OCTOBER 24 2002 UPDATE
Commitments
Morrison, Karie. P, Fire & Ice, VA, to Virginia Tech
Yeager, Ashley. SS, AZ L’il Saints, to Virginia Tech
Morris, Amie. C, OR Panthers, to Oregon
Alpizar, Ashley. C,Ut, Tampa Mustangs, to Florida Southern Univ
Urbanik, Daniel. P,IF, Tampa Mustangs, to Univ of South Florida
Adams, Sarah. P, Salinas Storm, to Univ of California, Berkeley
(verballed many weeks ago; SPY knew and didn’t report it)
Whitt, Kyra. OF, Oklahoma Twisters, to Wichita State
Blair, Margaret. C,1st,3rd, Long Island Chargers, to Stony Brook Univ
Crouch, Brittany. P, Irvine Sting, to St. John’s University
Fryou, Jennifer. P, Salinas Wildcats, to Sacramento State
More from Lancaster
The Valley Breeze (Sotelo), a 16U team with 13 freshmen and 2 sophomores, was 4-0-1, and the four victories were shutouts: 1-0 over Strike Zone 18A; 11-0 over So Cal Bandits; 2-0 over Santa Fe Springs Rebels, and 2-0 over Surefire Gold (which participated at Gold nationals). They tied North Valley Rapids 5-5, scoring 5 runs in the 6th. The 5 pitchers allowed 10 hits and 2 walks while striking out 27 in 25 innings. Janice Damo and Jennifer Irvine both went 2-0; Damo struck out 10 and allowed 2 hits in 8.3 innings and got the win over Surefire. Irvine had 6ks and allowed 2 hits in 9.3 innings. This Valley Breeze team will play 16U nationally but will enter other 18-U tournaments. This team also won the 16u Batbuster (Myers) tourney with a 1-0 win over the Gordon Panthers 16s.
Golf Humor
On a beautiful Saturday afternoon, Jack stood on the first tee at his
country club. He had just pulled out his driver when a young woman in a
wedding gown came running up to him, crying. She slaps him in the face,
turns and runs away.
He turns to his golfing buddy and says calmly, "I don't know what her
problem is. I distinctly told her only if it rained."
A Lesson from Camelot
Young King Arthur was ambushed and imprisoned by the monarch of a
> neighboring kingdom. The monarch could have killed him, but was moved by
> Arthur's youth and ideals. So the monarch offered him freedom, as long as
> he could answer a very difficult question. Arthur would have a year to
> figure out the answer. However, if, after a year, he still had no answer,
> he would be put to death.
>
> The question . . What do women really want ?
>
> Such a question would perplex even the most knowledgeable man, and, to
> young Arthur, it seemed an impossible query. But, since it was better than
> death, he accepted the monarch's proposition to have an answer by year's
> end. He returned to his kingdom and began to poll everybody; the
> princesses, the prostitutes, the priests, the Bishops, the wise men,
> and even his court jester. He spoke with everyone, but alas, no one
> could give him a satisfactory answer.
>
> Many people advised him to consult the old witch, for only she would know
> the answer. The price would be high, for the witch was famous throughout
> the kingdom for the exorbitant prices she charged.
>
> The last day of the year arrived and Arthur had no alternative but to talk
> to the witch. She agreed to answer his question, but he'd have to accept
> her price first. The old witch wanted to marry Gawain, the most handsome
> and most noble of the Knights of the Round Table, and Arthur's closest
> friend !
>
> Young Arthur was horrified ! She was hunchbacked and hideous, had only
> one tooth, smelled like sewage, and made many obscene noises. He had
> never encountered such a repugnant creature ! He refused to force his
> best friend to marry her and have to endure such a life long burden.
>
> Gawain, upon learning of the proposal, spoke with Arthur. He told him
> that nothing was too big a sacrifice compared to Arthur's life and the
> preservation of the Round Table. Hence, their wedding was proclaimed,
> and the witch answered Arthur's question thusly . . . .
>
> What a woman really wants is to be in charge of her own life.
>
> Everyone instantly knew that the witch had uttered a great truth and that
> Arthur's life would be spared. And so it was. The neighboring monarch
> granted Arthur total freedom.
