You can't help but think about things at the NWLA Tournament.
What was the name of that guy I just met?… Which new league is going to make the biggest splash?… Did they adjust that rule or not?… Are we no longer the bad guys?… When did we stop being the bad guys?… Which Shannon is which again?… Why is everyone in bed already?… How did I forget to hang out with that guy?… Which is the finger I'd least like to break?… Should Trent Steffes and Brandon Corbett start a Wiffle Logos podcast?… Can we clone a perfect copy of H8R to ensure that he'll never leave us?… That's just a sampling of the thoughts that cross your mind, among countless others.
There was one thing this year that really got me thinking, though, and it's stayed on my mind all weekend and beyond.
After defeating AWAA in the first round of the playoffs,
KWL tweeted out "
Rivalry game [vs WSEM] for KWL in round 2." I saw that while sitting on the bleachers waiting for our game to start, and my first reaction was, "huh?" It is absolutely true that back in 2012 at the first Tournament KWL was who we viewed as our one big rival; the in-state league, top 2 in the NWLA, that we looked up to. They were the team we were most excited to compete against and beat. We did, and it was glorious. That was the win we were most proud of that year. Things have changed a lot since then, though. WSEM and KWL have essentially switched roles in the wiffle world. It's entirely possible our in-state brethren now look at us the way we looked at them in 2012, but from our perspective the rivalry exists only mildly behind the "Battle of Michigan" moniker - a series in which WSEM is now 4-0-1.
While KWL was first on our mind heading in, the events of the 2012 Tournament generated new rivalries that would push us further. Chief among these was
TBW, who single handedly eliminated us from the 2012 tournament. They defeated us 3 times, and were the only team to beat us that year. There's never been any real anomosity in this rivalry; how could anyone harbor any hatred toward the Harleys or Lindermans? It has from day one been a rivalry predicated solely on evening the score. In 2014 we thought we had that chance. Up 3-0 late in the game with Austin Bischoff pitching, until he got into trouble and loaded the bases. Austin piped a fastball over the heart of the plate and Chris Harley knocked it over the left-field fence; a grand slam. We lost 4-3. Heartbreaking. It wouldn't be until the following year, 2014, that we'd get our first win against the Tampa squad in the championship game, earning our first title in the process. Mountain climbed. That remains our solitary victory over TBW, and even though we haven't shared a field with them in the last 3 years - and despite the fact it's all friendly - the rivalry is still real to us because of that 1-5 record they've served to us.
On the opposite end of the spectrum there was a second rivalry spawned in 2012, this one coming out of pure vitriol:
PWL. Alex Shore said something about "grandma pitch," someone yelled back, and every game we played over the next few years was a hostile environment. There was real hatred here for a time. Despite owning a 6-1 lifetime record against PWL, the games have often been closely contested with one or two plays deciding the result. Tensions have slowly cooled over the years, I guess, but as recently as last year the game still proved it had heated moments. Jim Shannon taking Farkas deep for an early 1-0 lead had the PWL bench fired up, before we worked our way back to earn a 2-1 victory. The PWL team that showed up this year was far more laid back than any we've seen before. Some of that may have been travel issues, or jersey issues, or lack-of-Gallaway issues, but it definitely wasn't an intense game this time around - with PWL conceding with a couple minutes still left on the clock. I'm not ready to write off this one entirely yet, though; a few sparks and this could reignite.
While the PWL feud was slowly fading, another exploded:
HRL. To be fair, our first interaction with HRL at the Tournament was to introduce Truck to the Louisville Chugger in 2013; something we were amazed the man had never experienced before. We didn't meet on the fields until 2014. Once that happened it didn't take long for the off-field shenanigans to turn into on-field heat, which shouldn't be a surprise with personalities like H8R and Chandler on opposing sides. That game was a powder keg with both benches erupting after nearly every call or play. The one that overshadows all the others was an HRL baserunner stepping off of second on a ball 4 pitch resulting in him being called out. That moment alone sustained the rivalry for years. WSEM is 3-0 against HRL on the field, we're tied 1-1 in stealing flags, but behind by some unquantifiable margin in social media jabs taken at the other. We did create SOL: Motor City, though, so bonus point there for us. Then again, they stole Little E; so, bonus back to them. We haven't played each other in two years, and once again, we've seen tensions let off considerably because of that. Hell, H8R even roots for WSEM now (on the premise that he wants to be the one to take us down and become the first new champion, but let's be honest: he's become a fan - and that notion is reciprocated). As friendly as things are off field, the moment HRL and WSEM square off against each other again, there will be some venom woven into that matchup. It may be partly for theatrics, but the shit talk will return with or without the ill will. That seems undeniable.
Hostility fading is a theme throughout most of these, and that isn't lost on one of the biggest rivalries in the NWLA Tournament.
OCWA has 2 titles. WSEM has 3. Our leagues have squared off 6 times, in which OCWA has a slight edge at a 3-2-1 record. Our leagues came into 2017 with 2 national titles a piece, yet there wasn't a hint of bad blood between the rosters on Friday night. That wasn't always the case, though. Chandler Phillips and Justin Tomkins had led the charge, going at each others throats on the field and maybe taking things too far on twitter. The 2015 NWLA Championship series was one of the best we've seen; OCWA winning the first game coming out of the loser's bracket, and Kyle Tomlinson winning it finally on a walk-off home run. OCWA got their revenge in 2016, knocking us down to the loser's bracket from the winner's bracket championship. We didn't get to face each other in 2017, as OCWA had a disappointing run. However, we are still the top two leagues all time in NWLA Tournament play, and in possession of five of the six cups. No matter if there is real hostility here, or just competitive drive to be the best, this rivalry is still one of the best in the business.
As much as the push for "Best of All-Time" should be the biggest rivalry, I can't say that it is. That's due entirely to the final moments of our last two NWLA Tournaments. The rivalry between
SWBL and WSEM is everything right now. SWBL eliminated us in 2016 by a 2-0 result on a Sam Skibbe home run off Farkas. We met twice in this year, and battled through 16 hard-fought innings. Game 1, winner's bracket semis, went 10 innings. We plated two runs against Spencer Bogad finally in the 10th, after 9 innings of shutout ball. Farkas got his redemption, holding them at that zero. It was a Bogad-Farkas rematch in the second meeting. Both pitchers again kept things scoreless through 5. We finally plated 1 run in the top of the 6th on an RBI walk (RBBI). Farkas again held them scoreless in the bottom to secure the win. Three meetings in two years: 0-2, 2-0, and 1-0; each one a nail-biter. This cannot get any closer. Our pitching is a little better. Their hitting counters that. If not for the wind blowing in on field 2, the results this year may have been different. Our teams are very evenly matched. Each game has come down to a single half-inning misstep determining the result. That's as narrow of a margin as it gets.
Rivalries are fun. They are both something to look forward to, and something to look back on. Maybe they are a little more pronounced over here due to the role we've played (i.e. "The Bad Guys"), but the way rivalries shift over the years makes them a fantastic way to track how things at the NWLA Tournament have progressed - as well as get us fired up about where things may possibly go.
