I've had a few more days to think and process and the NPF and Cheri Kempf have released statements so I am back more calm and in a different mind set than I was on Sunday/Monday(I started the last blog on Sunday and finished it on Monday). I didn't really give alot of opinions in my last, although I'm sure you could figure out I wasn't very happy. Something funny has happened over the last couple of days though, I've lost the anger. I've always been the type of person who it takes alot to make them mad and once I blow up it's over. This seems to be the case here. I blew my top and the anger is gone.
Another funny thing happened and I'm not really sure why this is but I've found myself really sad for Cheri Kempf! I've had several conversations with her and she has always been very kind! She is very passionate about softball and about the NPF. I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone more passionate about making this league work than she is! Through this whole thing I never really felt angry with her or any one person. It was just the whole flipping situation. But the last couple of days I've found myself wishing I could just give her a hug and tell her thank you. I don't envy the spot she is in or the decisions she had to make Sunday. She is a good woman and I beg the fans to take a deep breath and give her sometime to fix this! We can't let her get away! She gets it! She gets the whole thing top to bottom and that is what the NPF needs! She has done so much for the NPF and for softball and the NPF needs someone who has been there! She knows this sport as a player, as a coach and instructor, as a business woman(if you don't know about her business look it up!) and as a fan. Mistakes were made this weekend and I know some of those mistakes were things she did and let happen but I also know this woman LOVES the NPF and the ladies who play for the NPF and I know she was probably devastated by what happened. I have confidence in her and I hope other people do too!
Not everything that went on did I disagree with. I fully agreed they couldn't play on that field the way it was. It was in awful shape and I was disgusted from the moment I saw the field that they were going to play on that field! The risk of injuries was too great and it just wasn't worth it. Also after the game was cancelled I also agreed that they shouldn't just give the Bandits the Championship. That wouldn't be in anyway fair to the Pride girls! It was no doubt a rough Championship series for them but they made it into the finals and earned the chance to play in that best of 3! If they had done that int he WCWS OU would have won instead of Bama. We have no idea what would have happened in that second game and we can't say that the Pride couldn't or wouldn't have come back to take it all. As much as it sucks, the only thing they could do was leave it empty.
We can't let what happened this last weekend destroy the NPF! We have to continue to support the NPF because these women have worked too hard to lose it all! So keep watching and supporting!
That's all I have for now! I don't know that there will be much more softball news to discuss over the next little bit but if I find out any I'll be lol! You can always swing over and check out my other blog! I hope to start posting on it more now that the NPF season is over! Go Pride!! Go Shokki! Go Huskies! Boomer Sooner! RTR Go Bama! FTG!
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Monday, August 27, 2012
Two words for you....
....Epic disaster! I can't think of a better way to describe this "Championship Series"(I use the term lightly because as most of you know a champion wasn't crowned)! I've used it a ton this evening because it just fits! It was a disaster from the start and it ended with possibly the stupidest decision the NPF has ever made! I think what made the decision worse was the fact that they didn't stick around to defend it! They didn't even have the guts to tell the fans! They let the teams, ESPN, and other organizations do their dirty work!! But let me back up and explain this whole crap fest of a "Championship Series" to you from where I see it.
So first of all when the information came out about the Championship Series they stated you couldn't use cameras with detachable lenses,despite the fact that they had been used all season! But did they ever explain the decision or anything? Of course not! People were already angry about this but this would be only the first of many head scratching stupid decisions by the NPF!
So first night they are in Chicago they got to go to a White Sox game. The White Sox honor the 2008 Olympians and again the Canadians are left out. There were many excuse given out afterwards, but the most common was "it was the medalist". Well sorry to break it to you but that wasn't how it was stated until they were called out on it. I guess that is just how the NPF does things. I've accepted that and moved on.
So second night they are there is the awards banquet! So the person who does the NPF Facebook page and Twitter page made it sound like they would give lots of updates and keep us informed. They didn't. In fact, all they did was post pictures of the winners about 3 hours later and some of them were so bad you couldn't even tell who it was! We had to wait until the next flipping morning to find out who was on the flipping All-NPF team! They said the next morning that a professional photographer was there and pictures of the banquet would be up shortly. Well apparently their shortly and my shortly differ some what because we still haven't seen those pictures!! My guess is we probably never will and I wonder if they even exist!
Third night was the first night of games! I assumed we would have live stream like we had all season but found out just a couple of hours before the games were set to start we wouldn't! On top of that the first night we didn't even have Pointstreak!! You had follow twitter or Facebook and wait for updates! Of course it sounds like actually being there wasn't all rainbows either because you weren't allowed to keep foul balls or homerun balls either! Apparently they had people standing around who would come collect the ball from you. They took balls from little kids!! There were apparently other absurd rules as well and the people on the crew were apparently nasty as well! The media was not allowed to do any on field interviews and there many other crazy rules that have never been there before! Pride won their game 4-0 and things seemed to be going well in that regard.
Fourth night we had Pointstreak thank God! It wasn't great but it was certainly better than nothing! Pride started out well jumping out to a 6-1 lead in the first couple of innings and then eventually(sorry don't remember what inning and or how it happened too much crap has happened since then) the Racers scored again and it was 6-2. Racers switched pitchers and things settled down. I was feeling really good about things! Danielle Lawrie pitched and pitched well. It wasn't her best game but up until the 6th inning she pitched well. In the 6th inning the bottom fell out. I don't remember what happened but I know combined Danielle and Cat gave up 6 runs in that inning to put the Pride behind 8-6! The defense had 2 errors in that inning as well(3 errors in total over the whole game). They scored another run but couldn't make the come back and we were heading into a game 3 that nobody wanted. That night after the roller coaster that game was, I was thinking things couldn't possibly get worse! I can in all honesty say now, I had no way of knowing how much worse things would get!
