The last time I played kickball was in Brooklyn, N.Y., as part of a friend’s pre-wedding bonding; only to find out that kickball had come in vogue. What else can a hipster do with all those headbands and gym shorts that are no longer acceptable in the clubs? Exercise? Hardly. If you break a sweat during regulation kickball, you’re probably doing something very wrong.
The only slightly more popular sloshball combines the childhood pastime of kickball with the somewhat more adult pastime of binge drinking. However, kickball plus an inability to pass second base without chugging a beer can often equal a stumbling face-plant into a metal pole serving as a backstop. Or, so I’m told.
Taking a few of the rules of kickball and adding in a dash of the anarchy of sloshball is Mojo Kickball. An Austin original, the rules of Mojo are both simple enough to jump right in and complicated enough to merit blog entries concerning the finer points of baserunning. I’ll spare you the details and just say that there are six balls and lots of team communication (read “shouted, cross-field advice”). Almost everyone plays at all times, and assuming there are ample players, you can run yourself silly or take it a little easier. The next game is on Oct. 22, at 3pm at Krieg softball field No. 5. Drinks and snacks are provided, but to offset the field’s reservation fee the Mojo Kickball gods ask that you bring a dollar. And, honestly is that so much when, in return, you can call your friends in Brooklyn and tell them how the cool kids play kickball.
Check out www.mojokickball.com for rules, strategies, pictures, and, for some reason, a Mojo Kickball Dating Service. Yeah, it’s that fun.
This article appears in October 20 • 2006.
