Hacks. Flacks. Talkin’ Smack!

The 10th Annual Hacks vs. Flacks softball game has been scheduled for July 27th on The National Mall. Recruiting has begun. Practice bats get cracking next week. And there’s been a little bit o’ chatter coming from the dugouts.

The Hacks will be coached by WSJ‘s Brody Mullins and WaPo‘s Paul Kane. Team Flack will be led by OB-C Group principal (and flack chairman emeritus) Bob Stevenson and senior advisor to Senator Barbara Boxer, Natalie Ravitz.

Flack practices will begin next week at the H Street Country Club and will feature a mix of the best and brightest spin peeps past and present. Ravitz, Stevenson, Mike Reynard (Bunning), John Feehery (former House Majority Leader Hastert), Christina Mulka (Durbin), Kyle Downey (Thune), Brian Walsh (NRSC), Drew Cantor (former GOP Conference), Bette Phelan (Carper), Antonia Ferrier (Boehner), David Wade (former Kerry), Kevin McGrann (Boehner), Rhonda Bentz (Navigators Global, California girl and flack extraordinaire) and a apparently a few interns named “Jeter, Ortiz, Pujols, and Papelbon.”

Kane and Mullins are mum on their surprise lineup, but announcements of big bold-faced journo all-star names will be made in the coming days. Stay tuned. Anyone wishing to suit up for The Hacks should email Brody.Mullins@wsj.com.

The Rules of Battle: The Hacks are required to “blog the game while they are playing – while fielding, while hitting”. Only the Flacks are allowed to “spin” the ball. The losing team must pay for health care reform. (Which is roughly the cost of a post-game celebration at Kelly’s Irish Times).

“The hacks are on a long winning streak. Maybe five years in a row. We’ve pretty much destroyed them every year”, says Mullins. What’s the secret, you wonder? “I rack it up to recruiting”, he adds.
A challenge from Stevenson: “If the Flacks win, Paul Kane has to wear a Boston Red Sox hat to the next Phillies game. If the Hacks win, Stevenson has to wear a Phillies hat in the privacy of his office.” We await Kane’s volley.

This post was written by FBDC guest blogger Kenny Day.

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