Fifth day Pride and Racers were set to square off again at 11. Cat Osterman started and the Racers jumped all over her from the start. She didn't even make it out of the first inning giving up 5 runs and being pulled in favor of Sarah Pauly. Sarah pitched very well and I was very proud of her and lead by Jessica Mendoza with a grand slam and a 3 run HR the Pride came back to win 9-7 to advance to the "final"(again use this term lightly because nothing about this Championship Series was final). They played the Bandits that night and it was a pretty good game. Monica Abbott and Cat Osterman in their typical pitching dual. Cat bounced back extremely well from the morning game but the Pride lost 2-1. The offense just never got going, despite having several baserunners. But the beauty of the Championship Series is it's all best of 3 series! So the Pride still had chance.....or so everyone thought.
So oddly enough I hadn't even looked at a weather report for Chicago for this weekend. That's odd for me because I almost always looked at the weather report for wherever the Pride was going to be playing. I got home from church a little after 12 and got on Facebook and Twitter right away and started seeing several post and tweets about rain in Chicago. So I found a couple of good radars and looked at the report on the Weather Channel's website and it didn't look good. I'm thinking well if they can't play today surely they'll reschedule for tomorrow. So about 30-45 minutes after I got home they decide to delay the game from 2:30 to 3:30 and the not long after that the decision is made to move the game to 6 when the if necessary game was supposed to be played and it was going to be played live on ESPN2. I'm watching the radar thinking this rain is not going to let up, in fact it looks like it's going to get heavier. But they seem determined the game is going to start at 6. So 6 rolls around and I turn it over to ESPN2 and find out Sarah Pauly is pitching I'm pretty excited! But the field was in horrible shape. No doubt about that and I won't argue that fact! The field was just awful. They did the starting lineups and all of that jazz. The Pride was the visiting team and Natasha Watley was the lead off hitter. She had a pretty long at bat and grounded out. After her at bat they got the ladies off the field for a rain delay. I would have never guessed the events that would take place after that. So I'm thinking there is no way this game will be played tonight, they'll post pone and play tomorrow. About an hour after the rain delay starts I start seeing tweets that they've cancelled the game and it won't be made up. So I'm thinking does that mean they'll go ahead and give it to the Bandits or will no one get it or what? Eventually it is announced both through the Pride and Bandits Facebook and Twitter pages and the announcers on ESPN that the game has been cancelled, it won't be made up, and there will be no champion! The NPF never has made an official announcement. They also did not refund the tickets of the people who actually went to the game! They haven't even really explained it to the players and coaches! They made the decision and then took off!! I know the NPF has no control over the rain but they do have control over how these things are scheduled! Scheduling a tournament with no plan for an event like this is stupid! Why not schedule an extra day maybe even 2 in case of rain or other problems? The ladies were willing to change their flights so they could play on Monday but it just wasn't going to happen. Nobody seems to know what the hell happened. But what is known is for the first time in the 9 years that the NPF has been around there will be no NPF champion! What is known is there are alot of sad and heartbroken fans who showed up at the field or turned over their TVs to ESPN2 excited to see softball on TV for once but got to see only 1 at bat! But worse than that is that there are two teams full of heartbroken players and coaches! This is not how a professional sports tournament should have been handled! How many times has the World Series been cancelled and there been no World Series champion? Oh that's right, never! It's just not how this was supposed to go.... Hopefully there will be more information about all of this before my next blog and I'll know more about exactly what happened but at this point the coaches and players don't even really know what happened! In my eyes, they are all champions! I'm heartbroken for all of them! This was just so unfair to everyone involved!
On a more positive note the Pride had a wonderful season and they were the regular season champions again! They had several players named to the All-NPF team including two of my favorites, Ashley Charters and Sarah Pauly! Kristyn Sandberg was named rookie of the year and Caitlin Lowe was player of the year! I hope eventually we can all find away to forget about how this ended and just remember the great season both the Pride and the Bandits had!
On another sad note, this Championship Series also saw the end of 4 wonderful careers for the Diamonds, atleast 1 Racer, and 1 Bandit. After the Diamonds were knocked out of the tournament by the Bandits Caitlin Lever, Rachel Folden, Katie Burkhart, and Jamie Lobprise left their cleats at home plate signifying the end of their beautiful careers! Caitlin retired after last year from the Bandits but couldn't stay and ended up playing a season with the Diamonds. However I think this really might be it for her. She had other things going that kept her from playing a big chunk of the 2nd half of the season. But I wish all 4 of them the best and thank them all for what they did for the NPF and softball! The Racers will be losing Nicole Trimboli who had been with the NPF longer than anybody else! The Bandits will be saying good by to Shannon Dopeking as well! I wish nothing but the best for all these players! Thank you ladies for all you did!
I don't have anything else right now! So I'll just say that I am incredibly proud of the Pride ladies and the job they did this season! It was a wonderful season filled with lots of wonderful feelings! I hope one day they will play close enough to me that I can see them play and hug their necks! I admire and respect them so much!! Good luck and safe travels to all the ladies headed to Japan!
Go Pride! Go Shokki! Go Huskies! Boomer Sooner! RTR Go Bama! FTG!!
So first of all when the information came out about the Championship Series they stated you couldn't use cameras with detachable lenses,despite the fact that they had been used all season! But did they ever explain the decision or anything? Of course not! People were already angry about this but this would be only the first of many head scratching stupid decisions by the NPF!
So first night they are in Chicago they got to go to a White Sox game. The White Sox honor the 2008 Olympians and again the Canadians are left out. There were many excuse given out afterwards, but the most common was "it was the medalist". Well sorry to break it to you but that wasn't how it was stated until they were called out on it. I guess that is just how the NPF does things. I've accepted that and moved on.
