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Online now: 1 member: TABLE SETTER 11; 55 anonymousDiscussion: What can be done for the 50, 55, & 60 Major Plus/
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| Dec. 27, 2008 THE HI-JACKER 118 posts | What can be done for the 50, 55, & 60 Major Plus/ The 50, 55, & 60 Major Plus teams just want to play more than 3-4 different teams In Major Plus each year. In the 50 Major Plus, this age group has the most problems. It is not fair to ask the few sponsor teams to break up. (Break each team up into 3 teams.) In the 55 & 60 age division: 1) Combine Major & Major Plus teams. 2) Major Plus teams must give Major Teams 3 runs. 3) 5 runs max.; open inning unlimited runs. 4) Home Runs, 3 plus 1 up; after 1 up, H.R.s are singles. 5) Mercy rule, 12 -15 runs after 5 inning. ( If, required.) This may be the only way to help out & still allow Major Teams a very good chance of beating Major Plus teams. I have talked to many of the NoCal teams, & many AAA & Major teams do well, with the 1 Home Run; 1 up; single. Even when a AAA team is playing a Major Plus team; also, when a 60 Major Plus team plays against a 50 Major Plus team. Send ones e-mails to SS-USA. THi-J |
| Dec. 27, 2008 JohnBob Men's 65 256 posts | THi-J At the world championships in Phoenix this year there were 26 Major teams in 50+, 14 in 55+ & 16 in 60+ I don't know about the other 2 but in 55's it was a very even tourney. Our team like most Major teams pay our own way, I do not think many Major teams from the east will travel to Phoenix or many west teams travel to Ga for SPA worlds to play Major plus. Major+ wants more teams but the Major & AAA division both have a good number of teams playing in the bigger worlds and if a lot of these teams are forced up it's going to be a mess no matter how many rules are changed trying to make it even. One way to get more Major+ teams is do away with 55 age group in M+ only the age group could be 50 to 57 & 58 to 65 most players don't move when they can away, |
| Dec. 27, 2008 Lecak Men's 60 1026 posts | JohnBob and THJ what happens if no major teams get moved up but a number of the major plus take the steps to get back into major and win a number of next years events. What if your situation doesn't change but the former Major plus come to the events as major teams? Do you not attend those events? The major plus teams may fold but the players are going to find homes that I'm convinced of. Most teams pay their own way by the way. I would like to find these teams everyone talks about because I only know a few although I haven't been around that long. Your either going to get more teams as major plus from the major division or more major teams from the major plus am I seeing this wrong? When is is not sandbagging and just pragmatic? |
| Dec. 27, 2008 THE HI-JACKER 118 posts | JOHN BOB: SS-USA, is starting to break apart. No one wants to see the Major Plus division dropped. If, there is no Major Plus division, then each age group will have 100 plus players dropping down into AAA & Major. Dropping the Major Plus division, might be the last straw. If, the 50, 55, & 60 Major & Major Plus divisions combine, new rules will have to be set so that the Major teams can win, in that age group. 5 runs max.; 3 plus 1 up on Home Runs; Major Plus gives Majors 3 to 5 runs; This format has allowed different age groups & divisions to compete. The OL' A's a 60 Major Plus team, beat a 50 Major Plus team several times last year. 5 runs given to 60 team & Home Runs were 1, plus 1 up. Over the limit Home Runs were singles. The change in age group is not a good idea. In Vegas, a new 50 Major plus team that ave age was 51-52; kill a 55 Major Plus team that it's ave age was 57. Older teams in a division, have harder times beating teams that are 3-4 years younger. This point comes from many 55 & 60 old Seniors. Teams seem to win Worlds in their first three years & fewer World in their last year in an age group. In the 50's, there is 166 teams in the AAA & Majors. In AAA-110 TEAMS. (56 Majors) The 55 age group has about 108 teams in the AAA & Majors. In AAA, only 73 teams. (35 Majors) The 60's, have 111 teams in the AAA & Majors. In AAA- 72 TEAMS. (39 Majors) For some reason, the 55 age group is short 20 to 30 teams. THi-J |
| Dec. 28, 2008 Duke Men's 65 908 posts | Gentlemen, Everyone has some good suggestions and conclusions. The thing is that you cannot please all of the people all of the time, so it is best to please the majority. Not always the right thing, but the smart thing. Whether you agree or disagree, you have to give this one a chance to work or not work. It will give the Major Plus teams a better chance of having more than 2-3 teams to play and spending all that money to travel. I know teams that travelled across the country to play one other team, and from their own state. They said they could have stayed home and played at the park for free. Anyway, that is getting a little off the subject. As I stated above, many good suggestions and conclusions, but you cannot have real conclusions till you try the suggestions. Give SSUSA a chance to succeed or fail. If you are afraid to fail, then you may never succeed. I do have my suggestion for any future possibilities. Many of you are familiar with NCSSA up North. I am not sure of all of their rules, but I have a good idea. I cannot get my team to travel up there, but I generally hear good things. They rate all teams from 1 to infinity on their performance, regardless of age. It seems to work well. Whatever teams sign up for a tournament, the top 6 in one bracket, and so on from their rankings. It may not work out all of the time, but it would most of the time. I could be wrong about this next thing, but I am guessing that the rules have to be universal rules for every bracket being played. In SSUSA's terms would mean that teams from AA to Major Plus have the same rules. The major issue being home runs. There has to be a lot of give from the Major Plus/Major type teams, as well as the AA/AAAteams. 1 home run up then a double would possibly work. Not that a AA team would actually play a Major Plus team, but it could happen in a small tournament. Other than the grumbling from my last paragraph, one might ask, how do you play a tournament like the Phoenix Worlds. Under the above method, I would freeze the listing of teams from 1 to infinity as of August 31. This next suggestion would create a 5th level of play(unlike 4 levels in SSUSA), which would be a new thing, BUT overall a large number of teams for everyone to play. Take the top 15% of the teams and put them in one bracket, the next 3 brackets would be 20% each, and the bottom bracket at 15%. Can you imagine how large each bracket would be? Huge! You can break the teams up whatever way you choose, even 6 levels. This is just one suggestion. With this suggestion, you would have the top 3 teams from every bracket winning rings, and their rings would be bronze(3rd), silver(2nd), and gold(1st) base for the ring, and the rest of the ring as usual. Just a different thought to comtemplate. Andy Smith, Double Nickels, Manager/Coach |
| Dec. 28, 2008 einstein Men's 50 3112 posts | Hey Andy, You're right about NorCal and we have a ball and play almost every weekend. If things keep getting wide in National Associations we're going to stay home and have great tournaments and times together. May be the way things are going to go, anyway given the economic and political landscape. Register with us and c'mon up anytime. Happy Holidays. |
| Dec. 28, 2008 Duke Men's 65 908 posts | Einstein, I assume that I have to register each year. I registered last year, but did not play any tournaments up north. My roster has changed too, so I might as well re- register anyways. I would love to play all over and up north, just have to convince my team. Let's see how the SSUSA changes pan out, and we will decide from there. Happy Holidays!! Andy Smith, Double Nickels, Manager/Coach |
