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Ringer u r 2 funny [smiley=grin.gif] [smiley=2vrolijk_08.gif] [smiley=2vrolijk_08.gif]
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I personally do not like the chants. But have seen some 10U teams have a lot of fun with it and it did make me chuckle.
What irritates me is a particular HS team in N.W.O as well as a travel team that bangs balls on the dugouts as well as the benches all game. To top it off there are times jugs with loose change get in the dugouts and they then in turn start shaking them also. You need aspirin by the end of the game.
Hitting a player because of it is pointless. The way to shut them up is keep their bats at bay and they them have no reason to be obnoxious.
JMO
What irritates me is a particular HS team in N.W.O as well as a travel team that bangs balls on the dugouts as well as the benches all game. To top it off there are times jugs with loose change get in the dugouts and they then in turn start shaking them also. You need aspirin by the end of the game.
Hitting a player because of it is pointless. The way to shut them up is keep their bats at bay and they them have no reason to be obnoxious.
JMO
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BlueDevilDad said:
Sounds like a team we just played, but it was the parents. They rang cow bells, thunder sticks etc. The moms chanted and one mom did a butt dance to us. My DD would be so embarassed if I behaved that way.
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"...and by the way, forcing your 10-16 year-old daughters who pitch and play 3rd base to wear those hideous plastic masks is as close to child abuse as you can get. They're ugly and should be outlawed. If their hands aren't quick enough or their fundamentals are so poor-- that they are at risk of getting hit in the face, then they shouldn't be out there. Too many mothers with too much influence = cheeleading and facemasks. "
Lets see YOU get out there and take a line drive to the face. Then see what u think about those "hideous plastic masks".
P.S. We're girls and we want to encourage our team and keep them pumped up.. thats why we cheer.. if u dont like it u dont belong in the fastpitch world.. bye bye
Lets see YOU get out there and take a line drive to the face. Then see what u think about those "hideous plastic masks".
P.S. We're girls and we want to encourage our team and keep them pumped up.. thats why we cheer.. if u dont like it u dont belong in the fastpitch world.. bye bye
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"Let's see YOU get out there and take a line drive to the face."
LOL. Why would I or anyone else do that? That's why you have a GLOVE. I watched five tournament games last weekend and saw at LEAST three errors by pitchers on little ground balls that I'm positive were booted because the pitchers were wearing those facemasks and couldn't see. I saw two grounders booted by SHORTSTOPS who were wearing those masks and it was obvious their vision was inhibited. I shook my head wondering why the heck a SHORTSTOP would wear a mask. If your hands are so slow that you need a mask at SHORTSTOP, then you should play volleyball or something. I saw at LEAST three balls booted by facemasked first basemen because of the same lack of vision.
Another girl dropped an easy throw at first because of a facemask. Oh, and not one girl was hit in the facemask by a ball. And not one girl who wasn't wearing a facemask was hit in the face by a ball--- in the whole tournament!
LOL. Why would I or anyone else do that? That's why you have a GLOVE. I watched five tournament games last weekend and saw at LEAST three errors by pitchers on little ground balls that I'm positive were booted because the pitchers were wearing those facemasks and couldn't see. I saw two grounders booted by SHORTSTOPS who were wearing those masks and it was obvious their vision was inhibited. I shook my head wondering why the heck a SHORTSTOP would wear a mask. If your hands are so slow that you need a mask at SHORTSTOP, then you should play volleyball or something. I saw at LEAST three balls booted by facemasked first basemen because of the same lack of vision.
Another girl dropped an easy throw at first because of a facemask. Oh, and not one girl was hit in the facemask by a ball. And not one girl who wasn't wearing a facemask was hit in the face by a ball--- in the whole tournament!
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If a team wants to chant, that's fine, but don't mistake chanting for what wins games. ?I tell my teams that I don't care if they cheer, just keep it above-board and don't ever let it distract you from knowing exactly what is going on in the game.
