2006 Fixtures, Results And Reports


All players please check in for season 2006 The pre-season press conference, and things look hairy (except the management)...



Flyers - Division 1 record: 13-1. latest

Jets '93 - Division 3 record: 2-4. Minor A record: 6-0 latest

Championship - latest

Blitzes -

Social -

Flyers League Season - Division 1

Week 1.
26 Apr 06. Flyers 25 - 16 Base Devils
ALSAA, 7pm. Att. 4
Devally 4-0 with the daughters, 1-0 with the Flyers.
Softball authorities were set to launch an investigation when it was alleged that not a single player from either club went to the bar after the game Wednesday night. But later ISA Newsletter social diarist Barry Deegan revealed that he had spotted Flyer debutante Mary Lennon dancing the night away in Tamangos with her mates from college. Well the ginger fool tried to make it sound like she was on a date with him.
ALSAA barman Ray lamented the drop-off in figures from last season. 'I guess traditional bars are no longer attractive for these so-called 'celtic cubs'. They are eschewing the pubs, the ciders and vodkas in favour of cafés with their fancy coffees and their full-bodiness and subtle aromas. The writing was on the wall last week when Mickey Jacobs asked for a latté with caramel syrup and an extra shot of espresso'. Corina the food girl has put the victory chips back under the grill for the Flyers next home win and will have to do without her tip over the next couple of weeks.
Victory tonight was achieved by scoring loads of runs, conceding loads and then scoring loads more. Devally's first game in charge saw him cautiously play the ten who turned up and not make a single change in the positions. Fickle fan Nadia's daughter J who supported the Flyers at the weekend backed a losing horse tonight.
Devally's Devastating Moment: With so many kids to count now can we really blame Adrian for not keeping count of the number of strikes against him? Sure we can.

Week 2.
10 May 06. Kiely's Kegs 11 - 30 Flyers
Dodder Park, Dartry. Cud have been the moon.
Yo Bro you go ho. mmm
I've no idea where we were. Under this like Roman viaduct and than past a pub with a big Munster flag? But 9 of us got there and Bronagh went to Wesley instead cos we have some chance of finding there.
Kegs only have 4 blokes and the baldy feller is missing. Fourth inning and Bro turns up. Two outs. Runners on 2 and 1. Bro hits over the SSs head and turns for 2. First runner is gone home, second is already at 3 and heads for home as ball comes into 3. Bro is now going to 3 but turns and heads a back to 2. Ball is thrown over 2b's head and out to RF. Bro gets to 3. Ball coming back in to 2. Bro heads for and gets home and is carried back to the bench.
Made Bettys rush for home when he overran third look like a normal play. Which it was for the Flyers.
Devally's Devastating Moment: Leftie hits a grounder and Caroline playing 1B stops it easily. Nice. Caroline looks towards pitcher. Betty senses danger here but in a race between a batter over 65 feet and Betty over 40 feet there'll only be one winner. In a race between Caroline over the 10 feet she is standing from 1B and the batter maybe we cud have got the out.

Week 3.
17 May 06. Flyers  33 - 9 Shutout 7 
ALSAA. Att. 0.

With Betty away Cora ghost-writes this week's report:
The Devalinci Code.
Prologue
Paris. Not where the Devalincis were to be found, but exactly where they wanted to be. They would also have settled on being in front of the telly to watch the Champions League final, and not standing in a wet field in ALSAA.
I Wednesday morning. The Devalincis woke to bad fog and a downpour of rain on match day. "It's a sign!" the Devalincis cheered, "It's a sign we should go home to watch the match!” II 4 p.m. The rain stopped, the sun came out, and the Devalincis wearily plod down to L'ALSAA, to find no sign of the Shutout 7s. “It's a sign!” the Devalincis cheered, “It's a sign we should go home to watch the match!” III The Shutout 7s eventually showed up. But so did the leagues bestest ever football supporting umpire – Junior. “It's a sign!” the Devalincis cheered, “It's a sign we should go home to watch the match!” IV The game started. The Devalincis discussed the merits of various forms of art on the sideline – Art with Arches, Art with Words, Art with Dance Steps, as the Devalincis rolled in run after run, ending the first inning with enough runs to call the game on the mercy rule. “It's a sign!” the Devalincis cheered, “It's a sign we should go home to watch the match!”
V The sun shone, the game went on, the Devalincis scored more runs and Mark on 3B made a catch deep in right field. “It's a sign!” the Devalincis cheered “It's a sign we should go home to watch the match!” VI Cora & Fi hit triples (note for reader: this is fiction right - not actual events?), Mark & Tony hit grand slam home runs, Babs made a catch behind the plate, there were no overthrows at any base - Devalincis were on fire. “It's a sign!” the Devalincis cheered “It's a sign we should go home to watch the match!”
VII Eventually at 9:10 p.m. the game was over. "It's a sign!" the Devalincis cheered, “It's a sign we should go home to watch the match!” VIII A high speed car chase ensued through the streets of Dublin, arriving on my sofa just in time to miss the first 85 minutes of the match, including the goals. “It's a sign!” the Devalincis cheered “It's a sign we should reorganise every game in June and July so that we won't clash with any World Cup games!”
Epilogue Captain Mona Lee is a smiling mysteriously about something. Or was that just Lee being smug for being an undefeated captain?
Play of the Day. First innings, 2 outs, great big hit to right field. Mary put her wheels on and runs to make the biggest catch of the match. Shutout shut out and stunned. Mary doesn't see the ball in RF for the rest of the match. Didn't see it for the catch either as she'd closed her eyes.
DDM: Arsenal.

Week 4.
24 May 06. Usual Suspects 10 - 15 Flyers
Wesley College, Ballinteer.
The third-baseman

'Tell me this,' said the Sergeant, 'did you take any readings today?' 'I did' said MacCruiscin. 'Give me the gist of it till I see what I see.'
MacCruiscin fished a score book from his breast pocket. 'On the top line 4, 3, 4, then 0, 2, 1 and 1' he said. 'Right' said the Sergeant. 'And what reading did you notice on the second?'
'0, 0, 0, then 4, 2, 4, and finally 0.'
There was a pause here. The Sergeant put on an expression of great intricacy as if he were doing far-from-simple sums and calculations in his head. After a time his face cleared and he spoke again to his companion. 'What do make of it? The weather was fine and sunny.' 'A win is a win.' 'Very understandable and commendably satisfactory,' said the Sergeant. 'Your victory chips are on the hob inside'.
I thought 'I'm starving. And thirsty. Have barely been to the bar after a game this year. Should I ask for some?' 'Relax', said Joe, 'they won't leave you behind'.
'Now you came to report a missing bicycle?, asked the Sergeant. 'No, a bat, a black Worth 3DX, missing since the Flyers Blitz'. 'And did it have a saddle? A bell? A pump? Pumps are always being taken, three cases last month'. I hesitated, wondering should I start again or let him finish. 'Where did you buy this bicycle?' he asked. 'It was a bat. E-Bay Ebbsie bought it from the States', I replied, wondering was he listening. He twisted a pencil in his ear. 'The Unified Stations of Amurikay?' he mused, 'it's a long cycle. Anyway I don't know him and I'm not convinced of your own personal identity either. Are you sure you are not Signor Bari?'
I was now feeling a pain in my head, the kind of pain De Selby postulated the ball accumulates from being hit with the bat. And then transfers to infielders who stop the ball with their shins instead of their glove.
DDM: Well Fi wanted it, going 0 for 5, being third out 3 times and leaving 6 runners stranded. Including Tony twice who decided he'd go for glory next time and stepped in front of the plate. So maybe Tony. But he made a diving stop at SS. Betty stopping to replace second base before running home wasn't advisable. But he got Caroline to listen to him and get the force out on 2nd. Now it looks like Caroline is trying to revive the old 'Award yourself a CDM' promotion from the 60's and 70's. She gets the DDM again for telling us to listen to the first coach base. Ya wha' Gay? 'The first coach base' she repeats, and looks at us like we are mad. 'What's wrong?'.
Congratulations: to Éidín and 'some softball guy'. She complained she has no energy anymore since she got married. Must be all the housework.

