Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Kickball, Part II
[Read Part I first.]
By October, Nick had carved some web space out of a corporate server for us, and BigBlueKickball.com was launched. Taylor set up bigbluekickball@yahoo.com and put our nicknames and email addresses onto a mailing list:
The Big Blue Semiformal was hosted that November at BJ and Andy's place, a giant loft space in a converted warehouse near the river. Taylor baked a big blue cake, and I presented her with a trophy I'd made out of an old bowling trophy and a blue rubber handball from the Luncheonette on the corner of the park. Molly, Zac's ex, had played a few games with us, and for that night at least, the two of them were an item again. Everyone came in costume: Molly wore a blue wig, Zac had me dye his hair blue, and I donned a blazer and fraternity pin as "FratMatt".
We picked up the Big Blue Ball in the spring and started our 2003 season with a full roster. We spent the summer of 2003 kicking and being kicked, gulping mouthfulls of dust and washing it down with tallboys and pints. Zac moved out that summer to join the Peace Corps, and my little brother Brendan moved in to take his place in the apartment; he also joined the BBKB crew, becoming a more regular player than I was after I moved to Harlem and started law school at Columbia.
A few months ago, as the long winter gave way abruptly to t-shirt weather, some of the stalwarts started making noises about starting the 2004 season. We were pre-empted by something none of us had expected: interlopers. A crew of kids had come, seemingly out of nowhere, to start their own kickball league in McCarren Park, and their attitude was both alien and unsettling to us. We learned of their existence through their website, which also told us that they were charging people to play and that they had a "field permit", which they claimed to have already used to kick Puerto Rican baseball players off the field. They claimed that the field permit was what kept the lights on, even though the lights were timed to go off at the same time that they had for the past two years, at ten o'clock. I was the first player to make visual contact with this new group, who called themselves "Brooklyn Kickball", as I walked through the park on Sunday afternoon. I was taken aback: they were playing in daylight, and whereas our games usually employed ten to thirty players at a time, this group had dozens upon dozens of hipsters gathered behind the cage, yelling encouragement and announcing the scores over a bullhorn. Worst of all, though, was their ball: it was yellow, and small -- the size of the ones we kicked as children.
Were these kickballers ruining it for everyone? We didn't like the attitudes of the ones we encountered, and we thought that their public announcements were obnoxious. They struck a much more self-consciously cool pose than we did. But who were we to judge, invading McCarren Park with our artsy glasses and studied absurdity? We had only the disdain of the early gentrifier to wield against this new wave, and what is that, really, but the essence of hipsterism? I played kickball in McCarren Park before it sold out.
I left New York at the end of May to work in Washington for the summer, so I don't know how the Big Blue is getting along with the newcomers. There were a few moments of animosity at the beginning -- they had a big crowd, and some of them seemed like jerks -- but right before I left, a few of them started playing with us after their games died down. After a few innings, one of the Little Yellow Different kickballers declared: "This is crazy. It's, like, anarchy." We took that as a good sign.
[This story has an epilogue.]
Us:
Official BBKB Site
Mentioned on blog
BBKB Friendster profile
Them:
Their Official Site
Their blog
Their mention in the Voice
Their Myspace profile
Their Friendster profile
Blog mention
Blog mention
Blog mention
Blog mention
Blog mention
Neither:
A Third Kickball League in Brooklyn
By October, Nick had carved some web space out of a corporate server for us, and BigBlueKickball.com was launched. Taylor set up bigbluekickball@yahoo.com and put our nicknames and email addresses onto a mailing list:
From: Big Blue Ball <bigbluekickball@yahoo.com>
To: sjhunt, katie, kszott, maceoeagle, aslishenel, beck, BigLeg, Cannibal, Casey, cromag, CupBoy, Dahlink, Davey, Derg, ExStripper, FoulFriel, FratMatt, HairScott, killary, Legs, MeanGina, Mirm, Nailer, neel, Nerman, PriyatelJoe, ScaryK, softball, squirmy, ThemsFightinWords, WarsHip, wassizname, Zacariah
Date: Fri, 4 Oct 2002 06:34:41 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: I forgot to tell you...
----
We're playing "Kickball" on Sunday!
It's kind of like when you were little and were picked last for sports in gym class as a kid, except we're big now and so is the ball. It's kind of like what they call in Canada "Soccer Baseball". It's kind of like the only thing anyone should ever be doing on Sunday night.