So second night they are there is the awards banquet! So the person who does the NPF Facebook page and Twitter page made it sound like they would give lots of updates and keep us informed. They didn't. In fact, all they did was post pictures of the winners about 3 hours later and some of them were so bad you couldn't even tell who it was! We had to wait until the next flipping morning to find out who was on the flipping All-NPF team! They said the next morning that a professional photographer was there and pictures of the banquet would be up shortly. Well apparently their shortly and my shortly differ some what because we still haven't seen those pictures!! My guess is we probably never will and I wonder if they even exist!
Third night was the first night of games! I assumed we would have live stream like we had all season but found out just a couple of hours before the games were set to start we wouldn't! On top of that the first night we didn't even have Pointstreak!! You had follow twitter or Facebook and wait for updates! Of course it sounds like actually being there wasn't all rainbows either because you weren't allowed to keep foul balls or homerun balls either! Apparently they had people standing around who would come collect the ball from you. They took balls from little kids!! There were apparently other absurd rules as well and the people on the crew were apparently nasty as well! The media was not allowed to do any on field interviews and there many other crazy rules that have never been there before! Pride won their game 4-0 and things seemed to be going well in that regard.
Fourth night we had Pointstreak thank God! It wasn't great but it was certainly better than nothing! Pride started out well jumping out to a 6-1 lead in the first couple of innings and then eventually(sorry don't remember what inning and or how it happened too much crap has happened since then) the Racers scored again and it was 6-2. Racers switched pitchers and things settled down. I was feeling really good about things! Danielle Lawrie pitched and pitched well. It wasn't her best game but up until the 6th inning she pitched well. In the 6th inning the bottom fell out. I don't remember what happened but I know combined Danielle and Cat gave up 6 runs in that inning to put the Pride behind 8-6! The defense had 2 errors in that inning as well(3 errors in total over the whole game). They scored another run but couldn't make the come back and we were heading into a game 3 that nobody wanted. That night after the roller coaster that game was, I was thinking things couldn't possibly get worse! I can in all honesty say now, I had no way of knowing how much worse things would get!
Fifth day Pride and Racers were set to square off again at 11. Cat Osterman started and the Racers jumped all over her from the start. She didn't even make it out of the first inning giving up 5 runs and being pulled in favor of Sarah Pauly. Sarah pitched very well and I was very proud of her and lead by Jessica Mendoza with a grand slam and a 3 run HR the Pride came back to win 9-7 to advance to the "final"(again use this term lightly because nothing about this Championship Series was final). They played the Bandits that night and it was a pretty good game. Monica Abbott and Cat Osterman in their typical pitching dual. Cat bounced back extremely well from the morning game but the Pride lost 2-1. The offense just never got going, despite having several baserunners. But the beauty of the Championship Series is it's all best of 3 series! So the Pride still had chance.....or so everyone thought.
So oddly enough I hadn't even looked at a weather report for Chicago for this weekend. That's odd for me because I almost always looked at the weather report for wherever the Pride was going to be playing. I got home from church a little after 12 and got on Facebook and Twitter right away and started seeing several post and tweets about rain in Chicago. So I found a couple of good radars and looked at the report on the Weather Channel's website and it didn't look good. I'm thinking well if they can't play today surely they'll reschedule for tomorrow. So about 30-45 minutes after I got home they decide to delay the game from 2:30 to 3:30 and the not long after that the decision is made to move the game to 6 when the if necessary game was supposed to be played and it was going to be played live on ESPN2. I'm watching the radar thinking this rain is not going to let up, in fact it looks like it's going to get heavier. But they seem determined the game is going to start at 6. So 6 rolls around and I turn it over to ESPN2 and find out Sarah Pauly is pitching I'm pretty excited! But the field was in horrible shape. No doubt about that and I won't argue that fact! The field was just awful. They did the starting lineups and all of that jazz. The Pride was the visiting team and Natasha Watley was the lead off hitter. She had a pretty long at bat and grounded out. After her at bat they got the ladies off the field for a rain delay. I would have never guessed the events that would take place after that. So I'm thinking there is no way this game will be played tonight, they'll post pone and play tomorrow. About an hour after the rain delay starts I start seeing tweets that they've cancelled the game and it won't be made up. So I'm thinking does that mean they'll go ahead and give it to the Bandits or will no one get it or what? Eventually it is announced both through the Pride and Bandits Facebook and Twitter pages and the announcers on ESPN that the game has been cancelled, it won't be made up, and there will be no champion! The NPF never has made an official announcement. They also did not refund the tickets of the people who actually went to the game! They haven't even really explained it to the players and coaches! They made the decision and then took off!! I know the NPF has no control over the rain but they do have control over how these things are scheduled! Scheduling a tournament with no plan for an event like this is stupid! Why not schedule an extra day maybe even 2 in case of rain or other problems? The ladies were willing to change their flights so they could play on Monday but it just wasn't going to happen. Nobody seems to know what the hell happened. But what is known is for the first time in the 9 years that the NPF has been around there will be no NPF champion! What is known is there are alot of sad and heartbroken fans who showed up at the field or turned over their TVs to ESPN2 excited to see softball on TV for once but got to see only 1 at bat! But worse than that is that there are two teams full of heartbroken players and coaches! This is not how a professional sports tournament should have been handled! How many times has the World Series been cancelled and there been no World Series champion? Oh that's right, never! It's just not how this was supposed to go.... Hopefully there will be more information about all of this before my next blog and I'll know more about exactly what happened but at this point the coaches and players don't even really know what happened! In my eyes, they are all champions! I'm heartbroken for all of them! This was just so unfair to everyone involved!
On a more positive note the Pride had a wonderful season and they were the regular season champions again! They had several players named to the All-NPF team including two of my favorites, Ashley Charters and Sarah Pauly! Kristyn Sandberg was named rookie of the year and Caitlin Lowe was player of the year! I hope eventually we can all find away to forget about how this ended and just remember the great season both the Pride and the Bandits had!
