Sunday, December 30, 2012

Mission: To Eliminate Gangnam Style (or To Get 100 Million Blog Views by Using It in This Title)




Last summer, during a pre-coital moment, my former lover pulled up a YouTube video that she said I must see. Though she summarized an erudite attempt to parse the video’s subtext she’d read in a literary journal somewhere, she insisted that I just watch it—experience it—first. Four minutes later, and I had become viewer 12, 220, 810. Yes, I had survived another "significant" pop-culture benchmark, but I couldn’t help wonder just what I had lost during those few incomprehensible—yet danceable—minutes.

Five months (and one billion views) later, we have come to the verge of a new year—and a choice: will we, the 1st & 4th Subbuteo Club, stand idly by as Gangnam Style preys upon another year, or will we do something about it?

Friday, December 28, 2012

2012: A Subbuteo Odyssey



the corner of 1st and 4th ... the nexus of the universe?
 In defiance of doomsayers and lazy Mayan mathematicians, Existence persisted beyond 12/21/12 allowing us not only to cherish the holiday season (aka an orgy of consumer consumption and gluttony) but also to reflect on the past year while preparing for the next. I’m sure your lives are all interesting in their own ways, but honestly I couldn’t care less about your lingering ass-muscle injuries or trip to Cali, your creepy mustache or artsy film project, your latest musical or dance recital, your athletic or scholastic achievements, or even your new book, new house, new girlfriend or boyfriend (expect, that is, if you have a girl/boyfriend). It’s not that I’m not impressed, but this isn’t the time or place. The place is a Christmas letter, and the time is never. We’re here to talk Subbuteo, dammit. And as we settle into a cold, dark winter we need its bright flame of hope more than ever.

Subbuteo, and the 1st & 4th Club especially, had an amazing year of foreign adventure, unprecedented champions, epic league play, and more awareness of more causes than we were even aware.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

The 2012 Beach Shield for Aquatic Mammalian Prolapsed Blowhole Awareness League Results



Team Name
Wins
Losses
Draws
Total Points
Goal Differential
   
8
1
1
25
+14
       
6
2
2
20
+13
    
6
2

2
20
+7
      
3
5
2
11
-2
   
1

7
2
5
-16
   
1

8
1
4
-14



Awards
Golden Boot: Harrison 
Black Hole Hands: Tim
President's Cup: Tim
Der Tyrant’s Whip: Carter





Nice job 1st & 4th!  You, yet again, raised awareness for another aquatic animal charity.  After all, the true winners are the Aquatic Mammals.



 And now you can re-live the drama:

Thursday, July 12, 2012

The Retirement Wars


How will the Padawans learn if there is no Jedi Master to teach them? If Obi-wan had left the moisture farmer to get his butt kicked by the sand people, how would Luke Skywalker have become the sniveling little wank, crying for his daddy on the Death Star? All the while teddy bears with spears overthrowing the entire Empire by defeating some stormtroopers on Endor? But I digress.


Chaos will erupt at the table. “So this is how it ends…the debate over whether to polish the bases of the subbuteo players…not with the clack of a fast moving player connecting with the ball for a goal but with muffled felt as a player comes up short?

I say we put an end to The Retirement Wars. Can I get a “CONFIRMED”?


And where is Subbuteo Man in the Club's hour of crisis?

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Breaking News: Muncle Mark (BAMF) Retires (WTF)

a thing of the past?
New York - Sources indicate that President-for-Life Muncle Mark will retire from competition in the 1st & 4th Subbuteo Club. Since no official statement has been released by his office, this reporter will take the liberty to spin out a story based on hearsay and conjecture alone.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Camp Hill will be in the House!!!