Week 5
31 May 06. Flyers 20 - 10 Oddsox Red
ALSAA. Att. 13
Things you never knew much about before you had kids, no. 41

¡Hola! I am explorer Cora. Can you help me win a softball game with my amigos the Flyers? Great! But first I need my glove. I can't find it in my backpack after training yesterday. Maybe swipeyfox took it. Can you help me find it? Great! Swipeyfox had hidden it. No more swiping swipeyfox!
OK, now I need my mapa to find the ground on the southside. What Bootiemonkey – we are playing at home this week? Inside the spooky forest? Great! Vaminos! Here is all my friends: Elena, Derbhal, Gemma and Tegan, and Lauren and Sam, Clint, Ben's gang, Gary and all the Flyers.
Where is the ball? Did swipeyfox hit it past the outfielders? Can you count the runs we score when swipeyfox hits a home run? Uno, dos, tres, great hit swipeyfox! 'Oh man, (snap), it would have been a grand slam if Mary wasn't so fast on the last play'.
Can you help me catch the ball? Here it comes.. Great catch, well done! Another out. Write Flyers on it and put it in the star pocket. Oh great double play Tico, I mean Adrian. Lo hicimos!
What's that music? Tico: 'I wasn't expecting the little Fiesta Trio'. Fiesta Trio: 'Nobody expects the little Fiesta Trio. Our chief weapon is surprise... surprise and music. Our two weapons are surprise and music ... and a frog.'
Can you help me hit the ball.. here it comes now.. wait.. wait.. swing! Great hit!
Hurray, the game is over. We did it! Let's sing the song and collect all the cones. We did it! We did it! We did it! What was your favourite part of the game? Mine was the victory chips, and swiping Gary's fried chicken. ¡Deliciosas!

Sadly, Adrian's mother, and Allison's mother-in-law, passed away in Galway after the game. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam.

Week 6.
14 Jun 06. Marlay Martyrs  13 - 19 Flyers
Marlay Park, Rathfarnham
A New Hope
. FionaMc backs up 3rd and gets a tag on Lavery, ump calls safe. Conor Sayles is tagged on 3 but says he was obstructed by Tony on 2. Ump calls out.
Both Fiona and Conor are far from happy, but when it comes to the line-up after the game which one doesn't high-5 their opponent from the controversial play? Enough facts, this is the science-fiction...
Once upon a time on a pitch far, far away... A NEW HOPE.
It is a period of civil war. Rebel Flyers, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Marlay Martyr Empire by equalling them on the top of the league table. During the battle, Rebel Flyers managed to steal secret plans to the Marlay Martyrs ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armoured floating softball pitch with enough power to move around Marlay Park, confusing the opposition. Pursued by the Marlay Martyrs sinister agents, Princesses Allison/Bronagh/Caroline/Cora/Fiona (we couldn't decide who got to be the princess) race to Marlay Park aboard their starships, custodian of the stolen plans that can save their team and restore freedom to the league...
Grab you popcorn and sit back for the big big big big movie..
DDM2:'Poland are doing well'. Betty, at home on a half-day with World Cup fever, texts Caroline at 21:47. KURWA MAC!

Week 7.
21 Jun 06. Castleknock Bearcats 14 - 17 Flyers.
Castleknock College. Att 2.
Magnificent 7-0
Flyers used be a farm where we brought in players, helped them improve (maybe), and then they joined decent teams. But now with ex-Lotus Emmet and latest recruit ex-Oracle Orbitter Debbiepenny on the sidelines it looks like old softballers never die, they join the Flyers.
'Well done Jets. Pressure on the Flyers for tomorrow night in Castleknock to maintain the club's prefect record! Which team will be the first to crack?' Good one Fi, nice email. Supertense Flyers somehow are only 9-5 down after 3 and a half innings and playing rubbish.
Team talk. Then Betty walks 2 and drops the ball on a tag at home and Bearcats score 4. So we start again and .. sorry who are you?
'My name is Pádraig. I am from the Cumann Luthchleas Gael's Assymilation of Foreign Games Committee. I'm here to see if we can embrace your sport and decide if it is consistent with our own gaelic games. And to determine what purification processes we need to put in place if you want to play in the Gaelic Grounds come August.'
Pause. 'Uh, OK. Well I'll show you the basics of softball ..' 'I'd prefer if you'd call it rounders..'
'Eh? Ok, well this is the diamond. There's home plate, three bases, ..' 'Well let's just call it a parallelogram, and home base.
'Sure, why not, if you want.. The pitcher stands there, the catcher here behind the plate, I mean eh home base, four infielders, four outfielders ..' 'No, no, there's nine on a team. And it's a backstop' 'Well, yes, there should be a backstop really but we don't have one' 'We have one in rounders. He stands there' 'What? 'He' stands there? Where the catcher is?' 'The back stop.'
'Huh? Right, nine fielders, including a backstop. The pitcher pitches the ball in, the batter hits it and the fielders try to catch it in their mitt or else field it and throw ..'
'What's this mitt now?' 'The glove, to help you catch the ball'. Oh, well we won't be needing gloves now' 'No gloves? But the ball is hard, it's not a soft ball.' 'A sliothar isn't that hard' 'Sliothar? A hurling ball? You want us to play with one of those?' 'Yes. You will.'
'I suppose we could try it out. Anyway after 7 innings the team with the most runs wins, and sometimes we go to the pub, which is where I'm off to now. Bye.' Well we are amateurs so 5 'istighs' will be enough to score the 'points' they need to win.'.
'I'm not sure the IOST will be as popular this year in UL with those rules.' 'I'd prefer if you would call it Feile Cluiche Corr if you want to play in the Ennis Road ground and not out there. How many teams will be there anyway?'
'I don't know. I don't think Oddsox Green can come, but I'm sure some of them will join Marlay or something for the weekend.' 'Oh I don't think so. They have to play with their parish. One life, one club'
'Gulp. So who is going to tell Brian Connolly he has to join Bray Allsorts?'

