What happened playoff weekend? On Saturday, Hotline Swing upset Prestige Worldwide to win the championship for the Tropical Park league. On Sunday, ninth seeded Blue Balls came out of nowhere to beat Pitches be Trippin’ in the final. After studying the results from the entire week, the Commissioners voted for the best teams in K.O.A.L.A. Kickball and – as always – there was agreement on some results, and strong disagreement over others. The final rankings are written by Gio Lorenzo, who will compare your team to a classic sports movie. Who does not love a great uplifting sports movie???

1) Hotline Swing (2 of 3 first place votes; previously 4th)- 29 points Miracle on Ice- in the 1980s, USA beat the unbeatable USSR in the Lake Placid Olympics. It felt all season as if Prestige Worldwide was the almighty unmovable force until Hotline Swing came into the championship and defeated them, 4-0. Hats off to the Tropical Park Champions!

2) Prestige Worldwide (previously 1st)- 25 points Million Dollar Baby- What happened to the dominant Prestige Worldwide?! Cruising to what was supposed to be an easy title, they got handily beat in the championship round. Thankfully, the ending wasn’t exactly as it was in million dollar baby (she does lose that title fight, as well). At least they can hold their commissioner’s trophy high and proud…or leave it at Sports Grill.

3) Blue Balls (1 of 3 first place votes; previously 9th)- 24 points Angels in the Outfield- I loved that movie growing up! I always envisioned and wished that the Marlins could be helped by angels or anything during the putrid years. It felt like angels were helping Blue Balls on Sunday as they beat the 8th, 1st, 4th, and 3rd seeded teams in succession to steal the championship. Hats off to the Miami Lakes Champions!

4) Pitches be Trippin’ (previously 4th)- 21 points Friday Night Lights- A great movie which documents high school football in the state of Texas and the Permian High Panthers who make it all the way to the final and come up one yard short… Pitches be Trippin’ came up short in the final but should keep their heads up high as they fought hard and did not get upset early (as other teams did that day). The ball just didn’t drop their way in the championship.

5) Pitch Please (previously 2nd)- 20 points Moneyball- I love Pitch Please so they should be grateful that I gave them one of my favorite movies! There is just one quote in that movie that sums up Pitch Please’s season… “If you don’t win the last game of the season…no one gives a sh*t” Tough nine-inning upset loss for Pitch Please made their season end in a dud. At least they can hold their commissioner’s trophy high and proud.

6) We Got the Juice (previously 3rd)- 13 points Mr. 3000- Bernie Mac, the lead character in the movie, was always out for his selfish quest to retire with exactly 3000 hits. The quest envelops him until he finally learns that the idea of the team and having fun is more important. Let us hope the captain of We Got the Juice learned that lesson that his quest for a trophy isn’t as important as his team having a great time (and they did)!

7) Morning Kick (previously 10th)- 11 points The Longest Yard- The team is led by the wily veteran, Jason Oliver, who leads a group of ball players who were learning the game. They played well and even made the semifinals of the playoffs before bowing out to Pitches be Trippin’. The Longest Yard had a character who offered comic relief for the team that unfortunately disappears due to an accident (ironically enough, this also occurred on Morning Kick). They had a good season.

8) 2 Legit to Quit (previously 4th)- 11 points Chicago Cubs- Wait that’s not a movie? I mean the way they constantly lose seems like something written for movies? I mean a goat is jinxing them for crying out loud! 2 Legit to Quit had a few heartbreaking losses during the season that seemed made for dramatic theatre including an oddly scripted loss to Blue Balls in the semifinals. Who was writing their unfortunate script?

9) Nerf Ninjas (previously 7th)- 6 points Sandlot- Individually, the kids from the Sandlot did not seem athletic or worth the price of admission, but if you put the group together it made for a classic movie. Nerf Ninjas’ individuals did not make sense, starting with its pacing pitcher. When you put the pieces together, they were a solid squad who performed very well in Tropical Park. They simply ran into an inspired Hotline Swing in the playoffs.

10) Ball Liquors (previously 8th)- 5 points Mighty Ducks- In this movie, Emilio Estevez is forced to coach a ragtag bunch of kids in hockey. Initially he hates the job, but slowly grows to love the kids and eventually has a great time with the squad so much so that he had to make a sequel. I feel the captain of Ball Liquors is Emilio Estevez. I can guarantee that he is especially excited for the sequel.

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. Remember that this poll does not affect standings or playoff seeding in any way; it’s only for fun!