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Online now: 1 member: Bossy; 75 anonymousDiscussion: What do you expect?
| Posted | Discussion |
| June 7, 2016 BruceinGa Men's 70 3233 posts | What do you expect? After reading BigE's post I got to thinking, at minimum, what do you expect of a tournament? I'm seen tournaments that really don't publish rules, awards, officiating etc. You show up and aren't really happy with what you get. If everything is published somewhere and you accept that's one thing. If things change due for circumstances (weather, teams dropping out etc) do you feel that you are due some kind of reimbursement? Some of my minimums are prepared fields every morning, concession stand, water in dugouts in summer, two umpires in bracket play and official score keeper. I'm sure that I've missed many more. |
| June 7, 2016 DaveDowell Men's 70 4312 posts | Bruce ... I would include: Rules knowledgeable and well organized Directors, umpire consistency on rules interpretations, the tournament running at or close to on time, teams appropriately grouped by skill levels (no sandbaggers OR obviously over-matched teams) and a reasonable team and individual awards package ... |
| June 7, 2016 Paco13 424 posts | SSUSA DON'T HAVE AN AWARD PACKAGE SAME PATCH SINCE I WAS 50 I AM 57 NOW. LOL. Yes WAGON in capital letters because is time for a change. PR NINJA OUT. JESUS LOVES YOU!!! |
| June 7, 2016 BruceinGa Men's 70 3233 posts | Very good Dave! Paco, I agree. At least the patches should contain the year and division. |
| June 7, 2016 Mango Men's 50 159 posts | The bags awarded to champions last weekend in Reno were actually pretty cool! The warm up jackets for the champions at the LVSSA championships this spring were pretty decent. And the free championship rings along and shoes and championship drifts and a bat for MVP was an excellent award package at last year's worlds in Vegas |
| June 7, 2016 16wood Men's 65 77 posts | Bruce, I like playing in SSUSA for most of the things you mentioned. I'm not really concerned about the type of awards we get. Patches, smatches... The downside for me is that, in general, we've supported SSUSA so much that it has driven the competition away (we = the senior teams in total, not just our team). File this in the 'be careful of what you wish for' category. Ten years ago there were 9 different senior associations... ASA, USSSA, NSA, ISSA, ISA (not affiliated with SSUSA at the time), SSWS, LVSSA, SPA and SSUSA. Many said that there too many and that this hurt us in terms of bracket size. Since then, NSA, SSWS and USSSA went away. Yes, I'm aware that the latter does hold an occasional event but it's a well kept secret and their model sucks, to be frank. SSUSA merged with (or consumed) LVSSA, which was one of our better world series each year. Bill Ruth, 50% partner of SSUSA, bought ISA and are governed by largely the same rules. ASA has its head buried as far as senior events go and this had a secondary effect on SSWS and ISSA, as both used its rule model. SPA ceased being the 'go to' event for M+ when they implemented their 'impact player' limitation. Really? Too many impact players for M+? This began in earnest when SSUSA decided to extend the 1.2 bat deadline and its competitors dropped to 98 mph bats (ASA mantra). The result for us (M+ teams) is the same minimal brackets plus we're forced to use 'rec type' rules. This is particularly so when playing M teams (or below). The pencil necks on the rules committee seem to rubber stamp the 'New Narrative'. This seems to work much more conveniently than the Senior Summit, an effort to consolidate the associations for mostly positive reasons. Now the 'higher ups' at SSUSA are to be commended for their vision and for many other positives. Each year we're told of how much bigger their tourneys are... but are they better? When you pay $700 (+ -) and play at Shadow Rock it has to be difficult to feel really good about the experience. Paying $575 and playing at Rancho San Rafael (1 of 3 days) also has little to recommend it. I'll feel better when quality is valued higher than quantity. As a part of a M+ team I'll also feel better when we can play real M+ ball. These two things won't happen voluntarily on SSUSA's part. Recognize that most of this diatribe is about the M+ experience, aside from the 'entry fee v. horse shit fields' part. So, no, the same old patches aren't a huge consideration for me. :-) BW |
