Week Six

The Rockaway Beach Volleyball League concluded the first half of its season on Wednesday night, 7/3 with a full schedule of games and an old fashioned family barbecue. The weather was spectacular at Riis Park and presented a perfect stage for several key divisional battles. In the Red Division the top two teams faced off, with defending champs Coppersmith’s spanking the second place Healy’s gang 4-1. The Gatorade Sisters were up to their usual tricks (not turning tricks) in sparking the victory. Healy’s missed ace Kevin O’Malley and promises that the results will be different in their next meeting.

In the White Division the long awaited duel between the Kerry Hills Pub and the Beach House did not live up to the hype as the House went down 1-4, including games in which they scored 1 and 0 points. The youthful crew from Erin are back on a roll and gunning for a second consecutive title. They even have the Red Division teams worried about the prospect of facing them in the very near future. Watch out Abbracciamento’s!

Perennial powerhouses, the Circling Sharks, It’s All Good and the Beach Club all swept to 5-0 blowouts in Blue Division action, maintaining the top three positions in the standings. Look for key match-ups in the upcoming weeks between these three model franchises. Only one can finish on top.

The highlight of the evening was the BBQ held right on the boardwalk for all of the players, their families and friends. The shindig was funded by money saved throughout the year when referees were not available for individual matches. League executives thought it would be a good way to spend the “found” cash and from their response the players seemed to agree. 300 hotdogs and 200 hamburgers disappeared rather quickly when the hungry throngs finished up their grueling volleyball games and made their way to the grills. However, no sausage – no TBG!

The sight of referees, Mike and Ralph cooking up a storm surprised some folks but if you think about it, guys that eat as good as our refs do should be able to cook. Well they sure can! Thanks for your efforts. The sight of Tommy Kearns working side-by-side with referees (for any reason) sent some old teammates into shock. He and brother, Steve showed they were no strangers to the inside of a kitchen as they took turns flipping burgers. The Blue Division seemed to put forth the most volunteers and It’s All Good led the charge with Dennis and Seal doing a fine job. The only slight problem occurred when the left-handed Seal was called in from the bullpen and found that all of the spatulas were right-handed. Seal’s claim that he goes “both ways” put everybody at ease. He did the best he could under the circumstances.

Even the executive branch had their share of volunteers. Since President Patty Melt was busy gestating her unborn infant, First Lady Simon Moule stepped up to the plate and worked tirelessly all night. A special thanks goes out to Steve and Rocky who did tons of work during the afternoon preparing for the big event. How they find time to balance a busy work schedule with their volunteer efforts is amazing! Finally, a party without music is - well, it’s just dinner. DJ Bugsy supplied his usual mix of great tunes to entertain the troops right to the stroke of midnight, at which point he seemed to disappear. (and turned into a pumpkin?)

To all who helped out, to all who took part in an orderly, friendly fashion, to all who cleaned up, thanks. Let us know if you want to do it again next year; perhaps this can be an annual event.

The Rugby Club provided an outstanding buffet including lobster ravioli, Peking duck, baked clams, a whole roasted pig, chilled vodka and lovely ice
carvings. Oh, I'm sorry that was Leah's wedding! Congratulations, Leah, from the entire Abbracciamento's clan. By the way, who was that man at the back of the church, banging on the window a la Dustin Hoffman in the Graduate, screaming "LEAH !!!" ? It looked an awful lot like a current folic-ly challenged referee, who most recently played for Connolly's.