disaster struck, antonio playing well down and 3rd base, went to field a sharply hit grounder, which fizzed up of the uneven ground and hit him flush on the knee...meaning we were a man down However he did have his own personal catering service.
We also discovered that despite Gary "Rafa" Bonsels absence we have a new intimidator at 1st base...Jacki "Takes no Prisoners" Magafa. While playing first Jacki's competitive Aussie genes kicked in and this manifested itself on a routine force at first. first she caught the ball, then because the girl had overrun, jacki then tagged her, it then rather bizarrely turned into a small shoving match ,(which Jacki won), obviously she apologised..

Rather than doing a inning by inning as normal I am going to do a Sandwich by Sandwich rundown: note the comments are no criticism but notes on my palate..grin

We had a fourth inning stretch..(our version of the 7th inning stretch), however ours had more food

Coronation Chicken: a tiny bit to creamy and mild, I like a bit more spice

We eventually scored our first run, when Dee, with some excellent batting, plated calvin who had managed to get through to third. on a dubious bit of baserunning...

Good work Dee (who stepped into Ant's shoes (metaphorically)).

Pork pies (tasty good but a bit dry, needed a dip)

The following inning , was punctuated by some comedy fielding by the BD infield which caused us to shuffle the pack (Think Tank then started really hitting the ball, like in Home runs)..

However we weren't helping ourselves one long ball was corralled by callum who threw a stunner from deep right to the cutoff, who relayed it to home plate, where another dodgy bounce meant it pinged up and caught Captain Caroline on her head (I feel so guilty for that throw), fortunately because she's a trooper, and made of stern stuff she carried on!!!

Crisps and caroot sticks (Nice variety, but definitely need a houmus or salsa)

Rob Swainson then took matters into his own hands , and hit a great low drive which bissected the fielders , and allowed him to charge for a four bagger or Home Run

About this time the light started to fade badly, Jacki was hit on her wrist trying to field a hard hit comebacker (possibly because Jason on the other Team had just robbed Callum and Calvin with 2 great catches).

We did however finish with a showboat, with no small amount of skill I caught an easy but high fly ball to end the inning, and then proceeded to stun the 2 people watching by doing some keepie uppies a la Woodley....

the game was called they won, but as games to lose go this was one of the better ones..

Party eggs (Quality all round, can't go wrong with a party egg, it could only be beaten by a real Scotch Egg!!!)

Player of the Game: Jacki
getting hit, playing hard and playing well

Super Honorable mention to Callum throws from the deep

Injury of the Game: Antonio for manfully putting his body on the line
super honorable mentions to Jacki (getting an X-rays not a CT Scan) and Caroline

Rookie of the Game : lea w for turning up and supporting us (and drinking beer)
Special mention: dee for do the scoring when I was batting..

Team:
Adam
Antonio
Callum
Calvin
Dee
Jacki
Rob Sw
Stef
Ravi
Louisa (The loud drunk one the other team liked)
Caroline

Watch out on Monday for the awards special.. and roll on next year and next season.. go Bulldogs (Woof!)

well it's bright yellow and round, this ball will do!!!

the bulldogs (arf!) rocked up unusually on time, but met a team , that knew the rules , knew the game , played in lots of other leagues..

after 2 innings the game was up, and the lack of beer was telling (We only had wine.. well we were in posh primrose hill)...

Raiders 22 - 0 BD

The raiders were taking the game too seriously.. way to seriously.. I mean shin pads for a game of Softball???

Lest said the better.. however as a footnote to this game: We know about "the Game ball"
The pressure is on the pitcher

and have I mentioned "fucking shinpads"!!!

Player of the game : Rob Sellers for talking the entire game, and keeping the banter good clean , and completely dirty..
Play of the Game: everyone Every single player got a hit
Rookie of the week: Amanda - it's a pity you played agianst the only not for fun team in the league...

Moral victory: BD we outscored them for the final 4 inning. it was just a pity about the first 2

just a little bit more ... to quote the acceptable but thankfully very short lived career of Gina G....

The Bulldogs (Woof! ) brimming with confidence despite the absence of Star pitcher Calvin came to the rescheduled game... on Primrose hill to find no umpire , no kit... and an opposition stunned by our new amazing t-shirts (which are a tiny bit tight around the neck).

However with No umpire slated to look after the game , and none of the opposition being ready to call a game it fell to yours truly to put of his impartial hat and become Switzerland (without the Swiss Army knives , the guarding of the Pope (no I didn't wear one of the suits said to be designed by Michelangelo, apochryphally ) or the banks ), and umpire both sides of the game.

Surely we should be getting extra points for that alone...

The game started with pitcher Matt H throwing well getting a number of induced swings, however having pitched and fielded with composure the middle the third were to be the undoing of BD.. Adam a , came in for relief and initially struggled to get a good line and length and conceded a number of runs, which were alter to prove critical.

down 9 -4
going into the top of the fifth inning , Geronimo suddenly mentioned that the game should only be 5 inning as we had changed the day (despite agreeing this well in advance)

giving up one run on a walk set up the play of the game ..

