Another NPF season is done!

I really did mean to get this blog written and up long before now. But here I am a week later and it’s still not written. Life is insanely mixed up for me right now. I am at one of those points that I know something big is about to happen because I feel so lost and mixed up inside. I know that sounds crazy but think about it. Every time something big happened in your life what happened before it? Atleast for me it was a period of uncertainty. I find myself questioning everything about my life right now. It’s amazing how little things happening in your life can do that. Last week I was told after 2 years of college the only way I can go back is to get my GED. I graduated from a home school program and my transcript doesn’t meet their standards. It seems that is something they should have noticed before now but what do I know. I have a lot mixed feelings about this. Part of me is happy for the break. Frankly it will be nice to enjoy a Fall (my favorite time of the year!) without having to worry about homework and tests. I won’t know what to do if I’m not in school on my birthday! But in the long run I know this just pushes me further back. Part of me feels flat out angry because I earned my high school diploma but it wasn’t enough and now I have to go back and get a GED. Part of me is scared. I have horrible test anxiety. So what if I can’t pass this test? All this craziness and uncertainty has me looking at other parts of my life as well and asking some very hard questions. Right now I don’t know where life is taking me or what the plan is. But I know God is in control and he has big plans. It’s my job to figure out what they are. Anyway on to softball and the championship series!

I was hoping this too would be a happier blog but it wasn’t meant to be either. Pride fell to the Bandits 10-3. From the very beginning it wasn’t the game they wanted. They decided to start Jordan Taylor instead of Danielle Lawrie. I’ll be honest I think had they started Danielle things very well could have been different. The defense was awful. It was just not a good game. I think the things that happened the day before just ran over. A big congrats to the Bandits and Monica Abbott on an amazing championship series!! It was an amazing season for the Pride ladies though! These ladies have nothing to be ashamed of! I am proud of all of them! I’m sad to see the season end and the Pride going out on a losing note made it even harder. But I look back at this season and I can’t be disappointed. This team was definitely special and will always hold a special place in my heart! Danielle Lawrie had an amazing season. She showed again why she is one of the best in the world by bouncing back from a less than stellar rookie season to being the 3^rd best pitcher in the NPF with only Monica Abbott and Cat Osterman a head of her. Very proud and happy for that lady! She has worked her butt off and it’s paying off! Ashley Charters had an amazing season as well! She carried one of the highest batting averages in the NPF all season! Jenn Salling had an amazing rookie season and blew the socks off the commentators for both the Pride and the Bandits. I wish she could hear all the amazing things they say about her! She earned their praise though! She carried the highest fielding percentage of all the SS in the NPF, including her teammate and fellow great Natasha Watley! Cat Osterman continues to be a quiet pillar of strength and a beast on the field! So far there aren't many answers as far as her injury goes. She goes for another MRI tomorrow and hopefully they will get a better idea of what they are dealing with! I hope she knows she has been on the hearts and minds of all her fans since that night! I really fell in love with Kristina Thorson this summer! She doesn’t get much recognition but she is a heck of a pitcher and from what I’ve seen on Twitter(yeah, yeah I know lame LOL!) she is a heck of a teammate and person as well! I was sad to see Alisa Haber announce just a couple of days after the season ended that she is giving up softball. She is going to Japan to teach English to 3rd and 4th year medical students. It's a bitter sweet thing for me(and I am sure her too) as I have watched her play for a long time! She will always be one of my favorites to watch! So I am sad to see her go. Softball is losing one of the best. But I am happy for her! She worked very hard to get her masters degree and this is such an amazing oppurtunity for her! I wish her all the luck and all the best! It’s been a week and I still can’t believe the season is actually over! I am excited about the Back to School tour and thrilled to see they are making a couple stops at Washington!! One of the highlights of the season for me was when Coach Tarr and JT went to Florida at the end of July and watched Danielle, Ashley, and Jenn play. The support they showed for that team and for the NPF really made a mark on not just the Husky alumni but the other ladies on the team as well! It seemed to be an experience enjoyed by all. So to see the NPF go to Washington and give back to them as well makes me smile. After all that is what this is all about! I think that is what we need to see more of. We need to see more college coaches promoting and loving the NPF! I can’t believe Fall ball is just around the corner. It seems just like yesterday they were starting the 2011 Spring season!

