Kasie Hunt Advances in Fantasy Softball, Smack Talk Goes Into Overdrive
In a little more than 24 hours, female members of Congress and the press corps will suit up for The Game.
The teams face off Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. in a charity fundraiser to support young women facing breast cancer. Two and a half months of practice in, the fundraising expectations for the Young Survival Coalition are nearing $125,000 and the trash talk is utterly out of control.
Think we’re taking this game too seriously? Our readers are just as into it — and they can channel that energy in Roll Call’s Fantasy Softball game.
“How can I rig fantasy softball? Can I slip a hard ball to the pitcher when one of my players is up? Move the foul poles? Are you testing for HGH?” Democratic operative Andy Barr jokingly emailed to Heard on the Hill. “We can split the gift card.”
Here were the standings as of 2:30 p.m. Tuesday:
1. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.
2. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla.
3. Abby Livingston, Roll Call
4. Kasie Hunt, NBC News
5. Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill.
6. Amy Walter, Cook Political Report
7. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H.
8. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D.
9. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz.
10. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii
Compared to Monday’s stats, Hunt jumped from the 6 spot to No. 4. This included leap-frogging over Bustos, while Heitkamp fell back several slots.
In other softball news: MSNBC anchor Mika Brzezinski will throw out the first pitch.
Meanwhile, Capitol Hill is raging with smack talk between the two teams. CNN’s Capitol Hill radio correspondent Lisa Desjardins dropped off “good will” care packages on Tuesday morning. They featured over-the-counter painkillers and Kleenex. Recipients included Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla:
And BuzzFeed is out with a killer video highlighting intrateam rivalries and featuring the two sides hurling insults at each other during practices.
On the Twitters, Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., publicly asserted Tuesday morning that she is “#readytorumble.” In her correspondence with Wasserman Schultz, NBC News White House producer Shawna Thomas and this reporter, she bragged about “hitting the weight room” and referenced herself as a “#brickwall” at third base.
Wasserman Schultz, in particular, continually finds herself the subject of press corps dog piles on Twitter.
In one exchange, she claimed that a Monday practice with her son was so intense that a softball lost its cover. She added the adorable hashtag “#beveryafraid.”
To which Bad News Babes center fielder/the Huffington Post’s Jennifer Bendery retorted:
Disclosure: The author of this post is one of the players featured in Fantasy Softball and a co-captain of the press team.
