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Men's 55
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| Jan. 13, 2019 Jon44 | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Spring Worlds II Played there last year in a young guy tourney. The fields we played on were 275'-280' in the outfield. Senior balls with senior bats are not a challenge on these fields. The weakest guy can easily put it out with our equipment on these fields. Fences are taller, but anyone telling you they are more than 280' are wrong (at least the 4 fields we played on). Can't imagine they would schedule any 50-60 aged teams on these fields. If so, home runs gone after 2-3 innings and then the games get interesting. I wish I was exaggerating, but the team that hits the fewest HR outs will be the team that wins. It's a nice park with mature trees, scoreboards, and other nice things, but the fences are way too short. Get ready for Home Run derby. Great hosts though-- love the Kingman guys. |
| Oct. 30, 2018 Jon44 | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Spring Worlds Leaving Mesquite/St George? I didn't want to sound overly negative above. This is a shock, but let's wait and see. A poster above mentioned multiple facilities in Kingman, so hopefully the facility I have not played on has more traditional 300' fences. That poster is correct-- the fields I did play on were tree-lined and there was plenty of shade. The Kingman 55 team is full of class individuals, and I am sure they will do all they can to make this a great event. Maybe Bullhead City is nicer than people have told me. We shall see. I am not a fan of the fields in Mesquite, so I won't miss Pioneer/Hunter much. Losing Saint George altogether for SSUSA, however, is sad because it is a great place to play. I would be interested in the why, but nobody owes me an explanation. Maybe that is why I am having trouble with this decision personally-- playing at Canyons is a treat and a destination pretty much all agree is world-class. If it's not a viable option any more due to price/availability, then that's that. So much more to this story I am guessing. |
| Oct. 30, 2018 Jon44 | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Spring Worlds Leaving Mesquite/St George? First, I admit I have not ever played in Bullhead City, but I did play a young guy tourney in Kingman earlier in the year. They do have a lot of fields, but the ones we played on (at least 4 of the fields) had fences that appeared to be at 275-280 feet. While they were taller fences, hitting balls over with senior bats and these new balls will be a joke. Am I missing something here? In that tournament, we played with mush oatmeal balls and utrip bats. I am serious-- teams would hit multiple home runs an inning with our viagra bats and balls. Playing in Saint George is something I look forward to every year in the spring. Not sure what's happened, but I will miss that a great deal. One man's opinion, but the best fields in the western part of the country. I will just have to wait until next Huntsman I guess. I am glad Kingman gets to host an event (kingman deserves a tourney), but this large of a tourney on those shorter fields will be interesting. I feel it's a great venue for 60+ age groups (again, one man's opinion). |
| Sept. 26, 2018 Jon44 | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Softball Venue Review Site- Senior Softball Addict I've had several of my 50's friends just get assigned to play at Desert Breeze and they are unfamiliar with the complex and have been asking questions. Here is the review: https://youtu.be/Oab3IKpaZD8 |
| Sept. 25, 2018 Jon44 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: FYI any guess how long they were out there? Seriously, that had to be at least 20-30 minutes that half inning alone in 100 degree heat.... wow. Then to go out fighting and score 13 of their own runs (first post says they got to 32 in losing effort) in the bottom half of the open after being out there so long-- kudos for the effort to try to bounce back. |
| Sept. 25, 2018 Jon44 | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Results of Las Vegas I know this topic is a source of frustration. Every major tournament this subject comes up. I share the opinion that having scores available at the end of every day is a good thing. I can track friends teams at other facilities, know who my team is playing, etc. It is just plain convenient. I could be wrong (don't think I am, but it's possible) that 60-70% of people playing side with me and believe it's one of the top frustrations. I think I remember SSUSA looked into quick scores. I am guessing the 3rd guarantee game kicked that out. That would have been nice, but I get that it's probably not easy to implement due to that 3rd guaranteed game or maybe the cost of the solution was prohibitive. The compromise I am hearing out there is a simple pic or easily filled out pdf that could be posted online from each site at the end of the day. Seems reasonable, but I am sure we will hear why that's not feasible. Bottom line is it just doesn't seem important enough for SSUSA to fix the problem or come up with some alternative solution since this is a common concern year-after-year. I hear plenty of people wanting it, but nothing gets done, which is weird to me, because I want to believe our (the players) voice does matter to SSUSA as consumers of this great product. There is evidence of that by the fact we have a new ball to play with. Enough people voiced opinions on that and it changed. I can only hope this problem is next to tackle. One can hope! |
