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| June 8 MK39 Men's 50 333 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier Great tournament. Congrats to Fran, Terry, Billy and all the rest of the SSUSA staff. Umpires were very good. Fields were just fine. Wind was something that nothing could be done about so you just play through it like every one else. Something wrong when you can't have fun in places like Reno or Vegas. You play maybe 6 or 7 hours worth of Softball then you got the rest of the weekend in those locations to have some entertainment and fine dining. Again Thanks to the whole SSUSA staff and we will see ya in Lost Wages in Sept. Mike Kelly Kelly's Sports 50 +. |
| June 8 Robert Men's 50 64 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier Mike, What fields did you guys play on in Reno and how many Major + teams were there, who won ? thanks Bob |
| June 9 DoubleL10 Men's 70 907 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier Mike- Glad to hear the good words about Reno. Hope all is well with you and the business. I haven't been to Reno since 1999 with Dan's team. I am trying to convince the sponsor of the Houston Texans to schedule our team there next year. I know there used to be some great competition in the Major + groups in which we play. Do you know how many 55 Major + teams were in Reno and how they did? Thanks, Larry Lopez Houston Texans |
| June 9 MK39 Men's 50 333 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier Robert: 6 teams in the Major plus. 1 was the Old A's and they played because there were no 55 Major plus for them to compete against. We played at don mello, fields # 5 and 6 on friday. Rancho San Raphal field # 3 on saturday and Rancho San Raphal field # 1 on sunday. We won the event but barely. Won the last game against the West Coast All stars 27 to 26. Most game were decided by 1 run and with the hitters on both sides, home team had the big advantage hitting last. |
| June 9 MK39 Men's 50 333 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier Larry: Great hearing from you, been a long time. I remember playing at cathedral city with you awile back. Business is doing great and we will be expanding at the end of the year into all items for softball and baseball. Unlike your days with Smith where there was 3 super super teams who always fought it out with each other, the competition now is real close. The Las Vegas stars have a real tough team ad they won 2 worlds last year. We had to score 8 in the open inning to beat them and that is how it happened. Great game no matter who won right there. The california rebels are tough but was mising there ss. Ruth Realty was short 3 starters but played tough at times. Talking to the fellas on the circuit, seems there is 1 team that needs to step up to Major plus as they have been winning at that level aleady this year and won reno at the next level down and that would be BRL. Hope to play them in the future maybe at one of the 4 worlds we go to this year. Larry knows like i do that we need all the teams we can get in the 50 Major plus to make it more competitive and more fun. Great event as we had to play the tough teams, survive the windy conditions = for both teams and gathered some confidence for the worlds coming up in early august in Panama Beach fl. Larry take care and look me up if your in panama beach. Take Care Mike Kelly |
| June 9 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier first off mike congrats on the win,now our story(50+ major div).we played on 285 ft fences at shadow mountian complex.it was hr derby.we forced off one field because balls kept landing in this soccer field while the women played on 300 ft fields at don mello.our bracket had everything from AAA to MAJOR PLUS TEAMS didn't make for a nice tourney for the AAA teams. i think ssusa needs to start looking how they put teams together for tourney's,seems like they don't care.yes BRL won the div but they were closely contested by STONE AGE from san deigo.u had good umps we had terrible ones.one look like a first timer.doublel 10 how is walk doing for u guys,that is one hell of guy for u to have playing for u's. |
| June 9 MK39 Men's 50 333 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier Mad Dog: I hear what your saying and agree with some of it. Stone Age would be another team that should step up now and give Major Plus a shot. They have done a lot of winning the next level down and you have to give some one else a shot to keep the game fair. Only time can it be the same team or teams over and over again is at the highest level with no where else to go. Don mello was the premiere field and all teams should have a chance to play there at least 1 or 2 games. We got 2 games. We should never be allowed to play at shadwon mountain and we did not play at shadow mountain. Sounds like with the bats being what they are now and home runs being hit so far and so often that there would be more teams willing to step up to Major plus. 285 ft, 300ft not a big difference nowadays. The competitive spirit is what keeps us going and if the asscoaitions have trouble figuring out who is who and what level they should play at, then i suggest a players forum on this message board to help them out. Who knows the teams better then the teams that play agaisnt them. Right now the senior players have spoke up in favor of the Miken ultra 2 and SSUSA has listened. Lets see if SSUSA will allow the majority of player members who wish to vote for the ranking of teams. Any feedback on this idea??? Thanks Mike |
