twilyms

Heard Shandi Conner quit the team today. :o Came from reliable sources.

Difference between select ball and highschool. Scenario: Bottom of 7 - 1 run lead - 2 outs - runner on third Select ball: Pitcher makes perfect pitch on outside corner. Batter hits lazy fly ball to right. Immediately going through pitcher's mind. "Perfect, did my job, we win. I love this game." High school ball: Pitcher makes perfect pitch on outside corner. Batter hits lazy fly ball to right. Immediately going through pitcher's mind. "Please catch it. Please catch it. Why did I throw it on the outside corner? Why did coach put her out there? Please catch it. Please catch it. Why do the softball Gods hate me?"

Very valid points. One thing I see is that in high school, most coaches demand that players adapt to them. In select, coaches tend to be more flexible to take full advantage of individual players' strengths.

The biggest difference I have noticed is the acceptance of input. Whereas our select ball coach (Birdman) loves parents input and participation, the highschool coach is highly against it. Practices are closed. Kids have to run if they communicate with people in the stands during games. And God forbid, a kid get pitch tips from an outside source. It would seem that since we have observed these kids since they were 8 years old, in most cases, that high school coaches would try to get as much information on their players as possible. Pitching strengths, hitting strengths and fielding strengths, etc.

Still crying in my Post Toasties over last night.

This is the second topic that has been opened because of what I heard an opposing coach saying to her team. This is not something someone told me she said or something I made up to start negative comments toward that team. I have never, nor will I ever complain about batting order, playing time or position that my daughter plays. This situation has nothing to do with her at all. She has played every inning of every game for her team this year. I made an accurate and true statement about words that myself and about 100 other fans from both sides heard. And believe me, it was loud enough for everyone to hear. Coaches make up lineups and decide playing time, that is their right as coach. I just made a simple statement about things I heard that was out of line and that I know for a fact many parents on that team think were out of line too. It was just a statement about something I thought was disturbing and I don't undersand why I am receiving verbal shots as a "negative poster" for something that was true.

To answer your question, right or wrong, there is no positive that comes from any of these posts. Even though there is no positve promotion, it does paint an accurate picture of the programs that are mentioned. That is what is a shame.

The title is coach, not bully. These people are in a position of authority and that position is sometimes abused. These girls have no repercussions. When they are told that they suck or they will be benched for one more mistake, they have to smile and take it. If they decide they don't want to take, what happens then? When a player makes a mistake or has a bad game, "coach" them, don't belittle them or threaten them. We played WOS our first district game and they had a very rough time in the field. Coach Ragsdale never criticized or belittled or yelled at any of them for it. I do bet that when they got back to practice they got a large dose of "coaching." Look how his team has responded. All these girls love to be coached. From the gold level players to the players who have trouble catching the ball, they crave coaching that will make them better. Anybody who handles a situation wrong is open to public scrutiny. Police aren't above it. The clergy isn't above it and softball coaches sure aren't above it. I do believe some posters have carried it a bit far, but I have witnessed some coaches doing the same thing. This is high school ball. It should be about fun and learning and getting better. And that is all I have to say about that.

college

Was not offered a contract renewal. She was offered the freshman job, but turned it down.

Everyone is free to come on this site and try to put blame on the people that weren't there. Our pitching is not the reason we lost this game. Their pitching is a big part of why we lost this game. J Starks pitched a very nice game and her defense played nearly flawlessly. We only got 3 hits tonight, 1 by Hillary Wade and 2 by Kendall Williams, and you don't win many games with only 3 hits. I didn't keep a book, but OF only got 5 or 6 hits themselves and none of those were blistered. They scored 2 runs in the first on no hits and 4 runs in the second with only 1 hit. We threw the ball all over the place. We missed fly balls. We threw the ball to the fence 3 times from the infield. We made mental errors. It was just a bad game. The bad thing was when we started making mistakes, the shoulders started sagging. Six runs down in the 2nd inning should still be a game for this team. Don't think this team is done. This is a good softball team and they will challenge for one of those playoff spots.

FHWS agreed to not have Saturday games this year so a lot of our select players will be participating in league. This should make us a lot more competitive than we have been the last few years.

Way to go Ladies! Congrats Lauren Your HF Family is Proud of You!! Missed you at the Bayou Bash! Hope Grammy didn't get thrown out!

This post was never intended to be a discussion on whether refs were the cause of wins and losses. This is about fouls and obvious violations not being called. One small foul not called 2 minutes into the game. 3 minutes in, the retaliation foul is not called either. These girls are smart. By the end of the game, we are just short of a cage match. I arrived in the 4th quarter of the game last night and saw a couple double dribbles, at least 2 out of bounds and 5 or 6 foul calls missed (both ways I might add) and the officials were usually 10 to 20 feet out of position. The 4 step layup has become the norm. I saw a girl a couple of weeks ago that ate our lunch going to the basket, but if she would have only been allowed two-step layups, how effective would she have been? The refs aren’t causing teams to lose games, they are causing us to lose the pleasure of watching a game played with the grace and athleticism it was meant to be played.

I really hate to put a negative spin on things. I have attended about 12 games this year and I would have to say that I have been very unimpressed by the officiating this year. I would go so far as to say it is borderline incompetent. Too many fouls, travelings and double dribble calls missed. The lack of control by officials on the roughness of these games is amazing to me. Am I the only one who feels this way? Or is this just the norm?

I witnessed one team taking pot shots at our girls. Officials saw it and "asked" the coach to take the girl out of the game. Once on the bench, she began cussing at a parent sitting right next to me and my wife. When the coach told her to turn around, she told him to shut up. Not only was I embarrassed for the coach, but also for the school. The coach had no control over his team. They cussed players and officials from the bench. My daughter plays freshman ball and it is not much better at the younger levels, including the private schools. I am like most of you, this would not have been tolerated when I was younger. If you take young kids to the games, don't let them sit within earshot of the court or bench, they may learn some stuff you think they are ready for.

With about 2:30 left on the clock, we fumbled a punt at our own 13. Plano scored on a run up the middle on the next play. A sack on 4th and 4 at the Plano 35 with :38 remaining ended our chances at the championship.

Four freshmen on varsity. We really intimidated them from the get go. Also, they have no bench. They don't have enough players to make a JV. Our freshmen beat them 47-17. It could be a long year for them.

HF defeated Dayton 35 - 30 in overtime to win the championship

The HF Freshmen girls made it to the finals of the Dayton Tournament with victories over Alvin HS 43-19, C.E. King 22-18 (very rough, badly officiated game), and Orangefield 56-23. They face Dayton in the finals tomorrow at 1:00.

They probably don't care if he used steroids or not. Telling lies to the grand jury is what is going to get him.

Week 12 Ohio State @ Michigan Kentucky @ Georgia West Virginia @ Cincinnati Boston College @ Clemson Oklahoma @ Texas Tech Mississippi St @ Arkansas Louisville @ South Florida Maryland @ Florida State

Week 11 Michigan @ Wisconsin Alabama @ Mississippi State Arkansas @ Tennessee Florida @ South Carolina Auburn @ Georgia Florida State @ Virginia Tech Texas Tech @ Texas Kansas @ Oklahoma State Southern Cal @ California North Carolina @ North Carolina State

Wisconsin @ Ohio State Wake Forest @ Virginia Michigan @ Michigan State Missouri @ Colorado Texas @ Oklahoma State LSU @ Alabama Arizona State @ Oregon Virginia Tech @ Georgia Tech South Carolina @ Arkansas Rutgers @ Connecticut

Kinda makes your t'aint tingle when you see that.