On another sad note, this Championship Series also saw the end of 4 wonderful careers for the Diamonds, atleast 1 Racer, and 1 Bandit. After the Diamonds were knocked out of the tournament by the Bandits Caitlin Lever, Rachel Folden, Katie Burkhart, and Jamie Lobprise left their cleats at home plate signifying the end of their beautiful careers! Caitlin retired after last year from the Bandits but couldn't stay and ended up playing a season with the Diamonds. However I think this really might be it for her. She had other things going that kept her from playing a big chunk of the 2nd half of the season. But I wish all 4 of them the best and thank them all for what they did for the NPF and softball! The Racers will be losing Nicole Trimboli who had been with the NPF longer than anybody else! The Bandits will be saying good by to Shannon Dopeking as well! I wish nothing but the best for all these players! Thank you ladies for all you did!
I don't have anything else right now! So I'll just say that I am incredibly proud of the Pride ladies and the job they did this season! It was a wonderful season filled with lots of wonderful feelings! I hope one day they will play close enough to me that I can see them play and hug their necks! I admire and respect them so much!! Good luck and safe travels to all the ladies headed to Japan!
Go Pride! Go Shokki! Go Huskies! Boomer Sooner! RTR Go Bama! FTG!!
Monday, August 20, 2012
What a ride!
Well the NPF regular season is officially over. It was a wonderful season for all 4 teams! Now the important stuff begins, the NPF Championship series! I'm excited but yet sad! I'm sad to see the season ending! It was such a fun season! Alot of people choose to to harp on all the negatives about the NPF but as you guys well know that isn't me. It's far from perfect, but right now it's all we got. Rome wasn't built in a day and this is going to take time! I am very thankful for this league! I'm thankful for the opportunity to get to keep watching my favorite players play the sport they love! So I just want to send a big thank you to Cheri Kempf, the owners of all 4 teams, the coaches, the trainers, the people who run the cameras and do all that stuff to make sure we have access to the lives stream for those of us who are too far away to watch in person, the announcers(they annoy me sometimes but for the most part they all do a good job lol), and most importantly these women who give up so much and put all they have into this sport we all love so much! They are making huge sacrifices and we should always remember that! Thank you to all involved in making this an amazing NPF season!
One thing that I truly love about this league is the wide variety of athletes you get to see play and get to know! This is my 3rd season to follow the NPF and the Pride and it seems like every season there is a different player that I find myself thinking man I didn't know much about her when this season started but I now I know alot more and I really like and respect her so much! It's not always a Pride player because lets face it most of them are pretty well known. Last year for instance I think there was two of them, both Racers. Kelley Montolvo and Kristina Thorson! I knew some about Kristina being that she went to Cal but not a whole lot and I didn't know much of anything about Kelley. This year though oddly enough it was a Pride player. It was a Pride player that I'll be very honest here I over looked. In 2010, I didn't even really notice her that much because I couldn't watch those games. I could only follow them via Pointstreak(which is slightly better than Gametracker but I still believe from the devil LOL). In 2011, I obviously was able to watch her and really didn't think much of her either way. I respected her because I respect all of these women. But I honestly just saw her as another pitcher and didn't really notice her. In 2012, something changed and I don't know what it was but I think for the first time I truly saw Sarah Pauly. Sarah is a great pitcher! She has some issues with keeping her foot down at times but she has the mental toughness to not let that bother her. She is tough. All pitchers are tough but the thing I noticed about her is so little effects her and her ability to do her job well. All through the season things were thrown at her right and left but it never phased her. She is like a stonewall out there. You can't tell what she is thinking and nothing effects her! I kind of thought from watching her on the field that she might be a kind of cold. But in talking to her on Twitter, I've realized that isn't the case at all. She has always been very sweet to me and seems to be very down to earth! I've really enjoyed talking to her and getting to know her! I'll certainly never over look Sarah Pauly again! Thanks Sarah for all you do for this sport and always being so sweet, humble, and grateful!! You truly are a beautiful person inside and out and in my mind one of best pitchers in the world! Softball is lucky to have you!
This last series for the Pride was great! The first night was as usual Cat Osterman in the circle! She pitched a very good game! The offense was rolling and the Pride walked away with 8-0! Sarah Pauly pitched the 2nd game and it won't go down as her best game but she stayed tough and got the job done. Pride won 5-4. The next night Danielle Lawrie was in the circle and she pitched very very well needing only 98 pitches and less than 2 hours to defeat the Racers 5-0. Yesterdays game was the last game of the regular season! Brittany Mack in the circle. Jenn Salling got to start at SS and Niki Williams actually got to start as the DP! Brittany had a very good 1st and 2nd inning but in the 3rd lost a little of her control. She walked the bases loaded and then mother nature stepped in and they ended up in a rain delay. She came back from the rain delay and settled back in getting out of the inning without giving up a run! Overall she pitched very well! I don't remember what inning it was in but the highlight of the entire game for me was a double play turned by Jenn Salling, Lauren Lappin and Charlotte Morgan! Whoever was at bat ripped one up the middle over the 2nd base bag Jenn somehow made a stumbling bare handed grab tossed it to Lauren, who caught it bare handed, stepped on the bag 2nd base bag, and threw it to Charlotte at 1st to complete the double play and end the inning! It was an incredible play! Jenn had a great game and I think she showed everyone what she is capable of with that play! I hope the ones who needed more proof were watching! Caitlin Lowe made another incredible grab in center field as well, I'm still trying to figure out how she got there to make that play lol! She was also 3 for 4 with 2 doubles and a single! She is my vote for MVP! She gets it done with her bat and in the field nearly every time! Niki was 0 for 2 with a sac bunt and 2 strikeouts! But I am so proud of her! She has been crazy patient this season and done so much better than what I would have lol! I hope in the future she is given a chance to shine because as anybody who watched that girl in college knows, she can shine! She is a phenomenal athlete and softball player, a phenomenal leader, and an equally phenomenal person! I really want to see her get a chance! Pride ended the season with a sweep and their pitching staff continues to dominate!