Anyway we remember it is a simple hitting game, knock in 9 runs and stop making errors in the infield. Caroline even flips a grounder back behind her blindly to a waiting Mark on 2B. Amazing what a 3-run homer can do for Lee's humour. No victory chips, again, but starving is better than eating salted herrings and cold eggs like Adrian is doing in foreignland. And drinking 10 cent beer.
DDM:Warming up. Aidan batting, Allison catching. Pops one up ten feet high and three feet behind him to the left. So Aidan turns 180 degrees and goes to swing and hit the ball again as it drops. DDM to Allison for running into the bat.
Caroline's Blonde Moment:CBM to Caroline. Can't remember why, but it was in Myo's and really stupid and really funny. Honest.

Week 8.
28 Jun 06. Base Devils 10 - 20 Flyers
Kenilworth Square.
A whale of a time.

When Lee uses a big stick,
But it's caught by a chick,
That's Amor

When the players collide
Cos the runner won't slide,
That's Amor

Then she holds the ball on the ground
While the runners go round,
That's Amor

And she flings it away
While the ball's still in play,
That's Amor.

Senorita Gomez gets the female MVP for the Diablos but is lucky the blue isn't paying attention to what's going on around him. Getting away with it doesn't stop her displaying that Latin temperament. Always entertaining when girls get angry in softball.
Sun and success goes to Adrian's head during the seventh innings and he starts to see things in the sky. But once the game was over and we had won suddenly there was no 'sign'. But he sure scared us..
DDM: Bases loaded, no outs, and because Ebbsie has come out to watch us, tinkerman Devally puts him into bat for the man called Sichul Leong on his newly purchased Irish passport. Base Devils shortstop gets so excited when a grounder is hit straight to him he lets it go straight through his legs. The 3-man outfield are so far back Ebbsie ends up at 3B and 3 runs score.
Ebbsie's stats for the game are 1 At Bat, 1 DDM, no hits, and no RBIs.

Week 9.
5 Jul 06. Flyers 13 - 8 Kiely's Kegs
ALSAA Stadion. Att. 3 adults and 3 kids for us, 2 adults for them.
Safe from relegation now.
With thanks to that site that gives you your Brazillian football nickname...
Flyerzil lined up last night with Auro-Pau joining the regular outfield of Mcallistinho, Leildo and Mildo spread across the park. On the left of the infield Adriisco and Sichinhosa joined forces again but a change on the other wing saw Wa standing in for Felix-Burkson and Devardo-Pau moving to the centre. Bronsico made a rare appearance, playing in front of the veteren Moando up front. O-Hanla sat on the bench, but the ommission of 'Roundy' Baldo remains a mystery, with player-manager Adriisco tight-lipped as to the former star's whereabouts. 'Hoo hide hine him hin hords hahurhay hide hiv hoo hollow heh hloos' he said through tight lips.
Playing at home in their famous yellow shirts and favourites for a ninth consecutive victory, Flyerzil looked anything but world champions when the game started. Leildo was caught out completely by a long ball from the tall Kegsuese girl Sarahvic, advancing up the park and allowing the ball to sail over his head with no cover behind him. When they tried the shorter game none of the Flyerzilians were able to control, stop, or pass the ball effectively and Kegsland capitalised to take a shock 6-0 lead.
A stroke of luck from a poor pass let Flyerzil back into the game and they started taking their chances to sneak ahead, a lead they never lost. Long balls were again the order of the day from the Kegsish but Auro-Pau and Mcallistinho tidied up everything with Sichinhosa linking up nicely to carry the ball forward. Adriisco at last found his touch, stopping several balls getting through and, spraying the ball accurately across the pitch, found an outlet in Wa to keep the Kegsari's at bay.
The samba boys and girls threatened to open the floodgates late in the first half with fine strikes from Adriisco, Bronisco, Leildo and Mildo, Bronisco scoring with the hapless Kegsovian catcher rooted to the spot. A few substitutions at halftime and the rest of the game became much tighter, with scoring chances hard to find by either side. But Flyerzil march on.
Meanwhile, and with the shops closed since 7pm, Sichul and Betty's WAGs are swopping ideas on the side of the pitch. This can only be bad news for them.
DDM: All the infielders plus Lee had made a claim for it in the first innings. It was gonna be a tought call until the food waitress in ALSAA somehow dropped the victory platter inches from our table. 9 wins, our first victory platter and she fumbles it like Barthez trying to stop a free kick. Come back Corina.
Debutante of the game: Because with that throw she might be famous some day, and because we might want to borrow her at the Castleknock Blitz on Saturday, and to be nice for once, give it up for Sarah-Jane who played her first game for the Kegs tonight in ALSAA. Her folks looked vaguely familiar: Oddsox Red, Galway, years and years ago? Needed Ann or Cora tonight, they'd remember. Sarah-Jane, you stick with the Kegs, they're a good bunch.

Week 10.
12 Jul 06. Shutout 7 13 - 15 Flyers
Tallaght. Att:3 Mrs E-bay Ebbsie and the kids, Paypal and Auction
Body Slammin' – A Flyer Rap.
Lyrics by Cora 'Magnet' Burke, translation by rinkworks
Haidin' out soud side t'play some ball
Freeway goes fast no traffic at all
Arrivin' in Tallght at da damn Skolaaz Mall
Waitin' pitch side fo' da Shudoutz t'call
Startin' off well de Flya' batz on fire
Each innin' passes uh sco'ez is gettin' higha
Catchin' dem flies likes de ball's on some wire
Flyaaz neva' betta' and neva' goin' t'tire
Shudoutz start hittin' sco'in' run afta' run
Flyaaz digtin' edgy as de comeback gotz begun
Innin' 4 and 5 and da damn Flyaaz sco'in' none
Fat Lady won't start rappin' 'til eida' team gots won
Boddom uh seven and da damn Flyaaz lookin' sweet
Fieldin' now t'finish and Shudout 7 t'beat
Two runz t'defend t'keep some clean sheet
'Til some body slammin' Shudout hood sweeps Co'a offa ha' feet. Woah! Timeout!
Man! Respect. She snatch'd it fo' de team 'n' moseys behin' d'plate t'catch
Only two mo'e outz and da damn Flyaaz lead da batch
Next hit goes t'Lee defendin' well his patch
Den Caroline snatch'd da last handin' us de match. Game!
Lop some boogie, Bust some rhymez.
Damn Flyaaz livin' in tryin' times.
DDM: Body slammin' ShutOut who didn't apologise. The Orange bas*, I don't care if it is the Twelfth and your tradional route is through the white half of the bas*.
OK, so he did apologise - a year later. Cora might accept the apology in 2008.
The aftermath: "I'll drive your car home for you". "Owww". "I'll drive your car home for you". "Here have some frozen peas". "I'll drive you car home for you". "That'll be sore tomorrow". "I'll drive your car home for you". "Here I'll carry your bag to your car." "I'll drive you car home for you". "Better let Sichul drive your car home for you". "Hurrah! I'm driving your car home for you! Now how fast does it go?"
Tagline: Top-notch second-half comeback by Purple Reign in St Andrews gets them to the final next week. UCD blues who like used be called Conway's Conquerors if thats the right word are like basically shocked after their first defeat in years. Girl try from Fiona with an 'I' seals the win after she is set up by Fiachra of all people and she goes 'ohmygod I can't believe I scored' and we all like fall around laughing and high-fiving each other. So Tony with an 'Anth' will be skipping softball for another week when they play Michael Bolton Wanderers in the final. Totally accidentally stepped on some fast goys ankles when he was clean through but like he didn't think so.