We played a team at Compuware this weekend that had a couple of coaches who were likely just out of college softball. ?They were leading the chants non-stop and it was clear the girls were forced to cheer and scream pretty much non-stop. And this was 18-U. ?Meanwhile, our team just played the game. ?It was two entirely different approaches. ?It was also 8 a.m. :
?
The fact that we won the game doesn't mean chanting is bad. ?The point I make to the girls and the parents all the time is that a team can chant all it wants before a game and the score is still 0-0. ?During one of those pre-game, minute-long raucous cheers by the opposing team, my team is usually standing there looking at them like "what in the world..." ?When the cheer is finally over, I usually take that opportunity to ask my team to look at the scoreboard and I make the half-sarcastic comment that "amazingly, the score is still 0-0."
A team can also chant all it wants during the game and the only thing that matters is what happens on the field. ?I fear too many parents believe that their team lost a game because the girls didn't cheer enough or wasn't loud enough. ?So I take every opportunity to remind my teams that we just beat yet another cheering team, so that way when we do lose to one, I can remind them of the many more times we beat them.
The bottom line is not to mistake chanting and cheering for what wins or loses games. ?Hitting, fielding, throwing, baserunning, good decisions and the other fundamentals are what win and lose games. ?Coaches who emphasize chanting above all else are doing their teams a grave disservice. ?
One final point: ?I don't think I would allow my team to go crazy with the cheers like I see a few teams do. ?If we were playing defense in football, maybe it would be a good idea. ?But I don't want our girls too hyped up. ?You can't play this game with your motor running 100 mph. ?The motor skills required are too fine to play the game well that way. ?On a scale of 1 to 10 for adrenaline, I want our girls around a 7. ?A little keyed up and alert, but focused and - a critical component - relaxed. ?
We played a team at Compuware this weekend that had a couple of coaches who were likely just out of college softball. ?They were leading the chants non-stop and it was clear the girls were forced to cheer and scream pretty much non-stop. And this was 18-U. ?Meanwhile, our team just played the game. ?It was two entirely different approaches. ?It was also 8 a.m. :
?The fact that we won the game doesn't mean chanting is bad. ?The point I make to the girls and the parents all the time is that a team can chant all it wants before a game and the score is still 0-0. ?During one of those pre-game, minute-long raucous cheers by the opposing team, my team is usually standing there looking at them like "what in the world..." ?When the cheer is finally over, I usually take that opportunity to ask my team to look at the scoreboard and I make the half-sarcastic comment that "amazingly, the score is still 0-0."
A team can also chant all it wants during the game and the only thing that matters is what happens on the field. ?I fear too many parents believe that their team lost a game because the girls didn't cheer enough or wasn't loud enough. ?So I take every opportunity to remind my teams that we just beat yet another cheering team, so that way when we do lose to one, I can remind them of the many more times we beat them.
The bottom line is not to mistake chanting and cheering for what wins or loses games. ?Hitting, fielding, throwing, baserunning, good decisions and the other fundamentals are what win and lose games. ?Coaches who emphasize chanting above all else are doing their teams a grave disservice. ?
One final point: ?I don't think I would allow my team to go crazy with the cheers like I see a few teams do. ?If we were playing defense in football, maybe it would be a good idea. ?But I don't want our girls too hyped up. ?You can't play this game with your motor running 100 mph. ?The motor skills required are too fine to play the game well that way. ?On a scale of 1 to 10 for adrenaline, I want our girls around a 7. ?A little keyed up and alert, but focused and - a critical component - relaxed. ?
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Good one, Joe. I do find the cheering and chanting annoying, especially when the leader is one of those girls with a raspy, gravelly, grating voice. But more important, I think, is the fact that there is too much to learn, too many things that require all the players' attention for them to be distracted by something of their own creation. How about paying attention to where the defense is setting up in different situations? How about trying to steal the signs? How about trying to pick up a "tell" in the pitcher's motion? Maybe she's tipping off her change-up. How about talking about a situation that happened in a previous inning in the field? How about planning for future situaltions? Any of those things can help your team win a ballgame. I rather doubt that shouting "we want a homer!" is going to do that-- though your mom will probably think it's really cute-- and the more I'm around this travel game, the more I think it's about 40% for the moms and dads to have something to do socially, and 60% for the kids.
