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| Aug. 5, 2024 TimMcElroy | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Last Chance Qualifier Thoughts With 39 million residents, California teams are unlikely to garner any support from the other 49 states on this matter. Here's something else to keep in mind- Las Vegas is driveable for California teams. If they get a case of the last minute roster "shorts" it's easier for them to bring in a player (of any skill level) than it is for a team from, say..... Ohio or North Carolina. |
| Aug. 4, 2024 TimMcElroy | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Last Chance Qualifier Thoughts I am a promoter for a couple of Last Chance Qualifiers. Neither are huge and I assure you that there won't be a new yacht purchase in my future. If padding pockets was the goal, I'd probably require teams to stay in certain hotels so that I could draw a kickback or somethiing of that sort. As a parent of a kid in youth travel sports, I'm aware that "stay to play" hotel schemes are the ultimate cash grab. I don't do that. Rather, I encourage teams to stay where they want, whether that's 5 guys in an Air B&B or 5 guys sleeping on another guys living room floor. Regarding roster make-up, some associations allow managers to "qualify" a team for their worlds by sending an email to a desk 2k miles from Las Vegas seeking roster approval. The recipient of that email has no real idea of who he is really approving to play in their biggest tournament. That's one of the reasons I'm in favor of the SSUSA policy. SSUSA asks teams to participate in their qualifiers during the year so that our directors have a chance to put eyes on the team / player and make a judgment as to whether or not they belong in said division. To DaveDowell's point, it's an integrity of the game / spirit of the game issue. You're asking that a team be allowed to add a "chip" player prior to Worlds simply because roster space is available. Here's my response- When every other team in the country needs to qualify players throughout the season, using a 30 yr old process (that works), why should another team be allowed to circumvent the rules just because they have deep pockets (can fly a guy in) or connections in the softball community? To the extreme point, you're asking about a team adding 1, un-qualified out of rating guy. What happens if a team has all 3 "chip" spots available? Would you then be okay with a team flying in 3 newbies? P, SS, CF ? How about this scenario. 2 pretty strong AAA teams decide to combine for worlds, taking the 7 best from each team. Wouldn't it make sense for somebody to put eyes on that team to make sure that, as a combined group, that AAA is the right spot for them? The line needs to be drawn somewhere, and I'm comfortable saying that the current line is accruately drawn for 98+% of all cases. |
| July 30, 2024 TimMcElroy | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Fields for Eastern nationals All teams in S1 (age 65-80) played on the 300' diamonds. |
| July 30, 2024 TimMcElroy | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Fields for Eastern nationals Women- 2 of the past 3 East nationals were on 300' diamonds. Men 50 AAA- 2 of the past 3 East nationals were on the 300' diamonds. Men 40 Major- 0 of the past 3 East nationals were played on 300' diamonds. |
| July 30, 2024 TimMcElroy | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Fields for Eastern nationals Further to DaveDowell's point 60% (77 of 130) of the teams played on 300' diamonds. 40% (53 of 130) of the teams played on something larger. Do you know where 100% of the teams played? - On fields with covered dugouts - On fields where the grass what cut on Mon & Thur - On fields that have MLB quality infields - On fields that have no lips - On fields that have level batter's boxes - On fields that were prepped and re-chalked after every game - On fields that had staff on-site, ready to help in every way - At parks that were no more than 15 minutes apart - At parks that were near 40 quality hotels - At parks that were near 100+ restaurants - At parks that were near 12-15 breweries and wineries - At parks that were 15 minutes from a major airport Do you kknow what else the teams got? A tournament with teams from 16 states (MD, NY, NJ, VA, FL, NC, PA, DE, MN, CT, OH, RI, WV, IN, MA, AL) Rather than grouse about what you didn't get, try being thankful for all that you did get in Loudoun County. |
| July 30, 2024 TimMcElroy | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Eastern Nationals Results Thanks, as always, for your positive commentary. |
| July 20, 2024 TimMcElroy | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Westerns National Championship Short answer- You are wrong to think this way. Stand by for the long answer- The scheduling process (particularly in a 5 game guarantee situation) has everything to do with math. When you're talking about tournaments of 100, 200 or 700 teams it also demands someone that has their Sh*t together. There are a finite number of people in the country that can pull it off- and your first ever MB post suggests that you aren't one of them. In response to your questions / suggestions, here you go- Suggestion: Tournaments are shrinking. Numbers show that they are not) 65 Platinum Division @Western Nationals (2024) = 5 teams 65 Platinum Division @Western Nationals (2023) = 4 teams 70 Platinum Division @Western Nationals (2024) = 5 teams 70 Platinum Division @Western Nationals (2023) = 5 teams If you have 5 teams in a bracket (1 Major Plus