|
University of Tennessee Materials Science & Engineering |
|
2019 MSE Kickball Tournament Undergraduate and graduate students joined the faculty and staff of the Materials Science & Engineering Department for a friendly afternoon double-header of kickball. In this thrilling contest of athletic prowess, the "Ferris Filaments" faced off against "JIAM Jewels". (Much of the MSE department is distributed between the venerable Ferris Hall on the Engineering side of the UTK campus and the new Joint Institute for Advanced Materials (JIAM) building on the Cherokee campus, located on the south bank of the Tennessee River.) Photographs courtesy of Hannah Raines, our excellent MSE advisor and community builder.  Referee Eli Darby flips the coin for two resolute team captains, Camera Foster (the Filaments) and Tyler Douglas (the Jewels).  Pregame nutrition and the arrangement of a strategic batting order completing the meticulous preparations.  Warm-up calisthenics or just demonstrative yawning?  Dr. Chris Wetteland, participating in a water polo tournament at the adjacent aquatic center, took time out between tournament matches to demonstrate his kickball acumen.  Our fearless department head, Professor Veerle Keppens, races for home. Out of her way, she's on a mission!  What pitching form! In the parlance of kickballers, this pitch is called "the Slow Burner".  A leaping grab steals a basehit.  They call this pitch "the Bouncing Knuckler" and rightly so.  Not all hits were able to be snatched from the air.  The formidable Filament line-up.  The dramatic launch of the kickball was a recurring sight!  Safe at second!  They know how to celebrate in the Scintillation Materials Research Group!  What form from Professor Keffer! Alas, it resulted in a pop-out to shallow left field.  Interesting bunting techniques to say the least.  Kickball professionals call the classic double-handed pitch, "The Granny".  Elastic deformation on display!  The ferocious Ferris Filaments took game 1.  Would the Filaments be too cocky going in to game two? Only time would tell.  Here we have a demonstration of the deceptively simple pitch, "the Red Roller".  Safe at home!  The second half of the double-header did not suffer from lack of excitement.  Beating the throw to first.  Eli demonstrates the kicking technique, known in professional kickball circles as "the Leaping Lemur".  Game 2 was marred by some dubious calls from the rookie referee. Still, from a statistical point of view, of course, the bad calls were uniformly distributed between the two teams.  Matt Loyd (MSE 489 TA extraordinaire) demonstrates a pitch grip commonly referred to as "the Open-Handed Spanker".  The sun blazed overhead as the drama unfolded on the turf pitch!  Safe at second again!  A seemingly endless stream of kickballs were launched picturesquely into all corners of the field.  Down by three in the top of the last inning, the JIAM Jewels gathered their collective courage and resolved not to go down without a fight.  Their determination was rewarded and they built a lead that their opponents could not surmount. In a fitting end, the double-header was split between the two teams. Until the next installment of this epic contest, both Ferris Filaments and JIAM Jewels can lay claim to the bragging rights for the prestigious 2019 MSE Kickball Tournament. More photos on the Keffer research group site. |