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Online now: 4 members: B-LO, TABLE SETTER 11, birdie, los1907; 189 anonymousDiscussion: Maryland Classic Apr 30-May2
| Posted | Discussion |
| April 23, 2021 bkb555 301 posts | Maryland Classic Apr 30-May2 have any decisions been made on field assignments in Age groups so teams can confirm hotel reservations?....the venues are 40 miles apart and nothing has been confirmed yet....thanks |
| April 23, 2021 mck71 Men's 60 344 posts | Your manager should have that info BUT I know that 55's are playing at Glen Burnie. Hope this helps! |
| April 23, 2021 bkb555 301 posts | I am the manager..lol.......still waiting on confirmation of Glen Burnie before we cancel our Westminster hotel reservations |
| April 23, 2021 mck71 Men's 60 344 posts | Didn't know you were in charge Brian, my apologies! I saw on OA55M FB page they stated they were playing in Glen Burnie and booked the Hampton hence my "insider" info, I am sure Tim will confirm sooner rather than later. Good luck! |
| April 23, 2021 bkb555 301 posts | yes, we got an email saying the 55M were at Glen Burnie but that was waiting on teams to let Tim know if they were in or out so he could set up a schedule so he could confirm complexes...see you wherever we play....hopefully weather cooperates |
| April 23, 2021 TimMcElroy 942 posts | Nothing has changed from the email that I sent managers yesterday. Teams rated as men's 40 Major Plus, 40 Major and 50 AAA will play at the Carroll County Sports Complex in Westminster. All other teams will play at the Bachman Sports Complex in Glen Burnie. There are 48 teams participating in S2 of the Maryland Classic. All games will be played on Saturday / Sunday. No Friday games this year. I am hosting S1 of the tourney this weekend so schedule posting will be delayed. I am shooting for a Sunday evening release. Thanks in advance for your patience. Tim |
| April 26, 2021 big unit 19 posts | Ok its monday 5pm no schedule yet !!! This is very disappointing of ssusa !!!! The cut off date was April 17th it takes 12 days to make a schedule !!!! You know some guys have make plans with there family in mind !! And not all of us live around the corner from the fields !! |
| April 26, 2021 TimMcElroy 942 posts | 1) Have your manager check his email. 2) I was trying to book additional parks so that your team could get in. 3) One of the parks changed it's field availability on me, taking a few fields back for local league play 4) 4 teams dropped over the weekend, so any schedule that would have been released prior would now be null & void Thanks for the patience there "big unit" - |
| April 26, 2021 TimMcElroy 942 posts | Speaking of family.... leaving them at home would be an EXCELLENT idea this weekend as parks are still not allowing full capacity and there will be restrictions as to where spectators can and cannot set up shop. |
| April 27, 2021 knowsoftball 2 posts | OK so we just saw the schedule and we end pool play at noon on Saturday and do not start the tournament until 3PM on Sunday? Am i the inly one that this does not make sense to? If there were field limitations then do not take so many teams |
| April 27, 2021 kel 31 posts | Tim, what was your reason for changing the Master Scheduling Grid for the 50/55 Silver division from a Sunday start at Noon to a revised schedule time starting at 3:00 PM for the single elimination while you have us playing our bracket play starting at 9:00 AM on Saturday. I totally agree with "knowsoftball" that this makes no sense all the while finishing the coveted "third place" games even before we play our first games on Sunday. You need to eliminate the third place games for the 50M and 55M and our bracket and move us up to noon while refunding the teams involved 25% of the tournament fee. No one wants to play third place games. |
| April 27, 2021 TimMcElroy 942 posts | Here is what I released to managers yesterday: Seed game start times. Every division included a 2nd page that read BRACKET UNDER CONSTRUCTION.... Agree? If you CHOSE to scroll back to page 17 and look at some scheduling notes tgat I made for myself and ASSUME that the schedule was somehow finalized, that is on you. If you really need to undersrand my logic, well here you go.... ONE team in ty 50-55 silver division is traveling any great distance. One. MULTIPLE teams in the 55 and 55 Major are divisions are traveling. It seemed LOGICAL for me to try and get them out earlier in the day. Now.... with all of that said, I was very clear in my email to managers last week about space, numbers formats and scheduling. Expect long days at the park on Sat / Sun. I gave every manager the opportunity to stay in, or drop out with no penalty. Yours chose to stay. Ypu are seeking a 25% reduction in fees for a game that you are CHOOSING not to play? No sir. |
