NPF/Worlds

Let me start off by saying I haven't had a descent nights sleep in 3 nights. I'm exhausted and my emotions are a little all over the place. So in other words expect this blog to be a little all over the place and I am sorry if some parts don't make sense lol!..... (So this is where I was when I started this blog 2 nights ago, I have on descent nights sleep since and I am not up at almost 4 AM going to finish it. Insomnia has kicked my butt the last week! So I am still tired and emotional, maybe not as much as I was the other night but still tired and emotional lol)

Pride had a great series last weekend and a great series this weekend as well! It seems they are finally rolling and now are right there with the Bandits competing for 1st place in the league! First 3 games of this series the Pride out scored the Racers like 33-1! They dropped the game Sunday but it was a very good game. 2 great weekends in a row and a rough stretch for the Bandits have the Pride in 1st place in the league!  They play the Bandits again next weekend!

Worlds just wrapped up in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. Japan took gold behind the incredible and I believe only half human Yukiko Ueno! On her 30th birthday in her 17th inning of the day and 32nd inning in 2 days she sealed the deal and got the gold for Japan! She may not be the same pitcher she was in 2008 but she proved why she is considered one of the best pitchers in the world! I have alot of respect for her and her teammates! They play the game with so much passion and heart! Congrats to them! USA won the silver. This young team was just no match for Ueno's drive to win and claim that gold. It came down to I believe understanding the way Asians play ball. The squeeze bunt is their bread and butter and the USA couldn't defend it! Runner from 3rd slid easily under the tag! The USA girls played well though and had a great summer! I'll be honest as much as I like individual players on the team, team USA will never be the same to me. I've tried and tried to feel differently but I don't and I don't know that I ever will. I was of course rooting on those Canadians. They had an all around nice tournament and finished 2nd in pool play behind Japan. The highlight of the whole thing for me came on Wednesday when Danielle Lawrie and Jenn Salling took the field for the Canadians for the first time in the tournament. Danielle pitched a great game! The crowd was big and so loud! They were chanting her name and her number. I was watching on the computer and the electricity of the crowd was pumping me up! I can only imagine how the girls playing on the field felt. Sadly it was pretty much all down hill from there for the Canadians. They won their game on Thursday and were set to take on the Americans. I hoped and prayed and everything else that they would at least win that game. It wasn't meant to be though. Danielle didn't seem to have the same crispness to her pitches and I could tell she was tired. They lost 4-2 but it was never really very close. Canada's offense just never got going. So the loss to the American's put them in a must win situation Saturday against the Dutch. Jenna Caira pitched 5 great innings and Danielle came in and pitched 2 great innings in relief to knock off the Dutch with a 4-0 win. They had to come back that night and play the Aussies. Honestly the Canadians looked flat and just exhausted from the moment they took the field. Danielle gave up a HR to start the game but buckled down and didn't give up any more runs in the 1st. She gave up another run in the 2nd. She was pulled after the 2nd for Jenna Caira who pitched another nice game but the offense was gone by this point. They were only able to put up one run and Caira gave up a HR herself to the same person to seal the win for the Aussies and end the tournament and the summer for the Canadians and giving them a disappointing 4th place finish. This girls of course took it hard. Disappointment was written all over all of their faces. I felt bad for Danielle and Jenn. I had hoped this would be a very positive experience and it didn't seem like much of one after the first game. Danielle admitted in an interview in an article that all the softball she has played over the last few months has taken a toll on her, physically and emotionally. With all of that being said I am very proud of those women and the job they did! They battled and fought! I know 4th place is not what they wanted but 4th best int he world isn't terrible either! I think the ironic thing is the placement of the first 4 teams is exactly the same as it was in Beijing in 2008! Japan, USA, Australia, and Canada. Speaking of the Olympics and international softball it seems the ISF has made the decision to go in with baseball in hopes of getting the sport back in the Olympics. I think this is a last ditch effort at best. Going together with baseball solves nothing and only adds more issues and worries and things to overcome. I think this a move that ultimately will only hurt softball. But I guess only time will tell.  

Well I don't know anything else! Go Pride! Go Huskies! Boomer Sooner! RTR Go Bama! FTG!