Author: Joe

The Honey Badgers had a pretty good victory over a depleted Vicious and Delicious squad last night, winning 9-7. Despite only having 4 guys and 3 girls playing, V& D really gave us a serious run for our money last night.

While our guys struggled through most tof the night, our girls really came through for us again. Another big week by Meghan and a ton of big catches by Julie gave us early wins.

However as the matches wore on, Honey Badger of the Week Caitlin really shined. She practically single handedly won us two and probably three matches on the night with her hustle and smart play.

John B. continues to improve to a dominant player with his strong arm. We just need to find a way to keep his elbow healthy and we should continue to play well. Jared got off to a strong start, but showed that he hasn’t gotten his dodgeball legs under him as he showed signs of fatigue. But his early throws were great.

A great victory and against a pretty great team. There was very little arguing, etc. from both sides (expect wild man Kevin), just some fun dodgeball.

I did get to throw a bit with my left arm before the game which was great. I currently throw weak and very wild, but it was still great to get some tosses in.

This week the Honey Badgers faced the dreaded double header! Two games in one night means a whole lot of throwing and wear and tear on the body. Luckily Lauren was able to play tonight which really helped our girls out and Joey joined the ranks to give us a full guys roster with Pete our with a quad injury.

Our first match was against the Banzai Executioners. The Executioners had some new additions this week and looked to be more formidable than in week 1 (they had a very depleted roster). The matches were quite fun. Our girls did an amazing job, winning nearly all of their matches, though the Executioners kept them all close

Our guys despite losing some early matches really came alive around the midway point and turned things around. John B. clearly figured the game out and was huge for the Badgers last night. Kevin also played perhaps the most intelligent dodgeball I’ve seen him play. His wise decisions saved him a lot of energy that he’d normal be using up in past seasons. Jared was also very solid on the night coming up with numerous big catches and getting a couple of pegs in there too.

We would wind up defeating the Banzai Executioners in a great game. They were tough, but we were able to edge them out in some really close matches.

The later game was against the Terror Squad who quite frankly has the Honey Badgers number. Despite great battles they always seem to come out on top. Despite our best efforts and continued great play, sadly the trend continued with a loss to the Terror Squad.

The previous game took just enough out of us that it was hard to win some of the later games. Also of note was the frequency of left buttocks injuries to our team. John B. and Caitlin both sustained left buttocks injuries in completely different ways on the night. Truly craziness, no buttocks was safe on the night!

I really liked what I saw from our team last night. All of our new players really seemed to get the game now and were great for us. I can’t wait to see how this season plays out.

Even though I’m still unable to play due to an elbow injury, the first night of dodgeball was still quite a fun event. It felt like the first day of grade school where you see all these dodgeball friends whom you haven’t seen in several months.

It was great to get caught up with old rivals and hear what they’ve been up to. It’s also amazing just how many people are kind enough to ask how my elbow is healing up. I was surprised that several of the people even recognized me as the injured elbow guy without my post-op brace on.

After showing off scars and trading old injury stories, I got to meet and introduce the new crop of Honey Badgers this fall.

We’ve got many returning players from last season: Kevin, Dustin, Jared, Caitlin and Meghan and welcomed some new comers in Julie, John B. Libby, Ginny and Pete. A solid mix of old and new.

The only real drawback to opening night was that we would be facing off against the Ghostbusters whom are yet to lose a game in 2+ seasons. So I was sure to remind our new players that the game will only get easier in upcoming weeks and not every team throws as well as they do.

They did go on to beat us pretty soundly, but our girls did win several matches for us. I think we’re going to have another solid girl squad this season lead by the Ludgates again. Once our new comers figure things out, we should be a squad to look out for.

Our guys on the other hand look like we might need to work on a bit more. I’d really like to add a few more guys so that we can rotate our older arms a bit more as the season wears on. They do play well together as a team and that should work to our advantage as the season goes on.

A pleasant surprise was that 5-time Honey Badger Lauren stopped by and played for us as well! It was great to have her on hand and her veteran presence really helped our new girls out. It will be strange not having her there every week, but we hope her the best in her new endeavors and she will always be an honorary Honey Badger.

I really look forward to Tuesday nights and watching the team improve. I’m still crossing my fingers that the doctors will clear me to play at some point this season, but I think I still have a ways to go.