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Online now: 2 members: Ponzi, hector; 42 anonymousDetails for tcadmw1
Real name:
Mike Walker
Location:
, FL
Division:
Men's 55
Messages posted by tcadmw1 »Message board home »Start a new discussion
| Dec. 5, 2007 tcadmw1 | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: moving up Hi BobbyK, This topic goes around and around all the time with no better solution ever being accepted. That is assuming there is such a better system. I keep forgetting that the bottom line is what is the easy way of doing something is the way that it will be done on this topic. Senior Softball could do a much better job of setting up divisions if the teams and players participated more in fixing it. The idea I thought that was the best (My opinion only) was rating players first then applying that to teams. That too would take a little work but that is what kills it. Senior programs don't seem to want to work together to make that happen. Till then or someone is willing to put up the money to make it work then I don't see it changing. Mike Walker Hollis Appraisals |
| Dec. 3, 2007 tcadmw1 | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: moving up Hi Don, Nice post to start with. I see your points and cannot argue against them. Senior softball should be about good competition and FUN!!! :) I know there is a lot to do about ratings and classificat;ions. It always has been every since they first started them many years ago. Thank you USSSA. Anyway, travel tournaments are for the guys who want to win championships. Otherwise why go right? You don't pay good money, even sponsors money if you don't think you can be competitive! That is different than winning though. Don you explained your situation very well and I respect you and your team. Your points are well made so it does not seem fair that you guys will have to break up if you don't want to move up. Not sure there is an answer to that other than it is what it is for now. However, for those teams who won't travel unless they have a very good chance at winning the tournament and only want to play down to do so then I have no sympathy for them. They are really the teams who make it difficult for everyone else. And some of those teams are sponsored teams and some of them are NOT! I don't think sponsorship is an automatic for being a better team. I like your thoughts Don and appreciate your insight. I hope to see you on the softball field soon. Have a great holiday! Mike Walker Hollis Appraisals |
| Nov. 29, 2007 tcadmw1 | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: moving up Hello Ike, First congratulations on a very good senior softball travel tournament year! It should always be recognized and appreciated when a team improves enough to be moved up in classification at the national level. And to do it with basically the same players is even more outstanding! Again Congratulations! The meat of your statements forced me to state my views on this topic. It is very common for readers to look at National Travel events as an opportunity to win a national championship. However, at the same time they tend to confuse winning with where they think they should be classified. Most teams think that they should be classified in divisions where they win some or most of the tournaments they play in before being bumped up to the next level. Especially since they are paying hundreds even thousands of dollars to travel and play senior softball. The fact is that if every team was fairly classified (operative word "fairly") then chances are your team would be competitive if they went 2-2 or somewhere around .500 in winning percentage at these tournaments. Now I expect most managers don't agree with that but that is how tournament team classifications are suppose to work. Your reward just as with any good travel team is that you enjoy going to these events and playing against the best competition you can compete against. The only problem these days with classification of teams at national events is that way to many teams think that winning tournaments should be the key to what division you should get to play in. I think your team will do well in the Major Divisio if they stick together and play together as a team. All to often teams that move up fall apart because they don't THINK they can win so why even try. The really good teams are those that when they move up they hang in there taking their lumps until they learn how to beat those teams! Believe me any team can and will be beaten on any given weekend at this level. Good luck to you guys next year and I hope you have a great holiday season! Mike Walker Hollis Appraisals |
| Nov. 16, 2007 tcadmw1 | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: WINTER WORLDS (Las Vegas) - SESSION #2 SCHEDULES Good luck to all you guys playing this weekend in Vegas! I hope the weather is great and you all have a wonderful time. Sincerely, Mike Walker Hollis Appraisals 50 & 55 |
| Nov. 16, 2007 tcadmw1 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: HR shaggers? Seems like lots of good suggestions have already been made here. Someone in leadership just needs to pay attention to them and work it out. This ain't rocket science, unless of Einstein is on here somewhere??? lol just kidding Joe. Anyway here are some really easy solutions that have already been suggested and proven to work: 1) Tournament provides the balls and pays kids to shag them. Bring your grand kids with you and they can maybe make enough money to pay for their trip..... :) Heck when I umpired if you paid me .50 cents a ball for shagging I'd do it between games!!!! LOL 2) Include so many balls in the entry fee and then teams are responsible for shagging them or buying more if they don't want to shag them. Already working in SPA! 3) Tell teams to bring their own balls and just specify what they have to be .44/375 and then brand. Young guys do this all the time. You can still sell more at the tournament in case someone forgot (happens to old people a lot). I'm sure all these reps you have at these tournaments would just love the opportunity to sell more products..... Take your pick out of any of these options and it should work. You can also mix and match them since there should NOT be lots of HR shagging going on in AA & AAA ball... :) |