I have read some horrible things about the NPF from “fans” since the championship series. I read and hear a lot of people griping about the NPF but not much action to back that up. We all know the NPF is far from perfect. We all know in order for it to grow and be successful changes have to happen. But we have stay realistic too. Changes are going to be slow and at times it’s going to seem like nothing is changing at all.  If you want changes and want to see this thing grow, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Send an email to the NPF with some of your ideas, donate to the 20 for 20, but most importantly support ALL of these women. All of the women on all 4 of these teams have given up so much for this sport and for this league. We can’t forget that. It’s their time, their bodies, and their families that are sacrificed for this sport and this league. You have to look at this league and see the good. The people in charge are working their butts off to figure out how to make this thing grow but there is no manual.  If you don’t like the NPF that is fine but don’t set around bad mouthing them because this is the future for our little girls who want to play beyond college. The Olympics are out until at least 2020 but softball can and will survive. The NPF is here and now and we need to make sure it stays that way. So either get behind the NPF, their leaders, their players, and their coaches or feel free to stand in front of them so they can smack you with a softball or hit you with a bat! If you aren’t going to do anything to try to help, then by all means feel free to shut your mouth!

Well I guess that is all I have for now! I made a video for the amazing Cat Osterman that I would like to share with you guys! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcuMyuJGUhQ. I also made one for Jenn Salling before the college season ended that I never shared! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KahuxSFC7M Let me know what you guys think!

I’ll leave you with a couple of my favorite quotes!

“Life isn’t about waiting until the storm passes, but about learning to dance in the rain!”

“Our greatest achievement comes not from never falling but in rising EVERY time we fall!”

Go Dawgs, Boomer Sooner, RTR Go Bama, Go Pride, and adding for the upcoming football season Go Colts lol!

Scary night! Not the game the Pride wanted!

            Well I hoped to write a much happier blog tonight but it wasn’t meant to be. First off let me start off with the game. Pride took an early 2 run lead off an error by Monica Abbott (one of her only mistakes of the game). They looked good and I was feeling good about the game. Cat Osterman came out and looked good as well! However Monica seemed to get mad after that inning began pitching like there was a chip on her shoulder. She totally shut down the Pride bats. But Cat continued to pitch well and the defense was making great plays to back her up. However in the 5^th inning the wheels came off so to speak. The inning started off with Vicky Galindo getting a single (she had quite game going 3 for 3 and eventually scoring the winning run). Cat came back and struck out Caitlin Lever. Stacy May-Johnson and Amber Patton both come up with singles to load the bases. Cat is able to strike out the powerful Alisa Goler for the 2^nd out of the inning.  Megan Wiggins comes up and knocks a base clearing double to give the Bandits the lead. It seemed a little odd that Cat had all of sudden gone from dominating to not so fast but I didn’t really think much of it. Jamee Juarez comes up to bat and Cat quickly goes up 0-2 on her. However after she throws the 2^nd pitch she goes down holding her arm. My heart dropped. I was watching last summer during the championship game at worlds in Venezuela when this almost same identical thing happened. This time it seemed worse. She seemed to be in more pain and even more scared. I think everyone watching was scared. I’ll talk more about that later but for now back to the game. They brought in Sarah Pauly who threw a beautiful pitch for strike 3 to end the inning. But by this time you can look at the pride players and see that seeing Cat go down like that has sucked something out of them. The score remained the same until the bottom half of the 7^th when with 2 outs and down to her last strike Andrea Duran hit a solo HR to send the game to extra innings. Top of the 8^th inning Sarah Pauly gave up a hit to Vicky Galindo. Caitlin Lever sacrifice bunted her over. Then the Pride decided they are going to walk Stacy May-Johson (I didn’t fully understand this to begin with but I’m not the one making the calls lol). During the intentional walk they call Sarah Pauly for an illegal pitch. I have to be honest here they showed the replay several times and I saw nothing illegal about her pitch. They have been calling them on Monica Abbott the whole championship series (I believe she is now up to 5 after not having any in who knows how long. Sounds fishy to me) and none of them that I saw looked illegal either. I think these umps are putting a little too much attention on themselves, which in my book means they aren’t doing a good job. But anyway the illegal pitch of course moved Vicky Galindo to 3^rd which ended up pretty much costing the Pride the game. The next batter hit a single and Vicky came around to score what would be the winning run. They won 4-3. Monica Abbott after that inning where she had the error that cost the Bandits 2 runs pitched a gem of a game! She is scary good when she gets going and what happened tonight is exactly what I was worried would happen. But tomorrow is a new day and 2 games to be played! The Pride are coming back , I feel it! Don’t forget tomorrow’s game at 1 will be on ESPN2! The if necessary game will be at shortly after and it will be on ESPN3.com and tape delayed on Monday evening! Let’s go Pride!