| April 27, 2021 knowsoftball 2 posts | As we all can agree that it is difficult to appease everyone and can follow your logic. It seems that this group does not have a long day on Saturday, as most will be done by noon. Then to sit around and wait to start at 3PM Sunday, I think all would agree with Kel that someone would get dissatisfied. Your choice to only piss off one, though strategic, could be argued. The facts point to maybe the choice to take on so many teams, could be your challenge. If it was weather related, we could all understand but I have heard the argument to reduce games to get people out early from this association before. 3rd place games only fulfills your 4 game guarantee, to get MORE MONEY so teams will come. Honestly no one really cares about those games. |
| April 27, 2021 TimMcElroy 942 posts | Right.... because it's all about the money. |
| April 27, 2021 kel 31 posts | Tim, would you at least consider moving our 4/5 game to the open slot at 6:00 PM on Saturday Field #2 ( Master grid shows it open) which would then at least move our championship game to 4:30PM? |
| April 27, 2021 Jeff50 28 posts | The whole point is to play and enjoy yourself. Hence the 4 game guarantee. I'll let you in on a little secret....none of the games are really that important. You should be happy to be your age and able to play with your buddies against like minded people. |
| April 27, 2021 rmp0012002 Men's 50 57 posts | A third place game is rather meaningless for many teams since you’re not advancing towards playing for the championship. And about it just being about fun and enjoying yourself to some it is but while it is just Senior ball players at this level as in many levels get envelopes for playing. |
| April 27, 2021 TimMcElroy 942 posts | All of this negative commentary would make great sense IF an email explaining the circumstances wasn't sent to managers and IF all managers hadn't responded saying that they agreed to play with the format and scheduling changes. If you have a complaint, talk to your manager. ************************************ Managers, Coming out of a full season in lockdown it is clear that teams are ready to return to normal. Tournament entries are coming in – and far exceed the numbers that we’ve had in the past. Quite frankly they are exceeding capacity for the formats that we’ve used in the past (2 pool into DE). Planning and scheduling have become a challenge. It’s important that I share this information and a huge THANK YOU for being so patient while I’ve gotten my arms around the Maryland Classic planning. Facilities Update We have 2 parks available for May 1-May 2. Carroll County Sports Complex (Westminster)- SAT- access to 5 fields (3 with lights) SUN- access to 5 fields until mid-afternoon (local league follows us) Bachman Sports Complex (Glen Burnie) SAT- access to 3 fields SUN- access to 3 fields Scheduling and Formats: There are 108 potential game slots, which is roughly 40 short of what is needed for a 2 pool into DE format. To get everyone in this tournament, and not require teams to travel back and forth between parks, alternate formats are required. That means- 2 pool into flighted brackets, and in some cases, pool into single elimination with a 3rd place game. Using these formats, every team will get the 4 game minimum that was advertised. I just want to make sure that you know that before agreeing to play. Who will play where? After toying with formats, I’ve come up with these field assignments for next weekend- CARROLL COUNTY SPORTS COMPLEX 40 Major Plus, 40 Major, 50 AAA BACHMAN SPORTS COMPLEX 55 Major Plus, 55 Major, 55 AAA, 50 Major Plus, 50 Major, 50 AA, 40 AAA Ok, so who is in? The list of teams below includes teams that are “in” as well as teams that were previously on the “wait list” - I am asking that each team respond to this email and confirm your intent to stay in the tournament. Getting this information by end of day today will allow me to begin the scheduling process. Please Note- The schedule will be entirely too jammed to honor any special start time requests. Your decision to stay in the tournament means that your team will be available to play when scheduled. |
| April 27, 2021 rmp0012002 Men's 50 57 posts | I wasn’t being negative to you Tim, it seems stressful trying to assign all the teams for tournaments. Especially with multiple complexes. As far as third place games I guess it depends on the mood of those teams at the time. Playing another sanction the team I was with last weekend just forfeited the third place game. The pool to brackets helps considering the money put out rather than just 0-2 and go home. |
| April 28, 2021 big unit 19 posts | I have to say i on a roll this morning here is another point that is also crazy we played in Westminster on April 10 & 11 played 2 bracket games on Saturday and got rained out on Sunday. Ok got email about the make up for that tournament with dates and a 25.00 fee are you guys serious about this you take our money (475.00) for a 4 game guarantee,we only play 2 game and let me get this correct and now you want to charge me more money to come to the re schedule tournaments !!! The way i see it is you owe us a re-fund like half of the entry (475.00) like ( 237.50) we only play 2 games. You saved money by not playing on Sunday didn’t have to pay umps !! And so on ! SSUSA is crazy with this nonsense. |
