MJB

Maybe it’s just a rumor but I heard the days he was sno coning were the activity/fun days on the other campuses. As far as AD & coaches having side businesses and other jobs, there’s far too many to list.

I heard the same thing, pretty reliable source.

Prayers Sent.

Must've been the Green and Gold,,,,

HJ didn't want to play without one of their best players from what I was told. Player was ejected from the Lumberton game and had to serve a 1 game suspension and they wanted him for the BC game. Can't see how the field was wet but for sure there were playable fields, it all comes down to pushing it so BC would be taxed this week on pitching having to face LCM and HJ back to back. Also letting their player serve his suspension vs West Orange and rest an arm. BC came out and put up 4 quick, they were ready to play tonight and that set the tone. HJ even had the ump warn the BC dugout to tone it down but HJ was relentless during their at bats vs Havard. Didn't seem to phase him striking out 10 tonight. Big crowd tonight and lots of media there as well.

BC vs Jasper is still on as far as I know, The teams are there. BC will play Nederland at BC tonight, 7 or 7:30pm instead of 8:15pm game tomorrow

Who is pitching tonight for PNG?

I’m betting the fact his wife will be an employee of the district makes a big difference so than it really is about money.

There are two involved, the creator and the sender, and from what I have heard, both are suspended from playing in the next 3 games as well as 3 days suspension from school. It is unclear whether or not a school suspension would completely remove the player(s) from the team. There were some BCISD policy changes a few years ago that changed the suspension/extra curricular tie in regarding things that happen away from school, (ie, Sexting scandal, MIP at parties and the like). I would love the see the public apology, that is a great idea that was posted above. It would be very unlikely because if the players are suspended from school, they can't be on school property or at a school function or game during their suspension. If they were to allow it to happen, even though it's the right thing, it would open up a another can of worms regarding allowing a suspended student to attend a function.

I just wanted to chime in as a purchaser.  I picked up a Catcher's Mitt late last week when I saw these gloves at the cages in Bridge City.  I liked the quality and small differences, and at the price, it was a no brainer.  I figured I'd give it a try as we have worn a Rawlings Mitt out already this year.  My boy loves this mitt and it's not even broken in yet.  I had a player use it last night in league play and he too loves the mitt.  It already has a good pocket in it after 3 bull pen sessions and warm ups along with the game last night.  In addition, I have not put any oil or conditioner on it either.  I was tempted to do it but I'm holding off to see how it goes, right now, it doesn't need any. When I first saw the gloves I was drawn to an infielder's glove he had that measures about 11.5", maybe a touch smaller.  It felt great to me and I almost bought it that first time I saw it but couldn't really justify it as I have several gloves already.  I just liked it.  Fast forward to Wednesday at the cages and he still had it so I just purchased it and it is great.  I haven't put oil on it either and it fits and works like a champ.  I've already lost it to my 10 year old, it's in his bag. Regarding quality, these gloves are top notch.  I usually by all my gloves in Florida at a Rawlings Pro shop near Disney.  We have several Heart of the Hides and they are good gloves but take nearly a season of practice/bull pens to get workable and that is even using oil and storing wrapped.  These gloves have a lot of details that you don't find on a Nokona or Rawlings, just simple little things like stitching the palms and finger loops.  These gloves have a clean finish, smooth and supple and I think they will last several years of travel/select/high school ball.  Considering the price, it's a hard deal to beat.  I feel these gloves are a bit lighter than comparable quality gloves.  I think this is mostly due to less filler in the layers, thusly you have a bit more "feel" with the gloves, which I like. I have a coaching buddy that picked up one last night at the ball park after he saw my two and yet to get word from his son on the review.  He is a local high school player and travel ball club.  I'll advise when I get his review.   

Great Job Guys!!  They had a good team and a recent acquisition of 2 more playmakers only added fuel to the fire.  There is a lot of talent and a whole lot of hustle on this team that we will all be reading about in the future.