| June 9 rabbit Men's 70 319 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier Hi Mk39, you are right, it is up to us coaches to police these teams and let the head men at all the organizations know who ie who, how they play, when they change teams names, and what big time players are playing with them,(The three man committe they have is not working for the rating system) To the life of me I do not (I really do,winning) know why certain teams wnat to play down all the time,it would help the major and major plus division as well as the AAA divisions, if more teams would just play where they belong, so you dont winn the tourney, big deal, at least you are playing your on caliber of player, you dont get any better playing weak teasm, and you never know, you just might beat them anyway. As afr as the ratings, I think after evey qualifier and national tourney that has been played, it ahould be reported who played, how they played and who won, and thier opinion on where the teams should be rated, I know, some teams have bad weekends, but if you have been a ball player all your life ,you can spot the good players and the good teams even if they are having a bad day. I know I am going to do my part here in the Midwest, I am also tired of the sand bagging teams that cry that they are only AA or they are not Major, and come in and pound your butts after telling the director, how bad they are. Next year we are planning to come out west for some tourneys, it is a long drive for us, let me know the best ones for the money and time, dont care who we play, by the looks of the web site, they are having a lot of problems out west?? or am i reading it wrong?, Thanks, Rabbit, Coach of Indiana Classics, 1999, 2001 SPA 50+ National Champions,and hopefully 2004 SPA 50+ Champions |
| June 9 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier as a member of stone age we are a player or so short of being a legit major+ team.yes we can hang most of the time.we haven't won anything at the major level as of yet as for a major tourney goes.i like the idea of some players input on the rankings because they seem to know a little more about the teams than does sacramento. on the voting there would have to be some accountablity so as teams don't get put into the wrong div's.you are right on that no major or above teams should be allowed to play at shadow mountain fields.womens and maybe AA teams and thats it. |
| June 9 MK39 Men's 50 333 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier Rabbit and Mad Dog: Thanks for your comments. I think a lot of teams are under estimating themselves and at the same time over estimating the higher division teams. When i made mention earlier of the Dan Smith team from Larry Lopez's days, The other teams were Sautre's, Orange Crush and Fergies . The borders were wide open and players were flown in from all over to play, back then it was rough for any new or smaller team to compete, But now with the borders closed and with the use of miken u2's and synergys and freaks, i personally think it is a lot more evenly balanced then it was back then. Listen to the comments about the major and triple a teams having trouble keeping the ball in the park?? This is a mental thing that can be overcome with by simply stepping up once or twice and seeing how you stack up. In every level of play for the younger players, when a team wins states or regionals or worlds, they have to move up to the next level if for nothing else just long enough to give it a chance. Makse sense that if any senior team wins any national or world event, spring, summer or fall, they should be moved up to the next level the next time out. I also made mention of the West Coast all stars who thought that they should not play major plus, said so even to me at the event. They almost beat us, beat the las vegas stars who won 2 worlds at the major plus level last year. They might not like me for saying this but they are a major plus team. They will win a lot at the next level down and teams there will say they are too good. This is an old problem but one that does need to be dealth with some day. I love playing 12 or 16 team tournaments but realize that will only happen again this year in Des Moines. JMO Mike Kelly Kellys Sports 50 + |
| June 9 MK39 Men's 50 333 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier Rabbit and Mad Dog: Thanks for your comments. I think a lot of teams are under estimating themselves and at the same time over estimating the higher division teams. When i made mention earlier of the Dan Smith team from Larry Lopez's days, The other teams were Sautre's, Orange Crush and Fergies . The borders were wide open and players were flown in from all over to play, back then it was rough for any new or smaller team to compete, But now with the borders closed and with the use of miken u2's and synergys and freaks, i personally think it is a lot more evenly balanced then it was back then. Listen to the comments about the major and triple a teams having trouble keeping the ball in the park?? This is a mental thing that can be overcome with by simply stepping up once or twice and seeing how you stack up. In every level of play for the younger players, when a team wins states or regionals or worlds, they have to move up to the next level if for nothing else just long enough to give it a chance. Makse sense that if any senior team wins any national or world event, spring, summer or fall, they should be moved up to the next level the next time out. I also made mention of the West Coast all stars who thought that they should not play major plus, said so even to me at the event. They almost beat us, beat the las vegas stars who won 2 worlds at the major plus level last year. They might not like me for saying this but they are a major plus team. They will win a lot at the next level down and teams there will say they are too good. This is an old problem but one that does need to be dealth with some day. I love playing 12 or 16 team tournaments but realize that will only happen again this year in Des Moines. JMO Mike Kelly Kellys Sports 50 + |