Well I'll be back after the championship series hopefully to tell you that the Pride are champions! It should be interesting though! Good luck to the Pride girls! Finish strong!!
Let's go Pride! Go Huskies! Boomer Sooner! RTR Go Bama! Go Shokki! FTG!
One thing that I truly love about this league is the wide variety of athletes you get to see play and get to know! This is my 3rd season to follow the NPF and the Pride and it seems like every season there is a different player that I find myself thinking man I didn't know much about her when this season started but I now I know alot more and I really like and respect her so much! It's not always a Pride player because lets face it most of them are pretty well known. Last year for instance I think there was two of them, both Racers. Kelley Montolvo and Kristina Thorson! I knew some about Kristina being that she went to Cal but not a whole lot and I didn't know much of anything about Kelley. This year though oddly enough it was a Pride player. It was a Pride player that I'll be very honest here I over looked. In 2010, I didn't even really notice her that much because I couldn't watch those games. I could only follow them via Pointstreak(which is slightly better than Gametracker but I still believe from the devil LOL). In 2011, I obviously was able to watch her and really didn't think much of her either way. I respected her because I respect all of these women. But I honestly just saw her as another pitcher and didn't really notice her. In 2012, something changed and I don't know what it was but I think for the first time I truly saw Sarah Pauly. Sarah is a great pitcher! She has some issues with keeping her foot down at times but she has the mental toughness to not let that bother her. She is tough. All pitchers are tough but the thing I noticed about her is so little effects her and her ability to do her job well. All through the season things were thrown at her right and left but it never phased her. She is like a stonewall out there. You can't tell what she is thinking and nothing effects her! I kind of thought from watching her on the field that she might be a kind of cold. But in talking to her on Twitter, I've realized that isn't the case at all. She has always been very sweet to me and seems to be very down to earth! I've really enjoyed talking to her and getting to know her! I'll certainly never over look Sarah Pauly again! Thanks Sarah for all you do for this sport and always being so sweet, humble, and grateful!! You truly are a beautiful person inside and out and in my mind one of best pitchers in the world! Softball is lucky to have you!
This last series for the Pride was great! The first night was as usual Cat Osterman in the circle! She pitched a very good game! The offense was rolling and the Pride walked away with 8-0! Sarah Pauly pitched the 2nd game and it won't go down as her best game but she stayed tough and got the job done. Pride won 5-4. The next night Danielle Lawrie was in the circle and she pitched very very well needing only 98 pitches and less than 2 hours to defeat the Racers 5-0. Yesterdays game was the last game of the regular season! Brittany Mack in the circle. Jenn Salling got to start at SS and Niki Williams actually got to start as the DP! Brittany had a very good 1st and 2nd inning but in the 3rd lost a little of her control. She walked the bases loaded and then mother nature stepped in and they ended up in a rain delay. She came back from the rain delay and settled back in getting out of the inning without giving up a run! Overall she pitched very well! I don't remember what inning it was in but the highlight of the entire game for me was a double play turned by Jenn Salling, Lauren Lappin and Charlotte Morgan! Whoever was at bat ripped one up the middle over the 2nd base bag Jenn somehow made a stumbling bare handed grab tossed it to Lauren, who caught it bare handed, stepped on the bag 2nd base bag, and threw it to Charlotte at 1st to complete the double play and end the inning! It was an incredible play! Jenn had a great game and I think she showed everyone what she is capable of with that play! I hope the ones who needed more proof were watching! Caitlin Lowe made another incredible grab in center field as well, I'm still trying to figure out how she got there to make that play lol! She was also 3 for 4 with 2 doubles and a single! She is my vote for MVP! She gets it done with her bat and in the field nearly every time! Niki was 0 for 2 with a sac bunt and 2 strikeouts! But I am so proud of her! She has been crazy patient this season and done so much better than what I would have lol! I hope in the future she is given a chance to shine because as anybody who watched that girl in college knows, she can shine! She is a phenomenal athlete and softball player, a phenomenal leader, and an equally phenomenal person! I really want to see her get a chance! Pride ended the season with a sweep and their pitching staff continues to dominate!
Well I'll be back after the championship series hopefully to tell you that the Pride are champions! It should be interesting though! Good luck to the Pride girls! Finish strong!!
Let's go Pride! Go Huskies! Boomer Sooner! RTR Go Bama! Go Shokki! FTG!
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Where has the Summer gone?(plus much more lol)
Well tonight is the first game of the last regular season series for the Pride and the Racers. Bandits/Diamonds started their series last night with a Diamonds win. It is so unreal to me that the season is almost over. This summer and this season flew by! It makes me sad that it's almost over! It's been a great season for the Pride both on and off the field. I hope they can finish it up with a championship!
I missed last weekends series against the Diamonds because I was on vacation. But they swept them! Cat Osterman, Sarah Pauly, and Danielle Lawrie all turned in great pitching performances! Brittany Mack struggled a little and ended up being taken out and Cat finished the game. Francesca Enea had a big weekend with her bat! Really though the offense was very solid all weekend. The only pitcher the Diamonds have that gives the Pride any problems is Katie Burkhart and they still managed to beat her! The Pride played the Racers the weekend before last and took 3 of 4 games. Again Cat, Sarah, and Danielle turned in great performances. Brittany had a rough start and the defense behind her was not very good. Jenn Salling actually got the start at SS that game(she also got a start last weekend and did an excellent job both in the field and with her bat) and she looked kind of rusty but her bat was hot! She went 2 for 3 in the game and looked really good. She did make some great defensive plays that game and it was fantastic to see her out there! But the Pride fell just a little short in that game with the offense struggling to figure out Hillary Bach. Overall though it's been a very strong last few weeks for the Pride. I feel really good about this team and their chances of winning it all! Obviously this the NPF and the best of the best so you never know whats going to happen but I feel good about this team.