Week 11
19 Jul 06. Flyers 9 - 7 Usual Suspects
ALSAA. Att. too many to count
You May Say I'm a Dreamer But I'm Not The Only One - Lucia's bib. Peace. Out.

On the hottest day ever my new glove sent to me
14 cars and a moped illegally parked,
12 Flyers a playing,
9 kids a running around,
6 WAGs a not-shopping or drinking champagne,
4 ex-Flyers a watching,
3 babies a gurgling,
1 oooold ex-Flyer um-ping,
1 HAB a driving,
1 ex-Flyer a playing for the Suspects,
1 Dad a sitting,
and a little dog in a big field.

DDM: Who else but Deano? Although Mary tries hard, and I didn't even see what Deano did.

Week 12
26 Jul 06. Oddsox Red 14 - 20 Flyers
Bird Avenue.
Serial Winners come through after flakey moments.
Flyers current winning form is attributed by a leading nutritionist to their recent vast increase in consumption of Corn Flakes.
After setting each member of the team a target of getting through 1 kilogramme of the stuff per fortnight coach Devally collects their vouchers and sends off for another four Galway GAA cereal bowls. Even the junior Flyers are helping, thanks to Anabel Karmels babies recipe for cornflake crusted fish. And a recipe for cornflake coated fried chicken spotted recently on the back of an American packet will be tried out at the Flyers family barbecue if we can figure out what 1 cup measure means.
Players who requested a couple of Dublin, Monaghan or Wicklow bowls were disciplined by being ordered to eat more of the crisply flakes of golden corn and fined the 18 euros Devally needs to cover packaging and posting. Players who reached their target were given a few chocolate cornflakes as a reward.
"People don't realize how importantly your RDA of niacin, riboflavin and the other one that begins with 't' are linked to on-field performance" said Dublin-based leading nutritionist and softball analyst Ian Clarke. "And here is 25% right in front of you in a bowl, more if you use real milk."
In a separate parallel test the Jets have been ordered away from cornflakes after their 6-0 run in Minor A to see how it would affect them. In an new experiment they now eat their kids' cocopops, or else just have a fag and then two Lidl biscuits with a cup of tea around half-ten. "The results speak for themselves" said Clarke, "They should wake up and smell the coffee, or cornflakes in this case heh heh".
Your good health Sir: The most stressful things that can happen to you in life are: Birth of a child, changing jobs, death of a parent, moving or building a house, taking charge of the Flyers softball team. If one of these happens it can take months to get over it, to have all five happen in the space of six weeks and you're bound to be unwell. No wonder coach Devally turns up in his pyjamas.
And we all just assumed he was in for the snip.
DDM: They have a runner on 1, one out. Pop-up down the third base line. 3B Adrian Devally goes back and catches it. Seeing the runner almost at two he shapes up to throw to first. Then a whole season of overthrows and underthrows flashes before his eyes and he takes off like a lunatic and runs to first base himself for the single-handed double-play and third out.
Not your usual DDM from Mr Devally, a kind of anti-DDM, but enough to take the flak away from Tony, Betty and Caroline.
With Sympathy: Tara on her mother's death.

Week 13
2 Aug 06. Flyers 11 - 10 Marlay Martyrs
ALSAA. Att: a lot, including 5 Bearcats.
Softball in the Amstel Tradition.

"Here, do you know what we should do? We should go out to ALSAA early and warm up for an hour beforehand." Cue raised eyebrows, shrugging of shoulders, and silent nods.
"Where did those Flyers go to anyway?"
"Here Conor, there's a pitch over there."
Game begins. DDM1: 3B Adrian leaves his base to cover home on a hit to RF, Mark throws to 3. Devallys 1 Walshs 0. Marlay score 3.
Flyers bat. DDM2: Caroline doesn't keep count of the strikes against her and watches number 3 go past thinking it's number 2. Devallys 1 Walshs 1. Marlay lead 3-0.
Marlay bat again. DDM3: SS Mark runs out for a fly ball and RCF Tony comes in for the same one. Both are under it and they both leave it to each other. Devallys 1 Walshs 2. Marlay lead 7-1.

"This is going to be great."
DDM4: Catcher Allison picks up ball at the back stop when Betty covers home but she sees in-rushing 3B Adrian and throws to him instead and ball goes past him. Luckily though confused runner stays on 3. Devallys 2 Walshs 2. Marlay lead 10-3.
"Lads, scoop?"
"We have to finish the bottom of the seventh you spanner."
"Sure we're seven ahead. Relax, what's the worst that can happen?"

Seventh Heaven: Mark hit a single. When Triona hit Mark was safe on 2, raced on to 3. The two runners, with zero appearances at training between them all year, tried a squeeze. Marlay overthrew at first, Mark scored, Triona got to 3. Walshs minus one point. Devallys 2 DDMs, Walshs 1. Ebbsie walked. Mary singled. Adrian hit to 2B (DDM count: Devallys 3, Walshs 1), they misfielded or made a bad throw to 2 so Mary and Adrian were safe. Caroline hit to 3B (Devallys 3, Walshs 2) who couldn't reach it. Bases loaded when Tony walked. Cora got 2nd on an overthrow from 1B to P. Lee hit to LF, Cora scored from second. Luckily Cora had no idea she was the winning run or she would have exploded, and Lee didn't know why base coach is telling him to stop on 2. Game over. Insert new coin to continue.
Strategy 21 - Jin Chan Tuo Ke: We haven't heard from Winnipeg-based softball analyst Sun Tzu much this year. But he did fax this through to Flyers HQ earlier in the day: "When the strike of a hawk breaks the body of its prey, it is because of timing. A softball match involves deception. Even though you are competent, appear to be incompetent. Though effective, appear to be ineffective. Best of luck tonight Flyaaz, be sure to text me the score afterwards and enjoy the victory chips.

Week 14
16 Aug 06. Flyers 16 - 16 Castleknock Bearcats. Bearcats win on countback rule
ALSAA. Att. 13
The notorious page about Betty