[quote]Bottom line, its a technical mistake, we have all made it and they took advantage of it.....Dont really care why, but its no way to win a tournament for your team.....That was my point, just because you found a glitch, doesnt mean that it had to be acted upon.  I think that it teaches a poor lesson to the kids to advance in that manner. Make them earn it from winning the game!......  I dont have a dog in this fight, just a bystander hoping that parents let the kids play ball and let the coaches make decisions without being pursuaded into something they dont want to do.  Its the coach who has to live with that decision, not the parents![/quote] I just can't comprehend some of these statements above. I guess you just bend the rules until they fit your predicament?  As a coach, you have a lot of responsibility to your team as well as the parents that are paying you (in most cases, not sure about these coaches involved).  You have to play by the rules, otherwise, why even have rules?  As td stated, this is a teaching moment for both teams.  To the winner, it proves you play by the rules and are rewarded, to the loser, it proves that if you don't play by the rules you get burned when you get caught.  I wouldn't want to face those parents on the losing team because of a mistake on my part, something that only takes a minute to add a player. I wonder how you would react if the tables were turned?  Say your kids work their tails off in HS Football, travel the whole road and you get beat in the State Finals, by a team of players that can't pass their classes, would you feel the same way?  I mean it is just a little technicality right? Rules are Rules, they are there for a reason, to be followed.  I think there are too many people out there living under the old adage, "It's not cheating until you get caught."  I guess this guy got caught, small technicality or not.

I do agree with the comments regarding the operations and facilities in Sulphur, they are far above what Jefferson County provides.  However, they do have some nice facilities at the SPAR (Sulphur Parks and Recreation) locations but they come with a price. We Texans don't pay a state income tax and some of those funds come from those taxes as well as the casino revenue taxes.  They have Wards set up within the Parishes(counties) that allocate and govern the $$ and amenities. Look at Frasch Park and the nice place they have there as well as the water park.  That water park is a great deal for $4 a day for non City residents. In most all cases, Louisiana spends money on facilities for both the local residents as well as the facilities that generate $$ for the local economy.  Back when Frasch got hit by Rita, they decided to make it a better place and build a softball complex that would allow the high school state tournament to be held all in one place.  They made the proposal, got it and off to the races they went.  Now they have both softball and select baseball over there using the parks and it is a boom to the area.  Nice work if you ask me. Just for the record, we did get re-classed today, lol.  It took some losses but we were in the wrong division from the get go. On another note, can anyone explain why all these coaches are playing kids on the field that are not on the roster?  Either I am naive or this is a bigger problem than people think.  I heard a local team had to forfeit a semifinal game yesterday and another one had maybe 4?? kids play that weren't listed on the roster. What is going on??

Since my name came into it I'll wade back into the pool. My issue is with Nations and classing kids. We have a Select team at best but 1 player was carried on a roster in coach pitch & the team played in the fall but he did not but remained on the roster, this we are now 9 Elite & playing in 10u until we get reclassed. I have had conversations with Ron Mathis, John Carroll & Morgan. Of the 3, Morgan actually called me & understood the predicament, watched us play & agreed we are outclassed where we are playing. I appreciated that gesture & I know he will do what he can to get us in the proper division. My other issue is Nations & the bat rule. Nations let USSSA take all the heat on the 1.15 BPF deal. Nations stated "we don't have that rule written anywhere", however, any complex that hosts Nations events requires the 1.15. Nations intended to adhere to the rule but washed their hands of the dirty work & made the complexes take the heat. Thusly, USSSA made people buy bats, not Nations.

VP93, Good one, I laughed out loud on that one, lol, Reread the post, I never said it was a local Director.  The Nightmare organization out of Houston is run by a Nations Director and they played a 9 year old on the 8U team, just brought him out of the stands more or less to take over at 1st base as they were having too many errors there. I agree with the post on remembering the 1st event here??  I will say that I will remember the Nations fiasco year before last when we were at the park in sub 40 degree rainy weather until midnight playing our 2 pool games that lasted about 45 minutes each.  Having been in both situations, I liked the 1 game format better for all involved.