>
> What a wedding Gawain and the witch had ! Arthur was torn between relief
> and anguish. Gawain was proper, as always, gentle and courteous. The
> old witch put her worst manners on display, and generally made everyone
> very uncomfortable.
>
> The honeymoon hour approached. Gawain, steeling himself for a horrific
> experience, entered the bedroom. But what a sight awaited him ! The
> most beautiful woman he'd ever seen stood before him ! The astounded
> Gawain asked what had happened ? ? The beauty replied that since he
> had been so kind to her when she'd appeared as an ugly old witch, she
> would henceforth be her horrible, deformed self half the time, and the
> other half, she would be her beautiful maiden self. But . . . . Gawain
> would have to choose which witch he would want her to be during the day,
> and which witch during the night ?
>
> What a cruel question ! Gawain pondered his predicament. During the day,
> a beautiful woman to show off to his friends, but at night, in the
> privacy of his home, an old witch ? ! ? Or would he prefer having by day
> a hideous witch, but by night, a beautiful woman with whom to enjoy many
> intimate moments ?
>
> What would you do ?
> What Gawain chose follows below, . . but don't read it until you've
> made your own choice. What would you do?
>
> Noble Gawain replied that he would let her choose for herself. Upon
> hearing this, she announced that, because he had learned his lesson very
> well, that what a woman really wants, is to be in charge of her own life,
> and because he had respected her enough to let her be in charge of her own
> life, she would be beautiful all the time, forever more! !
>
> What is the moral of this story ? ?
> The moral is . . If a woman doesn't get her own way . things are going to
get really ugly.
This Tournament Season
With more tournaments to come (Tucson, Plantation, Renegades, Firecrackers, Batbusters), which SPY will attempt to cover, it is time to restate an editorial comment which we unfortunately have to issue each year.
The tournament at Lancaster involved 110 teams, playing on 19 fields, at 6 different sites. SPY is a single person; coverage will obviously be physically and geographically limited. Our coverage plan, usually worked out in advance, tries to achieve a balance between teams which traditionally finish at the top of Gold and 18A, and those which finish back in the pack – modified both by coverage at preceding tournaments (teams we have seen), and by knowledge of brackets at tournaments to come (teams we will see later).
But, like any good sports medium, game selections are also influenced by knowing which games are likely to be the most competitive, and/or with possible implications for 2003 nationals, and those are games which SPY readers expect me to report. I am less influenced by how many colleges recruit players off a given team; indeed, college coaches continually ask me to look out for that unknown quality player on a non-contending team.
Yet, no matter how conscientious I try to be about coverage and reporting, I am guaranteed to get three kinds of emails after every tournament: reliable information from understanding coaches whose teams I missed; information from coaches and/or parents who first complain about the coverage plan if it excluded them, then give me all or some of the data needed to file a report; and, emails which not only complain but accuse me of favoring certain teams, or ignoring their daughters’ feats, or other alleged biases, but fail to provide game information. Fortunately, the latter are few.
A parent accused me pre-Lancaster of harming his daughter’s scholarship prospects because the telephone number I took from an old team guide was wrong. Another was sure I had relegated his daughter to college limbo because her GPA was incorrect. People: I do not invent numbers. I rely on coaches’ guides and tournament rosters. And, I will make unintentional typographical errors. Corrections are made as soon as possible. Another parent slammed me for reporting that his daughter’s team left a tournament, and accused me of denigrating the team. I was explaining why a pitcher from another team did not hurl her fifth game. I also noted that another team left early; no complaint from a coach or parent. I have often noted over the last three years that many final games are not played, especially late on Sunday, and every one who is knowledgable about these tournaments understands the reasons teams leave.
I make it a point to be as positive as possible. I seldom name players who make errors, just that an error was made at a position, but I do try to capture the essence of any given game. In that regard, if you do send information, don’t embellish – just give me the facts, about both teams. I continue to be amazed at college web sites wherein student reporters will write several paragraphs about how their players performed before acknowledging that they lost! Or, they mention that a pitcher threw a one-hitter, or someone hit a home run but no names are given.
In any given game, I am on the side of the players. Some parents would do well to remember that.
End of sermon.