3ABirdMan

Reports are 4-6' water in Bridge City. Have a pictue of the Pizza Hut - water is up to the bottom of the windows, but can't post it. I'll work on that. Lot's of good info from www.kfdm.com and www.kbmt12.com via streaming internet feed. Supposed to be 5' of water in the plants on Chemical Row. Heard you can only go south on 16th street in Orange down to Park - too much water from there on.......

Hope everyone is doing well. We (3ABirdMan's bunch plus inlaws, WJBoogers bunch, plus 2 more families from BC, and one from Port Neches) holed up last night in Hot Springs, Ark. But the local news guy scared us out of town - "When the warm, moist air from IKE reaches the surrounding hills and elevations, and rises, it will create severe thunderstorms resulting in as much as 12" of rain with severe local flooding, and will most likely spawn tornados." That was enough for US - Could'a stayed home if that's what we were looking for! Now in Delhi LA, east of Monroe. We will hole up here for a little while. Everyone take care, be safe, and call us when you know when we're playing again. ;D

I was having [move]WAAAAAAAAAAYYY[/move] too much fun to go home!

Very well put! But I got to watch it rise in the EAST and set in the WEST as well! Nothing like traveling across the great state of Texas - In ONE DAY! :-*

West Brook PA Memorial Beaumont Central Beaumont Ozen Bridge city Lumberton Waller Texas City Vidor East Chambers Orangefield West Orange Start Newton Woodville Tarkington Deweyville Kountze Kelly HCC USC

First - Congrats to Kountze on a solid win. You guys did what you needed to do, including running out the clock on the last drive. Great Job closing out a very good game! Second - I got there late, missing the first score by both teams. What I saw for the rest of the first half was the back of the Kountze running back as he swept around our nonexistent corner and put 6 on the board. BUT, for the 2nd half, BC made GREAT defensive adjustments, and took away the corner, and really slowed down the dive plays as well. Somebody stepped up and made containment, and there WAS no corner to get around! Woulda - Coulda - Shoulda ..... If BC makes that defensive adjustment in the 2nd Qtr instead of the 2nd half, they WIN this game! And that's not taking anything away from Kountze, either. Just the way I see it! I was concerned that being down by as much as 3 scores would quickly make this game reminiscent of last year, but I was glad to see the Cards come out in the last 2 Qtrs and play HARD, with heart and desire! While nobody should be happy with the loss, there were still A LOT of good signs in this game that it will be a good season. I for one am proud of their play so far! HEY - we're .500!

Will this be kept by NUMBER OF CORRECT PICKS only, or will it be kept by % CORRECT as well? I missed last week, so I'm already 21 picks behind, if you only look at correct picks. BUT, if you look at % CORRECT, you could set a minimal number of picks, say 100, or even 200, to weed out the one-timers, and let everyone else fight it out. That way if a poster misses one week, you're not out of the running. Just an idea, or suggestion, for what it's worth........... Thanks

Beaumont West Brook Newton Jasper Dayton Bellville Vidor Hamshire-Fannett Bryan Rudder Coldspring Huffman Caldwell Needville Tarkington Anahuac Warren Burkeville High Island Hull-Daisetta Galveston O’Connell Chester Silsbee Bridge City Beaumont Kelly Colmesneil West Orange-Stark Orangefield Port Arthur Memorial Lumberton Crosby Deweyville Woodville Nederland

You DO realize you'll HAVE to wear PURPLE, don't you? ;D

DUDE! Come on! When involved in this type of exchange, use of the word "URINATE" will have a greater propensity to illustrate YOUR intellectual level! :-*

We will have our last tryout SUNDAY 8/24 at the CRUSH fields in West Orange from 2:00 pm 'til..... Come visit and work out with us, and see what we have to offer!

Congrats Debra! Best of luck!

Wonderful kid and great family - It's been a pleasure watching Megan play and calling all of you "friends"! CONGRATS, Kiddo!

CRUSH field crew = RAIN DON'T MATTER - PLAY BALL! ;D

Went by to check on the fields this evening - All Eduord gets credit for is making the grass grow! No problems with wet fields for this weekend!

Orange CRUSH (Birdwell) will be holding OPEN tryouts on the following dates and times at the CRUSH fields in West Orange: Saturday, August 9 Saturday, August 16 Sunday, August 17 Sunday, August 24 All tryouts will be 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm, or until completed. All positions are considered OPEN, with NO guaranteed returning players (everyone must attend tryouts) Interested players are asked (but not required) to attend as many tryout dates as possible. Orange CRUSH (Birdwell) is transitioning from 16U to 18U for the 2008-2009 season. Our goal is to assemble a highly-competitive team of hard-working, dedicated softball players who want to advance their careers to the Collegiate Level. Our emphasis will be on building both mental and physical skills, in an ethical environment, that will enable players to achieve success both on and off the field. Most of our scheduling and play will center around College Exposure events. We will work together to get the most out of the recruiting process for each player, both on and off of the field. We are looking for a 12-month commitment from players and parents, with softball being the highest priority. For more information, questions, or scheduling conflicts, please contact: James Birdwell - 409-738-5479 - [email protected]

GT Shockers (soignet)

I think, when I left, SK Impact and Conroe X-Factor were still alive in the winners bracket, and SA Nightmare Red was in the losers bracket. Seems as though STE Attitude was in losers side, but I'm not sure who else was there as well. And I'm just guessing - I didn't keep my bracket that up to date. I held off on a reply to see if anyone else could do any better.................