Ian W having had a reasonably busy time in the out field , was called upon again, when a long hanging fly ball was hit.. tracking it down he made a great snatch out of the air, and proceeded to bask in the glory by indulging in some well executed keepie-uppies.. however one of the opposition players had gone to early expecting a fumble, and was having to retreat.. not having tagged up...

suddenly the realisation dawned that a double play might be on, Ian , plucked the ball out the air , and fired in an absolute rocket , straight in to the glove of Rob Swainson at 2nd

coming into the final inning we scored lots of runs and put immense pressure on the opposition

we lost by a single run...we had a lot of moral victory , but they feel more Pyrrhic. we need to play a little bit more consistently...

Player of the game: the opposition pitcher who like a gold fish with a bad memory kept trying to turn a safe single into a double , and kept getting tagged out each and every time.. surely he should have learned , he just kept giving us easy outs..
Super Honorable mentions to Adam A and Matt H who pitched heroically to keep us in the game long enough to make it almost possible for our bats to win the game

Play of the Game: the Woodley shuffle, great catch , great keepie ups, great throw, and a brilliant hold by Rob to cap it off
Super Honorable mention to Rob Sw for great hitting , and keeping his head despite a dubious call because everyone was not paying attention

The Kissoff :
We lost breaking the bubble.
nuff said.. the batting is still getting better and we are getting contributions from everybody.. now we just need to sort of the rules , on base running , and be a bit sharper in the field... oh what a a great thing hind sight is .. this was so about to bite us in the next game...

First it was Wednesday... but Euros called Caroline (trooper) and asked for us to reschedule..

EEK!!!!
We were always going to be tight on players due to the clash with the ISP tournament... (still huge major props to all the brasil boys...now to finish it!)

We were missing
Antonio - Holiday, getting stung by Jellyfish according to his Facebook
Jacki - Holiday
Dee - Holiday
Debs - Holiday
The intimidator - brasil
Collins - brasil
Jess P - not brasil but the ISP Tournament, and the having a life thing
Clarke - brasil

The reschedule to Thursady then didn't help , and despite a full workload , and coursework Caroline wrangled a team.. despite additional drop outs from the girls , due to work and prior commitments(Stef and Louisa and yes damn it Jacki was still on Holiday). yes it was going to be debatable becuase we had more boys than strictly allowed

but major thanks to everyone Alex G, Dan C,Rob Sellers, Rob Swainson, Callum, Seb, Calvin, Adam Azor, Ian Woodley and Ben G...

Having just confirmed a 10th person, got everyone suited in the spiffing new T-Shirts (YAY! Debs).

GAME OFF...
takes deep breath...BOOOOO!!!!!!
because Euros lost 2 players at the last minute beside the fact they were the ones to reschedule...

RUBBISH

We get more points and depending on fixtures else where we might have even moved up a place , though the 10 runs scored I think sells our batting short...

Play of the week :the last minute cancellation for a walk over...
Player of the Week: Caroline Page.. Sooper Trooper (okay I couldn't find a really appropriate link becuase Super trooper is a really bad film..rogue trooper on the other hand is much cooler) for getting a Team together despite all the obstacles in her path.. work , coursework, and people having lives...

Okay big game next week .. no football clash..we have a lot more people back..
We can do it.. so lets go for promotion... especially considering the team we just beat is top of the Table ,and the other teams above us are close on points and we have already played.. so

Let's go Bulldogs(Woof!)

Pos.	Team Name	P	W	L	Drawn	For	Against	Diff.	Points
1	Euro RSCG - Eurotrash	7	5	0	1	145	60	85	34
2	BlowUp Media	6	4	1	1	121	80	41	27
3	Three Blind Mice	6	3	2	0	85	65	20	26
4	BD BullDogs (Woof!))	7	2	3	0	67	82	-15	24
5	Betgenius	6	3	3	0	113	133	-20	24
6	London Raiders	6	1	3	1	94	75	19	23
7	The Think Tank	5	2	1	1	78	74	4	22
8	Metrica	6	1	4	0	56	77	-21	22
9	Geronimo	6	1	2	1	66	73	-7	19
10	Latitude	6	2	2	1	73	85	-12	19
11	London 2012	1	2	1	75	108	-33	13
12	Litelogic	6	0	2	1	24	93	-69	7

or No Alla Violenza (see New Order World In Motion mixes)

in part 1 of a 2 part special.. major props to BD Brasil.... Heroes despite Stroudley naming his boots.. picture soon

in all games BD Brasil only allowed one goal (through Strouds), via the shoes/knees of Strouds.... so be good to the the following Inaugural champions of the ISP 5 a side tourney..
so clear a space on reception,

Please please please
and can we get one more BD Brasil shirt so the players can sign and frame it .. for posterity..or at least next week!!!!