| Nov. 3, 2007 tcadmw1 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: 2007 End of Year Observations Now that we are just about to the end of another great senior softball year how about sharing some reflections about this year? 1) There seems to be lots of parity in senior softball at the national tournament level. This includes East and West of the Mississippi. Anyone can win on any given weekend. That is a good thing! 2) The younger guys coming into the national championship program are top quality players and more important they seem to be top quality people. While I'm not sure senior softball is growing across the board I do think the quality of the teams and players at the national tournament level keeps improving. That is a good thing! 3) SSUSA and SPA are certainly the big dogs in senior softball with the most teams participating in their national programs. Maybe that is a good thing? 4) Senior softball will start again in 2008. And that is certainly a good thing! |
| Nov. 2, 2007 tcadmw1 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: results from phoenix? 55 Major+ at Rose Mofford. (Great Weather) MEN'S 55-MAJOR+ 1. MTC Softball Club (CA) - TOC 2. Hollis Appraisal (FL) 3. Premier / RSIG (MI) Fields were very nice. Parks and Rec folks did an excellent job of keeping fields and facilities clean. Kodos to them for their efforts. Tournament was run very well so kudos to the directors and UIC's. Games were close to starting on time every day which is always one of my concerns. Umpires were good so kudos to them as well and thanks to them for taking so much grief and still being professionals. You know all senior softball players are experts on the rules and on seeing the correct call that should have been made :) No horror stories here! Only little problem I saw was running out of balls and waiting for score boards to be updated. One day we had to pay a kid $1.00 per ball he retrived for us which saved us lots of time and energy. Maybe we can add ball shaggers in the future???? lol |
| Nov. 2, 2007 tcadmw1 | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: the umps in Phoenix Only saw the umpires at Rose Mofford and all of them we had were very consistent and friendly, and the ones we had on Sunday were excellent. They didn't miss a call as far as I was concerned. You have lots of plays where someone disagrees with a call but that always happens at the Major and Major+ level. Just the nature of the beast I guess. Very good job gentlemen in green! |
| Oct. 12, 2007 tcadmw1 | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: LVSSA - how Not to run a tournament Einstein I think you give me way too much credit and again while I don't deserve it I do appreciate your kind words. You are one of the reasons I love playing and participating in Senior Softball. You are the best! I hope you are recoverying well and that I will get a chance to see you in Phoniex. Mike Walker |
| Oct. 12, 2007 tcadmw1 | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: LVSSA - how Not to run a tournament I agree with einstein on some of the suggestions regarding how to speed up a game so everyone can play as many innings as possible. Having run tournaments before I can tell you nothing bothers me more than not keeping game times on schedule!!!! While again agree with a couple of the things to help speed up the games the real issue in my opinion is what can you do to make sure you are ready for dealing with the following tournament schedule killers. If you as a tournament director are not prepared in advance for these then you are just asking for a train reck to happen. 1) Not being ready to start games first thing in the morning. This one is so often happening these days. Teams either show up late and get a grace period without having that time incorporated into the schedule so you are behind right from the start. As a player I hate it!!! Now your games are behind all day. 2) Umpires not moving games along or telling players to hustle on and off the field. Umpires can control the tempo of a game! I do when I umpire! If an umpire is slow starting the game and slow in moving the along then well the game will be slow and long. 3) Teams need to hustle as much as possible on and off the field. No warm ups and extra pitches between innings. If the Pitcher gets ready and tells his defense to get ready then the batting team will hustle out if not then the batting team takes their time as well. 4) Directors need to stop trying to maximize the number of games they can put on every field. They need to keep a spare field ready and a spare umpire ready to take a game here or there when fields fall behind. I know it is hard to schedule umpires because they all want to work the most games possible and not sit around but this ain't brain surgery and it can be figured out. Spend a couple extra dollars and plan game start times farther apart with breaks so you can stay on schedule. This helps everyone including the umpires who need breaks so they can stay as fresh as possible. 5) Keep plenty of game balls and shaggers available especially in the Major and Major+ divisions. Just look at how much time is wasted waiting for balls to be thrown back in or brought to the field. I'm tired of typing so I'll stop for now but these are just a few of the ways you can get your games in and keep the tournament ON-TIME... Mike |
| Oct. 9, 2007 tcadmw1 | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Las Vegas Master Photos: Hey Great stuff Bashbro1... You did a great job with taking photos and posting in a creative way.... Mike Walker |
| Oct. 9, 2007 tcadmw1 | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: LVSSA 55'S Congrats to Sportsplex, GSF, Kelly's, Ruth, MTC, Grimes, & Nighthawks on your performances and thanks for making this a great Major+ bracket!!!! Thank you Joe for all the kind words you used towards me and my teammates with Hollis. While I don't believe mine are deserved I do appreciate your saying so. That means a lot when someone who is as respected in the game as you passes them along. You are a great competitor and one of the best gentlemen in this sport. I hated to see you out of action and by your even playing after getting hit by that shot shows just how tough a guy you really are. I would never want to mess with you buddy!!! It was a great tournament for seeing the best teams go at it. I really enjoyed the weekend and am looking forward to seeing all of you again in Phoniex. Joe I sure hope you find out that it ain't broke and that you will be able to play again by then. I enjoy just being on the same field with you and the Kelly boys!!! See you in Phoniex Mike Walker |