I did forget to add that I think a lot of people would have been really happy with the cancellation of the event from my discussions at the facility.  Most were from local teams that did not have to travel from all over to play here though. I was impressed with the travel distance for some teams.  There were a few teams from Corpus Christi and at least one from McAllen which was very good to see.  I don't recall a Nations event ever drawing from that distance. Regarding the Director's team in question, Nightmare, just ask around in the 8U circle and they will tell you really quick what went down.  As far as the team in 10U that had an illegal player, Bayou Rage from Baytown/Mont Belvieu area left a player off the roster, it happened to be the coach's son.  I guess you can make that mistake. I know of at least 2 other players that were on the field playing both days that were not on a roster but I am not the Roster Police for divisions that I am not entered.  I just happen to spend a lot of time at the ball parks and know some players that are in "limbo" so to speak.

Sound like sour grapes to me. I think that considering the way the weather played a part in the modification of this event, I think it went well.  Would you have rather played 1 regular game or two short ones and been in the weather all night long?  There were a couple of teams that did get more than 1 pool game but I only saw a couple.  Had weather not been a factor, I bet everyone would have been happy. As far as rules, let us know which rules that the umpires didn't follow?  I saw several umpires utilizing "teaching moments" in some cases and those were due to coaches not know the rules themselves. Don't even get me started on Nations qualifying teams, that is a pure joke in my opinion.  I guess you were not aware of a Nations Director's organization that allowed a 9U player to play on an 8U team last week?  Was the coach and team sent to the house early??  No they only had to forfeit the 1 game where they were caught and then were allowed to play on Sunday.  That is pure cheating and caught red-handed and still allowed to move to bracket play.  What about the "honest mistake" of a coach's son playing in 2 pool games and not being on the roster, but you know, that is an honest mistake, anyone could've done that,,,,give me a break. Both organizations are so large they can't police everything so the coaches and managers must do it for every game.  If they were not following proper rules then you should have addressed it. As far as "they are paying the umpires" being a conflict of interest, get real.  I hope you are not involved in any recreational ball, be it Pony, LL, Little Dribblers, Upwards, Soccer, because some volunteer, (a Coach), is paying those umpires, you just don't know it, lol. Those umpires are all scheduled from a central location and as you know, if you are in the know, most of these umpires were from Houston with a few local guys in there.  That is a whole other story but I'm sure you know that one already if you are here flaming on USSSA.

It sure makes sense to have all the players just move over to Pony if there is no other option to play recreational ball in the area.  Pony is a very good organization to be in, even better if that is the only option in town. I have never understood the standoff-ish attitude that exists between patrons of Little League and Pony.  There will always be differences between organizations but if Pony is the only game in town, that is the one I'd be joining so my kids don't miss a year of baseball.

Odd that they checked bats at the gate, I never saw that either day and I know they did not check my teams bats.  In addition, there was a sign at the gate that said the 1.15 Rule would not be enforced.  I failed to take a picture of the sign. I questioned those involved with Nations and I got an interesting response.  For those that are in the know, can you specifically find where the BPF 1.15 marking on a bat is a Nations rule?  I know that someone posted a memo from John Carroll but evidently that is not a Nations rule, merely a Ford Park Rule. I am not sure why Ford Park or the Tournament directors would want to enforce this rule if it is in fact not a Nation's Rule. Please post up what you can find.

I'm not sure this is a valid rule.  At least it was not valid this weekend at the Valentines Classic.  They did not enforce the rule so any bat could be used.

[quote]It does not surprise me. The fence out at our park is 150 down the lines and 175 in center. You add an 8' tall fence and it takes a pretty good shot to get it out. The wind blows in most of the time in the summer.[/quote] Just to Clarify:  The Vidor Shetland/Pinto park is 140' to the left pole, 140' 6" to the right pole and 172' in straight away center field.  In actuality, the center of the outfield is an intersection of 2 fences and that figure is more like 162'-169' to most of center field, other than that one anchor pole in dead center field. Also, the fence is 6'10" tall. The bats finally came alive in the last 3 nights or tournament play, Big Poppa had 2-3, another Vidor player had 1, Gilbert wound up with 4 in 2 games.