The Team
Gary - The Guv'nor /the Intimidator Bonsels
James - the ginger Prince and The overall golden/ginger boot Gillingham or should that be Green
Kel 'look at that Dragback' Okerechi
Nick 'the face' Collins
Dermot Deever (sorry no nick name yet mate)
Nick "Own Goal - Strouds" Stroudley - sorry mate (He was genuinely good otherwise grin)
Warren "Hero" Dawes for the penalty and the eventual winning goal in the semis
Dan "Take no Prisoners" Shone
Chris " Rossi" Ross playing through the cramp..

Special Mention ND won everything .. ginger/golden boot (James G), and the trophy good luck to anyone trying to get it off him...this includes you Ghill...!!!
Here's a news story for the web site Rob...


Special mention to the support
Chris Clarke (also BD Brasil)
Adam Azor (also BD Brasil)
Tim Dalton (Broken Wrist)

and the other bloke with the T-Shirt
Clear a space we have a trophy....

Ladies and gentlemen I give you BD Brasil..check out Facebook.. for a one set of photos.. more to come, BD football blog, and more pictures.. including some adobe potato-shopped ones of the ones I took in really bad light with my 7 year old camera...

BD won. Be proud!!

Roughly on time, in the darkest depth of regents park!!! Pitch 8 so far it some where near Northwick park ....

a pretty rag bag but battle hardened bunch despite our jeans and casual appearance we were ready behind the motivator Azor , who I am pretty sure never stopped talking apart form when he dropped that catch...

We were missing the combined talents of:
Chris C (No Nickname yet!!)
The intimidator..nuff said (exams)
Nick 'the face' Collins / or Nick 'The bunny hop' Collins
and Antonio "the slider" Lulic ,
however we bit the bullet and carried on and the usual suspects started ip

we started the game a man.. or should I say woman down but after heroics and commitment to the cause, got our full complement from Jacki No Hands M(Sorry!!)

Metrica were game for a laugh, and were about as serious as we were, regardless of the the lack of the Intimidator, and "I really need to win" Azor...

As the home team we started fielding but our typical slow start saw us conceding 3 runs mostly with induced ground balls being misfielded.. this is our best first inning in the field..

BD 0 Metrica 3

Then we went to work and after to quick outs from our leadoff men richard and Adam, we continued to bat right down the order scoring 5
and a good strong performane with the bats was again highlighted by a strong first inning where we scored 5 runs

which could have been more had Adam "second chance" A ran clean by second and got tagged on the way back... booger.!!! and we also left Dee and steph on base...

To quote Wil ... RUBBISH (in joke alert), however something which is not in the slightest bit rubbish are the domino state

BD 5 Metrica 3

we then got blanked... gutted.. with Don Bradman .. err...Richard Wood s getting struck out on low cricket shot balls..even if he has the smoothest swing apart from "slo mo" Horobin...

remember Richard by the ankles is a shot to leave!!!

the top of the 3rd saw metrica catch up and the tension ratcheted.. well just a bit, okay not in the slightest, apart from the bit where I couldn't find a bottle opener.. that was quite tense

BD 5 Metrica 5
A good next half inning in the field saw us only give up 2 runs but were were behind

BD 5 Metrica 7
No problems
bottom of the fouth and we showed our class, and everything we had learnt (including Staying on bases)

our late arriving aussie (Jacki..yay!)/ Stef combined to provided a platform to score more, despite steph's (I hate the ball) of the ball to score more runs.. on the back of louisa still not being able to run, (Major props to stef and the Jacki, for doing Louisa running)

Bd 9 - metrica 7

we then traded zeroes and we were then reinforced by our cheerleader... yay! sheila!!! Is sheila our Lucky charm possibly??...you decide dear readers

Then Calvin shone despite a couple of plays where he slipped.. he shone by dominating like Josh Beckett, or Johan Santana without the promise of a Cy Young or a gold glove.. a clever tag out on one guy who ran to third and didn't hit the bases properly...and then 2 sharp catchs off the bat put an end to the Metrica revival..

We ended up putting one more run in the top of the fifth. Dee being brought home by good base hitting... Dee in action

BD 10 Metrica 7

While one of the previous innings was all about Calvin, the rest of the team were well in to it even Steph ,who despite her protestations ("I hate that ball!!!") seemed to attract a lot of the ball especially at second base...

Adam A then proceeded to give the opposition hope by dropping a simple fly ball at shortstop by not calling. (We are a communications agency .. talk to each other people!!), however redemption was soon at hand when he caught a much tougher catch.

and this along with a VERY sharp catch and throw by Ian W to our cap'n fantastic Caroline got us out of one inning and put up another zero with runners on base,

Caroline was also involved in some good catches and a clever force play...