| June 11 DoubleL10 Men's 70 907 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier mad dog- Mr. Walker has only gotten to play with us twice - both times at Plano. If you check the HBOE board, you will see Bruce is now the "Rain God" since both times we played in Plano, we were completely rained out on Saturday! Bruce has only gotten to play 4 games with us and the last 4, he didn't get his swings to pop his shoulder, so he did not hit his best. However, some of my friends from the Texas Pride 55 AAA got to see him launch one. Needless to say, they were quite impressed, we talked about it a lot in League this past Monday. I know Bruce is a quality player and person; know he'll be at his best come the Nationals. LL |
| June 11 DoubleL10 Men's 70 907 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier Mike- Glad things are going well with the business! I remember fondly playing with you, Skip Benham and the other guys at Big League Dreams in 1998 like it was yesterday! Sure was fun hitting them off the green monster! I don't know yet if we will be in Florida but if so, I will make a point to look you up. |
| June 11 MK39 Men's 50 333 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier Larry: Ialso remmeber the green monster, he was my friend. That parks = Catherdral City field of dreams lives and breathes softball. I swear to this day that the fans in the right fields seats were 1 minute clapping for me and the next minute booing me. I also remmember we as a team did not do so well there against the younger teams that day but still had a good time playing there. Seems there are not to many 55 major + teams except you guys and the old a's who by the way Skip is now playing for. This just cant be. There has to be some sort of better ranking system that makes teams play up even if they just win a local tournament. I say win and move up at least level the very next tournament. What do you think, a man such as yourself that has been through all of this before and keep ending up with no one to play against. Please advise. Thanks Mike Kelly Klely's Sports 50 + |
| June 11 softballer Men's 65 594 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier mk 39 i'd like to go to palm springs if you go monta litle |
| June 11 MK39 Men's 50 333 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier Softballer: Monta, you were there with Larry Lopez and i at that tournament at Catherdral city in 1998 with the Ca Rebels. I have no plans for Palms springs this year. I have made arrangements this year for Panama Beach, Fl, Des Moines Ia, Salem Or and Lost Wages Nv. Get healthy and i will look at you for next year. Say hi to Rhonda and Ryan and Cecil for me. Mike Kelly - Kelly's Sports 50 + |
| June 11 softballer Men's 65 594 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier mk39 i get cut next friday should be back at the end of aug. ready to bang ! lmk ! no ball for 5 to 6 weeks will eat me up ! take care and i'll pass it on ! |
| June 11 alohabruce Men's 50 31 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier mad dog is getting too old, he can't remember how Walk is doing for the Texan's. Just kidding BB77, I'm glad that StoneAge is doing well so far. softballer (Monta) hope that your surgery goes well and you heal quickly. MK39, did you ever get the 3N2's and if so how do you like them? |
| June 12 DoubleL10 Men's 70 907 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier Mike- Great to hear that Skip is back playing! I've missed seeing him since he retired. I know he sold off all his softball stuff (and he had a LOT of it!) and was just playing golf. I thought he was too serious a softballer to give it up for life. On the number of Major or Major + teams, we will be playing in the ISF in Virginia next weekend and the list of registered teams shows five or six teams in our group. That is all I ask for is someone to play against - not for teams to try to play "down". There a number of AAA teams that could be playing Major. What I have seen, though, in some cases, is that when teams win a tournament on a national level and are told they will be moved up they either disband - which is bad for senior softball - or re-group and change their name. I've seen that here in Texas. I guess the one good thing about playing at our level is no one can accuse us of playing down or ducking a particular team. I relish the opportunity of playing against the best and seeing and visiting with old friends! Hopefully, we will see you in Des Moines, Panama City and/or Salem. LL |
| June 12 MK39 Men's 50 333 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier Softballer: Hope the surgery is successfull. Had my knee done in aug. 2000 and took off 1 1/2 years to really let it heal and so far have not had any problems with it. Our buddy Vern was playing within 2 weeks and a guy on my team now was playing within 3 weeks. Guess i am just a big baby afterall. Give me a shout after the las vegas worlds and we will talk then. Take Care Mike Kelly Kelly's Sports 50+ |
