Welcome to the last Commissioners Poll of the Spring 2017! We’ve never written a poll this late (we’re two days away from the start of our next Tropical Park season), and you can put the blame for that entirely on my shoulders. But… I promise I’ll make it up to you guys by writing more than the four words I wrote per team the last time I wrote a poll (for #35)! This poll was written by Rene Medina, and I’m excited to sit back and analyze the results for the previous season (and get everyone motivated for the start of the games to come).

1. Yellow Team (37 points; 2 first place votes): Previously 3rd. This team went undefeated against all teams we were given a chance to play against, and I’m extremely proud of that feat. We beat the first, third, and fourth seeded teams en route to a Tropical Park championship. Truth be told, it was a fun, smart, athletic team. I do want to say this, however; three times we played Pata Sucias, and three times we only beat them by one run. They were the fourth-seeded team. I bring that up to show how close Tropical Park was this past season, and how close I expect it to be again this season.
2. La Familia (36 points; 2 first place votes): Previously 1st. Tough loss against an extremely motivated, focused, and tactically excellent Ballbarians team. Unquestionably the underlying favorites going into playoffs, but their missing a few of their best players hurt them on the field in an extremely competitive Miami Lakes championship game. This team earned so much respect from the commissioners, that they almost still edged out everyone else in this Commissioners Poll despite not having won their league’s playoff trophy.
3. Ballbarians (34 points; 1 first place vote): Previously 8th. After starting off the season 0-2, captain Fidel Betancourt was heard tearfully saying the following words to his team, “To the fans and everybody in Ballbarians Nation, I’m sorry. I’m extremely sorry. We were hoping for an undefeated season, that was my goal, something Ballbarians have never done here before. I promise you one thing. A lot of good will come out of this. You will never see any player in all of Koala Kickball play as hard as I will play the rest of the season. You will never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of the season. You will never see a team play harder than we will the rest of the season. God bless.” And, against all odds, this team gelled together, overcame adversity, and made Fidel look great by not losing a game the rest of the season. Go Ballbarians, go Fidel Tebow, and go Gators.
4. Back to Black (32 points): Previously 4th. Congrats to Back to Black on their championship run at Pines! This team played a great game against Dye Pitch in the regular season, and got their revenge in the championship round in convincing fashion. Will they repeat?
5. Dye Pitch (25 points): Previously 2nd. A strong team that somehow lost a little composure in the championship game at Pines, Dye Pitch nevertheless had a great undefeated regular season in the inaugural season at Pines. While we know that the core of this team will not return at Pines for this coming season, we hope that, someday, they regroup and make a run at avenging their playoff loss against Back to Black!
6. Free Balling (24 points): Previously 5th. Great, solid team. Very well managed. In my opinion – and I said this at the beginning of the season – this team had the best collection of females out of any team this past season in Koala Kickball. Matchups matter, and, fortunately for my team, we matched up well against this team this past season. Looking at the registrations coming in for this team, I can assure you that this team has loaded up with even stronger talent in an effort to finally capture their elusive first team title.
7. This Pitch is Bananas (14 points): Previously 9th. One of the best defensive teams in Koala Kickball this past season, This Pitch is Bananas camethisclose to having a chance to play La Familia in the championship round. If they can just improve their offense to help that defense a little bit, This Pitch is Bananas would have a formidable chance to win Miami Lakes this coming season.
8. Yo Momma Can’t Pitch (13 points): Previously Unranked. Congrats to the Cutler Bay winners! After finishing second in the regular season of an extremely tight Cutler Bay season (where each team except the last-place team was five hundred or better, and the last placed team defeated the first-place team in the standings), Yo Momma Can’t Pitch stormed through the playoffs to capture their first team championship trophy in the second season of Cutler Bay. And, having seen some comments from their captain, this team is pumped up and ready to go in their efforts to defend their title at Cutler Bay!
9. Black is Back (12 points): Previously 10th. Whenever this team stays composed, plays together as a team, and doesn’t play two opponents at once (the refs and their opposing team), they’re as good at anyone at Tropical Park. A team I’ve always affectionately referred to as “Jekyll and Hyde”, they’re ALWAYS at the top of Tropical Park standings, but have not yet found a way to capitalize their great stretch regular seasons into a first ever championship at Tropical Park. If they play with more calm emotions, this team can beat anyone.
10. Opa Locka Goonz (9 points): Previously unranked. I’m a little surprised this team fell to tenth in the Commissioners Poll. They had a great regular season at Miami Lakes, and were in the semifinals against La Familia. They play well as a team, are well managed, have a strong group of guys and girls, and overall are always a pesky opponent to play at Miami Lakes. Here’s to their having another great season.

Other receiving votes:

Ballseros (8 points); Win or Lose We Still Booze (6 points); Blue Balls (5 points); Yellow Fever (5 points); The Other Guys (4 points); Sit on My Base (3 points); All My Pitches (3 points); Jäger Bombers (2 points); The Red Team (2 points); Homestead Homers (1 point).

Quick Reminder on How the Poll Works: Once both leagues have played at least 2 games each, the Commissioners each cast an anonymous ballot for the teams that they think are the top 10 in K.O.A.L.A. Kickball across our Miami Lakes and Tropical Park Leagues. The first ranked team in each ballot gets 10 points, the second ranked team in each ballot gets 9 points, and so forth all the way to the tenth ranked team in each ballot, which gets 1 point. The points that each team gets from each ballot are added up, and then the 10 teams with the highest total number of points are declared the Top 10 in the Commissioner’s Poll. If there’s a tie for points, then the team with the most number of Commissioners voting it higher than the team they tied will receive the higher position. Remember that this poll does not affect standings or playoff seeding in any way; it’s only for fun!