Little League?

I collected money from 15 parents and grandparents for wrist bands, turned it in, and got the bands delivered to those parents. I had several more show up late Friday looking to BUY a wrist band, and there was no-one at Complex 4 checking for them OR selling them. I can't speak for the other 3 pods............. It's hard to be honest, when there's no-one to give your money to!

Had him on the plate either 2 or 3 games - We had a good time! Of course, I didn't hurt ANY umpires feelings this weekend - I'm so hoarse, I couldn't even talk! I did whisper pretty loud at some of them, though!

Lamar is on it's way back. AFA just changed its name to NAFA I'll send extra gatorade with Justin. ;D Can you sign him up for a tutoring session with DaMan?

Not when you call a game for my team! ;D Cooler is in the dugout, and you're welcome to it!

I went into this thing expecting the worst, based on the previous track record that I had heard, and hoping for the best. I needed to fill a gap in my schedule, and I accomplished that, picking up 9 games over 3 days. I actually got an extra pool game, with the TD covering the umpire cost, against MC's bunch so they got all of their pool games in. We were offered ANOTHER pool game, but it was going to be too late in the evening, after too big a break (9:30pm offer, after finishing a 3:30pm pool). DISAPOINTMENTS: - Water in the dug-outs never materialized . PERIOD! - The fields are beaches, which is NOT the TD's fault - There was NO field maintenance on J, K, or L, NEVER (except for the P&R crew before the 1st game each day). Warming up before the first pool on Friday, there was a couple of guys unloading lawnmowers and drags off of a trailer. I don't where they went, but they left J K L to never return. That IS the TD's fault. - Too many changes in Pool and Bracket times, on top of original scheduling errors. - TD was VERY hard to find, as was replacement UIC, before his "wreck", and I do hope that he really did have a wreck (not a cover-up) and that he is OK. I wish no harm on anyone! PLEASURES: - Got in 9 games, with minimal travel and no hotels. The talent level was a mix - Some very good teams, and some very weak teams ( : yeah, I know, that's what some of you say at times after you play us as well lol ;D ) - I had ZERO, NONE, NIL, NADA problems with the umpires. They were all very professional, and called good, consistent games. Had one at the plate who wouldn't call low, but it was consistent. Had one who didn't call an obstruction when he should have ( I TOLD him "Pappa would have called it" and he said "Yep, He would have!" I told him "Bart would have called it", and he said "Nope, He wouldn't have!" I told him I was gonna tell on him, and now I have ! ! ! j/k) - Concessions at J K L ( GTS 16U McCain) did an outstanding job, the prices were reasonable, and the food was GOOD! I didn't make it to the other pods to sample theirs..... - I heard NO badmouthing of the local teams / umpires / former (supposed UIC) or anybody else for that matter. I WAS told by the TD late Friday evening that he admitted he had bitten off more than he could chew. Instead of lining up some help for various functions, he tried to cover it all himself, and it just didn't work - He was overwhelmed. I know there were a few teams who were pretty disappointed in this thing in the 18U group, but I got the impression they didn't travel much, and weren't used to being in "big" tournaments. Having done this for a while, I know things pop up, and there are snags at times - Some of that is expected. BUT, there were really more problems than there should have been. I don't think the reputation of Beaumont softball was tarnished too terribly bad - Those that know our area and know us know we are better than this! In the end, was I glad I played in this? Certainly! The good far outweighted the bad, at least for us!

There are a lot of coaches that have their personal funds tied up into this tournament. That along with trying to pickup players for player shortages means we , the teams, need some answers today. If we are paying $200 to play, $30 for umpires, and $10 at the gate I would expect water in the dugouts, field crews, and happy well qualified umpires. Upsetting the umpires is my job on the field.Just kidding. If this tournament is not going to happen we need to know today so we can get our money back. Have you ever paid close attention what you dump out a water cooler after a tournament or watch what goes on with a water cooler during games (particularly with younger age groups). You've got hands getting ice, wet rags, neck coolers, etc. going in and out of them. I know this and I still drink out of them cause its cold, wet and refreshing at the time. I'll deal with the potential squirts later. As far as the costs for this tournament, I had nothing planned for this weekend anyways and its at home. Beats finding some pickup tournament in Houston that costs about $2000 total travel and accommodations for my team. I'm with you MC......... 1. Bring a team cooler and drink bottle water or Gatoraide. 2. As for field crews.... been to several tournaments lately that did not have Field crews. 3. I bet there are enough "empires" for Pirate88 to make mad! Lot cheaper to stay close to home> No field crew = No OCG and No CRUSHCOACH! Collins, McLain, Cole, Thompson, Birdwell, and Jaynes are lost without our leader! (OK - the truth of the matter is - The pay wasn't worth it while TRYING to play!)