| June 12 MK39 Men's 50 333 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier Larry: Yes, it is good to see Skip back in the game. He said this is a trial run and if he is having fun then he will stick with it. Told me that 2 months ago now, so looks like he might stick. Disbanding or re-grouping is the oldest trick in softball, been happening and still is happening at the younger levels, and what a mess they have. Tournament directors are to blame here. they should have all the results, who are the impact players, etc, etc. Instead, most td's are no where to be found at the event and only care how many teams showed up. This is ruining the game. The softball organzations rely on what they hear from the td's to evaluate the teams. No one better to report back to the organzations then the teams involved in the action. I have a simple plan of action. Give each teams manager at each event, a score card to rate the teams they play against that weekend. The card then gets turned in at the end of the event and forwarded by the td to the main organazation behind the event. What do you think of some thing along those lines. Let me know. Thanks Mike Kelly Kelly's Sports 50 + |
| June 12 MK39 Men's 50 333 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier Aloha Bruse: Good to hear from you bruce. Have you hooked up with a team yet?? I got a call from Peter Amil from 3n2 yesterday. He explained that they had manufacturing problems and that the custom shoes i ordered = Kelly's Sports Logo and all would be delayed another 4 to 6 weeks. In the meantime, he is sending my son and i a complimentry pair of shoes to hold us until the custom ones are ready. Nice gesture and one that i accepted. Sounds like growing pains to me and i went through similar situations as my business started to grow faster then expected. Hope to have them by Fl. Take care Mike Kelly Kelly's Sports 50+ |
| June 12 MK39 Men's 50 333 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier Aloha Bruse: Good to hear from you bruce. Have you hooked up with a team yet?? I got a call from Peter Amil from 3n2 yesterday. He explained that they had manufacturing problems and that the custom shoes i ordered = Kelly's Sports Logo and all would be delayed another 4 to 6 weeks. In the meantime, he is sending my son and i a complimentry pair of shoes to hold us until the custom ones are ready. Nice gesture and one that i accepted. Sounds like growing pains to me and i went through similar situations as my business started to grow faster then expected. Hope to have them by Fl. Take care Mike Kelly Kelly's Sports 50+ |
| June 12 MK39 Men's 50 333 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier Larry L: Before you answer the question above about the ranking of teams by the players , please include this possibility. Not only would the team you play against rank your team but they would also rank the top 5 impact players on your team. The key to keeping the teams from dis banding and regrouping is to set a limit on how many players they can have from a higher level. Example major can have only 1 major + player to stay ranked as a major team. Triple A can only have 1 Major ranked player and still stay at triple a, etc. The way to keep a balance has always been to rank the impact players along with the teams themselves. I have never seen just 1 player make a huge difference on any team and if that 1 player does make that big a difference, then the team needed to be bumped up anyway. This might open a big can of worms here but something needs to be done someday. Thanks Mike Kelly Kelly's Sports 50+ |
| June 12 alohabruce Men's 50 31 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier MK39, Mike, my brother and I are still free agents but he played with Stixx in Reno. Several teams have asked us to play for them but I'm not sure what we're going to do. Congrats on winning the Reno tourney, seems like your team is really coming together. Good to also hear that your business is doing really well. My batting practice partner on the Old A's also ordered some custom 3N2's and the company is also giving him a free pair of standard black turfs due to the current long lead times and he's really happy that 3N2 is doing this for their customers. From what I've heard, 3N2 is growing so fast that they can't keep up with the demand for their cleats. Are you playing in Redwood City? Take care, AlohaBruce |
| June 12 MK39 Men's 50 333 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier alohabruce: We next play in Stockton on the 19 and 20th. 4th of july in Manteca. July 17 and 18th in Sac, Twoulmme the following weekend and then off to Beautifull Panama Beach Fl. for the USSSSA World. Our team is coming together more and more. Talent level is very high and players are happy. Adding Steve Owens was big for us and he has helped both on D and swings a big big bat all the time even more so in the clutch.Take Care Mike Kelly Kelly's Sports 50+ |
| June 14 Sweet P Men's 60 191 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier Mike, sorry for the late response but I must disagree with your assessment of the West Coast All Stars as a Major Plus team. We are a new team consisting of friends who have known each other for 10 plus years. We have 3 major + and 2 3AAA players on our roster. All of the other players played rec leagues or not at all last year. Our record against other major and 3AAA teams is: 21 wins and 19 losses (.525%). The 2 tournament victoys were the result of best head to head records and run differentials. If the WC all stars are a major plus team, then Stone Age, Gusto, RoadDawgs and Palms Springs Stingers should be also since they have played use even or better through out the year. We should be allowed to complete our first year in the majors and if we do well in the worlds we will glady move up next year. Phillip, Mgr/player. |
