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ASA WORLDS/HOOTERS CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES |
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Written by rthornton
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Monday, 24 October 2005 |
 | | ASA C Divison Champs, Russell's Paint and Body out of Florida |
The 2005 Hooters Championship Series took place on September 23-24 at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium Complex in Oklahoma City. We Took the chance to tour the Softball Hall of Fame, for all of those who have not had a chance to see it, it’s another must see. They have two floors of softball memorabilia dating back to the beginning of this sport. And the complex itself is amazing. This had the look and feel of a major league ballpark. Originally we had planed on going to Georgia for the USSSA Mens “C” worlds, but changed our minds due to the ASA Worlds having the “series” format. The ASA Worlds was an epic battle between the ASA Men’s West National Champions vs. The ASA East National Champions. What made this an exceptional event was the 5 game series format. The two teams battled it out to win the best of 5 and take home a ASA World Championship title. Not only did it have the best of 5 series, but the teams were given an hour of batting practice per day on the fields. All bats were tested before any games started, and ASA hologram printed on each passed bat. For all those wondering, “yes” a few bats did not pass the test and were confiscated and sent to the manufacturers to make sure the bats were not altered in any way. Altering bats has been a major problem the past few years, but the tournament directors in all the tournaments we have been to have gone out of their way to make sure all bats are legal. I could go on and on about this subject, but it will be covered in the film. This weekend was what I would describe as a nice “lazy daisy” pace. Meaning their was plenty of time between games to watch other games, snag a bite, or just relax, not like the hustle and bustle of a double elimination tournament. Winners in each division. A- Long Haul Miken out of Minnesota over Berardi’s from Kentucky. B- Jean Shoppe Worth out of Georgia over Sanchio’s/Easton from California. C- Russell's Paint and Body out of Florida over RTS Crew from Missouri. D- Brackins out of Alabama over 3N2 SoCal from California.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 05 December 2005 )
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2005 WSL/MIKEN CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES |
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Written by rthornton
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Wednesday, 05 October 2005 |
Date line, September 9th-11th, Panama City Beach Florida, subject, the 2005 WSL/MIKEN Championship series.
John Daniels and his WSL Crew threw out all the stops for this championship tournament. This being my first trip to Panama City Florida, I was in awe most of the time. Don’t get me wrong, I've traveled all over the country as well as Europe, and I have to rank Panama City Beach Florida among the prettiest places I’ve been. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. We stayed at the Edgewater Resort, which was a sponsor of the WSL. Our condo was facing the beach, on the beach, 8th floor, it was beautiful. The recent hurricane did some damage to Pensacola, but not Panama City Beach. Incase your wondering why I am mentioning where I stayed, that’s for all the teams who were skinny dipping at night in front of my room. Did I also mention that we are filming a documentary about men’s slowpitch softball? Note the keyword, "FILMING". My next feature will be titled “Softball Players Gone Wild”. SMILE!
Besides John Daniels, I also ran into a few other friends I have meet during the course of the film shoot. Jeff Barnes from the fireman's tournament, Kimster, and Stafford Connor of Southwest Softball Magazine. I was also interview for the Softball 360 degrees show. For all those who have seen it, and me, no, I do not normally wear a panama hat, but my forehead was hurting like a b!$ch thanks to the sunburn the day before. Chad our director made the comment that I looked like I was going to go out and hunt for crocodiles.
For those of you who are wondering when I am going to talk about the actual game of softball, yes, the teams were outstanding and the games competitive. For a complete list of winners in each bracket go to www.worldsoftballleague.com and check out their photo gallery. Fun was had for all. This is the only tournament that I have ever been to where the teams who lost really didn’t seem to care that much. How can I say that? Because I talked to them while we were all running around on the beach. For those of you who have never been to this tournament, definitely check it our for next year, the cost is not near as much as you would think. The WSL makes it very player and team friendly with airfares, hotels, and car rental a WSL Sponsor. This was the most enjoyable tournament I’ve been to all year.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 05 December 2005 )
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ASA MENS C WEST NATIONALS |
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Written by rthornton
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Saturday, 01 October 2005 |
 | C Division ASA West Division National Champions, RTS Crew out of Kansas City
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Hastings Nebraska hosted the ASA Mens’ C West Nationals
September 2-4. Once again 44 Core was granted access to another
unbelievable tournament. Over 76 teams from all over the west side of
the united states showed up. Including a team from Alaska, Guidos
Pizza, a team from Hawaii, Family Stones, Oregon’s, A1/FX, California’s
Team Ripstick and Galindos, Nevada’s Wigged Out, and Washington’s Trust
Mortgage, but that’s just to name a few. To see a complete list
of the teams that played, go to http://www.nebraskasoftball.org/page.php?page_id=2
The tournament was played at Hastings Bill Smith Softball Complex,
located right next to the Nebraska Softball Hall of Fame.
Tournament director Michael Krings as well as Joe Patterson deserve a
round of applause for their efforts in making this tournament moving
smoothly. Fields were dragged and rechalked for each game.
The umpires, a few getting quite the ear full were once again on top of
their game.
Home town favorites Hooters/Militia softball are
a great bunch of guys to hang out with, and although they just came off
of their win from ASA C State, they were unable to make it past double
elimination going 4-2.
Double elimination is hard, especially
for some of the teams from California, Hawaii and Alaska. A long
way to drive. Of course if we didn't have double elimination,
some of these tournaments with over 80 teams would last longer than the
allotted weekend. And most of our minds were still reeling from
the tragic events surrounding hurricane Katrina.
Rock
Petersen, coach of RTS crew spend most of Thursday night with me
wondering if it was morally right to be playing in a softball
tournament with all the horrible images from the hurricane slapped on
all of the newspapers and television stations. Our motto of “it’s
just a game...” seemed to have struck a cord with Rock. I too was
having my own struggle with the same issue. But as I discussed
before, we all need an outlet, if only for a weekend to play and get
away from the real world. Of course this in no way diminishes our
prayers and thoughts for all those displaced by Katrina.
RTS Crew went into the championship game undefeated, Galindos came in
with one loss. With what seemed like all of southern California
rooting for them, the noise was deafening, RTS Crew lost the first
game. After a short break to drag and chalk the field, the noise
started up again. With our camera crew on top of a dugout, RTS
Crew went on to win the National championship in 5 Innings. I
give Galindos kudos for battling up from the losers bracket to take
home second place.
Nick Sailors of RTS Crew won the
tournament MVP, and well deserved. With his Mizuno Envy in hand,
Nick was looking for another shed to break. For the complete list
of tournament team names you can find them here, http://www.asasoftball.com/tournaments/getNcAwards.asp?tid=1513
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Last Updated ( Monday, 05 December 2005 )
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