and 4 Major) it IS NOT possible for the Major Plus team to play against all other teams. [this is how Westerns 65s & 70s played out] If you have 5 teams in a bracket (2 Major Plus and 3 Major) it IS possible for the Major Plus teams to play against all other teams. [this is how Rock & Reno 65s played out] Your suggestion: To make things "fair" for everyone, you're advocating for the Major Plus teams to play all other teams in the seeding round at Western Nationals. My question: As the only Major Plus team in their respective divisions, how is it "fair" for Cal Energy (65s) and Timberworks (70s) to play 4 seeding games when everyone else is playing just 2? You stated that every [70s] team in this year's Rock & Reno tournament played against a Major Plus team "AND IT DID WORK" That is false. Oregon Crabs didn't play a round robin game vs a Major Plus team and somehow still didn't finish with a high seed, or in the top half of the bracket. Your review of the EASTERN bracket is again- flawed-- - There are two 65 Major Plus teams in that group and one of them has to play 4 games while the other plays 3. Again- this is purely a math issue. > Your first post strongly suggests that you're unaware of who is who and what is what when it comes to scheduling SSUSA tournaments. The guy that wrote the EASTERN schedule is the same guy that wrote the WESTERN schedule. Circling back to my origiinal point- On this subject, I assure you that he (the master scheduler) does have his Sh*t together. |
| July 19, 2024 TimMcElroy | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Rule covering runner touching base 5.7 SCORING OF RUNS A. One run shall be scored each time a runner crosses the scoring line or touches the scoring plate, after touching all bases in legal order. |
| July 17, 2024 TimMcElroy | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: NORTHEAST CHAMPIONSHIPS 2024 • Not an excuse, but a few statements of fact to give you some idea of what all is happening. While the NE Champs were being played in NY, the NW Champs were being played in OR. So too were the Swing for Rings (MI) and Heart of Texas (TX) qualifiers [which was re-scheduled multiple times due to the impacts of Hurricane Beryl]. On top of that, the staff is working on rosters, scheduing, and planning for the upcoming Eastern (133 teams) and Western (148 teams) National Championships. The staff on site in Syracuse battled weather, last minute team withdrawals and on-site schedule re-writes. Those folks didn't have the bandwidth or ability to post results to the website. They've sent the paperwork back to Sacramento and it will be processed in due time. |
| July 17, 2024 TimMcElroy | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Player Renewal Online Link? The reg / renewal process is outlined in the link below. https://seniorsoftball.com/?page=34 Note- if you're trying to register for the 2025 playing season, it's too soon. That typicially opens up AFTER the 2024 World Championships are completed. |
| July 14, 2024 TimMcElroy | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Jim Sherman results The Jim Sherman / Northwest Champs are still being played. The office wouldn't have received results yet. |
| July 14, 2024 TimMcElroy | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Altered bat? You're joking, right? Absolutely altered. |
| July 12, 2024 TimMcElroy | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Brackets See you soon, Mike |
| July 12, 2024 TimMcElroy | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Brackets Classics 15, or anyone else that is wondering where to stay- We are using 5 parks/ 16 diamonds in Loudoun County and all of them are 15 minutes (or less) from the hotels on the Route 28 corridor. I've stayed at all of the hotels listed on the tournament page and would give a thumbs up to each. They all have food, drink & grocery options within a mile or so. |
| July 9, 2024 TimMcElroy | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Tournament map Answer: Nothing. It's not a mileage marker. The first pin location put on the tournament map was assigned the #1. The second pin was assigned the #2, etc. |
| July 9, 2024 TimMcElroy | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Tournament map Red "pins" are tied to parks and green "pins" are tied to hotels. Click on any of them and the property name & address will appear. You can use that info to find out how far 2 properties are from one another. |
| June 26, 2024 TimMcElroy | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: CT Masters Tournament All- I think a little understanding of what the Connecticut Masters Games is / does would be helpful here. They are a non-profit group that hosts MULTIPLE sports promoting an active senior lifestyle. A scaled down version of the Huntsman Games, they offer a mix of team (softball, basketball, volleyball) and individual (archery, pickleball, bowling, cycling, swimming, table tennis, etc) sports. They are run primarily by volunteers and college interns. The goal of keeping seniors active is consistent, but the organizers change quite frequently- All of these folks have some knowldege each sport, but they are not experts in all of them. That said, I'll address a few other points that have been raised- FORMAT- The tournament was advertised as a 4 game guarantee. Traditionally, that means 2 pool into DE. In this case, it didn't mean that (for reasons that I'll explain below), but all teams were given the opportunity to play 4.... some chose not to play their 4th game. OVER-BOOKING- In the 7 