                Back to Cat they said during the game that she said her bi-cep popped like it did last summer. She was in so much pain! It was so scary to watch! She tweeted earlier that it is her bi-cep but they don’t know yet exactly what is wrong with it. I find myself wondering if this will be it for her and if not how much longer her arm can hold up. It’s sad to think of softball without Cat Osterman in it. She was the first pitcher I ever really loved. The passion she has for this game is so strong! Like all of these other women she eats, sleeps, and breaths softball! She is one of the best to ever play the game and such a strong leader. We softball fans love to watch these women compete and they love to compete. But I don’t think we always appreciate the toll this sport has on their bodies. Playing this game at this high a level for so long doesn’t come without consequences. But these ladies wouldn’t have it any other way! It’s their passion and the sport they love! It’s an amazing sport that I have fall more and more in love with every time I watch it! I can’t even tell you what it is about this sport that makes it so amazing but it truly is! These ladies don't make millions of dollars, they just play for the love the game. They go all out and give 110% everytime they step on the field. They risk their bodies to try to make every play they can! They give up time with their families and travel so much that they have to remind their families where they are. As I said before they wouldn't have it any other way. But we should be thankful for the sacrafices they make! Without them this game wouldn't be what it is today! They do so much and give back so much when they aren't on the field as well! They are truly some of the best more amazing people I know and Cat's is up at the top of that list!  When Cat’s career does end she can leave knowing she has had an amazing career and accomplished more than most people could ever hope to! She has inspired many others to be the best they can be not just on the softball field but in life as well! When that day comes we can all rest assured we haven’t seen the last of Cat Osterman but simply the beginning! She is in my thoughts and prayers tonight! I am praying for as quick and painless recovery as possible!

                I will update tomorrow with the results and final thoughts on the season!

NPF!

Hey everyone! Life has been so crazy and I have been neglecting this thing! Here we are just 2(possibly 3) more games and this NPF season is over! Pride and the Bandits will play a best of 3 series to determine the championship starting with game 1 7pm CT tomorrow (Saturday) and then 2^nd game will be Sunday at 1pm CT and this game will be on ESPN2!! Please tune in! Even if you don’t watch the NPF please watch. This is big for the sport as a whole and this is the only way it will grow! The if necessary game will played sometime after that if needed and reaired on ESPN2 on Monday.

                It’s been a crazy ride getting here! The Pride although they started out a little shaky came back strong and went on an 18 game winning streak and finished the season 30-9! They were the regular season champions and so deserved it! This group of women is a very special group! They have such wonderful chemistry on and off the field. They are all so talented and have worked their butts off all season! I’m excited for them and I so hope they win it all!

                The Bandits season was a little rougher. They ended up finishing up 3^rd behind the Racers(who they knocked out tonight in a very close 9 inning game!). There is a lot of talent on this team but at times they seemed to lack in chemistry and leadership. But I am not coming anywhere near counting this team out and in reality they are scarier to me than the other two combined. They have the powerful left arm of Monica Abbott who has carried this team this season. She is pitching better than she ever has before and was named co-NPF pitcher of the year with Cat Osterman. I have to be honest she scares me! Their offense is very good and can be deadly but their real strength lies in the arm of Monica Abbott and the leadership she brings!

                The Racers had a really great season! They were led in the circle by a combination of Kristina Thorson and Lisa Norris. I’ve always been a fan of Lisa Norris but I grew to really like Kristina Thorson this season. She is different then you average pitcher, not just in her pitching style but her personality! I can’t explain but just look at her picture and you’ll see lol! She is a great woman and pitcher! I’ve also grown to really like Kelley Montalvo! She may only be 5ft but she plays softball like is a 6ft! So much passion for the game! Don’t let her size fool you, dynamite comes in small packages!

                The Diamonds had a rough season. It seemed everything that could go wrong for them went wrong. Kelsi Dunne went down with an injury very early on in the season leaving their pitching staff short. They traded the Pride for Danielle Spaulding who turned out to be great addition for me but they lost Morgan Melloh a few weeks later when she was hit in the face by a line drive. This is a very young inexperienced team! Give them a few years to grow these women and get them some experience and you better watch out!

                Anyway I will post more when the championship series is over and a champion is crowned! Hope this finds everyone well!