| April 28, 2021 DaveDowell Men's 70 4318 posts | We "killed" a couple of the more rude, personal attack posts this morning in a couple of threads ... Not surprisingly, they seem to come almost exclusively from the "Anonymous Keyboard Courage" gang ... Own your rude criticisms if you have any expectation of them having a shelf life beyond just a few minutes ... Thanks ... |
| April 28, 2021 rmp0012002 Men's 50 57 posts | My team was in the 10-11 Westminster tourney that Sunday got rained out. we were the 8am game but no one has control of the weather. I have moved on from that team so if they scheduled to play a make up for that tournament so I don't know what they were doing. |
| April 30, 2021 TimMcElroy 942 posts | UPDATE- This message is intended for the teams that are scheduled to play at the Bachman Sports Complex this weekend- SSUSA was scheduled to share the park with another user group this weekend and that had a lot to do with the schedule questions and funky format. We learned this afternoon that they (USSSA) have canceled their entire tournament. Friday afternoon is too late to call teams and ask them to start pool games 3-4 hours earlier so NO CHANGES will be made to the Saturday schedule. We will make changes to the Sunday schedule using some of the additional space and get everyone on the road a few hours earlier. Check the bracket boards on Saturday afternoon to confirm your team's start time and field assignments for Sunday. Managers received this information a few minutes ago, but I wanted to share it with all parties just in case their manager doesn't check email after hours. Regards, Tim McElroy Tournament Director |
| May 3, 2021 rmp0012002 Men's 50 57 posts | Any results/scores for this this tournament? |
| May 3, 2021 TimMcElroy 942 posts | MARYLAND CLASSIC II RESULTS . 40 MAJOR PLUS 1. Spirit’s West / SMC 2. Giant Steel / True Point Survey . 40 MAJOR “A” FLIGHT 1. Rooster’s / Bob Johnson Chevrolet / Ferra’s 2. Gigantes / Old Colts . 40 MAJOR “B” FLIGHT 1. True North / Shinbiscuits / Potomac Sports 1. Team E.V.G. /Sake (could not finish due to local league play) . 40 MAJOR “C” FLIGHT 1. Mission Possible 2. Black Kings . 40 AAA 1. Rough Ryders 2. Past Our Prime 3. Smokin’ Aces . 50 / 55 MAJOR PLUS 1. BPA 55s 2. Phoenix Tube 55s 3. Deluxe Bakery 50s . 50 MAJOR 1. Trinity Home Renovations 2. Team Elite 3. Spires / Scudz Sportz . 50 AAA “A” FLIGHT 1. Old Skool / GTS Sports 2. Potomac Sports . 50 AAA “B” FLIGHT 1. PA Senior Hitmen 2. Cox Diesel / Arooga’s . 50 AAA “C” FLIGHT 1. The Crew 2. Warpath 50s . 55 MAJOR 1. Olympian Athletics 55s 2. Buell Fuel 3. Sweet Construction 55s . 55 AAA 1. NoVA Force 55s 2. Fine Wine / Baf Sports 55s 3. MD Classics 55s . |
| May 3, 2021 rmp0012002 Men's 50 57 posts | Thanks Tim. |
| May 4, 2021 Stripersonline Men's 50 26 posts | The only thing that was disappointing, was playing Sunday with no umpire. There's a first for everything I guess. We had to umpire our own game..... |
| May 4, 2021 TimMcElroy 942 posts | Stripersonline- Disappointing is a much nicer word than I've been using. We had an umpire lined up for those games. He even confirmed his start time and field assignment before leaving the park on Saturday night. He texted us after 7am on Sunday saying that he wasn't feeling well- yet managed to be on time and work all day at another event down the road. It appears that he sold his name and reputation for a few dollars of "bonus" pay. We were able to get another umpire to the park, just not in time for your game. I truly apologize to your team for this. |
| May 5, 2021 Stripersonline Men's 50 26 posts | Tim, I'm not putting any blame on you or your organization. Umpimg our own game actually went pretty well. |
| May 6, 2021 bkb555 301 posts | I was in the game with no "umpire"....we had a meeting between both managers and decided a guy for each team would call the game while their team was in the field, that way they wouldn't come up to bat while umping....it really was a smooth game and no real close calls for any controversy...we decided if it were a close play, the 2 managers would decide it and common sense would prevail....they were a great bunch of guys and just like most of the games in our bracket that day, it came down to the last at bat for all our games to be decided |
| May 7, 2021 Stripersonline Men's 50 26 posts | You are correct bkb555. The game did go well. |
| May 8, 2021 Nancy Allen Men's 55 1438 posts | Well, over 20 years ago we did what I fondly call spring training by meeting up with teams in Florida and playing at their chosen field. One day we met up with the Sons of Beaches (a Canadian team that ended up being snowbirds together). They self umpired it. When it was Coachie's turn, he called one of them safe at 2B. He said You're crazy; I was clearly out and walked back to the dugout. When we returned home to Indy our Johnny G announced over the PA that Florida had just called, and Nancy was welcome to umpire there anytime but that Coachie was banned from umpiring in their state ever again. I really miss those days...and Coachie and Johnny. Spring training was always my favorite senior softball. |