While on a holiday in Miami back in the 1950's Flyers pitcher Betty was strutting around in his Speedos when he was approached by a man who wanted to take his photograph on a deserted beach. 'What harm?' thought Betty and he lay in the foam of the breaking waves while 'Bunny' snapped away. He didn't know then but this decision would transport him from the dreary world of pizza-delivery, bell-hop and shoe-shine boy to becoming the most photographed man in Irish softball.
Equally at home modelling as a pilot or cabin crew, or posing for fetish mags in leather bondage gear, black boots and whips, he could project an image of good all-American wholesomeness or downright bad-boy nastiness with such ease it was hard to tell which was his true character. Amongst his most famous shoots was the 'Jungle Betty' series he made in Dublin Zoo in 1956 wearing a leopard-skin thong while posing with a pair of cheetahs and, briefly, a baby zebra.
Saint or sinner, virgin or vixen? The softball community were undecided but when the ISA launched in investigation under the control of the Subcommittee for Causing Damage to the Good Name of Irish Softball Betty decided it was time to shun the shutter and concentrate more on his sport.
But even now, away from the camera lens, he will still tease pitchers with a tantalizing wiggle of his hips, and distract batters with a look in his eyes that will shift in a flash from mean pleasure to mock horror to soft, come-to-bed innocence.
In the mid 1990s Betty stated he would not allow any current pictures of him to be printed because of concerns about his weight. In 2004, however, he changed his mind and allowed a publicity shot to be taken of him for the April edition of top-shelf softball magazine Batting Tease. To this day he continues to decline offers to be photographed, saying he would rather be remembered as he was.
Caroline says she made a great catch running backwards and I'll take her word for it. FionaMc says that Annacurra won the intermediate camogie championship and like the Flyers are going senior next year. No one else had any news.
No chips: Not even a trip to the bar as Bearcats go home to see off Danny back to the windy city after joining in the Flyers and Jets barbecue, and we just hang around after with Big Al's archery set. And act like adults when the last lemon lollipop is gone leaving just orange ones behind.
Perfect: Adrian 'mourinho' Devally said in a post-match interview "We did not lose this game. The sun cheated on us. If umpire have played more we would have won I say. I do not feel we lost. It is maybe a draw. It is not a defeat. We have won every game, why not count this one too?".
DDM: One out, Mr Devally on second, no-one on first. Pop fly to short-stop. Adrian, tagged standing off the base not paying attention, can't offer an explanation. Just to get the last DDM of the season maybe.





Jets '93 League Season 2006 - Minor League A

Week 1.
24 Apr 06. Jets '93 17 - 16 Beachers
ALSAA. Att: Adrian and only 3 kids
Leave it alone Brian.
Jets are down here so they can play 6 & 4. Beachers don't know this and play 5&5. Jets have a girl sub. Someone should object. Beachers have the usual clatter of lefties. Jets start well so when the game is 'won' the tinkerman tinkers and puts Mick Jacobs on third base. New Dennis replaces new Tony. New Agnieszka stays on. Babs gets to know everybody going to 2B. Beachers draw level top of 7th but tinkerman gets home on his own hit to earn the victory chips.
DDM: Ebbsie, for being lucky this time.
MVP: Babs. After ump asked 'Who was that girl getting beaten up on 2B? She's the MVP for this game.'
For Sale: Two right-foot cleats size 7. New. Will swop one for a similar left-foot boot. Contact Cora. Warning - always check the box before you leave the sports store in Florida.

Week 2.
8 May 06. All Sinners 11 - 17 Jets '93
Mercy College, Coolock
Marche On les Jets
Sans their pitcher Alain avec le broken doigt les Toutes Sinners ne etre as good pas. Il arbiteured, and Jets quatre-vingt-treize played avec neuf. Apres all the rain dans l'apres-midi it turned into a belle soir. Les Sinners tied it up a la bottom of le sept so it went into les plus innings. Jets commenced to tenir the promenades and then had the worry that it would be soon very black and the game not finite so with sept runs they get themselves striked outs and permit the Sinners to have the bat. Only one run so Jets are les Champions - allez les verts.
DDM: New man Tony G, for passing out Babs who had slipped rounding second. And ruining a damn good performance.

Week 3.
22 May 06. Y2 Kegs 7 - 35 Jets '93
Dodder Park, Dartry
With all the animals lined up 2 by 2 the rain finally stopped and once we found the ground (again) we got going and never stopped til after 5 innings we relaxed. They're so nice the Kegs, and they had 8 extras. Top of first, two scored, 2 out, grounder to pitcher who tosses it over Joan's head at 1B and we go through the order after that and it's game over.
Allison made a brief appearance in between pregnancies. Luckily Ben was also around to give Dennis a spare pair of size 11's before the off. Mickey J had more important things on his mind. Like his TEFL exam this weekend. Pass this and he will be teaching kids in Spain how to speak English. If you go near Zaragoza in 10 years time you won't understand the locals and there aint no phrase book out there that will help you.
DDM: Whatever website gave us directions and said turn right onto Marlborough Road.
Debutante of the day: Dianne finally gets to play. 6 for 6 with the bat and 3 runs. Including one where she touched all the bases.

Week 4.
29 May 06. Mockingbirds 13 - 33 Jets '93
Marlay Park, Rathfarnham
Order, order
First innings, and Aidan is lead-off. Second innings and Aidan is first up. Third innings Aidan is first up again, for his fourth at-bat of the night. Fourth innings he has to wait. The bell goes and Jets have to hustle through another 12 outs to get over the 5 innings.
Blast from the past Emmet O'Hanlon makes his Jets debut. We have to see if he can still wrap is mouth around a pint of Guinness and swallow it in 2 seconds. The Flyers/Jets management team might have fond memories of their ex-Lotus colleague but some Flyers remember when he called a strike against us after the ball hit the plate in a game v BatPak back in 93 and we nearly lynched him. All in the past, water under the bridge.
DDM: Line drive to LF and Aidan runs in for it. Still going level and fast when it flies past his glove which is straight out in front of him. And through the gap between his glove and his head. So gets the DDM for messing up a probably more spectacular DDM.
Debutants of the day: The afore-mentioned Emmet O'Hanlon and some girl called Therese I've never heard of..

Week 5.
12 Jun 06. Jets'93 16 - 11 The Dept. of Homeplate Security
ALSAA.
Mystery Training.
In a move you wouldn't even see by that new wan at RTE Wireless 1, Jets ditch the popular Brian Ebbs from his regular Monday evening 7.00 to 9.00pm slot. His ecelectic mix of pitching and team-tinkering has been replaced by the experienced and energetic Betty's mainstream, AOR-inspired, approach to the game which is expected to bring back the crowds, while leaving Ebbsies small but loyal following fiddling with their knobs. 'I mean Betty isn't going to base one full 2-hour slot, or even a match report, on a chicken theme, is he?' one fan asked. Some guy that used play for Marlay Martyrs years ago has also been axed. I mean 'is going to America' and won't be rattling bags no more.
Guest on the first show last night, Caroline Walsh remained tight-lipped on what went on at the Suspects blitz as Jets slowly but surely got the runs to build a winning lead. In a nod to the former Ballroom star Betty did some tinkering of his own towards the end of the show, letting Clint pitch a bit but he might not be allowed do it on future shows when the ratings war heats up. At the moment JNR's figures show the team have a commandng lead, one they don't want to lose when they go head-to-head with rival station Minor League B's top jocks.
Before the show started Dianne's Drive Time from the wee North to ALSAA just about filled the 5.00pm to 7.00pm slot so thanks to her. During the show Roadwatch's Clint, not happy with how the US were doing against the Czechs, showed off his new Prius to the very impressed Jets.
DDM: Whoever is to blame for softball matches clashing with the World Cup. Couldn't Italy and Ghana not have kicked off at 9.00? And the plan to send the Mystery Train into a dark tunnel.