With our confidence brimming, we entered the top of the 7th and Final inning leading by 3 runs..

good pitching sensible fielding and bosh.. BD won

....AGAIN


Notes: We can still play better, we are learning to back up, we are learning the talk and to talk to each other and oh and did I mention,we are winning. More of that please

Play of the game: Ian W to Caroline.. this was a pivotal moment , we were just up and between Ian's great catch sans "Bunny Hop" (take notes Nick C, making "the face" is all well and good, but you need to complete..grin)... and a good throw to Caroline who watched the ball all the way to her glove....

honorable mention : Adam dropped the longest and easiest catch ever , and then making a much tougher one , 1 batter later

Rookie of the Week .Stef.. went 1 for 4 but ran for lousia and played great in her first game.

props to Adam A who was still intense but hit each time at bat..rather than trying to hard like glory hound motha

Player of the week: Caroline P for improving and playing a good turn at the hot corner even in one case with a camera....
Super Honorable mention for Jacki, who turned up .. hero

Calvin S for quality hitting and pitching , plus a 5th inning where he made all the outs with a tag .. and 2 catches from sharply it pitches...

Props to our cheerleader.. Sheila..who has promised to wear a cheaeerleader outfit if we win 5 games.. right only 2 more needed lads!!!

Commitment to the Cause award: Jacki M

special Softball mention to the man with one hand.. Tim "he got a broken wrist but still played on, okay he didn't realise it was broken but it was worth it for BD brasil" Dalton.. or TIMMEH! listen to him here .

The kiss - off
The Bulldogs (woof!) 10 - 7 Metrica
Our record w in 3 lost 3 pecentage 0.500 we were 5th last week and we are certain to go up... at least one place

The team

Rich "Bradman" Woods
Adam A
Louisa "Drama" H
Jacki M
Caroline P
Dee A
Stef D
Calvin
Ian W
Ravi "Statto/or Coach" M
Look No Hands

Oh and there are tryouts for the Allstar team with a trip to the US of A .. we are told this by our umpire who tapped up both Calvin and Jacki..

For more photos check out BD softball on Facebook

Tuesday: email is sent by team captain announcing 16 , yes count them people are up for the wednesday game.. despite the loss of 2 key players to injuury and work(is boston work??? grin).

Wednesday: slight chance of rain. then BOOM, we win our Opponents Litelogic revolutions contacted us and said they couldn't raise a team..

Victory BD..

Our new record
Played 5
Won 2
Lost 3
Percentage 0.400

technically we have only played four but whose looking at that!!

As a result of the rain and cancellation. a number of people decided to continue with work or skip the game /practice.. (whispered in an accusatory tone)) you know who you are...( end of whispering).

10 intrepid or reckless sould (depending on your opinion) ventured out to keep in touch and practice an in some cases to play for the first time..

while searching for our pitch we came across a a team of mostly guys who were just "playing" for fun...

Fortunately despite the dropouts we had a team of ten, and these included Ian W and Adam A

The full team was

Calvin S
Ian W
Adam A
Rob Swainson (or Rob S as opposed to Sellers)
Louisa H
Caroline P
Matt H
Ravi
Jacki M
The intimidator Bonsels

The match started of with us pitching first and we only let in one run. a BD first the fewest runs we have conceded in the first innings ever..

As the game progressed the conditions worsened and turned what was quite a hard pitch into something of a slick surface.. something of which was going to play a part in 2 completely different plays.

The Bulldogs (Woof!) were not able to capitalise on this despite some very good batting and scored no runs

The second inning was also something of a poor showing in the field, something we had improved in the last couple of games ,possibly due to overexuberance on some of the aggresive throwing and occasionally slow running in the outfield , you know who you are Matt..(having said that considered what was to follow maybe he was on to something)

Our batting and particualrly at the plate has brought it own rewards, a couple of walks and we were well into the game, and looking to break back..a sharp slap hit propelled Ravi from first to second and a short fumble allowed him to go on to third , unfortunately what should have been an easy 2 bases was complicated by lack of appropriate footwear on the greasy surface.

As he was approaching third his lacking grip left started to slid, then it gripped and that started the patented Degville-Hayes roll. which ended up with him almost collided at taking out the third baseman (good footwork by him).

at this point we were 5 - 5 and something of a brouhaha erupted when Bulldogs (Woof!) were accused of taking this scratch game to seriously, and something of a delay took place , before apologies were excahnged and the game continued

The opposition however played a little more intensely and a couple of misfields (including a poor throw by myself contributed to the opposition scoring and a high flyball that hung in the air forever possibly confusing the intimidator who was expecting someone to try and push him over..but was ultimately dropped.) a couple of sharp plays later we were back in at bat , and behind the sluggers we started to wear the opposition down, our patience at the plate got runners on base for people like Calvin, The Intimidator, Rob S and Ian W to swing the bat with authority and and put the ball deep and in play so we can advance runners and score.

we eventually ran out winners by attrition with everyone getting on base at some point and good Slugging..

Play of the game : for apparently super high comedy:
Ravi for his ninja combat roll that nearly took out the 3rd baseman

Honorable Mentions: Rob S for his Home Run where the opposition almost willed him home (despite him slipping at nearly every base)..by throwing the ball behind him almost the entire time.

The INTIMIDATOR for that drop...
Caroline for discovering her field style is studdied nonchalance...

Player of the Game: Louisa for taking a lot of unnecessary flak,and still playing the catcher's role..