| Sept. 25, 2018 Jon44 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: FYI I can only imagine being out there in the field during the top half of the open watching run after run getting scored... that must have been so tough, especially in the hot sun. How long was the open inning? 1 hour alone? Where was the game played? Was wind/walks a factor? |
| Sept. 17, 2018 Jon44 | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Vendors at Worlds Thanks both of you for replies. It helps to know ahead of time what options are out there. I am assuming you are both running tourney specials as well-- I would just assume save a few bucks too than wait and buy online. |
| Sept. 17, 2018 Jon44 | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Vendors at Worlds I will be playing at Sunset and curious if there are vendors scheduled to be at the field. Specifically, wondering about Adidas. Looking to find the two piece bat, but hoping to not have to go try to find it at a different site. I apologize if this has been posted before and I am just missing it, but is there a schedule of what vendors will be at which fields? I am assuming vendors have to sign up/clear this with Sr Softball long in advance, and I like being able to know who will be where so I can check out the new stuff. Thanks for any help!! |
| Sept. 17, 2018 Jon44 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Arroyo Grande https://youtu.be/NGlhI8hjCLE That link is a review of Arroyo Grande. Every single Vegas venue is reviewed on the site. You are lucky to play there. It is a very nice place to play. |
| Sept. 13, 2018 Jon44 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Cheyenne Park In fairness, a lot can be done in a short period of time. When I saw Cheyenne, it was not nice, but I am sure SSUSA is working with people to fix the primary things that were not nice (burned down restrooms, etc). I can't imagine they will ask teams to pay $745 team entrance fee and ask them to use porta potties, etc. I am sure they are working with the city to fix all of this. These problems have been known for a long time regarding Cheyenne-- I wouldn't be surprised if they are fixing things as we speak. If you want to see something really sad at Cheyenne, look at the tennis courts as you walk up to play on the field.... |
| Sept. 10, 2018 Jon44 | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Softball Venue Review Site- Senior Softball Addict That would be great Mike-- It's appreciated! This site will get better and better as we add more and turn on the ability for others to add reviews, which is coming very soon. Hope to see you all in Vegas! |
| Sept. 8, 2018 Jon44 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Cheyenne Park https://youtu.be/9zIg59p_e7k When I reviewed Cheyenne a couple months ago, it was still fenced off-- fire damage. You can see it in the video... enjoy porta potties! In all seriousness, my hope is it's fixed. |
| Sept. 3, 2018 Jon44 | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Softball Venue Review Site- Senior Softball Addict Thanks for all of the comments-- it is a lot of work, but I really love doing it. The idea came because of the frustration I felt many times trying to get info on a new venue I never played. If you google a place, you get very little. I end up with a trunk full of crap for every possible scenario when going to a new place, most of which I never use. Admit it-- we have all been there! I am working on Flagstaff (Thorpe) and the Mesquite, NV venues (Pioneer and Hunter), which I hope to have up shortly. I have CO coming soon, and expect Hemet, BLD Perris, and a couple others won't be far away either. I am especially excited about the CO review because it will be submitted by another player fresh off their trip to Rocky Mtn Championships. I will have the site ready for others to submit reviews soon. My hope is others will see other cool places to play and teams go to new locations from time-to-time to see all of the other great places to play. You can only play at Hemet so many times... With all of your help, this could be really cool. |
| Sept. 3, 2018 Jon44 | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Softball Venue Review Site- Senior Softball Addict Appreciate the feedback! For those interested in a sampling, here is the BLD review to check out: https://youtu.be/nxG8v02YZ2Y Again, hopeful it can be helpful to some. |
