Pin Dodge 2K11: After

The 9th annual Pin Dodge tournament took place this past weekend, and with much success! No injuries, and for the most part, everyone was on time, and on point with keeping the games moving along. We broke the regular season into a 'double round robin' format, that totaled 42 games played. Then we had a double elimination tournament for the playoffs.

Unfortunately my run at a 4th consecutive championship fell just short this year, as my team finished 4th out of 7. However, the championship did remain in the family, as my brothers team completely ran the field this year without losing a single game. We had excellent weather with not terribly hot temperatures and low humidity with a few passing clouds to give us a break from the sun. All in all, it was a great day, and provided everyone a chance to catch up and see friends who don't live in the area anymore. Next year will be our 10th anniversary of playing, so we'll definitely have to do something big! In the meantime, enjoy these pictures that both Katie, and myself took!

7 teams, prepared for battle.

Pin Dodge!

And the chaos begins.

Exchanging throws.

 Bright colors.

Sometimes it's fun to aim for people, and not the pins.

Here I am hoping that ball doesn't hit a pin.

A victim from 2, 3, maybe 4 years ago? Still laying dead in the woods.

My bro, 2011 Champion, and part time model.

The gang one more time.

Pin Dodge 2K11: Before

This saturday marks the 9th annual Pin Dodge tournament. It's kind of a big deal. Pin Dodge began over 9 years ago, one summer home from college. A bunch of friends and I were at our buddies house who happened to have a sport court in his back yard. We went out and acted like kids (so, really, like normal) for quite some time, and eventually someone mentioned the old pin elimination game we all used to play in elementary school. So we went out and bought a ton of kick balls, and I hit up a bowling alley for a box of old beat up bowling pins, and the rest as they say, is history. 

Pin Dodge is pretty special for a lot of us. Not only is it a great excuse to act like a bunch of 6 year olds, all day long, throwing rubber dodge balls at each other, but it also provides a great reunion of friends year after year. As we grow into our more responsible adult lives, many of us have moved elsewhere, started families, and taken new jobs. But Pin Dodge always brings everyone back. I'm looking forward to all the shenanigans that I know will take place this year, and hoping to bring home my 5th championship trophy! I will of course update everyone after the weekend on how things go, hopefully there wont be any injuries and the weather plays nicely! Here's a pic of the whole crew at the end of last years tournament. Enjoy!

Pin Dodge 2010

Pin Dodge 2010

This past weekend marked the 8th annual Pin Dodge tournament that my friends and I organize and play in every year. It started a while back after we were goofing around in my friends back yard and we 'resurrected' an old elementary school game where you throw dodge balls at the bowling pins that the opposing team is trying to block. It's a pretty simple game, but oodles of fun!

So on Saturday we had 6 teams of 4 people battle it out for this years Pin Dodge Championship title. The weather was extremely hot, the sun was brutal, and everyone [well, most everyone] gave everything they had to try and bring home the trophy. Well as luck skill would have it, yours truly won again! I brought home my 3rd trophy in a row, and 4th overall Pin Dodge championship title!!

Our team was solid this year. We started out pretty strong, but quickly fell into a slump and couldn't knock a pin down over to save our lives and fell drastically in the regular season rankings. We revised our game plan, made some position changes, worked on our communication and battled back into the number 2 overall seed going into the the tournament. That was huge because it gave us a first round bye. In the end we were able to prevail and bring home the glory. It was the 3rd overall [and 2nd in a row] trophy for my friend and teammate Shawn [we were on the same team last year together as well], and a special victory for my friend Ben. Ben is one of the few people other than myself who have played Pin Dodge every single year. This was however, his first victory, so I'm glad he was able to finally get a trophy. Shawn's wife Ginny was also on our team, so I suppose it was good we won so their household remains happy as well.

This year we also had someone of actual note battling for the championship. Reed Doughty, starting safety for the Washington Redskins played alongside my sister in law, Katie, on the green team. Obviously Reed is a better athlete than anyone who played, achieving far more in his respected sport than any of us could hope for. But it was his rookie year as a Pin Dodge player, and it was evident that the veteran players certainly held an advantage over him! My team actually played them in the championship game, and although I'm a huge Redskins fan, I was happy to see him lose this one. Reed is a great guy and we all thank him very much for coming out and playing this year.  

Here's a couple pictures from after the tournament, look for a video in the coming weeks. [I mean that this time!!] Enjoy!

This year's trophy

The winning team: Ginny, Myself, Shawn, and Ben

Everyone

Another tradition, the Pin Dodge Cake!

Cutting the cake

Pin Dodge: The Aftermath

I'm not gonna spend too much time on this post, since I'll be starting work on the video here shortly, but here's a few of the pictures from the 7th Annual Pin Dodge Tournament held this past weekend. Many thanks to all who came out to play, and all who helped put everything together. Despite a few rain showers, the event went off without a hitch!

Your 2009 Pin Dodge Champions

[Don't want to say I totally predicted this or anything....but I did]

PIN DODGE!!!

Okay, 24 hours and counting till the greatest sport spectacle in all the world.....well, at least in Fairfax County! I await with much anticipation the start of this years Pin Dodge tournament! If anyone needs info, be sure to check out pindodge.com orrr just click on the link listed over there on the right hand side of the page! YOU HIT IT, YOU GET IT!!

Pin Dodge Intro Title Testing

In the previous blog entry you'll see my first attempt at some motion graphic work in preparation for the Pin Dodge video that will come out in a few months time. Well, yesterday evening I spent about 4 hours working on this little clip. I've learned a lot already, and am anxious to see what kind of stuff I'll be able to create in the future. You'll probably notice quite a step up from the first testing go-around! :)

UPDATE: Okay, here's another go around at this same animation. This time I fixed the little glitches at the very beginning with the first text, and also added some sound effects. This whole thing is coming along slowly, but surely,.......but mostly slowly.

Pin Dodge Video: Testing

"Pin Dodge VII" is less than a week away. I'm feeling pretty good, my arm is already loose from playing softball, the hamstring in my leg is finally feeling normal again, and all of my teammates are healthy. In preparation not so much for the day itself, but for all the work that'll suddenly land on my plate afterwards [making the annual pin dodge video,] I've been learning a new program called After Effects. It's pretty powerful, and once you start to get the swing of it, you can make some really sweet looking motion graphics. The video clip below was my very first go at it. I'm hoping to improve my skills enough to make the video look really really ridiculously good looking this year. Enjoy......with anticipation :)

It's coming....

Be sure to keep updated with pindodge.com