Rookie of the Game: Ian W for having a swing almostr as violent as Calvins, and which makes me want to wince eac h time , as I am sure someone is going to pull a muscle

Opposition play of the game: having the grace to apologise once they realised it was really a bit silly..never mind..

Honorable mentions: Matt H.. that's twice in 2 weeks.. Matt has apparently come up with a big hit with his stylish swing, that was robbed by a great catch..

Jacki M fo rhaving a solid game at second base despite some wayward throws from both the infield and outfield

The We thought Gary and Chris C were competitive but.. award goes to Adam A. take a moment nreath , and save it the dge for a game that counts

The Kissoff:

we won The Bulldogs (Woof!) 16 - 15 the scratch 11
(at this point the game was declared over, though considering the way we were batting it could have gone on)..

Notes:
Must field better..this means not trying to throw home too much, as this will just get us into trouble...and also calling for the ball and backing up..

When we bat, remember you don't have to try and hit everything , and you don't have to hit the skin off the ball... but it helps

Oh and I think for at least have an umpire for the next few games, as it will stop arguments.. until we and everyone else is a lot better with the rules..

after numerous arguments, countless emails, and a lot of perspiration and in Antonio's case a lot of inspiration we finally have a name.. and I am pretty sure it was one that was suggested very early on

Early contenders were ....
STBD - Don't get caught out....
BD woot!!!
bd softies apart from Bonsels the intimidator??
BD blues
Just BD
Beer Drinkers ( the acronym is BD)
everybd

We are:
The BD Bulldogs...WOOF WOOF
and we are in good company, check it... The Georgetown Hoyas

But that's not all dear readers...to complement the new name, we have a new uniform...designed by our very own Debs F.. major props there!!!

It will mean that we have no excuses fo rnot being able to find the other members of the team when we arrive in dribs and drabs.. let's face it.. it's the way we work... so without further delay.. here it is!!!



Thansk to Event Merch for the T-Shirts...

Bigger,brighter,bolder....well more visible at least...

and while I am at it, check out the all new singing and dancing simplicity that is the new BD website...

The kiss-off

BD 26 - betgenius 16

How do you like them apples

Okay now we are over that, what happend..
if you don't know what the Mundane egg is , you should read more or follow this link

Despite more organisation and planning than previously.. we arrived a bit late. however...
we did have a full complement. in fact we had subs...
Our slightly bedraggled arrival was offset by some unruly footballers, who fortuitously delayed the strat of the game allowing us to make it all on time, and with beer


Calvin started pitching and despite some quick light catching showed a bit of rust... giving up 5 runs..

BD 0 Betgenius 5
at this point the post was going to be called the squirrel wood but the sheer rush of only being down by five runs was almost a cause for celebration...

Up came BD.. and went to work...
as with previous efforts we have never had a problem with the bat... and it showed, our stacked order of Chris C, Antonio, Jacki and Gary, quickly and efficiently started putting the Betgenius pitcher under pressure

We finished the inning (almost batting through the entire order)

BD 5 betgenius 5

The second inning saw the team shaking off the rust and contending with a very bumpy infield, . despite all the sligs and arrows of outrageous misfortune (blatant Hamlet reference) and one contentious run..

Bd 5 Betgenius 9

The scond inning of batting was just as good, with BD playing some good small ball and Gary becoming the batting coach..along with the rest of the team...

we scored three runs again with the top of the order bringing home the bacon

BD 8 Betgenius 9

The pitching and and fielding then kicked in with some great plays, Debs playing a shallow outfield spot went for a high fly ball, which bobbled out of her glove, but she was able to make the catch by clasping the ball to her chest...


The general level of play particularly in the field was high, Nick Collins playing in his first game showed he had a good arm, firing in the balls hit into the deep with great conviction, in fact one with so much that it got ruled a dead ball conceded a single run.

BD 8 Betgenius 10

Calvin stepped in to the batters box and lead off with a good single , however this gave us no inkling of what was to come , patience in the batters box and some quality hitting from Nick s drove in the run, however nick in his haste and pressing play, decided to try and a turn a safe single into a dangerous double, despite the shouting from the pretty much everyone on the team yelling...

Thick and fast the runs came, but the highlights of the inning where the Big Home Runs from Gary B and Calvin 'The Big Hurt' S

We scored 8 runs.. count them 1...2...3...4...5...6..7...8

BD 16 Betgenius 10

The next betgenius inning was a rough ride, with Louisa getting into something of an argumetn with the umpire .. who was very good giving us clear calls , explantions where appropriate and he also did all the signals...

At this point we were playing sharp we had also got our first BD cheerleader.. Sheila S came along to sit on the sidelines distract the opposition drink beer and smoke cigarettes.. and she did it to good effect...

The game was very much on , and some of the guys on the betGenius team were taking it quite seriously, and that was just the lasses..

The guy with the green shirt (TGWTGS) was definitely the most enthusiastic of the lot, and he had a run in with Gary.. literally, as TGWTGS was running to 1st base , and ran directly into Gary who was standing on the bag...

