2012 Promo Double Feature

As each day brings us closer to spring, "promo" videos such as these begin to pop up all over Youtube, forums, and league websites. Promo videos are a great tool to get entice new players into joining and pump up existing players. Creating a promo video is a subtle art and doing it right can set a good pace for your season. Take Palisades for instance, a league that couldn't make a bad video if they tried. They have to take pride in their videos and as they watched this promo for the first time they were probably out of their seats and ready to hit the field. So it must be also with Black Top Wiffleball League. They are a relatively new league and unique setting by being one of the only leagues that I am aware of that play on a concrete surface. They have began to film more and more and this year they will continue to upload a higher volume of videos on the web.

The Off-Season Isn't Dead For Every League

While the Palisades WBL website is visually appealing it lacks that fresh article feel when you visit the home page. Before recently, if you wanted to get the scoop on what is really going on in the league you had to visit the messageboard, which for some is a big hassle. I know, I know, creating a user ID and password is so hard. But now you can get oven fresh news on the league on their Wiff Hot Stove page. By the looks of things it appears that the league is going to be mixing teams up and expanding, which is proving to be the makings of an interesting off-season. No easy feat, I assure you.

Palisades WBL Playoffs Start Soon

The competition in Palisades WBL has been hot but the playoffs are just around the corner. I love when leagues actually have a playoff preview video! The playoffs are going to be pretty intense in Palisades, NY this year.

Happy 58th Birthday Wiffleball!

Yesterday morning some of you may have saw something on the sport on CBS Sunday Morning. There's some highlights from the Palisades WBL and others and the video is pretty good. National news, baby!

New Episode of This Month In Wiffleball

As the mercury rises this summer the competition in the Palisades WBL is heating up. Some teams may be down but not truly out (except for the Astros). There are two teams tied for 4th place, and two tied for 5th as well. The White Sox only have a 3 game lead on the second place Red Sox. The notorious Pete Montanez and the Blue Jays seem to be struggling a little judging by their 7-9 record. But for some of the contending teams may still be able to pull off some upsets because the regular season doesn't end until September 11, making their schedule among the longest of any wiffleball league in the nation. They will play almost 100 regular season games in 2011 when it's all said and done! Meanwhile, the rest of us can wait in anticipation for another 2 or 3 episodes of This Month in Wiffleball.

Episode 10 of This Month In Wiffleball On The Web

Palisades WBL release their latest episode of their acclaimed This Month In Wiffleball series. Love them or hate them, no other league makes a better video program. The camera work - phenomenal. The commentary - marvelous. This video just might take the crown for most use of "get that shit out of here."

The Wait Is Over...This Month In Wiffleball Is Back!

Oh yes! I've been waiting for this day all spring and the day has finally come. First episode of 2011 This Month In Wiffleball. If you have trouble following Palisades WBL and want to know just what the Hell is going on with them...you watch these videos. Their videos is what separates them from the rest of America's leagues. Brett Bevelacqua's editing and filming skills are supreme and for this reason Palisades WBL has the best quality when it comes to wiffleball videos, hand down. It's a point that no one can really argue. I mean...just watch it. Yeah they do things that may annoy some more light-hearted players when they really celebrate home runs (ex. "Get that shit outta here!"). Personally, I think it's hilarious when they go nuts over a home run. Regardless of your feelings towards Palisades just about everyone can enjoy their This Month In Wiffleball series.

Palisades vs NY Climate

With the exception of today the next 9 days will be very wet for the NYC region. This is a continuation of the latest trend of never-ending thunderstorms that have been pounding the northeast over the past couple of weeks. On their forum, Palisades WBL have come to accept the increasing likelihood that Week 3 of their regular season is going to be a washout. Tallaman, one of their fields, "has been a swamp all spring". Brett Bevelacqua seems optimistic considering the weather forecast saying "it looks like we may be able to get the games in." I'm not so sure they'll be able to pull it off but I wish them all the luck in the world. Most leagues east of the Mississippi River have had to battle the weather as they've tried to get their seasons off the ground and now it's the Northeast's turn. The uncooperative weather won't just affect Palisades but the several other NY leagues as well as leagues in the New England area.

Failed Training Video

I'm going to apologize in advanced...now that I've got that out of the way, here we go. I've seen just about ever wiffleball related video posted in the past few months but this one is among the weirdest. Now that wiffleball season is about to start up you might want to get into shape. Okay...well don't expect this video to do much for you except creep you out. I guess it's funny in parts. Some of you out there may appreciate it. It's a slow day today for wiffleball news.

