week 8

Wednesday was filled with rain and thunderstorms all over the NYC area and Rockaway Beach Volleyball League play was in jeopardy. And then 6 PM arrived and all of the bad weather disappeared, making for another beautiful evening of volleyball action. Since week one was cancelled due to excessive wind all of those scheduled games were played Wednesday night instead of the originally planned position night. 18 matches finished 3-2 and by a quirk of scheduling and weather each of those teams will face each other again next week for a rematch. Can the losers reverse the score next week? Gatemate.net and West End Tents, Casino Auto Body and That’s What She Set, the Federation and the Mighty Boosh, Sand Spikers and Sands Point PT, the Cabana, Long Beach and the Big Mahmoshkas, Dalton’s and ROCK FAM, All American Heroes and Five Rock, Edison Place and the Wharf Rats, U Got Served and Average Joes, Eh-Stay and Connolly’s, Notorious D.I.G.’s and Rincon Gringos, Kiss My Ace and Kerry Hills, Rockaway Breakers and It’s All Good, Team Margaritas and Atlantic Service Sandstorms, Rogers Irish Setters and It’s 5 O’clock Somewhere, Arverne Avengers and Rathbones, Beach Orphans and Serves ‘Em Right, Last Call and Billy Macs all played exciting 3-2 matches. Casino Auto Body and That’s What She Set will be battling again Wednesday and this time they will be tied for first place in the Ocean Breeze Division when they do so. Who will end up on top, the aging Sequoia’s of Casino or the young buds of That’s What She Set? In the Boardwalk, the top two teams will go at it again with runner up, It’s All Good trying to upend top dog, Rockaway Breakers. The Ocean and Moon have ties at the top as well. Freedhand’s and Gatemate.net and Boarder’s Surf Shop and Channimals are dead even after 7 weeks of play. Stay tuned as the RBVL heads down the home stretch.

Wine with Sue not only sponsors their team in the Moon Division, they play on the team as well. Now that’s the kind of sponsor most teams would die for. And the rhythm section of the band is proud to say they are the only band members currently sporting championship sweatshirts. What’s up singers? Your performances are terrific (Witness the Bump, Set Cruise last week.) but let’s bring home another title. That’s what it’s all about around the RBVL. Ocean’s 12 swept their first match of the year 5-0; they are peaking just in time for the playoffs.

Thankfully, Seal has been on top of his game off the court. Apparently, he has tracked down the elusive Stalking Nugent, a long way from her home turf of 67^th Street in Brooklyn. It’s only a matter of time before she joins the RBVL. The Atlantic Service Sandsharks would like to congratulate Liz and Rich on their future Sandshark, Jason Thomas Ryan, born July 14, 2015. The Sandsharks took two out of five this week with a short-handed team. Great serving strokes by uncle Bobby "Hawk Eye" Ryan in game three gave the team a strong lead. Losing a few off the net didn't stop Kris and Ca from a couple of great placement shots. Carley crushed ninety seven percent of his serves into the net. Thankfully, Captain Joey took a long shot and it dropped in perfectly, giving the team their lead. "Brown Eye" Strudel made some great digs, slamming hard on a few drops. (Thought we lost him for a few seconds there.) An outstanding comeback by all in game five! EZ Company was lucky to pull out even one win without Sheila EZ. Madame Cupcake packed a sweet spike into the recipe. Old Dan "El Chopo" says tunnels are for losers, and took a bridge. And he took C-Eth on his escape to JFK. Slim Shady brought his abacus just to be safe. Did everyone bring a chair? A.M. is waiting for The Big R to bring his cooler of high test and brownies. Happy birthday, Coach. Who is the number one fan of the man from Tennessee? Mikey Cigar needs a Cohiba or he loses the nickname. Young Dan has now seen every episode of The Office which is key for his Mojo. And then there was only one left in Fitzville.

Joe and Murph were belly to belly and back to back watching the lines for their teams from the bench and ended up retrieving a half dozen wayward balls from several courts. In Murph’s words, “That’s the most I’ve done for the league in 26 years.” And he was out of breath, to boot. But he’s all good, now. Last week’s Bump, Set, Sail cruise aboard the American Princess has many players still wobbling. A few even claim it was from the “heavy” seas but it sounds more like it was from “lite” beer. Luckily, the 3 hour tour did not end up like Gilligan’s even though Rocky and the Skipper graduated from the same yachting school. Just for informational reasons, the league has announced the following: Jason Pierre Paul, AKA Boom Boom, has been named RBVL Director of Safety and Common Sense. Public Service Announcement - Have some fun and do some good on Saturday, July 18 at Finn Fest, which will be held at Island Park. Tickets for the annual fundraiser party are $15 and the proceeds this year will go to the family of Brian Monaghan, a friend to the RBVL and Rockaway who we tragically lost on May 17. There’s a pool, drinks, food and live music from Gerald Bair, Indaculture, Breezy Grass and other local Long Beach bands. Free shuttle buses will leave from Bungalow Bar starting at 11:30 and will run until midnight. Visit FinnFestLB.com for more information or to buy tickets. You can also purchase tickets on the shuttle buses the day of the party. After twenty six years playing in the league there are some scenes and scenario Rocky has never heard or seen. Yes, you guessed it, it’s the top ten things you will never hear or see in the RBVL. 1- One of the senior refs stating after the game, “Why don’t we skip the free food at the bar and go out to a restaurant.” 2 - “Hey, I don’t care if there’s beer left in the cooler, I am still going home.” 3 - “Let’s not stand around talking, let’s grab the net and set it up early.” 4 - Coach waving his finger in a circular motion in an after game pub while simultaneously stating “Get everyone a round.” 5 - “Wow! Look at that twenty inch vertical leap on Joe McGivney.” 6 - TBG, Cement Shoes and Seal standing around a Gatorade filled cooler discussing the benefits of organic eating over a micro-biotic diet. 7 - Bernie O. crossing under the net to challenge the entire opposition team to a rumble. “You want a piece of me—here it is.” 8 - Equipment man non-pareil, Stevie the Red, stating “Don’t worry about returning the net forty five minutes late, just put it on the cart.” 9 - Someone in the Ocean Division stating “Uh-oh, I have to go home, I forget my uniform tank top. I just can’t play without it.”

A couple of beach volleyball clinics will be given on the Beach 127^th Street beach this summer. For girls entering 5^th and 6^th grades the clinic will be held on Friday, August 7^th, from 9:30 AM to 12 PM. The cost is $30 and space is limited. For girls and boys a competitive 13-17 clinic will be held on Wednesday, August 12^th, from 5 PM to sundown. The cost is $40 and space is also limited. Sign up for both at 148 B. 140^th St. July 27 to 29 between 9:30 AM and 12 PM. For more information please contact rockawaygb@gmail.com. “Play it once, love it forever.” Remember, captains, if you do not have a referee at your court by 6:30 PM come up to the boardwalk and see Colleen immediately. We may have a standby ref available but you must see Colleen. If there is a clipboard at your court, bring it up with you. Thanks for your assistance. Captains are reminded that they can have team items entered in the weekly Wave article by showing up at the sponsor bar or by e-mailing Joe at jmcgivney2@nyc.rr.com by 11:59 PM on Wednesday night. The RBVL has a Facebook page and, if you like it, you will receive timely updates, whoever you are, captain or not. Your RBVL Committee members will be around each and every week to help out on any matters and answer your questions. If you have any questions please call Patty Moule at 917-613-0908. (Call between 10 AM and 9 PM.)

See you on the beach!