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No, it's about 45% for us coaches to be entertained, 45% for the parents to be entertained and maybe 10% (generously) for the kids. It's nice if the kids are having fun, but our card games and gossip sessions are far more important!
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playedout08 said:
this is a poor use of fact and proof... if A then B...
I can also say... i was at a tounament this weekend and saw 3 errors by pitchers not wearing a game face... ?does that mean that I can say if they WERE wearing a game face they would NOT have made an error... ?Does the opposite also apply then?
You can not prove that had they not been wearing a game face they would not have made the error. ?I can argue the reason they made the error was because they did not use proper fundamentals in fielding the ball and had nothing to do with the girls wearing a game face.
For every girl that makes an error wearing a game face, I can probably show you 100 girls that made an error NOT wearing a game face. ?Can I then say that game faces would reduce the number of errors because had these girls been wearing one those 100 girls would not have made the errors. ?I can't say that because I can't prove it... the same way you can not prove that the cause of the errors were due to the fact that the girls were wearing the game face...
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I'm a firm believer in an intangible element that wins a lot of close games. It's something that cannot be practiced or taught. It has many names depending on how you perceive it. I simply call it "momentum" or "the snowball effect". It's when a team effort somehow, someway, strings together hits in late innings, or a pitcher finds her "groove". It is something that is beyond fundamentals - kind of a psychological "higher level". Maybe someone who has been down 7-0 in the 6th inning, and had a "come-back" win can describe it. Sure it's about talent and skill, but why didn't it happen in the 1st through 5th innings?
I tend to notice the softball teams who are capable of doing that are NOT the "knot on a log" teams sitting there studying the game, and analyzing their opponents every move. Instead, they are getting pumped, relaxed and executing everything they already KNOW how to do from their training. IMO, girls have a different approach than boys playing baseball. They get into a relaxed "have fun" minset, not necessarily an "analyze and strategize" mindset. Thus one of the major differences between softball and baseball, and boys and girls. The talented female athletes can (and will) multitask - pay close attention to what needs to be accomplished, but are having a lot of fun as a team in the process.
I tend to notice the softball teams who are capable of doing that are NOT the "knot on a log" teams sitting there studying the game, and analyzing their opponents every move. Instead, they are getting pumped, relaxed and executing everything they already KNOW how to do from their training. IMO, girls have a different approach than boys playing baseball. They get into a relaxed "have fun" minset, not necessarily an "analyze and strategize" mindset. Thus one of the major differences between softball and baseball, and boys and girls. The talented female athletes can (and will) multitask - pay close attention to what needs to be accomplished, but are having a lot of fun as a team in the process.
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Sammy, perhaps you are right, but I know from my own experience that my high school team has had more late-inning comebacks in the past four years that I could ever dream, and we're not even remotely a cheering team.
People love to talk about momentum and all of that, but I prefer to stick to things that I know win games, rather than worry about things that are more abstract. What I think gets lost in the discussions about momentum are the many, many times that it seems like a team has just started to get some momentum, but then it does nothing. The times where they chant and cheer and then all of the sudden come back get remembered much easier (with everyone giving full credit to the cheering and enthusiasm), while the 1-2-3 innings slip out of everyone's mind quickly.
People love to talk about momentum and all of that, but I prefer to stick to things that I know win games, rather than worry about things that are more abstract. What I think gets lost in the discussions about momentum are the many, many times that it seems like a team has just started to get some momentum, but then it does nothing. The times where they chant and cheer and then all of the sudden come back get remembered much easier (with everyone giving full credit to the cheering and enthusiasm), while the 1-2-3 innings slip out of everyone's mind quickly.