Palisades WBL season starts this Sunday - May 1st

I was recently contacted by the commissioner of the North Carolina Wiffle Ball League advertising a tournament that will be held in the Charlotte/Kannapolis area sometime this June or July, exact date still pending. If you are interested in this tournament shoot that guy an email (ncwbl@hotmail.com). I'm not sure where NCWBL stands as a league. They've been booted off the league directory on the NWLA site but to be honest - their site wasn't that special anyway. What happened to these guys?

Palisades Draft and GDWL Spring Training Today

The Garrett Drive Wiffleball League will be having their first major spring training session for the year today. Up to this point there had only been a few small sessions but now that the weather has shaped up and college semesters will son be over the GDWL appears to be getting ready for some wiffleball. The league may see a few new faces as they try to make up for the loss of their 4th team from last season, the Neapolitan Creamers. Kevin Hancart (successful rookie on the Green Bears team last year) has started his own franchise called the Dirty Birds to fill in the gap. Returning this year are the Green Bears, Hot Dogs (2010 champions), and the Parasites. Some newer players will either be used for another team or two or to really beef up the 4 existing teams. The league also has a new field with a much higher fence, which should be interesting. And they will be filming their games in High Definition. 2011 looks to be promising for the GDWL. No word yet on when exactly their season starts, only that it will be in mid-May sometime.

In other news Palisades WBL will be having their 2011 Draft this afternoon. So if you're not doing anything at about 1:30 pm feel free to watch the draft live! You'll have to be quick though because the draft will only last about 30 minutes.

The Wiffle in SE Michigan "Wind Up" Preseason Tournament results are now up on their website. Check them out! Their season starts April 29th.

Kzoo and others busy this weekend into next week

So, it's spring time. No dip!? And spring time only means two things...
1) You will gain a new appreciation for allergy medication.
2) It's wiffleball season!

Some of the nation's best leagues are going to be busy this weekend into next week. Palisades WBL will be having their 2011 draft this Sunday, April 17th. Kalamazoo Wiffleball League will be having their season opener the following Monday on April 18th. Meanwhile Hess Field Wiffle Ball and Wiffle in SouthEast Michigan will be having preseason tournaments. This is a really exciting time to be in a league or just a fan of the game. From here on out places like the NWLA website, league websites and forums, and this blog will be constantly buzzing with news, stats, and all things wiffle. So if you're not used to the fast pace of wiffle news - fasten your seat belts because it's sure to be a wild ride.

The opening week for Kalamazoo could be more interesting than first thought. The weather has really taken a turn for the worst for a league trying to get it's season underway. This weather in Kalamazoo has been wet and chilly with temperatures in the mid-50s...which is probably why this poor fellow is wearing gloves. But Kalamazoo looks as if they'll try to tough it out as depicted in one of the site's latest articles (Weather or not, here we come). Also they finally have the 2011 NL Preview up too.

Palisades WBL Write-up

It's finally time to give credit to the 3 leagues I agreed to give a write-up for after performing well on the poll. Since the controversy of the poll has soured anything definite I felt that it'd be unfair to not give these leagues the publicity they deserve. Today it's Palisades' day. At only 3 years old they're one of the fastest growing leagues in the nations (9 teams now). Their video production capabilities are unmatched. Their Yard Work dvd is pretty high quality and affordable (well worth the money and your time). Their This Month In Wiffleball program is absolutely to die for. If you even follow this league a little bit that program makes it impossible for you to not know what's going on. Palisades uses their media well to keep their players and followers informed.

No amount of success comes without a price. They are somewhat social lepers in the national wiffleball community to some people. They're different. No doubt. They play with blue "super" bats and catch a lot of crap for it. BUT their field dimensions are pretty deep so I tend to turn a blind eye to it because I don't think I could hit a ball that far with a yellow bat in a field that big. Some of their players have taken to wearing baseball pants while playing which has also attracted criticism about taking the game just a little too seriously. While I find baseball pants both unattractive and uncomfortable I don't really see a big deal with it...different strokes for different folks. Palisades approached the National Wiffleball League Association at a bad time. The NWLA and GSWL were up-in-arms and in the midst of all of this Palisades was making their NWLA messageboard debut. Initially shunned Palisades stuck around and eventually were taken in to the NWLA.