Week 6
19 Jun 06. Jets'93 15 - 5 Global Zephyrs
ALSAA. Att. 4.
Our Green Jets have fledged.
Since early April all over Ireland people have been excitedly following the progress of our Green Jets over the internet on the Flyercam. They watched them every step of the way as they built their pitch, recruited their fledglings, and trained them up to the level where they could go out and play on their own without Ebbsie and Adrian to constantly mind them.
Each Tuesday the pair toiled to feed softball to the youngsters as the public learned more and more about the mysteries of the game. This mail from Noreen in America was typical of the hundreds of letters we got: 'Hello! I only discovered the Flyercam this morning, and I've done pretty much nothing all day except gape in wonder at my computer. I'm living in the US and very much missing softball in Dublin. My parents keep me up to date with the games in their local school, but to actually watch the Jets live is incredible. I was worried a few hours ago when the female (Ebbsie) disappeared for 2 weeks. I had visions of her being caught by a Bearcat or a Mockingbird, but thankfully she came back. Anyway, I'm going to continue viewing, and I wanted to say thank you and good luck with the venture.'
Listeners to the show had plenty of questions too - like how many hatchlings would the pair produce? Our bird experts - Tony Burns and Mark Walsh - say that usually a management pair can recruit between 5 and 14 players, our pair had 6, 3 male and 3 female. Some viewers mailed to say they thought they had seen more recruits but only 6 survived.
We knew the day would come when the fledgling Green Jets would venture out on their own to fend for themselves and it finally arrived this week. Tony G made up his own mind whether to bat left or right. Agnieszka threw the ball from right-field to wherever she wanted to. Emmet removed his own jewellery. Therese swung the bat for fun. Diane will return next week but Dennis seems to be gone his own way, maybe he's migrated back to Cork.
Finally we would like to thank everyone for joining in this experience with us and for all the positive comments, feedback and questions we have received,
The Ebbsie Goes Wild on 1B Team.

Play of the Day: 4-1-3-2 for tag at home against a squeeze play. Nailed it.
DDM:We are giving out DDMs this week for not sliding, so Cora and Aidan share the award. There's no excuse, the grass was damp and the ground not rock-hard. Next week the DDM will go to anyone who says they are going to walk, but then swings at the first pitch and pops up to the pitcher. Next week. Not this week.
Taehan Minguk: Sichul and family turn up, just to tell us he has his ticket and is going to Korea v Switzerland on Firday. We're not jealous.

League Season 2006 - Division 3

Week 1
26 Jun 06. Jets'93 8 - 10 Beachers
ALSAA.
A coincidence?
Jets LOST. Brian 'Shephard' Ebbs counted 8 survivors from the wreck of the weekend. Then a mysterious ninth player arrived, who no-one had noticed before. Was she on the Jets? Where did she come from? Were there 'others' out there in the ALSAA wilderness?
Jets LOST. The score was 8 to 10, or to put it another way, 10-8.
The infielders wore the numbers 42, 16, 8, 4, 15 and 23. Shephard Ebbsie entered the numbers in sequence on the batting order. 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42. A minute and 48 seconds later he added them in sequence on the match report. The 'Push the Button' song was going around in his head. Add up those numbers and you get 108.
All those numbers are retired New York Yankees jersey numbers in baseball, except 42. 4 was Lou Gehrig. 8 was Yogi Berra. I've heard of these names. Number 15 died in a plane crash. Now are you paying attention? 16 was Whitey Ford, 23 Don Mattingly. MLB retired the 42 shirt for every team to honour Jackie Robinson. But.. the Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera was allowed continue wear the number because he was already using it. I only found this out. It might be significant. Might explain what's going on.
The game started at 7.16pm and finished at 9.04pm, 1 hour and 48 minutes later. That's 108 minutes.
The date was the 26th. 42 minus 16 is 26.
I'll stop now. Luckily we don't have a game on the 10th of August.
DDM: No Devallys played. Had used two exemptions already to rule out Allison. Adrian came, watched two innings and left the other 6 guys to it. Can we blame him? Or sudden notavailabilitis among the Jets girls?
Debutante of the day: We register another Ann in the morning and she is the ninth person to ensure we don't give a walkover.

Week 2
3 Jul 06. Global Zephyrs 20 - 22 Jets'93
Marlay Park.
Heads you win...
Ebbsie going around in a daze today, although his workmates didn't report anything unusual. When a concerned Polish cleanerwoman found him asleep on a toilet after lunch he told her 'I got a neuroanatomic lesion affecting my reticular activating system. I used my head to stop a ball hit back at me nearing the end of the game last night. Around the time Jets scored 8 to take the lead.' The cleanerwoman stared for a while then hooshed him outside with her mop.
Aidan could have done with a smack to the head too. He claims learning something new over the weekend caused him to forget how to hit the ball. Maybe he's been reading the Mickey J book of excuses.
On the positive side Therese made her first catch and Ben hit 3 Home Runs so he could get a run home. That was the deal. And as Tony stood on 2 and watched the infielder throw to 1B something in his head went 'This kinda looks familiar, didn't we cover this in training last week? I'm on second, there's no-one on first. Yeah, what was it now? Was it run to three when the ball is thrown? You know I think it was. I'll run to three so.' Only it was all a bit slower than that.
DDM: Caroline. For claiming that there wasn't really any DDMs to report. I don't believe you.

Week 3
17 Jul 06. Loan Homers Krusty 18 - 17 Jets'93
Terenure College.
Or 18-16 or 17-15 depending on who you listen too. Ex-Flyer turned clown turned umpire James O'Farrell does most of the damage to the team that will not train. Ebbsie asks Tony G and Big Al where they got their tattoos done and books all the Jets in to get one of the base lines from home to 1st, to 2nd, round to 3rd and back home. But disguised as a skull, two Chinese characters, a tri-colour and celtic cross, and a heart with a scroll reading 'Ebbsie'.
DDM: Seems James wasn't the only clown out there tonight. If Ebbsie had a flower in his lapel I wouldn't go to smell it. Or take a lift in his car.

