Pursuits of Happiness |
lies …
JEB : And not giving them Jell-O shots .
KS : You never know . I don ’ t age judge . If people want to partake , more power to them .
JEB : We have a couple of articles in this Journal about stress and depression for lawyers , and there is a new study that came out that surprisingly said that young lawyers are notably more depressed and stressed-out than expected , as opposed to aging lawyers , which was a new phenomenon being noticed . Would you say that this is a good way to release stress ? I mean I know that there is drinking involved , and some people may have problems with it and some people may not , but it can be described as a good way to relieve stress as a lawyer , I would assume . KS : I think so . I would agree with that .
JEB : You are outside , you are doing something active , and you are socializing .
KS : I think people looked forward to the game , and were genuinely disappointed when work or family responsibilities called them away . People were also sad when the season ended because it marked the end of a successful and worthwhile experiment . We all enjoyed getting together and meeting new people and experiencing this “ thing ” that we might not have otherwise had the opportunity to experience together . We got together as a team outside of the league just because we liked each other ’ s company . One of our players works for the Spirit of Ethan Allen , so we even had an end of the season party on the boat with a DJ and food . It was a great experience .
JEB : Right , right . And with people you might not have met …. is this in the evenings or weekends ?
KS : It was Mondays , and that was one of the benefits , it was structured . It was Monday night ; you either played at 6:00 or 7:30 . Games were 1 hour long or 5 innings .
JEB : Ok , so where did you come in out of the 18 teams at the end of the season ?
KS : The 18 teams were broken up into 2 divisions , and we were in the middle of the road in our division .
JEB : Perfect . Just what you were looking for , right ?
KS : It worked out pretty well . We lost our first 2 games by 1 run a piece . We lost our third game in a blowout , because that is the team that has coincidentally won the league for the last 4 years and always went to Vegas .
JEB : Once they get a taste of Vegas , they get serious about it .
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KS : Yeah , they were certainly good and much better than we were — particularly that early in the season . After our three losses , we went on a winning streak , we started to come into our own , and by the end , we were 1 game below . 500 : 3-5 . We were then the underdog going into our playoff game . The game went into 2 extra innings and was tied 1-1 with 2 outs in the bottom of the 7 th , runners on first and second .
JEB : Exciting stuff !
KS : Very exciting . Had they not kicked a homerun , I think the winner would have been determined by coin toss at that point .
JEB : Not too shabby .
KS : Not at all . It was a good season . I think we are all interested in playing again next year .
JEB : Are you the team manager ?
KS : I wouldn ’ t say that I was the team manager , but I was one of the 2 people who initially conceptualized the idea and brought the team together . Krystn Perettine , who worked at the public defenders ’ office at the time , was also instrumental in coordinating the effort . I made sure everyone was informed about the rules and got registered , but once the season started , Krystn took over everything . It was fantastic to have someone to make the roster and ...
JEB : Sending emails every week …
KS : Yes . There is a lot of work that goes into organizing and managing a team : Making sure your kicking line-up is efficient , reminding people of game times , keeping score , and making substitutions . Krystn did a fantastic job making sure everybody was happy and prepared . Thankfully , too , because I just want to have fun and play kickball . I didn ’ t want the responsibility .
JEB : So let ’ s talk about the team names . KS : Oh yeah , the team names !
JEB : I wanted to call this article the name of your team , but I don ’ t know if that would be kosher .
KS : The final name of our team was Pitches Be Crazy , although there was some controversy over the idea .
JEB : Yes .
KS : As you know from the WAKA website , names are an important aspect of the league . Everybody ’ s got one with a thoughtful play on words or something that reflects their team attitude .
JEB : Like Pitch Perfect , All About That Base , Alcoballics , or Better Call Ball ( a play on Better Call Saul )?
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KS : Given the limited universe of names with a play on a baseball terms , we were not the first to use our team name . We narrowed down a preexisting list of similar names to two names . One was Pitches Be Crazy , and the other one was We Got the Runs .
JEB : I love it-- I love them both .
KS : There was obvious disagreement on the appropriateness of the team name , so we voted , because that was the fairest way to resolve the issue . Pitches be Crazy won .
JEB : Controversy and that ’ s how you settle it . KS : To the dismay of many ...
JEB : I am in an adult tennis league , and my favorite name was Casual Sets , but there , too , arose some controversy .
KS : In our case voter turnout wasn ’ t as great as it could have been .
JEB : Or the We ’ ve Got The Runs could have had it .
KS : It was my preference and probably could have prevailed if I ’ d pushed a little harder for voter turnout . Following the tally , though , we unified and adopted it as our own .
JEB : You can start again in the spring . Will you have most of the same people or do you think you might have the same name ?
KS : I think we will have most of the same people . Because Vermont is a difficult place for young professionals , I expect some of our team to have moved on , but I anticipate that the structure and composition to be much the same . We ’ ll have a hoard of DRM attorneys , some attorneys at other local firms , and a large constituency of young professionals from UVM that have stayed together as friends .
JEB : Will the league pick up stragglers ?
KS : Yes . They are called “ free agents ”. WAKA requires that each team have at least 18 members to register . if a team fails to register 18 players , WAKA will fit these “ free agents ” together with other teams that might not have a full roster .
JEB : Up to 26 .
KS : Yes . For example , if you get 15 people together and someone else gets 10 people together , those 2 groups will probably be put together by the league . If you sign up just as 2 people and you are looking for a team , WAKA will find you a team .
JEB : So any of our readers who are in Burlington and are interested in playing kickball for socialization and fun they can look up Club WAKA .
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