Camp Hill will descend upon Millersville like locusts.  Its players will be there physically, metaphorically, perhaps metaphysically, but most definitely sacracstically.  Two of the Camp Hill Lions "Other Varsity" Team all-stars pictured above will be showing up to unleash the dogs of war.  The Blur will be unveiling his new team, which at the same time will bring back his old team that has slumbered these last 23 years.  The Blue and White will take to the green, once more!  This is all thanks to our gracioius President. (The one in the brick house not the White House).  Thank you, Mark.

For the second year in a row all four Legacies will be present for the 4th of July Tournament.  What are the odds that these four could find themselves teamed up this year and in the Championship Match?  If that happens, it will be the first time in 16 years that the four Legacies all met on the field at the same time to square off for the title.

I look to be in that title match and retain ownership of the 4th of July trophy. 

BRING IT, Hobo Baby!!!!!!!!

The Unknown "4th of July" Tourney.

Der Tyrant's Korner: 7-2-12



The 4th of July! And nobody’s posted nothing. You guys suck.


Therefore, due to your lack of enthusiasm for the sport, I officially decree myself as the Ultimate Champion of the impending tournament, regardless of what happens on the fiery pitches of the Millersville (America’s Sorrow) Randy "Macho Man" Savage Memorial Subbuteo Stadium/Garage Where the Lawn Mower Goes to Die. As we all know, style counts for more than mere skill or points when it comes to amateur Subbuteo. And I have style in spades.

That said, as I’ve already won this unadvertised, uncharityed, unawarenessed tournament, I might as well take a few moments to “dis” the other players in our club. You know, the ones who are too busy or irresponsible to support our collective bit of the blogosphere. I’m looking at you, Mr. President. A broken butt bone doesn’t hinder the ability to type. Or you, Subbuteo Man. Just because you traipse around the world to volcanic islands in the middle of nowhere, doesn’t mean you can ditch your bloggerly duties. And, in a few years, I’ll be able to bust on Dirty Nacho as well because he’ll finally be old enough to take it. That’s right, Mr. Vice President, start looking for cover.

But anyway, here are my predictions in the battle for The Bastards’ Cup: I will win. That’s easy. And I might even win the Black Hole Hands Award and reject the President’s Award for like the tenth time. The Blur will succumb to a psychosomatic foot condition and end up sitting in the mint plants along the side of the garage, which might increase his shooting average by 4 or 5%. Neither Dutch nor Fire Wrist will be a threat as the dull days of summer mean that both of them now require twenty-six hours of sleep per day in order to function. HBT will be working in the NYC not far from the JC doing GKW with people who just got off the A, C, E or maybe the B or D, depending on whether the MTA is working or just being a bunch of SOBs. So, HBT is out of the running. As I mentioned previously, there are reports that The President has a broken ass, injured either during a charity game of kickball or by acid, I don’t know really know which. Tea and Dirty Nacho are still too short to hoist a major trophy filled with licorice. Ave and E are too focused on their phones to bring real defense or that other thing, what is it, offense, to the game. As for The Guest Playa, it’s always a crap shoot as to whether he’ll be needed to play at all, though he might be needed if Peyton blows a knee or throws a shoe in the early events of the day.

The only true contenders for this particular tournament: Mary Beth, who is itching to school people on the pitch but might burn too much energy trying to school them on the wiffle ball field, and the deadly combo, if Old Navy polo shirts are the measure of how deadly things are, of Will Plank and his ever growing son, C Train. Being of the Ohio strain of Subbuteo playin’, God only knows what sort of shenanigans they will bring to the game. And there’s the outside chance that they will have to play against one another, negating their Red State swing votes. That happened last year, with disastrous results.

Really, the only player in our entire club who I fear is Hobo Baby because he has a knife. But what are the odds of him showing up? I mean, he’s a hobo. And a baby.

The Bastards’ Cup will be mine.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Meet the Players: Dana


Nickname: The Ringer

Team: Philadelphia Union

Zodiac: Sagittarius

Slogan: “Impossible is nothing.”

How did you begin playing Subbuteo?
I walked into Carter’s (Dutch’s) basement, and his whole family was already playing. I don’t even like soccer—but I guess I’m good at whatever this is.

Dana has proven to be a fearless defender and tournament champion … despite never having never played Subbuteo before. (Or so she claims.)

Thursday, January 12, 2012

First Tourney Re-cap? Confirmed!



For those privileged few to have been in attendance, you and I know that First Tournament lived up to its Gastby-esque billing (although no one did a cannon-ball into the hot tub from the deck.) I would say that not much more needs to be said … but I guess for my reader’s sake I’ll summon the energy to summarize the events of that epic night.

Final Tournament Standings:
1)       Lover’s Spat (Dutch & Dana)
2)       Seier (Firewrists & Mary)
3)       Decker Duo (Kaitlyn & HBT)
4)       Nine-Mounth-Old Cod-Piece (Muncle Mark & Der Tyrant)
5)       Magic Flippers (Dirty Nacho & The Blur)
6)       Falco (E & Jen$in)
7)       Chavery (Travis & Avery)
8)       Spanish Samurai (Petyon & TĂȘa)

Golden Boot: Dutch (16 goals)
Black Hole Hands: Tea & Travis (10 saves each)
President’s Cup: Decker Duo
Tourney MVP: Dana
Der Tryrant’s Whip: not awarded (due to lack of qualified candidates)
2011 Player of the Year (aka MVP): Hobo Baby

There? Get it? That’s what happened. Boom.

Wait, what’s that? A box score doesn’t suffice? You what? You want a full narrative article? With humorous anecdotes, gripping drama, and witty observations? And pictures? Well, I thought you’d never ask.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Der Tyrant's Corner 1.4.12

Well that’s Football. Er… Subbuteo. I realize that it’s the 3rd or 4th of January and that means I should be writing about who will win the 2012 MVP of the 1st & 4th Club but I figure I might as well waste a few KB on last year’s MVP. No, it wasn’t me, though I am by far the front runner for the 2012 MVP because I’m awesome.

But allow me to shine a light upon the 2011 MVP of the 1st & 4th Club.

Meet Hobo Baby.


Sure, I know what you’re thinking, how could Hobo Baby, bindle-laden and carrying the stink of an abandoned dog, become the MVP for an entire season if he just entered the Club on the very last day of the year? Simple, when people started talking about who should be the official MVP, what with 2011 being our most organized season to date which I guess prompted the discussion… I looked at Hobo Baby, who was sharing the bar with me at the Collegeville Subbuteo Palace’s watering hole, Life’s a Pitch, and said, “This guy, Hobo Baby, he’s the MVP.” Being Der Tyrant, my word is law. And that was that. Boom.

Of course, Hobo Baby was stunned into silence. Sure, his mad-knife wielding skilz are well renowned. And who hasn’t spent time in his lean-to down by the river’s edge, eating dry bricks of ramen and downing flat Tom Collins mix… But it takes more than just charm to be the MVP in this club. As proven by The President’s Cup and Der Tyrant’s Whip, the awards that matter most in the 1st & 4th Club are those earned by Moxie, Grit, Goink, and (especially in reference to the Whip) Unnecessary Penalties. To shine in this Subbuteo league, you have to be a star.

And stellar is Hobo Baby. In fact, that’s the word that best describes his personality, on and off the pitch… well off the pitch for sure… I don’t think Hobo Baby has ever played Subbuteo but whatever… But the words: stinky, orphaned, sock-headed, toothless wonder, lantern-jawed, pee pipe using and hobo also best describe him. After that, I don’t really know anything else about him other than the fact that he’s shorter than I am, which again, proves that I am destined to be the MVP in 2012.

Hobo Baby receives a laurel and hardy handshake for his accomplishments from The President.

I’m sure that we’re going to enjoy Hobo Baby’s company at future tournaments. Or maybe we won’t. He’s a hobo, after all. But one thing I do know, he’s got a knife.