Thursday, June 02, 2005
Whiffleball is a big hit Downriver
With the unmistakable low-pitch whistle of a hard-thrown plastic ball, organized whiffleball came to Downriver.
On Sunday, the Downriver Whiffleball League played its first tournament, the Memorial Day Classic, in the hopes of garnering enough attention to support an eight-team summer league.
Eight teams of three players showed up at "Danger Field" (aka The Rodney) behind the Brownstown Middle School to start playing.
Brothers Nick and Carl Coffee founded the DWL after attending a tournament in London, Ohio, last summer. The tournament had 64 registered whiffleball teams.
Whiffleball, along with dodgeball, is enjoying resurgence in popularity. The Web site www.wiffleball.net lists more than 160 different whiffleball leagues for teams across the country.
"Dave Gapske, Gene Harney and Nick and I all went down to London last August," said Carl Coffee. "That tournament opened my eyes to competitive whiffleball, and ever since I have been in love.
"I love whiffleball because it brings back those boyhood backyard memories and still has a competitive feel. I believe softball is more like adult T-ball and doesn't give hitters a challenge. Most all of the guys in the tournament played high school baseball, and two of them even play college baseball."
Dodgeball has enjoyed a major resurgence since the release of the 2004 movie "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story," starring Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller. However, the Michigan State Dodgeball Championships, which will be held June 18 at the Taylor Sportsplex has a team entrance fee of $155.
However, to try your hand at smacking the whistling white fastballs of whiffleball at the DWL tournament costs only $15 per team and a $3 bag of whiffleballs. The cost of your own whiffleball and bat, in case you don't want to use the ones on hand? A whopping $1.99.
The tournament, which started at 10 a.m., lasted until shortly after 8 p.m. Each game in the round robin rounds had a 30-minute time limit and in the playoffs a 45-minute limit.
So the games are short, fun and inexpensive, not to mention it doesn't hurt to get beaned.
The "We're better than you" team, starring David Negele, Eric Falletich, Tommy Burke and Mike Raupp, took the first Memorial Day Whiffleball Classic with a 1-0 victory over the Lugnuts, featuring the Coffee brothers and Gapske.
For more information, visit the DWL Web site, http://www.geocities.com/usversesthem/DWL.html
Derrick Barnsdale
PUBLISHED: June 3, 2005&nbs ¶ 10:51 PM
On Sunday, the Downriver Whiffleball League played its first tournament, the Memorial Day Classic, in the hopes of garnering enough attention to support an eight-team summer league.
Eight teams of three players showed up at "Danger Field" (aka The Rodney) behind the Brownstown Middle School to start playing.
Brothers Nick and Carl Coffee founded the DWL after attending a tournament in London, Ohio, last summer. The tournament had 64 registered whiffleball teams.
Whiffleball, along with dodgeball, is enjoying resurgence in popularity. The Web site www.wiffleball.net lists more than 160 different whiffleball leagues for teams across the country.
"Dave Gapske, Gene Harney and Nick and I all went down to London last August," said Carl Coffee. "That tournament opened my eyes to competitive whiffleball, and ever since I have been in love.
"I love whiffleball because it brings back those boyhood backyard memories and still has a competitive feel. I believe softball is more like adult T-ball and doesn't give hitters a challenge. Most all of the guys in the tournament played high school baseball, and two of them even play college baseball."
Dodgeball has enjoyed a major resurgence since the release of the 2004 movie "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story," starring Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller. However, the Michigan State Dodgeball Championships, which will be held June 18 at the Taylor Sportsplex has a team entrance fee of $155.
However, to try your hand at smacking the whistling white fastballs of whiffleball at the DWL tournament costs only $15 per team and a $3 bag of whiffleballs. The cost of your own whiffleball and bat, in case you don't want to use the ones on hand? A whopping $1.99.
The tournament, which started at 10 a.m., lasted until shortly after 8 p.m. Each game in the round robin rounds had a 30-minute time limit and in the playoffs a 45-minute limit.
So the games are short, fun and inexpensive, not to mention it doesn't hurt to get beaned.
The "We're better than you" team, starring David Negele, Eric Falletich, Tommy Burke and Mike Raupp, took the first Memorial Day Whiffleball Classic with a 1-0 victory over the Lugnuts, featuring the Coffee brothers and Gapske.
For more information, visit the DWL Web site, http://www.geocities.com/usversesthem/DWL.html
Derrick Barnsdale
PUBLISHED: June 3, 2005&nbs ¶ 10:51 PM
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
18 Hour Extra inning game
Talk about extra innings, a game of wiffle ball in Caledonia lasted 18 hours.
Eight boys from the Caledonia-Mumford Little League wanted to break a record set 26 years ago when a group of kids in their towns played wiffle ball for 17 hours and 45 minutes.
On Saturday, the group started at 8:02 a.m. and didn't stop until 2:02 am Sunday morning.
Dan Keenan was part of the team that set the original record.
"I think it's great, they're having fun," he said. "Records are meant to be broken."
The kids also sold food at the concession stand and in total raised more than $300, which they donated to Caledonia Ambulance.&nbs ¶ 12:10 AM
Eight boys from the Caledonia-Mumford Little League wanted to break a record set 26 years ago when a group of kids in their towns played wiffle ball for 17 hours and 45 minutes.
On Saturday, the group started at 8:02 a.m. and didn't stop until 2:02 am Sunday morning.
Dan Keenan was part of the team that set the original record.
"I think it's great, they're having fun," he said. "Records are meant to be broken."
The kids also sold food at the concession stand and in total raised more than $300, which they donated to Caledonia Ambulance.&nbs ¶ 12:10 AM