[quote]Now, how come you get your entire infield in a huddle for timeout and I only got three kids???[/quote] It's not just you that suffers from that.  It has happened in both games with Orange A vs Groves A.  I guess they don't want the underdogs to strategize, lol. Orange A came to play last night and we were not ready to go home just yet.  Our bats were alive all night and some very timely outfield catches held Groves to 3 runs.  We took care of those infield flys far better as well. I am suprised that young Gilbert has not hit 5-6 out of this park, he is a little off stride but he might wake up tonight and send a few deep into the trees.  Tims has been banging the ball into the Orange fence(150') in practice but he too has been in a funk with the stick.  Bernard is begging for pitches at his knees(he thinks it is his wheelhouse) but Gilbert keeps him honest, lol. It has been a great event even though our first game did not go as planned.  Vidor has hosted very well and the field is perfect.  I love the commentary, that alone is worth the price of admission.

[quote] I don't have a dog in this hunt any more, but there is a rational for no run rule at this level. Remember this is instructional baseball at this level. And the more at bats and times in the field benifit all of these kids. That is why there is the 5 run limit per inning , to keep the game moving. If you instate a mercy run rule, a lot of these games will only be 3 or 4 innings. There will be several teams that never play more than 4 inn. And we all know alot of coach pitch teams have 13-14 players, so your talking one or two at bats per game for some. Just something to think about before you push to hard for a mercy run rule at this level. Enjoy this level its fun and easy  ( We did score 25 once in a Pinto game in the 6th to win) [/quote] Very true but we play under house rules that the game is over via 10 run rule after 4 innings, then, we play the remaining time out, still keep score but it does not matter.  We use this to allow kids to play other positions and bat around and few more times. Can you elaborate on what type of instruction was occurring when the Indians were delivering a beat down in the 6th, adding insult to injury?  Was it teaching them to be better prepared for the emotional issues associated with having your rear handed to you?  I can assure you when a kid gets really hurt, at a meaningless point in a game such as this, the rules will change, the attorneys will make sure of that fact. I am all for letting the kids play and we do in Orange but we realize it is now a practice session and we don't run them as hard and let more batters up to the plate.

As the park host, I brought up the 10 run rule or a Mercy rule of some sort to the Directors and it is a topic of discussion with the organization.  From what I was told, the regional director(maybe a Carl?) has final say and it is always turned down. I was at Ford Park early Sunday morning and Harold Hearn came and sat with me for a while and asked whey we were not playing with a 10 run rule in place and he is an advocate of the policy as well. Granted, if you are "close" in the 5th, you might be able to catch a team in the 6th but not when it is 27-3 to start the 6th inning. In the above post, when we put up 38 runs, the game was either 18 or 20 to 15 going into the 6th so it was a close game.  We just exploded and it was a double fest for a while. I really think those of us in favor will need to push this one to the top because from what I understood, since the 6th is unlimited, there will be no 10 run rule.  I would think 10 after 4 innings or for sure 15 after 5 should be a big help in protecting kids from further exposure to a beat down.  Another thing that is big to me is injury.  That shot the Indians coach took was solid, but what if that would have hit the player??  At the point that happened, it was an avoidable instance, the game should have been over long before that if a run rule was in place. I visited with our league President last night and he too is in favor and will bring it up at the next meeting.

Great play all the way around.  I was scared the Yankees run record would be toppled today as I watched the Cubs and the Indians get into the 30's but they stayed shy of the Pinto park record of 38 last year that we put on the Astros. As a recap, Vidor Cubs move to Vidor and we have one more game in Orange which is the Vidor Indians and the Orange Twins.  I think it will be a good game.  It would have not been as close in the Vidor/Orange Twins matchup had the Orange coach been able to be present to pitch and lead the kids.  He is a great coach and gets his kids up and ready to play.  He is a shift worker though and could not get anyone to cover his shift, needless to say, he has told me he will be there tomorrow night ready to play. I have really enjoyed all the play & meeting everyone that has come to Orange.  The question I keep getting is "How is Vidor so good???", lol.  You guys are very baseball oriented and make it happen.  The big difference that I saw, especially the Cubs is "High Energy Baseball."  That is the difference.  Vidor has a lot of good coaches that are very involved and it seems that everyone over there gets along very well. Anyhow, great job to those still in the hunt and Good Luck.