The feral cats, raccoons and oversize rats and cockroaches won’t bother us on the field.
“Raccoons have wreaked havoc in recent years, hiding in ceilings and walls. One non-game day, Payne was walking across a catwalk toward the director’s box, which overlooks the field from the mezzanine level, when he spotted a raccoon staring at him and a co-worker.”
| Team | Viewed Minutes | Views |
|---|---|---|
| Ha'chi Mountaineers | 1187 | 141 |
| NWO | 724 | 84 |
| Master Batters | 667 | 125 |
| Scared Hitless | 603 | 57 |
| DC Twits | 587 | 115 |
| Zero Point Zero | 519 | 76 |
| Average | 515 | 83 |
| Superman's Wheelchair | 511 | 64 |
| Blandsford Barnburners | 492 | 84 |
| Sex Panthers | 477 | 112 |
| Most Interesting Men | 467 | 69 |
| Biebs Feevs | 416 | 104 |
| Mr. Party's Waddle | 365 | 59 |
| Natty Brohs | 346 | 67 |
| Have Fun Out Theres | 336 | 57 |
| Canvassers | 283 | 58 |
| Garbage Plates | 260 | 56 |
| Total | 4120 | 664 |
Week 4 had its special moments. What was your favorite?
Write-in Votes So Far
For those of you not following the live play-by-play from the @potomacwiffle twitter feed, here is what’s going on.
On Saturday, April 16, the metro area experienced what I would describe as a “massive downpour”. It caused flooding issues for several days after. It was so steady and consistent that the Nationals even cancelled their game several hours before first pitch. They didn’t even try to get it in. On that day, some group, in the middle of a massive downpour, played on the field at Gravelly Point. Not surprisingly, they tore it up. Grass is gone, holes are worse, etc.
(NOTE: For the purposes of this article, I’m going to use the term “field” to mean the official playing area, between and immediately around the goal posts, traditionally used for soccer, rugby, football, and even…kickball. “Field” does NOT refer to the area where the PWL sets up three fields and plays wiffleball.)
On Sunday, April 17, when the Commissioner arrived at 8 AM to survey the area there was still standing water in the grass, in addition to the batters and pitchers areas. PWL games were postponed; much to the bitching of the league, since it turned out to be a beautiful sunny and warm day. Perfect in every way for wiffleball with the exception of the water and mud pit mess we would have been playing in.
This is going to cause our liability insurance to go up and probably give the NPS more reason to bump us from Gravelly.
Thanks for Alfred Breuer and Greg Hudson for flagging.
Over the years I have received a few letters and emails from the National Park Service that I found incredulous. Today’s one line email from legendary Park Ranger (and Douchebag of the Week Runner Up) Deborah Deas is one of the best.
”All organized sports at Gravelly Point are cancelled due to turf damage until further notice.”
The PWL Managers were convened for the first time in league history this week to resolve a protested game. They came to a conclusion, now you get to weigh in.
The dispute centered around what the term “over the home run fence” means.
Since it was not a judgment call, but rather a question on the application of the rules, it was reviewed by the league. Of course, in the last two years we’ve had umpires for every game except for five…and this was one of the five.
Team batting average, slugging and homers after the first two weeks.
| Team | AVG | SLG | HR |
| Scared Hitless | .388 | .871 | 10 |
| Superman’s Wheelchair | .459 | .788 | 4 |
| Blandsford Barnburners | .385 | .756 | 8 |
| Garbage Plates | .346 | .654 | 8 |
| Sex Panthers | .360 | .573 | 5 |
| Canvassers | .344 | .548 | 5 |
| Hachi Mountaineers | .303 | .526 | 5 |
| Most Interesting Men | .318 | .511 | 2 |
| Mr. Party’s Waddle | .316 | .468 | 2 |
| DC Twits | .311 | .459 | 2 |
| NWO | .233 | .417 | 3 |
| Master Batters | .277 | .415 | 2 |
| Zero Point Zero | .226 | .371 | 3 |
| Biebs Feevs | .243 | .314 | 1 |
| Natty Brohs | .213 | .279 | 1 |
| Have Fun Out Theres | .242 | .242 | 0 |
Not exactly. The government…or Google…is always watching, even during PWL games.
Checking out Google maps today we discovered that the footage of Gravelly Point was actually taken during the middle of a wiffleball game. There are only two fields setup and the emergency vehicle is still allowed so it had to have been Weeks 1-4 of the Summer 2010 season.
Well, maybe a government shutdown can.
Commissioner Gallaway has been meeting with Obama administration officials as well as National Park Service Rangers and it looks like if the government shutdown occurs on Friday that Gravelly Point will be closed on Sunday.
Commissioner Gallaway said the PWL was reviewing contingency plans and alternate field locations but that no decisions had been made at this time.
The PWL has faced cancellations before due to field issues. Of course rain outs have been common, especially in Spring. The Spring 2009 season was suspended for 35 days for rainouts and one grass out.
The Spring 2008 season was interrupted because high levels of arsenic were discovered at the field…from OUTER SPACE! It turned out that actually taking a soil sample was more accurate than observing the ground from OUTER SPACE and after a two week break, playing resumed.