You can never count the Bandits out. They have some incredible hitters in their lineup who can get hot at any time and really punish you! They also have Monica Abbott! Abbott was very dominate the first half of the season but has been a little less dominate the second half. But I know with everything on the line she'll be in the circle every game and she is going to give everything she has. Bandits have very little pitching behind her. They have a large pitching staff but no clear cut number 2. Nemitz is the closest thing but she can be inconsistent at times. The others are mostly rookies who have struggled to find their feet this season. I don't believe any of them except for maybe an inning or two here or there for Nemitz will be a factor next week in the championship series. They rested Abbott alot this season and she should be fairly fresh and ready to go. I look for the Bandits to again be the Pride's top competition.
The Diamonds have looked stellar at times and then have looked like a hot mess at times. Their pitching is led by Katie Burkhart and they too don't really have a strong number 2 behind her. This is a very young team, a team that has struggled to hold on to players for more than season. But they've improved so much since last season! It's been interesting to watch and should be interesting to see what they do in the championship series. Their offense is pretty good and they will get back the incredible outfield play, big consistent bat, strong leadership of Caitlin Lever for the championship series(Caitlin took a new job at UNLV and has been getting settled in there the last couple of weeks). That will be big for the Diamonds I think.
The Racers are frankly a mess right now. In seasons past their ace has been Kristina Thorson. She has always been a very strong pitcher and been huge for the Racers as not only a great pitcher but leader. Sadly a series of injuries have kept her largely off the field the 2nd half of the season. I don't believe she was 100% at any point in the season but she has battled her heart out. What she has pitched, she has been pretty ineffective. I felt really bad for her the weekend before last because she was in obvious discomfort. She has struggled with a hip injury and now seems to be having an issue with her pitching arm. The pitching behind her is pretty weak. Hillary Bach has had a couple of good games but she has also had a couple of nasty games as well. She is a rookie still trying to get her feet under her. Lisa Norris is a veteran but has not had a very good season either. During the middle of the season they signed UGA grad Erin Arevalo who has frankly struggled with the transition to pro ball. She has not so far been the help they were looking for. This team is struggling to find a number 1 pitcher let alone a number 2. The Racers offense is pretty good but their lack of pitching is really going to hurt them I'm afraid.
The Pride have a very deep pitching rotation with 3 of the best pitchers in the world in Cat Osterman, Sarah Pauly, and Danielle Lawrie. They are all 3 veterans who have played all over the place including Japan. Cat is certainly the ace but Sarah and Danielle are both extremely good pitchers themselves who have racked in the innings, wins, and strikeouts all season. Pride without a doubt have the best pitching staff in the league. I don't just say that as a totally biased fan but the stats back that up. The offense for Pride has been strong. Maybe not as strong as last season but strong and consistent. Kristyn Sandberg has had a stellar rookie season and if she isn't rookie of the year there is something very wrong! Kelly Kretchman on the other end of the spectrum has had a very strong season as well! This team works well together and they get the job done! Their chemistry is incredible! I look forward to watching them next week in the championship series and I hope and pray they come of it with the championship!
Graham Hays wrote a very good article on Cat Osterman and Megan Willis(I'll post the link at the bottom for those who haven't read it). There wasn't much in there that I didn't already know but it was a still a great read and a great reminder that softball is supposed to be fun and the best part is the bonds and friendships you form. But this article and an article I read about the Pride/Diamonds series got me thinking about something. In the article I read about the series between the Pride and the Diamonds it said the Pride has 7 Olympians and it made my blood boil! Why you may ask? Because the Pride has 9 Olympians! I've noticed people doing this alot and it bugs me! They don't say that the Pride has 7 American Olympians or 7 Olympic medalist. They say the Pride has 7 Olympians. So in case you didn't see my Facebook post here goes my rant again. The Pride has 9 Olympians. Danielle Lawrie and Jenn Salling played for Canada in 08 in Beijing in the Olympics! They weren't just there, they were a huge part of the Canadian team! Eerily similar to Worlds this summer they fell just short of being on the podium placing 4th after losing to the Aussies(The order the first 4 teams finished in Beijing in the Olympics in 08 and the order they finished in Canada in Worlds this summer was identical!). But regardless they were there. They both red shirted and spent the year training and getting ready for the Olympics just like the Americans did. They played their hearts out just like the Americans did. They felt the sting of defeat and the heartbreak of coming up just short just like the Americans did. They deal with the heartbreak of not being able to to try again and the heartbreak of knowing their last Olympic memories will likely forever be defeat just like the Americans. We as Americans get very bad tunnel vision. We only see the American athletes, we only hear their stories and we only feel the need to acknowledge the Americans as Olympians. Like it or not(and I know that many will disagree with me in this and that's fine) part of the reason softball was on outside looking in at the Olympics in London was because of this. I'll go ahead and tell you I am about to be blunt and honest and some of you are not going appreciate it but it needs to be said. I've read article after article after article after article with interviews with Jessica Mendoza, Cat Osterman, and few other American softball players. I've read the belly aching over what they've lost without having the Olympics and don't get me wrong they have lost alot and I know it hurts very much for them and I am in no way trying to say that isn't the case. I think part of the reason that softball was kicked out of the Olympics was not just that the Americans were so dominate but that the sport revolves too much around the Americans and that isn't what the Olympics is about. Instead of 15,000 articles about what Jessica Mendoza, Cat Osterman, Natasha Watley, Caitlin Lowe, and so on lost when softball was taken out of the Olympics I'd like to see more stories about these other countries and the women on their teams and what they lost. I'd love to hear what Danielle Lawrie and Jenn Salling felt, thought,and their memories of their time on the Olympic stage. I'd like to hear from Stacy Porter and what it felt like to represent Australia in the