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When I first got involved with this game I was not a big fan of cheering. What I've learned is that if the girls want to cheer and chant but not scream its fine. Some girls need a bit of a wake up call at 8:00am. It seems to work better if the team captains get them fired up rather than the coaches trying to do it. If you don't like parents ringing cow bells doing the wave and having fun don't sit by the Mid- Ohio Thunder parents. ;D
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Bobblehead:
Let's put it this way: There is absolutely no way that having your eyesight obstructed by one of those masks can HELP when you're trying to field a ground ball. I've tried them. I wouldn't last an inning with one of those things on. I'd be unwilling to take the chance of letting my team down by decreasing my ability to make plays. I'd also be afraid I'd get hit in the ankle by a line drive.
As for having a difinitive argument--- I have done a scientific study. It finds that two out of every three girls who wear those facemasks are better looking with them OFF. That's GOOD news-- well, at least for 67% of the study group. The others have their parents to blame.
Let's put it this way: There is absolutely no way that having your eyesight obstructed by one of those masks can HELP when you're trying to field a ground ball. I've tried them. I wouldn't last an inning with one of those things on. I'd be unwilling to take the chance of letting my team down by decreasing my ability to make plays. I'd also be afraid I'd get hit in the ankle by a line drive.
As for having a difinitive argument--- I have done a scientific study. It finds that two out of every three girls who wear those facemasks are better looking with them OFF. That's GOOD news-- well, at least for 67% of the study group. The others have their parents to blame.
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playedout08,
You seem overly concerned with the physical attributes of young girls. It is not appropriate for an adult to be checking out young ladies, even in the name of a "scientific study". Are you a pedaphile? Go away and don't come back.
You seem overly concerned with the physical attributes of young girls. It is not appropriate for an adult to be checking out young ladies, even in the name of a "scientific study". Are you a pedaphile? Go away and don't come back.
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Playedout08
Now is probaly the time to start a new screen name. You seem to not be making any new friends with this one either. I have added a few suggestions:
playedout-toolong
half-truth
grammercorrector08
know-it-all08
gamefacesbad
or just plain knucklehead08
That is just a few to help you out. I am sure some others can come up with a couple more.
Now is probaly the time to start a new screen name. You seem to not be making any new friends with this one either. I have added a few suggestions:
playedout-toolong
half-truth
grammercorrector08
know-it-all08
gamefacesbad
or just plain knucklehead08
That is just a few to help you out. I am sure some others can come up with a couple more.
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It depends what age group it is. If it is 14u and above is just makes it seem very annoying and obnoxious I agree.
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CF girl and coachmen:
Make that sort of accusation again, even in jest, and I'll find out who you are and sue you for slander. Is that clear? I suggest that YOU go away. Perhaps some counseling would help. Clearly, you have issues created long before you ever began to misunderstand and misrepresent my posts on this forum. Get help.
Make that sort of accusation again, even in jest, and I'll find out who you are and sue you for slander. Is that clear? I suggest that YOU go away. Perhaps some counseling would help. Clearly, you have issues created long before you ever began to misunderstand and misrepresent my posts on this forum. Get help.
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I am pretty sure that playing softball has nothing to do with "good looks" on the field. It is about how well you can play the game. With or without a mask which is completely optional. If the looks of the mask really bother you that much maybe you should go on down the road and watch the boys play without the masks.
Played out if you don't want accusations maybe you should refrain from making all of the comments about the girls looks and watching games with not children playing. You come across creppy. You may not be at all but with comments like that (repeatedly) you come across in a bad manner. What would you think if some man made comments to you over and over again about how your minor daughter looks. I am sure that it would creep you out or at least I would hope that it would. I know it would me.
As far as cheering goes I guess the college girls and team USA all got it wrong because I am sure that they were cheering on ESPN today. Maybe toned down some from what the younger girls do but still that is something that will change with age. If you don't like it they do make earplugs. I suggest buying some or wearing headphones. The umps use signals so you will still know what is going. on.
Played out if you don't want accusations maybe you should refrain from making all of the comments about the girls looks and watching games with not children playing. You come across creppy. You may not be at all but with comments like that (repeatedly) you come across in a bad manner. What would you think if some man made comments to you over and over again about how your minor daughter looks. I am sure that it would creep you out or at least I would hope that it would. I know it would me.
