Message board »Message Board home »Sign-in or register to get started
Online now: 6 members: Blizzo35, Little Al, Rob43, TABLE SETTER 11, dwniel, ricwood69; 63 anonymousDiscussion: SSWC Worlds in Las Vegas:
| Posted | Discussion |
| Sept. 27, 2004 MK39 Men's 50 333 posts | SSWC Worlds in Las Vegas: Thanks to Terry Hennesey , Fran, Billy and all the rest of the SSUSA staff for a wonderfull tournament this past weekend in Las Vegas. They did there best to run a fair event for all and worked so hard to make it the best event that they could. The fields were prepped every 2 games where we played and the umpires were great. Great to see Mike Walker and his 5 man umpire crew from Florida come up and hope that there family's and property is safe when they get home. Anyone who has a different feeling then me, please start your own thread as this is a tribute to all the hard working folks who are still out there for 5 more days trying to keep this game we all love going and going and going. Thanks again SSUSA Mike Kelly Kelly's Sports 50 Major plus |
| Sept. 27, 2004 kensurferca Men's 70 8 posts | I ditto Mike, We had 35 teams in our bracket, and it was very well organized. Problems were dealt with immediately. The roster control by SSUSA lets new comers like me more comfortable about going to a national tournament. I only saw one questionable bat during the entire tournament. This gives credibility to SSUSA, and allows teams with the best skills to win fairly. Ken Montagna Redwood City Reds 50+ AAA |
| Sept. 28, 2004 LA 46 posts | Many thanks to Terry, Fran and the other SSUSA reps. IT was nice to put a face with the telephone voices. Overall, I think that the 34 team 50AAA's went off very well. You are going to have a few problems but I think that this was one of the best tourn. that I have played in Senior softball. Terry and his staff took special efforts to set up the brackets so that we were playing opposite coast teams. I did notice some slight difference in play. What was funny is that if you talked to the west coast teams, they complimented about how much better the east coast teams were and if you talked to the east coast teams, they complimented the play of the west. But when it was all said and done, in the final six, there were three of us east coast teams and three of the west coast teams. I do think that the heat got to us a little quicker than the west teams. I had only one slight complaint and that was in the umpiring. Our team was unfortunate to have a 17 1/2 hour day on sat. and so did the umpires. some mistakes were made because of their tiredness. Also, the umpires were very respectful and accommodating but several did not know the senior softball rules. The directors were there to make the changes and they appropriately did right on the spot. I believe that more senior softball training needs to go into these ISA umps. Also, we never knew if there were going to be two umps on our game or one. One of our umps said that his partner just didn't get up in time !! Overall it was a great experience, met new friends, and enjoyed our old acquaintenances. Thanks again to Terry and his staff and if we go back to Vegas I hope that Terry has an in with the casinos to losen up their slots...........Larry 50AAA Silver Legends. |
| Sept. 28, 2004 Mitch Men's 50 68 posts | Can you imagine setting up over 1200 games in 11 days, dealing with 322 teams, lights going out on some fields, sprinklers coming on during games, vendors not being there, your cell phone ringing from people with questions, dealing with emergencies and much much more, PLUS playing in 6 of those games with us, Sacramento Saints, can you imagine? Terry did all of that as well as ran for many of our players, like myself, who were hurt. He was always the first one out of the dugout to run for somebody. He put 100% into our games and I'm sure he gave more than 100% for the entire tourney. My hat's off to this man becasue he sure deserves it. If you have a complaint, just stop for a moment and think about what I mentioned above and then ask yourself, could you do that? I think it's unfair to expect a tourney of this size to come off without a hitch. Terry, thanks again for your efforts in everything espeically when playing with us. Good Luck, Mitch |
| Sept. 28, 2004 fran44 Men's 55 40 posts | Mitch: in your response are you saying that the tournament director played in the tournament on your team? |
| Sept. 28, 2004 TexasTransplant Men's 70 516 posts | Yeah, I picked up on that, too. Doesn't seem appropriate, especially in a tournament of this magnitude. Conflicts of interest aside, it would seem like a tournament this big, deserves the TD's full time attention. |
| Sept. 28, 2004 TexasTransplant Men's 70 516 posts | Anybody get that bad sun field for the late afternoon games at Desert Breeze? I hope someone picked up on that and scheduled around it. Last year at the LVSSA tournament there were some games where the batter simply could not see the pitched ball. |
| Sept. 28, 2004 BillyMac Men's 55 91 posts | I just tried to post a relatively long message to this string, congratulating Kelly's and Pine Knob for their 1 & 2 finish in the 50+. major + division, but it did not appear in the string when I hit "post message" I have had similar occurrences in the past, and since I am a one finger, hunt and peck typist, this is very disconcerting. At any rate, I'll try again...Congratulations and Kudos to all concerned on Kelly's Sports and Pine Knob for their fine showing in Vegas. we've played each other numerous times through the season, with the outcome of each game being dependant upon who put it together the best in that particular contest. I eagerly look forward to our next meeting to put it to the test once again. until then... peace Hit To WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!! Billy Mac #4 Player / Sponsor THERMCO / CT SPORTSPLEX |