Week 4
24 Jul 06. All Sinners 30 - 11 Jets'93
Mercy College, Coolock.
Att: Big Al, Caroline and 10 of Bettys family, 8 of whom left early cos he was such a grumpy ass all night.
Bush: Yo Ebbs How are you doing?
Ebbs: I'm just...
Bush: You're leaving?
Ebbs: No, no, no not yet. On this Division 3 thingy...[inaudible]
Bush: yeah I told that to the man
Ebbs: Are you planning to say that here or not?
Bush: If you want me to
Ebbs: Well, it's just that if the discussion arises...
Bush: I just want some movement. Yesterday we didn't see much movement
Ebbs: No, no, it may be that it's not, it maybe that it's impossible
Bush: I am prepared to say it. Who is introducing the exemption thing
Ebbs: Allacoque
Bush: Tell her to call 'em
Ebbs: Yes
Bush: Tell her to put him on them on the spot. Thanks for the Jets Polo shirt it's awfully thoughtful of you
Ebbs: It's a pleasure
Bush: I know you picked it out yourself
Ebbs: Oh, absoultely, in fact I embroidered it myself
Bush: "Right . . . What about Junior? That seems odd. I don't like the sequence of it. His attitude is basically play and everything else happens."
Ebbs: "I think the thing that is really difficult is you can't stop this unless you get the ISA and umpires to agree." ...
Bush: Yeah
Ebbs: I don't know what you guys have talked about but as I say I am perfectly happy to try and see what the lie of the land is but you need that done quickly because otherwise it will spiral
Bush: It's a process, I agree. I told her your offer to...
Ebbs: Well...it's only if I mean... you know. If she's got a..., or if she needs the ground prepared as it were... Because obviously if she goes out, she's got to succeed, if it were, whereas I can go out and just talk
Bush: You see, the ... thing is what they need to do is to get Kilbride, to get the Dogs to stop doing this sh1t and it's over
Ebbs: [inaudible]
Bush: [inaudible]
Ebbs: The Plate
Bush: Why?
Ebbs: Because I think this is all part of the same thing
Bush: Yeah, yeah, he is sweet
Ebbs: He is honey. And that's what the whole thing is about. It's the same with the Dogs
Bush: I felt like telling Junior to call, to get on the phone to Bridekill and make something happen
Ebbs: Is this...? (at this point Ebbs taps the microphone in front of him and the sound is cut.)
DDM: Emmet hits a grounder to SS and races to 1B running straight through it. SS has missed the ball so basecoach yells at Emmet to go to 2. Heads to 2 from where he was, twenty feet further up the first base line. Gets there safe. Then thinks he wasn't allowed do that after overrunning 1B so walks back towards 1 and is tagged out. And this was before the ball bounced off his head in the outfield.
Adios amigo, hasta muy pronto: With holidays coming up and a move to Spain on the cards over the winter Mick Jacobs announces that this is probably his last game for the Flyers or Jets. We'll never forget you Marty.

Week 5
31 Jul 06. Jets'93 13 - 11 Castleknock Wildcats
ALSAA.
Monday Night Fever.
lyrics by Cora Burke
Well you can tell by the way I use my bat
I'm a softball man, no time to chat
Texts are high and women low
Got a team to field or a game to throw

And now it's alright, it's OK
You may look the other way
Outfield Rob, he's a friend of Ben
And New York Tara makes it ten

Chorus
Whether you're a player
Or whether you're a ringer
Jetz are staying alive, staying alive
Feel the Bearcats shaking
With every catch we're making
Jetz are staying alive, staying alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha Stayin' ali-i-i-i-ve

Well now, I hit low and I hit high
Hit it on the ground or an infield fly
Ben's got the wings of heaven in his shoes
As he twists a pirouette and gets the ball at two

And now it's alright, it's OK
You may look the other way
Catcher Mick breaks a hip hop beat
Missing home plate with his dancing feet

Chorus

Well you can tell by the way I catch that ball
I've never played this game at all
That doesn't stop Rob from a diving catch
If there were MVPs he's have got it for the match

And now it's alright, it's OK
You may look the other way
Umpire bans our favourite bat
Luckily for us we've more than that

Chorus

DDM: Luckily the DDM for not sliding was given out a few weeks ago. Otherwise Mick & Cora would have got it for not sliding at home and getting themselves tagged out as a result. But not this week. Instead the DDM goes to Mick, not for forgetting to slide at home, but for leaping over home plate and then running around it desperately trying to touch it while the catcher covered it with every inch of his body. Mick is finally tagged out.
Debutants of the Day: Flyer #69 Tara Greubel makes a long overdue appearance at a league game and plays a stormer at 2B. Rob plays a brilliant game in RCF ... Flyers Cora & Adrian are seen taking notes on how to actually make a diving catch.


Week 6
14 Aug 06. Jets'93 18 - 36 Reservoir Dogs
ALSAA.
Are we Hot this week, or not?

Loving Hot stuff
Gap Is it really, really, finally coming to Dublin?
Barbecues Not just for sunny weekends.
Open Toe Sandals Don't pack them away yet girls, they are good thru Labour Day. Same goes for white trousers.
Jets staying up on head-to-head Cos we are worth it.
Limerick Let's get this party started...

Loathing Cold stuff
Wet weather Rain rain go away. Where has the sun gone?
Delayed throw-ins at the Dubs games Come on now ladies and gents, have you no match to go to?
Season ending Is that it?
GAA bowls We're sick of cornflakes and have waited more than 28 days already. Cough up.
Riverdance at the Gaeity Purr-leeasse

DDM: An old favourite. Runners on 1 and 2, no outs and the ball is hit straight to the shortstop. At least you know if you ever get this as a 'What happened next?' question on Question of Sport the answer won't be that the Jets (or Flyers) got a triple play. Or a double play. Or even one out. You only have to guess did the batter make it to third or all the way home. Only to third this time, via Ben's shin, the left field line and a throw to right field.





The Championship 2006

Filter Round. 18 June, Wesley College
9.30 Jets'93 - Renegades 2
11.00 1Z Blazzers - Jets'93
15.00 Dept. of Homeland Security - Flyers
16.30 Flyers - Beachers
18.00 Flyers - Devil's Advocates

All rained off, after the first game started.


Cup, Round 2, Group C. 22 July, Wesley College
12.00 Flyers - BatPak
14.00 Renegades - Flyers

Flyers withdraw due to lack of numbers.
But we should have played Poker Face and seen if the others team would withdraw so we would go through then.


Plate, Round 2, Group D. 23 July, Wesley College
14.00 Jets'93 10 - 25 UCD
15.30 Mockingbirds L - W Jets'93.
Jets by 15
17.00 Dublin Bay Packers 9 - 29 Jets'93

Needing to win by 17 to go through Jets do an Argentina '78 and get the result.

Plate, Semi-Final. 3 Sept, ALSAA
15.00 Jets'93 6 - 7 Blazzers. after extra inings
Jets bought off
Comeback kid Mick Jacobs, who still hasn't retired (our fault apparently - none of us listened to him when he was telling us his plans), turned up and made 2 perfect catches in LCF. And while their 1B might win awards for web design Mickey spotted the flaw in her sliding technique, and she didn't thank him when he told her her ar5e was the problem. Betty, forced out of retirement to manage the team, forgot he was in charge and didn't use the subs while he wondered why Adrian wasn't making any. Devally, apparently crippled by injury and unable to pick the team, still made a nice snatch from their catcher look easy. Cora used her SLO hat to tell the Blazers infield they didn't need to rush the play but still dragged the 1B onto the orange part and was safe. Unlike FionaMc who was nearly decapitated in a similar play. But Caroline wins play of the day again for her DP when she got the runner from 1 to stand up running into her. When Conor Lennon was quizzed as to why he wasn't playing he said he wasn't needed, and was saving himself for the final.
DDM: With Blazers 2 runs down after 5 in came Conor Lennon and in extra innings won the game by proving what we always suspected – if you hit a single against the Jets but keep running you will get home safely without being out. Goes around like a kid on wheelies, falls down at second and third, and still makes it. So since Mary didn't take her threatened wee break on the pitch loadsa people share the award.
Thanks Blazers for the game, for umping and for paying the Flyers Blitz entry fee finally.



Tournaments and Blitzes.