Olympics. I'd love to hear about Yukiko Ueno's experience and what it felt like to beat the Americans and win gold! There are so many stories out there that aren't being told! The American's really are very lucky. They have companies who are willing to sponsor them. They have the NPF to play in. They have media who want to hear what they have to say. Don't get me wrong Danielle Lawrie, Jenn Salling, and Caitlin Lever have been blessed with some of that as well. But I've never seen an interview with any of the 3 of them where their Olympic experience is discussed. They go largely unnoticed in the grand scheme of things. But they are more lucky than other countries where the loss of the Olympics has really hurt the sport and their ability to play. My opinion if we really want to get this sport back in the Olympics it's time to shut the spot light off the Americans for awhile and tell the stories of these other women. It's time that people start promoting this sport in other countries and working to grow the sport in these other countries. I will honestly be very very surprised if softball is put back in 2020 at this point. We've wasted so much time belly aching about what the Americans lost and so little time doing anything about it! Somewhere along the way this became about what the Americans have lost and not about what softball has lost. That isn't right and that won't get the sport back in the Olympics. The IOC knows that softball is big here in America. They know that the vast majority of the big name players come out of America. They don't need to be told that or see that. They need to see other countries working to grow softball and international softball becoming more about all the countries involved and not just the USA. If international softball is going to survive, we've got to see more international softball discussed and less American softball. I seriously thought about tweeting Graham Hays and asking him to interview Danielle Lawrie and Jenn Salling about their relationship and more importantly their Olympic experience and still might(although I'm having trouble doing so in 140 characters lol!). I think it's time we heard their stories and see things through the eyes of a non-American softball players eyes. So if you think this is a good idea maybe you can tweet him or get in contact with him somehow and let him know it too! He always does such amazing job and is such a gifted writer!
Here is the article about Cat Osterman and Megan Willis!
http://espn.go.com/espnw/more-sports/8269131/espnw-megan-willis-more-cat-osterman-catcher
Well sorry this was so long lol! If you read this whole thing thank you! The NPF championship games will be on ESPN2!! So please tune it to watch it!!
Well thank God for you that is all I have for now lol! Go Pride, Go Shokki(girls will be heading back to Japan very soon so I thought I'd start throwing that back in there lol), Go Huskies, Boomer Sooner, RTR Go Bama, and FTG!!
I missed last weekends series against the Diamonds because I was on vacation. But they swept them! Cat Osterman, Sarah Pauly, and Danielle Lawrie all turned in great pitching performances! Brittany Mack struggled a little and ended up being taken out and Cat finished the game. Francesca Enea had a big weekend with her bat! Really though the offense was very solid all weekend. The only pitcher the Diamonds have that gives the Pride any problems is Katie Burkhart and they still managed to beat her! The Pride played the Racers the weekend before last and took 3 of 4 games. Again Cat, Sarah, and Danielle turned in great performances. Brittany had a rough start and the defense behind her was not very good. Jenn Salling actually got the start at SS that game(she also got a start last weekend and did an excellent job both in the field and with her bat) and she looked kind of rusty but her bat was hot! She went 2 for 3 in the game and looked really good. She did make some great defensive plays that game and it was fantastic to see her out there! But the Pride fell just a little short in that game with the offense struggling to figure out Hillary Bach. Overall though it's been a very strong last few weeks for the Pride. I feel really good about this team and their chances of winning it all! Obviously this the NPF and the best of the best so you never know whats going to happen but I feel good about this team.
You can never count the Bandits out. They have some incredible hitters in their lineup who can get hot at any time and really punish you! They also have Monica Abbott! Abbott was very dominate the first half of the season but has been a little less dominate the second half. But I know with everything on the line she'll be in the circle every game and she is going to give everything she has. Bandits have very little pitching behind her. They have a large pitching staff but no clear cut number 2. Nemitz is the closest thing but she can be inconsistent at times. The others are mostly rookies who have struggled to find their feet this season. I don't believe any of them except for maybe an inning or two here or there for Nemitz will be a factor next week in the championship series. They rested Abbott alot this season and she should be fairly fresh and ready to go. I look for the Bandits to again be the Pride's top competition.
The Diamonds have looked stellar at times and then have looked like a hot mess at times. Their pitching is led by Katie Burkhart and they too don't really have a strong number 2 behind her. This is a very young team, a team that has struggled to hold on to players for more than season. But they've improved so much since last season! It's been interesting to watch and should be interesting to see what they do in the championship series. Their offense is pretty good and they will get back the incredible outfield play, big consistent bat, strong leadership of Caitlin Lever for the championship series(Caitlin took a new job at UNLV and has been getting settled in there the last couple of weeks). That will be big for the Diamonds I think.
The Racers are frankly a mess right now. In seasons past their ace has been Kristina Thorson. She has always been a very strong pitcher and been huge for the Racers as not only a great pitcher but leader. Sadly a series of injuries have kept her largely off the field the 2nd half of the season. I don't believe she was 100% at any point in the season but she has battled her heart out. What she has pitched, she has been pretty ineffective. I felt really bad for her the weekend before last because she was in obvious discomfort. She has struggled with a hip injury and now seems to be having an issue with her pitching arm. The pitching behind her is pretty weak. Hillary Bach has had a couple of good games but she has also had a couple of nasty games as well. She is a rookie still trying to get her feet under her. Lisa Norris is a veteran but has not had a very good season either. During the middle of the season they signed UGA grad Erin Arevalo who has frankly struggled with the transition to pro ball. She has not so far been the help they were looking for. This team is struggling to find a number 1 pitcher let alone a number 2. The Racers offense is pretty good but their lack of pitching is really going to hurt them I'm afraid.