| Sept. 29, 2004 Nancy Allen Men's 55 1438 posts | As a matter of protocol a tournament director should not play in their own tournament. Now that being said let's examine this particular incident. First there were many tournaments going on in this overall one. Terry played on a 50+ AA team, and we played against them. They were a very nice bunch of guys, and we spent some time with them during the competition. They were not a beefed up team smoking all of their competition. Now anyone who has been around SSWC for a while will remember Bob Mitchell who preceded Terry, and he always played in his respective division also. Now in my opinion only, I would much rather deal with a tournament director that actually liked and played softball and understood the game than someone who does not, and I am sure most of you have met those folks too. It is good to see Terry out there participating in the very sport that we enjoy rather than dictating while not understanding what it is like to be on the field. I am more than sure that he realizes that if they take first in a major tournament that he will have to deal with the criticism of conflict of interests. Thanks, Terry and the Sacramento Saints, we enjoyed playing you. The last time that I saw them, (Terry was too busy working to enjoy that off time) I asked them how they were doing, and one of them said, "We haven't lost a party yet." Isn't softball a wonderful sport? |
| Sept. 29, 2004 MikeC Men's 60 38 posts | I am guessing the people saying this was a well run tournament did not have to play Friday night. We were scheduled to play at 6:30 Friday night but the Tournament was stopped in the middle of the 5 PM game for the local Friday night CO-ED beer league. We eventually were redirected to another complex across town where the field lights did not work and then re-directed to Henderson where the outfield sprinklers were running. We drove around Las Vegas for 4 hours and never got to play our Friday night game. How can you not have the main complex reserved for a National Tournament. How does a local beer league kick us off the complex? We played at 8 AM Thursday and never had water (no drinking fountain, no coolers, no nothing) until the 5th inning. On Saturday we had one water cooler placed on the bleachers behind home plate for both teams. No foul lines from first base to the foul pole? The outfields were some of the worst fields I have played on since playing sandlot as a kid. No it was not well run! |
| Sept. 29, 2004 TotallyRec Men's 50 33 posts | I would like to express my appreciation to the staff of SSUSA for an excellant tournament. I organize sports leagues and tournaments, on a much smaller scale for a Southern California City. It is quit a feat to pull off a tournament of this magnitude. Terry Hennesey and his crew deserve a lot credit for a job well done. As far as the fields, my team played at Cheyenne Sports park. The fields were in great condition as far as City maintained fields go. The only concern was at times the field prep left a little to be desired. The batters boxes were complete dustbowls and we lost a player in our first game when he twisted his knee coming out of the batters box after hitting the ball. The game following ours also had a twisted ankle as a result of the batters box. Suggestion, a little extra time in maintaining the key areas (i.e. batters box, fielding area, and pitchers box) would be appreciated. Lastly, we had very professional umpires doing our games. All of the umpiring crews did a great job. Thank you for a great Senior Softball experience. |
| Oct. 3, 2004 Proudtex40 57 posts | Mike Kelly, Congrats on the win. In my opinion this was the best competition I've seen this year. Although I would have loved to been playing in the championship game it's a good feeling knowing that a team with class won the tournament. Again, congrats and hopefully we'll see you in Nov (if Damon's makes the trip.) Steve |
| Oct. 3, 2004 MK39 Men's 50 333 posts | To Proudtex40: Thanks Steve and man was it a tough event. Just like you said the best was there to compete. Pine Knob is a very strong team and they will be in the hunt a lot next year. The team that also looked strong enough to stay major plus was that Direct Hire team, saw them in 2 different worlds and they are real good as well. We had 3 out of 4 worlds with 8 or more teams in major plus and that is big. We will expand our schedule for next year to include plano and the NSA wherever that will be held. We will go after the USSSA and SSWS titles next year as those are the only ones we did not win this year. We will also play in Kent to go for the triple crown in SSUSA. Hope Mike keeps you guys together and brings you what he promised so we can continue our friendly rivalry. I dont see us going to Vegas in Nov. this year. See ya next year. Mike Kelly Kelly's Sports 50 Major Plus |
| Oct. 4, 2004 the bob Men's 65 1 posts | I thought that the overall tournament was conducted very well. However, my players brought up some negative comments: 1) no foul lines, 2) no out of play lines, no 2nd base at 1st base, 3) no scorekeepers, 4) no scoreboards, 5) no bathrooms or concession stand @ Hollywood Park, 6) batter;s boxes were very sandy & difficult to get out of, 6) umpires did not know diffrence between a force play & a timing play. Overall, the best part of this tournament was the umpires. They were courteous, in position, & very helpful. However, I know that they got tired of me asking what score they had. With an entry fee of $485, the very least that we should expect are all of the above. Thank you for your hard work. These comments are meant as creative criticism & hopefully help you with your next tournament. Bob Havrilla, Manager River City Mavericks 916-971-1067 |
| Oct. 15, 2004 JJ Men's 75 18 posts | A big thank you to the SSWC for a great tournament. I think the only problem we had was getting to the manager's meeting the night before the tournament and finding out that the schedules had been changed due to team reclassifications. This shouldn't happen the day before we start. Congradulations to Chicago in the 60AA--you played like a super major team against us; but winning that game against the boys from New Mexico-the gods were with you!!! |