While Palisades WBL definitely have the goods they may end up discounting that fact a little bit by declaring so often how they have the goods. Being confident and being conceited are related concepts. This fact is another reason why some find Palisades to be offensive. Palisades does go as far to say that others copy them (which they don't seem to mind, only point out) which is both true and untrue. About the only thing that leagues may copy from them is striving to up-the-ante with videos. As far as everything else I don't see anything to validate that statement...after all Palisades (like many leagues) use MLB mascots and logos. Nothing wrong with taking that route it just invalidates statements of originality. Palisades is in a class of their own and, in my opinion, no one is in their realm as of now. Their website, while stunning in appearance, is pretty tight-lipped with information. Don't get me wrong, it's sleek and one of the easiest sites to navigate out there. Period! But I find the site lacking in one thing...articles. Articles would really give HRL: Twin Cities and KWL a run for their money for website of the year. Seriously!

Whether you love or hate these dudes there's hardly a dull moment with them. If you really want to be in the constant know you need to join their forum. They have one of the most active forums of any league. It's amazing that a small league (by comparison to some of the juggernauts out there) that this league makes as much noise as it does. I have no doubt that they will continue to make a substantial amount of noise but my only hope is that a lot of that noise won't be self-proclaiming praise. This league is good enough to get plenty of outside praise, this being one of the sources that has done it's fair share of praising.

So here's what's going to happen...

Due to misconduct of the top two poll contenders the poll is hereby nullified and neither of the top two leagues will be exclusively rewarded. As of now the details of the two parties misconduct will not be revealed to the public and will mostly remain private. Wiffler's Digest will seize from having polls until a more secure poll gadget is obtained. As promised the offer of a special write-up still stands. However, no one league will exclusively be getting a write-up. Due to the misconduct of the aforementioned leagues the third place league (CCWA) will also be getting a write-up. This should be more than enough to satisfy the contending parties and this will serve as the only compromise. Hereafter Wiffler's Digest will make no further mentioning of the poll results. Please refrain from posting negative comments on the subject for they will be promptly and cheerfully removed.

The first writeup will be for the Palisades WBL. What will this write-up consist of you may ask? It won't be anything too terribly fancy. Just an overall post about why I think a certain league could be considered the best in the country and reasons why people should check them out. Expect the first write-up within the next couple of days.

Meyers Petitions On Behalf of PWBL Blue Jays

Brian Meyers writes another great article. This time he asks why the Palisades WBL Blue Jays were not listed as a candidate as a 2010 legacy team. He makes a short and sweet argument in favor of the Blue Jays being listed as a legacy team. Time will tell if his argument will be heard and his petition successful.

St. Patty's Day Predictions continued

I had a difficult time making my predictions to submit to the National Wiffleball League Association. Don't get me wrong - some leagues were a easy to predict what would happen, small leagues mostly. But there are leagues out there that have always been hard to predict because the competition is so fierce. Leagues like KWL, HRL: Twin Cities, & ORWBL exhibit these traits. Furthermore these leagues are so large that a dark horse could be in the midst and none of us even know it. There could be some major surprises in store for the fans of these leagues. Another thing that made predicting difficult is that some leagues have completely reformed, contracted, or expanded. Some leagues have redrafted and jumbled up the teams while other leagues have switched team names, done trading or ditched certain teams altogether. Last year was not nearly as difficult to make the predictions but the NWLA has nearly doubled in size since then. For some leagues this is their premier season and hype alone is the only thing to guide the columnists with their predictions. However, in the end these predictions are for amusement and little else...although they may have a profound influence on the early rankings. The only thing left to do now is wait for the other columnists to make their predictions and hopefully they are posted on the NWLA site soon, which may be after St. Patrick's Day.

Kalamazoo is really running away with the poll aren't they? CCWA isn't looking too bad either; they've nearly caught up to Palisades! There hasn't been a single vote for Palisades WBL in over a week! I want to take this opportunity to thank 2 leagues for either saying kind things about this blog or promoting it. Both of these leagues have done this without me asking them to do so, which means a lot. First, KWL made this blog their top headline and also took the opportunity to plug them being on our poll (2 birds with one stone - nice). Next, the Old Republic Whiffle Ball league added us to the bottom of their home page as a link. Thanks a lot and keep coming back for more news, the flow of which is expected to increase as season openers are just around the corner! By the way, Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone.