This post is a couple weeks late. Sue me. I have a series of better-late-than-never posts I’ll be blasting out this week, some going as far back as last October, and take it mind it is now the following August. Derp.
I’ve gone to OTL (Over the Line) a few times before but this was the first time I have ever actually played in the official event on Fiesta Island.
For those of you not from San Diego, if I had to explain OTL or Over the Line in a nutshell, it’s basically poor man’s baseball, played on the sand, with a smaller field, just 3 players per team, and with no gloves. Your own teammate pitches you a ball, which you then attempt to hit over the line to get “a man on base”. Hit the ball over the last fielder’s head fora home run. For the official rules in all their splendor, go yonder.
Now, that’s just the official part. The cultural part, or the uniquely San Diegan part of the sport that makes participating so much fun is the drinking involved, the decked out wagons, and the outfits. But best of all are the outrageous team names people give themselves which are so vulgar, raunchy, and hilarious it makes Deadpool pale by comparison.
I had the honor of being asked by my good friends Brett and Ryan to play on their team this year when a spot opened up, and our team name was “Any Hole’s a Goal”. Which is true. However this was Disney-rated compared to some of the other team names out there. Most memorable to me were:
- HA HA HA I gave you AIDS
- If everyone has herpes it’s like no one has herpes
- That’s not bird shit in your wife’s hair
You can’t make this shit up. Well, I can’t. But San Diego is clearly home to some of the funniest people in the world. It’s what makes us American’s finest city.
I’ll be honest, I was super nervous about playing. For one, I suck at sports. Yeah, I can just admit it. I didn’t play a whole lot of sports growing up and to this day I can hardly make contact with a golf ball to save my life. So a week before the event we had ‘team practice’. They say you’re supposed to practice the way you play, so naturally the three of us had to bring a couple dozen beers. After straight up missing the ball like 10 times I finally made contact and from there it was like riding a bike. I wasn’t gonna Mark McGwire anything out of the park but I could consistently get the ball over the line and away from fielders. Good enough. Hey, any hole’s a goal, right?
A couple possibly broken fingers later and I think we were all ready to dominate next Sunday.
Well next Saturday I had a wedding. Not only that I was in the wedding, so I was in for a long haul. I had to walk that fine line between getting trashed at a wedding and not drinking so much I couldn’t wake up at 4:50am the next morning to drag my ass to the playing field. I managed.
So… how did we do? We dominated! No we didn’t. We lost 2 for 2 but we sure as hell went down swinging. I think our first game we lost by one point, something like 4-5. And… I won’t even share the score for our second game.
But either way I had a blast. I would definitely do it again, and I even have some ideas for a kick ass OTL wagon I want to get started on for next year. Brett and Ryan, thanks for the invite! Looking forward to OTL 2017!
BTW, I realize I have no photos of our actual team on here. We suck at taking pictures. Will try to see if anyone else took any and add later!
This show is truly like no other show on television. First of all it’s a Netflix series which means all the episodes are released at once for immediate binge watching pleasure. Another peculiarity is that the cast is almost entirely female, giving the show a much needed unique perspective and attitude.
I don’t know much about the show, but from the trailers I have seen I imagine the show is about a former professional football player who is looking for new ways to grow his fortune. His ambition sends him on a wild journey of wealth, debauchery and crime which I am thoroughly looking forward to watching.
Following on the heels of these shows is Tyrant. Entering its second season, the show focuses on Barry Al-Fayeed (played by Adam Rayner), an expatriate, and son of a Middle Eastern tyrant of the country Abbudin, a fictional country mashup of Saudi Arabia and Iran. Barry returns home to help steer his family, the country they rule, towards democracy.
Another FX show being granted a second season is The Strain, a fantasy-sci-fi horror series created by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. Del Toro’s brushstrokes are all over the canvas of this show about a virus caused by vampires in a centuries old plot to dominate humanity. A rogue group of CDC doctors team up with a holocaust survivor, a gangbanger, and a pest exterminator to vanquish the vampire threat while the government fails to act.
Can You Believe That Guy?! 