OCTOBER 15 UPDATE
TEAM NJ FALL SHOWCASE
RI Thunder 8, Team NJ 2
WJ Witches 4, Rockland Thunder 2
Vienna Stars 4, Nightmare 0
Inferno Red 1, Jersey Outlaws 1
Mystics White 8, Jersey Girls 1
Team NJ 1, TX Glory 1
FL Hurricanes 2, Jersey Inferno 0
Inferno Red 6, NJ Rocks 0
Jersey Outlaws 2, Mystics White 2
Edison Angels 1, Rockland Thunder 0
FL Hurricanes 3, Shamrocks 2
TX Glory 4, Jersey Inferno 2
WJ Witches 4, Vienna Stars 2
Pennsbury Gems 6, NJ Pride 0
WJ Witches 0, Edison Angels 0
FL Hurricanes 3, Wichita Mustangs 0
WA Ladyhawks 6, Jersey Inferno 4
NJ Intensity 8, Vienna Stars 5
MC Belles 3, Nightmare 1
RI Thunder 8, NJ Rocks 1
TX Glory 2, Wichita Mustangs 0
WA Ladyhawks 11, Shamrocks 1
Blazing Angels 7, NJ Pride 3
TC Tremors 3, MC Belles 2
Pennsbury Gems 5, Edison Angels 3
FL Hurricanes 3, WA Ladyhaeks 3
Beach Girls 3, Shamrocks 0
NJ Intensity 2, Blazing Angels 1
Wichita Mustangs 3, Team NJ 2
Game notes to follow on Sunday
Friday Night Scores from the Arizona Hotshots Gold Round Robin
AZ Hotshots Gold 12 – Li’l Saints Gold 4
Bridget Delponte & Katleyn Boyd - Grand Slams
WP – Katie Dennis. Ashley Rosenberg, HR
AZ Ice 4 – EV Pride 1
Nicole lorenzi 3 for 3 WP – Tess Casey
Twisted Angels 2 – Wichita Mustangs – 0
WP – Heather Vega
Storm 10 – Scorpio 3
Lauren MacCollum and Jennifer Tschetter 2 for 3
WP – Meredith Whitney
American’s Gold 9 – Hotshots Gold Neuman - 3
COMMITMENTS
Ayzsha Ervin 07 3b,CF San Diego Breakers Gold verbally committed to Long Island University
Amanda Macintosh 07 1B/3B Valley Breeze Gold verbally committed to Long Island University
Jennifer Bryden 07 c Texas dirt Devils verbally committed to Long Island University
FALL SCHOLASTIC SHOWCASE
The Fall Scholastic Showcase, rained out on October 7-8, has been rescheduled for next weekend, October 21-22. Attached is the tournament schedule in .pdf format. It will also be posted on www.nsamaryland.com. All games will be played at Bachman Sports Complex in Glen Burnie, Maryland.
TRIDENTINE MASS
As soon as I read that Pope Benedict XVI may authorize use of the Tridentine Mass, the old Latin Mass largely abandoned after the second Vatican Council, I raced upstairs to rummage through a keepsakes box. Voila, there it was – a 1941 Catechism that had the Latin and English interposed. The long hours spent with Sister Mary Magdalene tutoring me in Latin came rushing back to memory. As soon as it becomes official, I will enjoin Father Metzger to have at least one Low Mass each Sunday – no sermon and (hurray) no choir. My parish has the worst choir in Christendom.
THE EUROPEANS ARE LAUGHING
One of the end-of-Congress reviews in the foreign press observed that only the US Congress would attempt to seal a 2,000 mile border with a 700 mile fence. Short memories. France tried to protect its borders from Germany with the concrete fortifications of the Maginot Line – which the Wehrmacht simply went around. The Germans sought security behind the Siegfried line.
Footnote for the historically curious
There were three defensive fortifications that drew a lot of attention during WWII. The first of these was the Maginot Line, built by the French after WWI. It was a magnificent fortress stretching from the Alps all the way across the border of France and Germany, finally terminating in Belgium. The Belgians built a complimentary section that continued the defensive line against Germany but it was not as extensive as the French effort. Above ground the line was represented by a series of concrete and steel forts, fully manned by both cannon and lighter, automatic weapons. In places the Maginot was three stories deep. It had an extensive series of RR lines, hospitals, ammunition and storage bunkers and other essentials deemed necessary by the French high command. The line was never tested because the Germans bypassed it, sweeping to the North through the Ardennes region, as they had in 1914.
The second mighty fortification was completed last. It was the Atlantic Wall. Essentially this fortification came about through the efforts of Field Marshall Edwin Rommel, the Panzer genius who had commanded the Afrika Corps. After being driven out of Africa in 1943, Rommel was assigned responsibility for coordinating the defenses of the Atlantic seaboard, stretching from the English Channel to the Bay of Biscay. Rommel’s defense concept, which was classic armor doctrine, was to build a series of strong points along the coast, creating forts where needed, maximizing beach obstacles to slow down the invader, and holding the bulk of his troops in reserve, ready to respond with overwhelming force when the location of the enemy’s main effort was determined.
Fortunately for the Allies, der Führer disapproved this concept and insisted on holding most of the reserve to meet anticipated attacks in the Pais de Calais area.
The third set of fortifications were those comprising the Seigfried Line - a massive construction of concrete forts along the border of France and Belgium, roughly opposite the Maginot line, but extending through the Ardennes further to the North. It was a perfect picture of German organization and engineering precision. Interlocking fields of fire were standard throughout. Defenses were located in depth. Tank obstacles (dragons teeth) of reinforced concrete and steel, effectively barred movement, while placing enemy armor in the range of concentrated anti-tank fire. Barbed wire served to impede the advance of the invading infantry, permitting the artillery to mass fires in the area of the attack. When the Allies dashed across France in August, they reached and penetrated the Seigfried defenses before the remnants of the Werhmacht could man the Western Wall.
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