The Pride have a very deep pitching rotation with 3 of the best pitchers in the world in Cat Osterman, Sarah Pauly, and Danielle Lawrie. They are all 3 veterans who have played all over the place including Japan. Cat is certainly the ace but Sarah and Danielle are both extremely good pitchers themselves who have racked in the innings, wins, and strikeouts all season. Pride without a doubt have the best pitching staff in the league. I don't just say that as a totally biased fan but the stats back that up. The offense for Pride has been strong. Maybe not as strong as last season but strong and consistent. Kristyn Sandberg has had a stellar rookie season and if she isn't rookie of the year there is something very wrong! Kelly Kretchman on the other end of the spectrum has had a very strong season as well! This team works well together and they get the job done! Their chemistry is incredible! I look forward to watching them next week in the championship series and I hope and pray they come of it with the championship!
Graham Hays wrote a very good article on Cat Osterman and Megan Willis(I'll post the link at the bottom for those who haven't read it). There wasn't much in there that I didn't already know but it was a still a great read and a great reminder that softball is supposed to be fun and the best part is the bonds and friendships you form. But this article and an article I read about the Pride/Diamonds series got me thinking about something. In the article I read about the series between the Pride and the Diamonds it said the Pride has 7 Olympians and it made my blood boil! Why you may ask? Because the Pride has 9 Olympians! I've noticed people doing this alot and it bugs me! They don't say that the Pride has 7 American Olympians or 7 Olympic medalist. They say the Pride has 7 Olympians. So in case you didn't see my Facebook post here goes my rant again. The Pride has 9 Olympians. Danielle Lawrie and Jenn Salling played for Canada in 08 in Beijing in the Olympics! They weren't just there, they were a huge part of the Canadian team! Eerily similar to Worlds this summer they fell just short of being on the podium placing 4th after losing to the Aussies(The order the first 4 teams finished in Beijing in the Olympics in 08 and the order they finished in Canada in Worlds this summer was identical!). But regardless they were there. They both red shirted and spent the year training and getting ready for the Olympics just like the Americans did. They played their hearts out just like the Americans did. They felt the sting of defeat and the heartbreak of coming up just short just like the Americans did. They deal with the heartbreak of not being able to to try again and the heartbreak of knowing their last Olympic memories will likely forever be defeat just like the Americans. We as Americans get very bad tunnel vision. We only see the American athletes, we only hear their stories and we only feel the need to acknowledge the Americans as Olympians. Like it or not(and I know that many will disagree with me in this and that's fine) part of the reason softball was on outside looking in at the Olympics in London was because of this. I'll go ahead and tell you I am about to be blunt and honest and some of you are not going appreciate it but it needs to be said. I've read article after article after article after article with interviews with Jessica Mendoza, Cat Osterman, and few other American softball players. I've read the belly aching over what they've lost without having the Olympics and don't get me wrong they have lost alot and I know it hurts very much for them and I am in no way trying to say that isn't the case. I think part of the reason that softball was kicked out of the Olympics was not just that the Americans were so dominate but that the sport revolves too much around the Americans and that isn't what the Olympics is about. Instead of 15,000 articles about what Jessica Mendoza, Cat Osterman, Natasha Watley, Caitlin Lowe, and so on lost when softball was taken out of the Olympics I'd like to see more stories about these other countries and the women on their teams and what they lost. I'd love to hear what Danielle Lawrie and Jenn Salling felt, thought,and their memories of their time on the Olympic stage. I'd like to hear from Stacy Porter and what it felt like to represent Australia in the Olympics. I'd love to hear about Yukiko Ueno's experience and what it felt like to beat the Americans and win gold! There are so many stories out there that aren't being told! The American's really are very lucky. They have companies who are willing to sponsor them. They have the NPF to play in. They have media who want to hear what they have to say. Don't get me wrong Danielle Lawrie, Jenn Salling, and Caitlin Lever have been blessed with some of that as well. But I've never seen an interview with any of the 3 of them where their Olympic experience is discussed. They go largely unnoticed in the grand scheme of things. But they are more lucky than other countries where the loss of the Olympics has really hurt the sport and their ability to play. My opinion if we really want to get this sport back in the Olympics it's time to shut the spot light off the Americans for awhile and tell the stories of these other women. It's time that people start promoting this sport in other countries and working to grow the sport in these other countries. I will honestly be very very surprised if softball is put back in 2020 at this point. We've wasted so much time belly aching about what the Americans lost and so little time doing anything about it! Somewhere along the way this became about what the Americans have lost and not about what softball has lost. That isn't right and that won't get the sport back in the Olympics. The IOC knows that softball is big here in America. They know that the vast majority of the big name players come out of America. They don't need to be told that or see that. They need to see other countries working to grow softball and international softball becoming more about all the countries involved and not just the USA. If international softball is going to survive, we've got to see more international softball discussed and less American softball. I seriously thought about tweeting Graham Hays and asking him to interview Danielle Lawrie and Jenn Salling about their relationship and more importantly their Olympic experience and still might(although I'm having trouble doing so in 140 characters lol!). I think it's time we heard their stories and see things through the eyes of a non-American softball players eyes. So if you think this is a good idea maybe you can tweet him or get in contact with him somehow and let him know it too! He always does such amazing job and is such a gifted writer!
Here is the article about Cat Osterman and Megan Willis!
http://espn.go.com/espnw/more-sports/8269131/espnw-megan-willis-more-cat-osterman-catcher
Well sorry this was so long lol! If you read this whole thing thank you! The NPF championship games will be on ESPN2!! So please tune it to watch it!!
Well thank God for you that is all I have for now lol! Go Pride, Go Shokki(girls will be heading back to Japan very soon so I thought I'd start throwing that back in there lol), Go Huskies, Boomer Sooner, RTR Go Bama, and FTG!!
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