TGWTGS then complained and was basically stared down, followed by the always classic stop whining and get up" with shrug off the shoulders from Mr B...


BD 16 Betgenius 16

BD now came to play, cheering everything , from dropped catches to good sarcastic comments...
and we had proper reason to .

We were hitting with confidence, and getting on base and scoring...

Caroline had the comedy moment of the day.. running from 2nd to 3rd under pressure she realised that the ball was going to arrive at the same time as she was... and clasped her hands to her head and then shifted them to her back.. (it did no good as she was still hit , and despite the name, it isn't a SOFTball)

The entire team batted round and we scored 10 Runs ... sealing the game...

Notes:
If it is sunny we are going to need more Beer..., I want some little creatures).....

Play of the Game
Debs for "the catch"
Player of the Game : for great batting Chris c, contact on base almost all the time

Honourable mentions
Calvin for putting his body (or foot) on the line...
The three big hitters who got the big scores going
Calvin again
Chris C , and Hardman Bonsels

Jacki for playing for a bit after a pulled quad...

special mention for intimidation: Bonsels and the knock down...

Rookie of the game : Nick collins, more of that please but less of the bunny hops when trying to catch the deep fly balls
super honourable mentions for Dee and debs

added genius:
Foam Fingers- the more I think about the better this idea becomes..
T-Shirts or a button down baseball tops are very good but Foam Fingers.. it's a winner much like our team

Follow up :
Okay we have mentioned we have talked it through, a client mashup bd softball tourney, mixup the players forom bd and the clients so we have some good competitive, possibly slightly drunken fun, and I think locating it somewhere like New York, maybe even book out the following park for it... or Miami's south beach would be an EXCELLENT idea.. right go do the client talky thing people

Special Mention for Sheila our first cheer leader .. definitely distracting and that was just in the pub... now if we can only get more , maybe even some uniforms.. just thinking aloud

watch out for harker she'll steal your beer while you are busy watching the game...

Additional props for motivational speaking to Stroudley... see Nick we delivered on your inspired words just before you left, "I want to see that you have won on the blog tomorrow"
maybe you have an alternate career

The Final kissoff:
We won BD 26 - 16 BetGenius ... no really!!

Photos as soon as i download them tonight, and or get the alternative off antonio

The team
Louisa H
Chris C
Antonio
Jacki M
Bonsels the intimidator
Ravi (still needs lozenges)
Matt H
Caroline
Calvin S
Nick C
Dee
Debs


ps I genuinely get home and scribble an outline, and then try and finish it during the day or before work.. as shown by my accidental post early, which prompted comments by Antonio...More feedback please

or to quote Antonio

We came second, It was a f**king close second but second.

In classic BD fashion we arived late but not as previously... however this had allowed our opposition a chance to get in the field toss a few practices and look the part as opposed to charging across London, on the very sweaty tube...
Mental Note : get there early(or just earlier so we can have a quick practice so we don't start so slow)

Moral victory BD 1 - Three Blind Mice 0 For getting there nearly almost on time

hang on, we have been here before the other team don't seem to have enough young ladies on the team..
Moral victory BD 2 Three Blind Mice 0

oh- oh we haven't brought the gloves.. ohh booger!!!!
Moral victory BD 2 Three Blind Mice 1

Hang on The Mice had Beer, damn
Moral victory BD 2 Three Blind Mice 2

Having realised that we did not have any beers (leave alone being slightly knacked from the yet again ardous trek) we were slightly deflated

In classsic fashion we batted extremely well and got a number of hits (Chris C and Antonio L and Jess P), however we weren't able to convert this in to a large score...
BD 1 the Mice 0

The lethargy showed and despite what was a Daisuke Matsuzaka (Dice K or should that be Cal S type performance) . Calvin S stepped into the fire and played a Ruthian performance (but more of that to come...)

We batted well and hard but could only manage 2 runs.. out we went .. and promptly conceded 8 runs. our typical , we have just arrived rustiness giving us a massive mountain to climb..

BD 1 The Mice 8

But it got better.. really

Another solid batting performance in the second inning capped by Caroline getting on base and then a beautiful arcing deeep line drive by the Calvin S, a thing of beauty (or possibly the most violent swing since they first unveiled Peter Snow's digital swingometer on Election Night )

After a bit of in between tinkerring with the fielding lineup , we seemed to click, a we only conceded a single run.. and the mice were squeaking no roaring,, we definitely were showing all the promise...

Bd 2 The Mice 9

It didn't look good

Suddenly it happened a few tweaks with the fielding lineup , a lot of communication and bang we started to stifle them.. Calvin was warmedup, the team was in the game, and with a solid infield we started to get on top of the mice... metaphorically speaking.

