Believe it or not, the venerable old schoolyard game, Kickball, is in the midst of a nostalgia-fueled resurgence. And Shannon and I are right in the middle of it.

We play on an adult co-ed kickball team with some of Shannon's old co-workers from her Austin nature center days. Our team name is (sigh): The Ball-Busters. We're not very polished. We're a a little 'Bad News Bears', and we make plenty of mistakes. We're an awful lot like the sants Dawgs baseball teams of yore (inside reference from my youth). You see, we specialize in fun. Well, most of us do. I specialize on being way too intense and competitive, but that's just me.

A Hard-Fought Victory:
We won our first real game under the Friday night lights in a heated, testy match with a squad of trash-talking teachers. We taught them a few lessons, took their lunch money, and sent them home to mommy with a note to be signed.

Dear Mr./Mrs. Kickball Foe:
_______ did not demonstrate good citizenship or winning kickball today. He/She lost 7-5. We are very disappointed him/her as we have very high expectations for our students. Please sign and send this note back to school. Best regards, The Ball-Busters.

We had some great moments. Chris Floyd impersonated an umpire, tricking one of their base runners into dejectedly leaving his base for an easy tag out. Shannon made a clutch hit to drive in a much-needed run (she was running faster than I have ever seen her move). Finally, we came from behind with a game-winning 3 run homer and a 1-2-3 out defensive stand to preserve the win.

Mojitos: The Adult Take on Post Game Juice Boxes:
The game was followed by a nice evening of Mojitos, Mofongo, and plantain chips with mojo at Habana. The post-game happy hours are a huge part of the adult kickball experience. We've come a long way from juice boxes and orange slices.

Weekly Ball-Buster Watch:
Record 2-0 *(one forfeit victory)
Last Game: 7 to 5 victory
Embarassing Moment of the Week: Male teammate (now possibly nicknamed "Bulldozer") levelling a female opponent with an overzealous tag.