| June 14 MK39 Men's 50 333 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier Sweet P: You were 1 run from winning the reno qualifier. You Beat the Las vegas team, Beat The Ruth Team from Wa. Both Major Plus teams and Had us on the ropes. 2 tournament wins for you on the year and reno was our 3rd win of the year which means we had 2 wins going in has well. Our team has not competeted yet in a world tournement but look forward to doing so at the highest level as that is where we feel we belong. This is our choice to play against the best to see how we stack up, right out of the gate. My earlier post was that if you win at any level any local senior tournament , then you should be bumped up to the next highest level to see how it looks. You guys looked mighty competitive in the major plus division, no doubt. I think it is more mental then anything, but i wish you guys luck this year and have a good one. Mike Kelly Kelly's Sports 50+ |
| June 15 rabbit Men's 70 319 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier Hi Mik39, I like the idea of the coaches rating the teams after they play them, and turning the card in at the end of the tourney so it could be forwarded, they know the teams better then the the 3 committe members that make up the rating board ,they just can not see all the teams or even know who is who, but it is up to the coaches to police them in my opinion, like you said, the teams just change thier names and try to pass off as a new team, also like the idea of rating the players, this might be better then rating the teams, I just can not believe,even thou it would be big one time job, that they could enter all of the players names and what team they are listed on in the first tourney of the year and then you should be able to tracked the teams that way, I think this is a good idea, but would take a lot of help, but when done,I think would settle a lot of problems in the long run, I just looked at the rating list, and i saw one team that i know listed 4 times, and they were always the same team, and this year, they changed thier name agian, Why are these teams still listed, they dont use the name anymore the reason why is no one tells them (I have) or if they do, they do not remove them and I bet there are a lot more out there in the other parts of the country that i dont know, that some one else does know about, so this is why letting the coaches rate them, and try and get the committe to listen to them,.What do you think?, Thanks, Rabbit |
| June 16 MK39 Men's 50 333 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier Rabbit: Thanks for your reponse. Yes it would be a big time job to get it started = Rating the players as well as the teams but that should be part of what we pay the tournament entry fee's for. Once it is organized and rating cards given to coaches, turned back in after the event to the td, who fowards them to the asscoaitions, the process would start shaping up quick. Win 1 tournamnet and move up to the next highest level for at least 1 event. Not competitive, you move back down. Win 3 local tournaments withing 1 year and your obviously too good for that division, you move up and stay up and try real hard to win. The only division where there could be a dominat team over and over again should be the highest possible division and that is how it has always been or at least how it should be. Put a maximum number of how many major + players can play down to the next level without that team being forced to move up unless they win too much. Same formula of Major players playing on triple A team, etc, etc. Coaches rate the 5 best players from each team they play. JMO Mike Kelly Klelly's Sports 50 + |
| June 16 Sweet P Men's 60 191 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier I agree with moving teams up to the next level if they win a tournament, provided a minimum of 4 teams from the same division played in the event. The idea to move back down to the next level if they don;t belong sounds fair also. I also think we should adopt the rules used by USSSA and ASA for rating teams and players. They are based on end of the year team ratings, coaches and directors input. Teams are restricted to having so many players with certain ratings. |
| June 16 MK39 Men's 50 333 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier Sweet P: Hope you find the Major plus player you looking for and i know you can compete at this level. Your pitcher in reno = Flip, was he the pitcher for the sun devils team that won the back to back 40+ worlds a few years ago?? What a team does during the year will sometimes have to be taken into consideration has well. If a team is dominant and allowed to stay at that level and win 1 or 2 worlds to just prove to themselves that they can do it, then they should have been moved up. Ruth 50 out of Wa. won some worlds and now has finally been move to major plus where they belong. There will only be 1 champion every tournament and at our level, this year it will be a dogfight. I saw close to 20 Major plus teams listed, not sure if some dont exist anymore but if we can have 10 to 12 team worlds then it will be awesome. The west coast all stars are in the hunt and dont doubt yourselves. Just hit the ball like you did against us in reno and you can beat anyone. Mike Kelly Kelly's Sports 50 + |
| June 17 Sweet P Men's 60 191 posts | Rock N Reno Qualifier Thanks Mike for the positive comments. Hope to see you guys in Seattle/Kent, WS. |