years that I've been scheduling the CT Masters, S2 has never had this many entries. Two fields have always been sufficient. The management team didn't fully understand how scheduling worked and took too many teams. Agreed. When the over-booking was brought to their attention, we looked for additional fields in the area and learned that they were not available. (I explained this to dwniel on the phone on Sun) DOUBLE ELIMINATION / SINGLE ELIMINATION- 13 teams participated in S2 of this tournament. Giving all teams the traditional 2 seed / double elimination format would have required 13 seed games and 25 bracket games. That's a total of 38. We had 26.... The format you're requesting would have resulted in: MON- first games at 8:00am / last games at 9:30pm TUE- first games at 8:00am / last games at 6:30pm I've been doing this long enough to know that most 65, 70 and 75 yr old teams would frown upon this- I guess you're the exception. SHORTENED GAMES- See paragraph above to understand why this was required. WE DIDN'T GET WHAT THE OTHER TEAMS GOT- You're 100% correct. Your games were played at 60 minutes, plus the open inning, which is 5 minutes less than the rulebook calls for. Due to heavy rains on Friday, and Saturday, and again on Sunday the teams from S1 played games with 45 minute time limits, with the 5th inning being open. Exceptions were made in the championship games on Sunday at Moody School but your team got MORE than the others did. CONCESSIONS / WATER- CT Masters / CSMG is heavily dependent on donations to keep afloat. In the past, local grocery stores would donate burgers & dogs for the staff to cook. Sounds like that may have stopped. Water in dugouts hasn't been a thing since COVID. It's not a "new" thing, nor was it unique to this tournament. QUICK OBSERVATION- Sports Complexes in the south / sunbelt were built in a master-planned manner. In the Northeast / New England region, they have neighborhood fields. Two totally different concepts. As regional residents, this shouldn't be new information to you guys. I'm sorry that you guys feel like you drew the short straw. My experience with the staff at CT Masters is that they are good people who look to do right by the senior community. I assure you that they weren't looking to create an unhappy customer base. |
| June 24, 2024 TimMcElroy | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Columbus Indiana Scott, On the surface, what you're asking for sounds reasonable. The problem is 1) that SSUSA isn't building the schedule and 2)has no input on changes that may occur after the fact. If teams are added, or dropped the schedule here becomes irrelevant. If there are weather delays or issues of that sort, the schedule posted here becomes irrelevant. Since ISA is solely responsible for running that event, you should get all info from them. This greatly reduces the chances for confusion. Not the answer you were hoping for, but it is the right way to proceed. Tim |
| June 3, 2024 TimMcElroy | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Don Brooks / Crabtown Classic wrap-up 75 teams was a tournament record for the Crabtown Classic and I couldn't be happier to continue hosting the tournament that Don Brooks started over 2 decades ago. You laid the foundation for senior softball here in the east, sir. I'm just here maintaining it for you. Wednesday night rain resulted in a 3-4 hour delay on Thursday. HUGE thanks to the AA County Parks Dept for their efforts to get us going. I'd also like to thank the teams for their patience while the field staff did their thing. Once we cleared that hurdle, Mother Nature gave us spectacular weather. [ Thank you ma'am. ] To the umpires who covered 214 games on 11 diamonds- Claude, Hockey, Randy, Robert, Bob, Lillie, Scott, Chere, Anita, Tim, Craig, Jimmy, Doug, Rod, Ray, Mike, & Chip- You did a fine job on the field and deserve higher praise for your customer service skills. Trish, Todd & Dave.... THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. Full, detailed results are posted on the tournament page. Here's a summary of results 75 Gold - Northern VA Force 75s Syracuse Cyclones 75s JAG-One / Jersey Masters 75s 70 Gold - (IF GAME) Spring Ford 70+ Northern VA Force 70s (played 5 games on Championshipo day) JAG-One / Jersey Masters 70s 70 AA (IF GAME) West Chester Wild Robinson's Furniture 65 Major Empire / Monroe Hudson Valley Cyclones 65 AAA (IF GAME) Spring Ford 65+ Monocacy Brewing Co. (4-1 on Championship day, including an IF game loss) Northern VA Force 65s 55-60 Major Finance of America 55s High Street Bucs 55s NoVA Force 60s 55-60 Silver Anchor Mechanical 60s Harford Financial Group 55s Your Bath & Kitchen 60s 50 Platinum (IF GAME) PulseChain.com/Juno Walkoff 50s Rough Ryders 50s 50 AAA (IF GAME) Arooga's / Old School FFE 50s EIS / Fradken Law 40 Platinum Detwiler Roofing Racehorse Tavern Dilly, Dilly! 40 Major Motion / Edge HVAC Lead Foot Grays Gigantes / O.C. Women 50s (IF GAME) Shots Fired Unfazed Lew's Crew Women 40s (IF GAME) Lady Legends (lost 1st game on Sun morning, then won 5 straight) Vintage Fear No One |
| June 3, 2024 TimMcElroy | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Albuquerque I don't know if there are additional parks in the ABQ metro area, but we would have needed them if more teams came on the weekend. S2 requires 124 games to complete and we have 125 available game slots. 8am first games and 8pm last games on Friday & Saturday. 8am first games and 5pm "IF" games on Sunday. Good luck to all teams- |
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