| Oct. 8, 2007 tcadmw1 | Topic: Players looking to join a team Discussion: lokking for a 50 an older team in Melbourne Fl Sorry Scott the correct website address is: http://www.fhcsoftball.org |
| Oct. 8, 2007 tcadmw1 | Topic: Players looking to join a team Discussion: lokking for a 50 an older team in Melbourne Fl Hi Scott, try checking out the Florida Half Century website where you will find contact info for the program and they have a list of teams and managers from your area. http://floridahalfcentury.com |
| Oct. 8, 2007 tcadmw1 | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: LVSSA 2007 I had the opportunity to play both weekends and it was very clear that the first weekend was a complete mess as far as organization and communications were concerned. Some rumors blamed the lack of organization on turnover in the leadership in LVSSA. What ever the reason it was the most unorganized LVSSA event I have ever attended. Second weekend was better because there weren't as many teams needing to be accommodated. Teams in the Major+ divisions were the strongest I can remember ever seeing. Great teams, players and even better people. Senior softball is the best to play because the players, coaches and organizers care about the program and each other. This tournament demonstrates what I believe is an answer to the problems of so few teams in the Major+ division: 1) To many Senior Softball tournaments. 2) High cost of travel and destinations selected for these events. 3) Winning at any cost means everyone thinks they should be playing in a lower division. In spite of the problems thanks LVSSA for hosting this tournament where the best of the best can get together every year. Special thanks to all the teams who showed up and played their hearts out!!!!! Mike Walker |
| July 30, 2007 tcadmw1 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: ISA Worlds Hi Nancy, I agree with your observations regarding the complex being great and the competition being excellent. The size of some divisions is an interesting observation. I think there are a couple of reasons why this is happening: 1) Same weekend as NSA 2) Close to other tournaments i.e. SPA, NSA, USSSA 3) Cost of travel and fees for teams 4) Trend in Senior Softball where there just ain't many teams playing at the Major and Major+ level in any age group. Jerry Jackson works hard for ISA to support this tournament and I think he would appreciate anyone's comments and suggestions regarding improving the program. He can be reached via email at: jjackson@ntslink.net |
| July 30, 2007 tcadmw1 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: ISA Worlds 50 Major+ 1) Hollis Appraisals 2) Butch's Boys??? Sorry if I have the name wrong! 3) Mowtown 4) Randy Smith Excellent competition and the players are the best people! I enjoyed meeting old friends and making some new ones! Great tournament run by Jerry Jackson. Best bats and balls with very nice fields. The weather was excellent. I would recommend this tournament to all Senior Softball Teams!!! Mike Walker |
| July 6, 2007 tcadmw1 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: MESSAGE POSTING & REMOVAL POLICY REMINDER I don't mind being editted or censored from time to time if I break the posting rules. No problem with protecting ones property whether it is real or virtual. But I do take acception when such rules of stated for protection are NOT applied equally. Here is what was stated as the rules: -1- Inappropriate language -2- Disparaging comments directed toward any individual -3- Promotion for other senior softball organizations -4- Advertising for commercial products, services or websites All well and good about deleting promotions for other non ssusa tournaments so stick to it when you have any tournament that is NOT posted under the ssusa tournaments listings on this website. Delete them all!!! If disparaging comments directed toward any individual is also a reason then lets read all the comments that call people out, or say other things that aren't what any reasonable person would consider anything less than "Disparaging" so why aren't these deleted? Seems like as long as it ain't a Miken Rep or similar on here trying to sell a miken product then the anyone can promote their favorite product(s) or even sell these product(s) for them? So I ask where is the equal application of these rules for all? I'm not promoting letting everyone break these rules I'm just saying the application of them seems a little hypocritical based on the posts that are allowed to remain. Mike Walker |
| July 5, 2007 tcadmw1 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: MESSAGE POSTING & REMOVAL POLICY REMINDER So when you say "will be removed immediately" does that only reference the whole conversation topic or just those replies that include such items as you have listed? Just wondering since each of the following topics on the first page of this message board listings include such items yet have not been removed? U2 Handles Worth Launch 510 Combat Antivirus Softball Specs Who would be interested... rip it reaper Just asking? |
| May 31, 2007 tcadmw1 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Maui Tournament - 2007 Mahalo Mike B. for the kind words you expressed towards Ed and I regarding this years trip. I hate to admit it but this years trip was the very best ever. That was mostly due to the great people, like you and Tita, who traveled with us to wonderful Maui, HI I also agree with you that the locals make the trip so very special for all of us. They really role out the Aloha spirit and make this annual trip more than just about softball. Mike you and your group from the West Coast are the best people and great softball players. Congrats on your team winning the tournament this year. You guys played excellent and were great sports about it. Next year we plan on making this a World Tournament to include all Masters and Seniors age groups with Women and Co-ed as well. The dates of the tournament will be May 7 - 11, 2008. We will be putting together travel packages soon so anyone and everyone interested can keep up with our plans by visiting our website: http://www.floridassa.com or by calling Ed Rose at: 321-223-9640 for more details. We hope everyone will mark this down as a must do trip next year? PS - Congrats on winning the first ever Wally Ball event as well... lol Say hello to Tita from Evelyn and I. Sincerely, Mike Walker |
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