Marlay Invitational Tournament. 8 April 06. Marlay Park
1-2-3-MARLAY!!
Isn't it ironic, don't ya think? After watching Marlay Martyrs dominate the Flyers Blitz for a decade we go out to their first ever blitz and win the thing. Thanks to Ken and Noeleen from Dodder, and Emer (still a Flyer at heart) from Oddsox Green now, and especially to new girl Dianne for coming out to help us. Started with a come from behind win against the Marlay Braves thanks to Ben's HR and Ken's well not diving catch, his 'white hairy men can't jump' catch. Highlight tho was their 3rd base coming right in for Caroline's at bat, her hitting a grounder past him for SS to field and toss to 3B and him missing it so the runner from 2 was safe. Next up Blazzers, and it looked like Kevin Kelly's winter training had involved pitching turnips against a barn door from 10 feet and having someone to run around collecting the ones that missed. Final act of the morning was Lenny and the Bearcats and another win left us 3-0 in the morning.
Ken and Noeleen had gone off training with Dodder, the rain and hail came during lunch, Flyers beat the DB Packers in the semi and Ken and Noeleen came back half-way through the one-run win v Marlay in the final. Victory was sealed when Ebbsie made all the outs in the last innings. Lee tried to win DDM by falling over whenever he moved but first DDM of the year goes to Adrian just because it always does.

ISA Start of Season Blitz. 22 April 2006, ALSAA.
Jets and Flyers get 9 people out, Nadia from the Devils makes it 10. Coach Devally busy being Dad for fourth time. Coach Ebbs busy being chef. One-time coach Betty has obviously lost it, if he ever had it to begin with. So we don't make final and aren't sure why. But Betty has an excuse. Read it.

FLYERS BLITZ. ALSAA - 06 May 06.
Beating the Dogs felt good til we realised it might leave us in the semis - which it did. One run up v Marlay with two out bottom of the last felt good too - til we realised we could be in the final. Luckily Marlay came through and gave Dodder a better game than we could have. Base Devils were also a bit shocked to find themselves in the semis. Dodder retain the trophy. Thanks to Ruth, two Emers and Dean for guesting for us and to Blazzers for umping the final. Finally happy 30th Mr Burns.

Usual Suspects Blitz. 10 June 2006, Templeogue.
In the morning you couldn't walk around the Flyers camp without standing on someone's kid so it's a good job that "beer wasn't officially being drunk at the Suspects' blitz in 2006". A win against Oddsox army where the Crouchie robot-dance got an airing; defeat to our hosts where the wig of shame got several airings; and then it was time for lunch, or a trip to the shops for the girls.
Unable to get former Axemen softball player Majella to come in as sub for her sister FionaMc we go to 2 extra innings before beating Jaz, Muireann and some Homers who never played for the Flyers. Defeat to Dodder and then an extra-innings win against the Martyrs completed the symmetry. No semi-final so we waited for the BBQ before either drifting off (Cora, Betty), hanging on for the games (Lee, Caroline, Tony, Diane), or being hauled home by the missus (Aidan, Adrian).

Castleknock Bearcats Blitz. 8 July 2006, Blanchardstown.
If you go out to Blanch today
You're sure of a big surprise.
If you go out to Blanch today
You'd better play for the Flyers.

For every Bearcat that ever there was
Will gather there for certain, because
Today's the day the Bearcats have their biiiiig Blitz.

Big Blitz time for Bearcats,
The little Bearcats and Kegs are having a lovely time today.
Play them, catch them, strike them out,
And see them win the final against Marlay.

See Lenny gaily dance about,
They love to play and shout,
And never have any spats.
At six o'clock their mommies and daddies
Will take them home to bed because
They're tanked-up little wet Kegs and Bearcats.


Croissants and coffee for breakfast, great nosebag at lunchtime, and they even painted Home and Away areas. Fancy. Thanks to our guest players in our 4 losses: John Austin and Dermot against the Bearcats/Kegs; Maree from Marlay v the Dogs; ConorL and some speedy Limerick dude who might have been called Stephen v Blazzers/Castletroy; and Junior, and Sarah and two other Suspects v Marlay.
Finally finally clicks who Sarah-Jane from the Kegs Dad is when I ask her her folks' names... Cindy and Bob. Bob the Cannon. Marlay and Oddsox Red. Cora can't believe it when I tell her, little Sarah-Jane from about 15 years ago is playing now.
DDM: Betty and his Mark-style base running, or Betty for falling on his shoulder in the rain and getting injured. But nothing he did was as bad as RLAT's infield moment for Blazzers v BaseDevils.

IOST. 19/20 August 2006, University of Limerick.
Frued: Ok, vot I vant you to do is to lie down on ze couch und say vot is ze first zing coming into your head ven I say zese vords:
Limerick: Vet, I mean wet. Friday: Caroline on lash. And the sandwiches. Rain at 7: gone by 11. Hay: Straw. Baseball cap: softballer driving to Limerick. Pitch 3: is it this one, did you not ask? Gary: rejoining Flyers. TonyG: late. Saints/Stingers: Betty's catch. Shortstop: overthrow. Adrian: tent. Dogs: Tony's belly. Lose: lose again. Allison: not cold amazingly. Jacqui: scoring. Devils: mercy rule Devil Susan: friendly. Other Shortstop: overthrow. Aidan: strikes out when leadoff, it's traditional.
Lunch: Diane's vbf. Bearcats: Which team would get on base first. Camera: Wave. Betty: watching you, and slitting your throat. Another Shortstop: another overthrow. Castletroy Dragons: narky ump Drew. Saturday: O and 5. Dinner: hot. Mick: texting Hi Babes to his manager. Party: Ice. FionaMc: Trouble, with a capital T Cora: tall Suspect called John. Devil Susan: scary. Caroline: Blondie, the culchie ump. Hotel: Comfy couch.
Breakfast Room: bad Feng Shui. Toaster: God. Pictures: 75 euros for Tony's belly. Cold milk: hot milk. Nadia: drunk. UL55: Adrian injury. Lose: lose again. DB Packers: injury to scrubbed up Packer Monkey. Diane: hits over pitcher. Win: Hurray! Film crew: interview. Oddsox: 'Not that good' guy hitting back at betty twice. Agnieszka: listens. Lose: Go home.





And the rest..

8 Jul 06. Treasure Hunt Pub Crawl
Swords.
Contact Tony Burns, Director of Fun, for info.
Bronagh, Caroline and Cora beat Mary, Dianne and Betty on time penalties to take the top prize. Having three girls helped them, with no confusion about half-heads and more opportunity for taking a camera-phone picture of something rhyming with 'Treasure Hunt'. Lacking instructions to follow after 2.00am we end up with half the people going to Wrights and the others to Zavedenie.
Watch out on youtube for the vid of Mary running up and robbing a chip from some fat taxi driver.

8 Aug 06. Flyers Barbecue
ALSAA.
Contact Tony Burns, Director of Fun, for info. Family and friends welcome. The rumour is Caroline is getting meat from her butcher friend... Finally get it going during the last game of the season after a few rain-offs. Thanks Aidan for doing the cooking, Sarah for the baby-sitting and Big Al for putting the three euros in the orphans fund collection tin. And Tony and Caroline for getting it organised.

30 Sept 06. ISA End of Season Party
Harcourt Street.
Meet in Caroline's gaff.