Was the hole too depp.. errr Deep

To be honest ..NO

solid hitting for the retuned lineup including triple form chris C and Antonio L plated 2 more runs..
BD 4 The Mice 9

The quality pitching. and good fielding from both the infield and outfield
Chris C also started some in between batting catching (and boy we started looking the business)

The next round we got one again. Why you ask dear reader , well I'll tell you...
We started reaching base rather than trying to hit the ball out of the park which considering the size of regent's park is possibly only possible if you are either David 'Big Papi' Ortiz, Alex Rodriguez (check the size of the contract), or you are juiced like Barry Bonds, say it with me kids... CHEAT) and even then...
We then gave up one runon a deep deep swirling ball and a ball which didn't get called foul
curses

bd 4 The 10

The Sitch
We needed 5 runs in one inning.. a tall order but if this was a US schmaltzy film it would have been no problem.

The inning started off okay wit a quick single, and then we dug a bigger hole 2 quick outs .. however we had now turned into the BD Cheer squad with Ravi on the first base line calling the runners and pretty much every one not batting calling people to leave or swing lead by Gary andChris C with the the full BD Chorus

With patient hitting comes great reward... we started getting guys and gals on base
having plated runs on a lot of good top of the order innings.. Chris C again, and Antonio Again and Jacki Again....
A couple of walks and hang on we had a bases loaded situation , the pitch was okay a good contact and a dropped catch... then a wild throw for what should have been the end of the inning... but it was thrown past third... into the Dead ball ground (God bless the rules), see previous posts), which meant we got to plate another run..

We were right in it, another good hit and we got ANOTHER run

suddenly from a situation of what should be Game Over man... Game over.. to GAME on..

Unfortunately the hole was too deep... one run short.. but what an inning.. how good were we..!!

Go team!!

The Kissoff
BD Bollux/Bollux/Bollix/Never Mind the Bollocks/Rubbish 9 -10 The Three Blind Mice

Play of the game
Antonio slipping as he charged into 1st...
Opposition play of the game:
Callum W hit an absolutely crunching drive, but wuz robbed when the opposing pitcher stuck his glove out and BAM!!!! he caught it (I reckon he only did it through self preservation...)but robbed Callum , who was super patient at the plate and waited for one to hit., of a sure fire extra base hit..Great Plate discipline.

Player of the game:
The whole shooting match was fabulous!!! All stars throughout.
A stellar pitching /batting and fielding from the mound by Calvin S
Chris C whose batting pratice at Northwick Park on Saturday seems to have paid HOOOOGE dividends
Antonio L - he can't field , he can't throw but he can definitely bat a bit
Jacki M - good hitting all day long and some good work at first base
Gorana - just for playing and hitting the ball well
Callum - good hustle and good contact and not swearing when he got robbed of a extra base hit by the opposing pitcher , and some timely hitting,
Ravi - for the dead ball play, and not getting into a shouting match with the umpire , who was actually pretty good..
Caroline for patience at the plate and gettin on the base and scoring...
Jess P for being good at the plate , and playing even when she took a blow on the wrist
Gary for some great play at 1st base.. and good hitting and getting the bench involved in the game
Matt H for being super solid backing up wherever asked and some great hitting to back up Chris C at the plate...

This weeks Team
Jess P
Chris C
Matt H
Jacki
Antonio L
Ravi - splitting time with Gary B at the plate
Caroline P
Calvin S
Callum W
Gorana


Look of the week : Gorana having got her first hot, running down the line on the slippery grass having been shocked at how vociferous we all got..
Quote of the Week Antonio , which made this weeks by line,
Honorable mention: Chris C - I have never been so happy to lose a game before!!

Notes :
Must remember the gloves..

We need to get there a bit earlier
We still need Beer
Have we got a name think we do
see above (BD Bollux/Bollux/Bollix/Never Mind the Bollocks/Rubbish)
Camera , team photos, Facebook , apologies but hopefully from next week we will be flexing the digital cameras and we will have in game photos (I know it's a mad Idea, Team photos...)
We might even start graphing our performance

Team Shirts okay after last nights performance.. we definitely rate team shirst
Foam Fingers.. - this is a genius Idea, and super props to the person who mentioned it!!!
Oh yeah

we f**king rock

Final Notes
When exchanging handshakes a number of the opposing team said : you played better than us
Moral Victories
BD 3 The Mice 0

roll on next week against betgenius

Beer + Pizza = Winning combination
Lance Armstrong + Bike = Winning Combination
The Walkabout and Ravi = Winning Combination

BD + Softball = Work in progress towards a mildly average combination
Mud + Women... and
Jello + Women = Winning Combinations..

A Number of apparently lucid individuals (Stef Dorn and Dee Arthur) got involved in the organisation and participation in a Mud Wrastle for Charideee..

and being all for Charidee...I thought the interweb is a great place for shameless promotion

so get involved .
throw some money , and/or participate or spend money on the Gals of BD
for further details :

http://www.mudwrestle4charity.com

for details of why and how please ask Dee and Stef...

It was hot and sweaty, and that was just walking up and over Primrose Hill (The views were beautiful mind you...) , we arrived at an empty Pitch 2 , set our selves up and got some practice in while we were waiting for BlowUp media..