So be there! And for kicks, bring all the balls you can find. The big ball will be there of course, but, gee, won't that be fun!
8:00 PM McCarren Park Brooklyn BYOB (Bring Your Own Ball)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Upcoming Events include, but are not limited to:
Big Blue Semi-Formal! It's kind of like when you were little and got all dressed up and got a corsage and went to the dance and then went out with your friends in your parents minivan and got drunk. Except without the minivan. November 9. Save the date. It may be your last.
The Big Blue Semiformal was hosted that November at BJ and Andy's place, a giant loft space in a converted warehouse near the river. Taylor baked a big blue cake, and I presented her with a trophy I'd made out of an old bowling trophy and a blue rubber handball from the Luncheonette on the corner of the park. Molly, Zac's ex, had played a few games with us, and for that night at least, the two of them were an item again. Everyone came in costume: Molly wore a blue wig, Zac had me dye his hair blue, and I donned a blazer and fraternity pin as "FratMatt".
We picked up the Big Blue Ball in the spring and started our 2003 season with a full roster. We spent the summer of 2003 kicking and being kicked, gulping mouthfulls of dust and washing it down with tallboys and pints. Zac moved out that summer to join the Peace Corps, and my little brother Brendan moved in to take his place in the apartment; he also joined the BBKB crew, becoming a more regular player than I was after I moved to Harlem and started law school at Columbia.
From: Big Blue Ball <bigbluekickball@yahoo.com>
To: autumn@mccarrenpark.com
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 08:03:47 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: bring a hoodie!
----
it's getting chilly, the kids have gone back to school, but most of us are continuing on in our boring day jobs, the only thing changing is the ever-growing darkness...but never mind all that, more darkness means more opportunities to drink in the park and hang out with the hassidim. So kick while it lasts. Who knows when all the balls will be broken. Will we play in the snow? well, we haven't yet, but i don't see why not. but for now, we kick. Balls. and maybe someday before the end of the season (?) i will make those t-shirts. right. i'm so on it.
Sundaymccarrenparkdarknesskickball.
A few months ago, as the long winter gave way abruptly to t-shirt weather, some of the stalwarts started making noises about starting the 2004 season. We were pre-empted by something none of us had expected: interlopers. A crew of kids had come, seemingly out of nowhere, to start their own kickball league in McCarren Park, and their attitude was both alien and unsettling to us. We learned of their existence through their website, which also told us that they were charging people to play and that they had a "field permit", which they claimed to have already used to kick Puerto Rican baseball players off the field. They claimed that the field permit was what kept the lights on, even though the lights were timed to go off at the same time that they had for the past two years, at ten o'clock. I was the first player to make visual contact with this new group, who called themselves "Brooklyn Kickball", as I walked through the park on Sunday afternoon. I was taken aback: they were playing in daylight, and whereas our games usually employed ten to thirty players at a time, this group had dozens upon dozens of hipsters gathered behind the cage, yelling encouragement and announcing the scores over a bullhorn. Worst of all, though, was their ball: it was yellow, and small -- the size of the ones we kicked as children.
Were these kickballers ruining it for everyone? We didn't like the attitudes of the ones we encountered, and we thought that their public announcements were obnoxious. They struck a much more self-consciously cool pose than we did. But who were we to judge, invading McCarren Park with our artsy glasses and studied absurdity? We had only the disdain of the early gentrifier to wield against this new wave, and what is that, really, but the essence of hipsterism? I played kickball in McCarren Park before it sold out.
I left New York at the end of May to work in Washington for the summer, so I don't know how the Big Blue is getting along with the newcomers. There were a few moments of animosity at the beginning -- they had a big crowd, and some of them seemed like jerks -- but right before I left, a few of them started playing with us after their games died down. After a few innings, one of the Little Yellow Different kickballers declared: "This is crazy. It's, like, anarchy." We took that as a good sign.
[This story has an epilogue.]
Us:
Official BBKB Site
Mentioned on blog
BBKB Friendster profile
Them:
Their Official Site
Their blog
Their mention in the Voice
Their Myspace profile
Their Friendster profile
Blog mention
Blog mention
Blog mention
Blog mention
Blog mention
Neither:
A Third Kickball League in Brooklyn
