Wednesday March 27th, 2024
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Season opening chatter from SoftballCenter.com

The 2011 Major level softball season kicked off last weekend April 1-3 in Las Vegas, Nevada at the "Sin City" Classic.

I am still looking for some volunteer reporters for Phoenix, Dallas, Concord, The Pif, Arkansas, and possibly others.

DW's probable Reporting Schedule

First, I would like to say THANK YOU to all of the great players, managers, and sponsors that have taken their time to fill out the interviews which our softballcenter fans have been reading all throughout the offseason.  I tried to post the interviews in the order they were received and on days when there was no other softball news.  These interview/player pages have by far drawn the most interest of any articles published during the winter months.

Just so everyone knows I sent interviews to most everyone that I could find an email for.  If you didn't get an email it is quite possible that it went into your spam folder by accident or more likely I don't have an email address for you.  It is nothing personal and we have plenty of time to get everyones interview eventually.

You can find all of the SBC interviews at these links under the Players tab or use the "Search" function at the top of the home page:

Major Player Interviews

Major Watch List Player Interviews

'A' Player Interviews

'B' Player Interviews

 

Next I would like to apologize to those offended by my post Major World comments about illegal bats.  These were posts I made on the oldscout and softballcenter message boards in response to other peoples comments and not something I wrote about in an article or tournament report.

My investigation was ignited by some of the controversy surrounding bats at the Major World Series and turned up no evidence that would stand up in a court of law.  Lots of rumor and innuendo led to dead end after dead end.

Do I think the Major World was as clean (as far as bats) as most of the people that followed the games thought?  No.  However I have decided to refrain from commenting personally on illegal bats, sandbagging, and performance enhancing drugs for all of the 2011 season.

My thoughts:

Bats: The garbage can testing with bats being kept in locked storage when not in use is the best solution for now.  This can only be improved by testing the bats at the beginning of each day of the tournament.  I do want to note that without removing an end cap there is no way to tell a well used bat from a shaved bat.  Also there is no way ANY, yes I said ANY player can tell me his bat is not shaved unless he manufactured the bat himself.  Why?  Because noone knows where their bat came from or who had it before it was given to them, even if you bought it at Dick's Sporting Goods, and that is a fact.  To steal the words of one Conference manager if the bat is in the bucket, F-it, its good.

Sandbagging: In today's upper level softball world there are Conference teams of the Super level (Resmondo), Major Level, and 'A' and 'B' level, plus there are a few non-Conference 'B' caliber teams.  The rest of the country is playing 'C', 'D', and 'E' primarily because they are financially unable to play a Conference schedule.

So basically we have Conference and we have 'C'.  The caliber of the 'C' teams at the Disney Worlds in 2011 was extremely good.  I think that the 'C' division should have its homerun limits raised so that the current top 'C' teams can build their team to the 'B' level and possibly make the jump to Conference ball.   You will no longer hear me talk about sandbagging.  If you ask me in person I'll give my opinion but you won't see me writing about it.   'C' is the top level of non-Conference play so have at it.

Performance enhancing drugs: In today's upper level game they are prevalent.  This however is an amateur sport and there is nothing that can be done about them.  Noone is going to spend money (they don't have) to test for anything.  This has always been a part of the game and most likely will always be a part of the game.  I don't tell anyone what to do with THEIR body and I don't expect anyone to tell me what to do with mine.

Ok, now that we have put the negative topics to rest (hopefully for the whole season), lets talk about the 2011 season.

The 2011 Conference Schedule added one new tournament, the season opener in Las Vegas and removed one tournament, Maryland. 

The USSSA 'A' Worlds has been moved back one weekend to August 19-21.

I understand the Concord, California tournament is in jeopardy of folding because of lack of interest.

I know there are a few top quality Conference teams looking for additional sponsorship if anyone is looking to get involved with a good team for 2011, I can put you in touch with these teams.

SoftballCenter.com's coverage of the 2011 season will consist of:

Friday's – I'll be travelling to the tournament after work.

Saturday's/Sunday's – The homepage will have twitter updates of scores and news on anything big that happens.  I am experimenting with chat rooms on the homepage to talk about the tournament as well. 

Sunday evenings – I'll be travelling home and usually will have all of the pictures from the event posted late Sunday night or Monday.

Monday's – Tournament report will be posted late on Monday or after work on Tuesday.

Tuesday's – Updated rankings posted and link to the next tournament bracket.

Wednesday's – Tournament preview for the upcoming weekend.

Thursday's – Update team and player pages with new pictures or post new video clips, articles, or interviews.

Thats all I have.  Look for the 2011 Season Preview on Monday and the Hall Of Fame tournament preview on Tuesday.  The HOF tournament starts on Thursday at 2 PM and USSSA Live is broadcasting from the main Stadium diamond up to 25 games this week.

I would also like to thank all of the great sponsors that make travelling to the top tournaments possible.  Without them I would only be able to make a handful of tournaments per year.

 

 Lets have a great season! 

Also remember throughout the season to hit the little blue "Like" button to send the report and article links to all of your Facebook friends!
  


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