As far as cheering goes I guess the college girls and team USA all got it wrong because I am sure that they were cheering on ESPN today. Maybe toned down some from what the younger girls do but still that is something that will change with age. If you don't like it they do make earplugs. I suggest buying some or wearing headphones. The umps use signals so you will still know what is going. on.
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playedout08...
By the knowledge, or lack thereof, exhibited in your posts...it is obvious that you need to be around fastpitch softball a little longer before you even attempt to make any type of suggestions or statements about the game. If you like baseball so well, there are many baseball tournaments to attend and I would suggest that you find one of them and contribute your wealth of "knowledge" to there forums. I think I speak for many when I say, thanks for exhibiting such ignorance about the game of fastpitch softball and have a nice life...good bye.
By the knowledge, or lack thereof, exhibited in your posts...it is obvious that you need to be around fastpitch softball a little longer before you even attempt to make any type of suggestions or statements about the game. If you like baseball so well, there are many baseball tournaments to attend and I would suggest that you find one of them and contribute your wealth of "knowledge" to there forums. I think I speak for many when I say, thanks for exhibiting such ignorance about the game of fastpitch softball and have a nice life...good bye.
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chill & bird:
I certainly don't want to sound "creppy" when I paraphrase Bobby Knight and say, "I've forgotten more about fastpitch softball than either of you will ever know." More accurately, you could both live to be a thousand and not come close to having my knowledge of the game. As for your other inferences, you're the ones who should chill out. There's a real world out there and it includes people who are going to judge you on a lot more than whether you can get a bunt down.
Reality: Those facemasks are ugly and scary. They also inhibit a player's vision. No one on my team wears one. I only want players with great reflexes, proper technique and no fear. You don't get hit in the face if you keep your eye on the ball. You only get hit if you're afraid and take your eye off the ball. If you're afraid, then by all means wear one on your team. If you're afraid for your daughter's health, then by all means force her to wear one. But don't come on here trying to convince someone with good eyesight that they're not vision-inhibiting-- and that they're not ugly.
P.S. Looks don't have anything to do with fastpitch softball? LOL.
I suppose Jenny Finch would have gotten all those endorsements if she were homely. Bustos is the best player who ever lived. I haven't caught her last commercial. Have you?
And don't presume you can run someone off this board just because he doesn't want to join your little lovefest all the time. I can recognize an 80s parent from a million miles away. The workplace is full of your children now. They all think everything they do is wonderful. Even when they screw up so badly that they get fired, they walk around wondering why boss didn't like them. Completely clueless. My Gameface isn't attractive? What are you talking about? My mommy says it IS.
You can't hide from the real world. Trying to hide your children from it is worse than child abuse.
I certainly don't want to sound "creppy" when I paraphrase Bobby Knight and say, "I've forgotten more about fastpitch softball than either of you will ever know." More accurately, you could both live to be a thousand and not come close to having my knowledge of the game. As for your other inferences, you're the ones who should chill out. There's a real world out there and it includes people who are going to judge you on a lot more than whether you can get a bunt down.
Reality: Those facemasks are ugly and scary. They also inhibit a player's vision. No one on my team wears one. I only want players with great reflexes, proper technique and no fear. You don't get hit in the face if you keep your eye on the ball. You only get hit if you're afraid and take your eye off the ball. If you're afraid, then by all means wear one on your team. If you're afraid for your daughter's health, then by all means force her to wear one. But don't come on here trying to convince someone with good eyesight that they're not vision-inhibiting-- and that they're not ugly.
P.S. Looks don't have anything to do with fastpitch softball? LOL.
I suppose Jenny Finch would have gotten all those endorsements if she were homely. Bustos is the best player who ever lived. I haven't caught her last commercial. Have you?
And don't presume you can run someone off this board just because he doesn't want to join your little lovefest all the time. I can recognize an 80s parent from a million miles away. The workplace is full of your children now. They all think everything they do is wonderful. Even when they screw up so badly that they get fired, they walk around wondering why boss didn't like them. Completely clueless. My Gameface isn't attractive? What are you talking about? My mommy says it IS.
You can't hide from the real world. Trying to hide your children from it is worse than child abuse.
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