Caroline playing another fine game as Captain phoned around and eventually discovered them on Pitch 4 as opposed to pitch 2
Moral Victory BD 1 Blowup 0

They had also asked us to bring first base, but ended up not using the base which we had manfully brought along (Props to Matt H for carrying his new Orange security blanket)

Moral Victory BD 2 Blowup 0

then we started...

We started batting, and Lousia discovered she was still nursing injuries sustained playing last week.
we batted well, getting good contact on the ball throughout the order and getting on base, but were not able to turn this in to runs (somewhat like the new york yankees at the moment http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com)

Early mentions for Chris C coming in getting good hits, another solid presence in what could potentially be a a very potent lineup. This was then followed up by Harry kewell loving Jackie M, getting another hit to advance the runner.
However we weren't able to score... curses foiled again dear reader.

Even though we were fielding 6 new players we were just more assured , and played a better game than last week.

To misquote various gameshow hosts Pitching means prizes , and ours is getting there.
We issued far fewer walks, which meant we stayed competitive.

We had no umpire this week , so no sarky comments about the lack of beer... the second inning was something of a minor triumph, We got on bases and advanced runners, and Ravi scored an RBI (Runs Batted In meaning he is now hitting just shy of .500 (very good in terms of Baseball))

The 3rd inning was the highlight, and previous at bats gave no clues to how this would turn out, Alex lead off but was again called out on strikes, Jemma entered and again hit well advancing to first Rob S came in and hit the ball hard, and Jemma DH (Not designated hitter) ran , mid way through the run, she stumbled (possibly a deliberate ploy to bamboozle the opposition), but in a sublime moment turned the stumble in to a magnificent Cagney and Lacy style roll, and got to second.


Generally the experience of having played a game or in some cases going to the training is paying off, Alex G played well at first base, and made 2 good catches.. however was just beaten to the not at all coveted player of the game award

Play of the Game, Jackie M and Richard W for the catch they managed between them. It would have been worth the admission fee if we charged.

Honourable mentions : Louisa H for playing hurt , Alex G, for a well played game at first base, in his first competitive outing.

New dark horse: Richard W bringing his silky cricket skills to to BD softball team

Must Try harder : Antonio L for crying of at the last minute for having something of a Hangover...

Major props for helping the team without even meaning to: Christophe Taddei for giving Ravi a ask.com T-Shirt...

What ever happened to: Alex G he was just there and then disappeared on the way home via the pub???

Apologies to BlowUp but the lure of beer and football at The Pembroke on the way back to the tube was too great , we might have to try a different drinks night..

Dark horse redux: Gary Bonsels for bringing bd brasil hustle to the softball team

Potential new team name
bd softies (suggested by G Bonsels)

The Kissoff
The final score Blow Up won 23 - 6 (though we need to learn to do better scoring)

Notes:
We need to come with more beer
Learn to score (gawd bless the interweb - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_scorekeeping)
Better communication on the field
Learn the rules about baserunning (this includes me...) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Softball

BD
Louisa Harker (playing injured)
Chris Clarke
Jackie M
Alex G
Jemma DH
Rob S (not Sellers but Swainson)
Matt H
Caroline P (Captain)
Ravi (Umpired this week)
Gary Bonsels
and Richard W

Having arrived full of the joys of summer(despite being late) , our lofty hopes were soon dashed.
Baseball, Softball, and home buying are all about location, location, location and in our case we couldn't seem to throw a strike .

This meant that the first inning lasted for..EVER. and we had conceded 10 runs, of which they only actually managed to hit 2 balls.

Despite this humbling, we took to the batting really well.
Louisa Harker, lead off, and got on base with a good drive, this was followed by some more good hitting by Antonio..

Jenny stepped in to the batters box, and with some extremely dodgy umpiring was given out on strikes..
Matt H stepped in and on the 2nd pitch made a great contact , and drove in both Louisa and Antonio.

10 -2 we then had some more interesteing umping, but despite this we got another run.
Score
10-3

The second inning was carbon copy of the first , though we tried a pitcher change, despite some good play we conceded another 9 runs

19- 3 The game is pretty much over

BD stepped in and the troops under Caroline's captaincy , and with Rob S and Ravi shouting instructions , and occasionally making the umpires calls did magnificently and we scored another 2 runs all off the bat

19 - 5

Matt Horobin took over the pitching duties and started getting the zone, which improved our competitiveness

We eventually rounded out the game 30 - 6

Yes it was a defeat , but we had at least 2 moral victories
1. All our runs came from good batting, and good base-running
2. We got the drinks in first despite them getting to the bar first.. BD RULE
3. They had already played 1 extra game than us.. and it showed


Note: to team: let's pitch better

Play of the game: Matt Horobin brilliant line Drive in the bottom of the first to score BD 2 runs..
Player of the game: Caroline Page, for organising the whole shebang!!

Notes:
Must take throat lozenges if I am going to shout so much!
Must take beer to pacify the umpire...

The Team:

Louisa H
Antonio
Jenny L
Matt H
Caroline (captain)
Rob S (Hence forward to be known as Sellers)
Steph D
Ravi
Jackie
Simon