Jack,
My complaints about Berliner come from States a few years ago when I had a kid tear up a knee because of the wooden platforms under the batters boxes that wer`nt in the ground deep enough. (those may be gone now).
2 years ago I had 2 kids get bad road rash on their shins because of the rough ball mix they used for the infield. I just think that after attending Stinrays those fields put Berliner to shame I just don`t know if there would be enough of them.
The third thing is that I would rather go somewhere else than Columbus for Nationals. I live in NE Ohio and its to close to feel like your away from home and to far to drive every day.
And it especially sucks when I called 2 days ago to reserve rooms at the same hotel we`re staying at earlier in the summer and the rooms went from $72 to $110 for that week. If I have to pay that much for a hotel, I would much rather be somewhere further from home to give the feel of "vacation".
Bink,
You`ve gotta be kidding about the beer truck, I don`t drink in front of kids either but the thing was set up right in front of the concession stand/headquarters/bathrooms. I was told by an NSA official that they had nothing to do with it and it was tealtowns baby and that they (NSA) were told they wouldn`t bring one in. I`m not a prude and do my share of partying but I just thought that was low class at a State tournament.
Our 1st game that year,,,,,,,,,,
our catcher could NOT see 2nd base from her crouched position because of the pitchers mound,
our ss had to run up 1 side and down the other side on 1 play,
our 1st baseman tripped over the raised plug in the ground that covered the baseball base pegs, on a foul ball attempt,
and we, with the help of the umpire, had to re-align the bases because it was around 78` to 2nd base.
We were told by a grounds keeper that that would have to do because they were off to another field.
This all happened in our 1st game. Thats why I say that tealtown leaves alot to be desired when we are facing close to a 5hr. drive to grt there for a State tournament.
We`ve played in Boardman as well and although I forget his name now (assistant coach at Boardman, and a NSA umpire) that guy almost single-handidly made the fields playable after a long rain delay. We left there feeling like those people did everything in their power to help us get games played. I just think that sort of dedication should be rewarded.
COACH2, I don`t mean to say you guys should never get another shot at States, if you guys have some new blood in there, good luck to you and I hope you can get the job done and get the tournament again. I just think maybe there should be a couple of regular NSA tournaments held there 1st to see how things go.