| Sept. 2, 2018 Jon44 | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Softball Venue Review Site- Senior Softball Addict With Worlds starting in the next couple of weeks, I am sure there are people playing at venues that are unfamiliar to them. I put together a review site with pics/videos and info on how to prepare for each complex in Vegas and some surrounding areas. In addition to the videos, there is a short written review of each place that I hope will help some of you prepare better before the tournament hits. This site is simple right now (1.0)-- nothing fancy. I am not a photographer and certainly not a web developer/designer, but the site is full of good stuff that hopefully will help someone. Every Vegas site has a video and short review. Very soon the site will allow all of you to add reviews of venues close to you. The URL is seniorsoftballaddict.com. I don't try to sell anything-- just share info about where you will play. Please post comments on the site and add things I missed about a venue. It's all about making sure everyone has the information needed to have a fun tournament experience. Some of you travel far distances and spend significant amounts of cash to play in these tournaments- the site hopefully will help you enjoy your tournament a little bit more. Enjoy! |
| Aug. 27, 2018 Jon44 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Lorenzi Park Thank you for the very detailed response. This helps better understand what all you are dealing with. You didn't come right out and say it, but it's not hard to tell the downsizing from 4 fields to 2 fields at Lorenzi is a major, major bummer for you guys putting this together too. Also, your explanation about the 2 field complexes still on the schedule makes perfect sense. For example, Dos Escuelas is relatively close to Arroyo Grande, so I totally get that. I personally really enjoy the quality of the actual venues we play at- to me, it really helps with the overall tourney experience. The cost of playing at these things when all things considered (travel/hotels for many, tourney fees, taking off work, etc) is not a trivial amount for many people, so playing at the best possible complexes really helps make the money spent worth it. On the flip side, it totally takes away from the experience when the complex is less than good. I know it gets old hearing people talk about Shadow Rock/Hollywood or other locations folks feel are not good, but a lot of that frustration comes from the amount of $$$ many spend to come out to these events. It must be tough for some people to buy plane tickets, get hotel reservations, step away from work for 4-5 days, then see they are playing at Shadow Rock. With all of that said, playing at the World Masters Championship tourney, even at Shadow Rock, is still considerably better than a day at work and/or cleaning the garage (Please in no way read into this that I want our team to play at Shadow Rock-- just know that if it's our time to do that, I will still show up and have fun). This post isn't so much to bash Shadow Rock-- it's more to point out that losing a quality venue like Lorenzi means more games at other places that are not as good... this sucks for everyone. |
| Aug. 25, 2018 Jon44 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Las Vegas Worlds Last Session 50's I see Lorenzi has been nixed and the comment above is it's "no longer tournament-acceptable as configured with just two fields". Also listed as potential complexes to use are Dos Escuelas, Desert Bloom and Russell Road, which are all also 2 field complexes. Will these fields be in the rotation even though they too are 2 field complexes? I think most people would agree that Lorenzi, even with only 2 fields now, is still vastly superior to these other 2 field complexes still listed as potential venues (Russell Road is the only complex even remotely close to Lorenzi). Are there other conflicts or issues that keep Lorenzi from being used? Just trying to understand, not pick a fight I can't win. I just really like Lorenzi as a venue and I am bummed it's now off the list completely. |
| Aug. 25, 2018 Jon44 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Lorenzi Park Being from near the LV area, I drove out to Lorenzi Park to see what's up. As feared, the tractors/heavy machinery were hard at work digging out the infields (dirt portions) with the intent to convert these to soccer fields. So, say goodbye to fields #2 and #3. With that said, fields #1 and #4 still look great and ready for action. Later that same day I checked out the SSUSA site to check out all the venues that were potentially going to be scheduled for Worlds. Lorenzi is now not even listed, meaning (or how I read it) that even fields #1 and #4 will not be scheduled. This is a recent change. I am curious if fields #1 and #4 will have the same fate as the other two fields. Does anyone know? Lorenzi is a fun place to play and I am certain most teams would prefer playing on these two remaining fields over say Desert Bloom (also a 2 field complex still listed as a venue for worlds). Is Lorenzi basically dead to SSUSA (not available to schedule) going forward? Looking forward to any additional insight anyone can share. Obviously BLD and Arroyo Grande are the class of LV venues, but Lorenzi is arguably the 3rd best place to play in Vegas, which is why it's sad it's no longer an option apparently. |
| Aug. 21, 2018 Jon44 | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Top Gun Summer Classic Results? I second that sentiment-- must have been so difficult with so many teams and so few fields. I had a very good time and thought things ran smoothly. San Clemente is such a great venue, so no surprise so many teams wanted to participate. |
