Publisher's Comments by Mark Linnemann As the USSSA Men's B
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Publisher’s Comments by Mark Linnemann As the USSSA Men’s B, C, D and E World Tournaments approach each September, an interesting phenomena in Greater Cincinnati softball begins to manifest itself. Little Northern Kentucky, with less than 90,000 people, two private softball complexes, and a base of about 350 teams, is sending over forty percent - or sixteen - of the thirty eight teams advancing to the World Tournaments. By contrast, southwestern Ohio has a population of almost two million people, boasts eight private complexes and over 2,000 teams. And yet this incredible softball hotbed, which hosts over a hundred USSSA qualifiers each year, is sending a mere twenty-two teams - just six more than Northern Kentucky. But perhaps most striking is the disparity in the Men’s D program, which is the most popular level of play in softball. Thirteen area teams are advancing to Overland Park, Ks., for the U-Trip D world, and nine of those - or sixty nine percent - are from Northern Kentucky. Northern Kentucky also showed up its Cincinnati neighbor in recent state and national participation. Twenty-two Northern Kentucky teams participated in the state tournament last month at Northern Kentucky Sports Park, while a paltry ten Cincinnati teams advanced to state championship play. And an amazing twelve Northern Kentucky teams competed in the Great Lakes National Tournament Labor Day Weekend at Expressway Park in Milford, while only nine Cincinnati teams played in that event, which was held right in their back yard! A glance at the USSSA National Ranking Points brings to light even more the popularity of the USSSA D program in Northern Kentucky. No fewer than ten Northern Kentucky D teams accumulated 500 or more points through Labor Day, and four teams hit the 1,000 point benchmark. Conversely, above the Mason-Dixon line in Cincinnati, only four teams exceeded 500 points and only three hit the 1,000 point milestone. So how does one account for this apparent disproportionate support for the USSSA D program from an area with about five percent of the population, twenty percent of the private complexes, and about fifteen percent of the teams of its northern neighbor? Bill Chard, the manager of Riverstar Sportsplex, former operator of the nkysoftball.com website and longtime Northern Kentucky softball team sponsor and manager, says that “Northern Kentucky has had a great tradition of having some great D teams, and this year is no exception.” But, suggests Chard, “I think some of these teams could probably play at the C level. At the top, Northern Kentucky D is a bit stronger than Ohio D if you count the Dawg Pack, which has no players from Northern Kentucky, as one of the Northern Kentucky teams.” Chard argues that you could make the same point about the superior strength of the B and C programs in Cincinnati to those in Northern Kentucky, where there are only one B and three C teams. By contrast, he points out that there are five B teams in Cincinnati, and some forty seven C teams are shown as having tournament points at usssa.com. Northern Kentucky USSSA Area Director Kevin Henn shares Chard’s concerns about the classification of some D teams in Northern Kentucky. “That’s great that Northern Kentucky is going to be so well represented at the World,” says Henn. “But I feel we need to begin pushing some of these teams back up the ladder again.” But Henn also acknowledges that much of the interest in men’s D softball in Northern Kentucky can be attributed to parity and wanting to avoid a stigma currently associated with playing E. “I think that teams want to feel like they’re competitive, and there is a feeling that most D teams that play every weekend can accomplish this and still stay above the E level,” says Henn. “That would cast a stereotype on them that says they’re an inferior team.” Shawn Spoles, sponsor-manager of the Two-N-Out.com/Easton softball team and operator of the most popular Northern Kentucky softball website, two-n-out.com, believes the popularity of the D program in Northern Kentucky boils down to the mindset of the teams and a unique form of camaraderie and solidarity at work among them. “I think the biggest difference between the two areas is definitely the goals set at the start of the year,” says Sproles. “Most of your Northern Kentucky teams set out with the sole purpose of making it to the world, while many of your Cincinnati teams worry more about winning the Metro and the City Slam. Don't get me wrong, we love playing in those tourneys, but that is not what we set our year around. “One thing I know that many of the teams over here think is, if you are going to play a lot of ball during the summer, you might as well play something that is going to reward you for the whole year. Thus, they play USSSA all year,” explains Sproles. “Every tourney you play means something. Plus you have a chance to participate in the biggest tourney of the year - the World. “The Northern Kentucky softball community is a very tight community,” adds Sproles. “You usually see the same players every year. They may be on different teams, but they are the same players. The last couple of years, Northern Kentucky seems to have had its one B team, a couple of C teams, and the rest are in the D division. “I think the biggest draw to the D division is the competition and the goal of beating your rivals and buddies year after year,” he continues. “The D division in Northern Kentucky is very strong and has a recent trend of producing many competitive team. “Also there are many fundraisers and these enjoy a tremendous amount of support by the other teams,” says Sproles. “This is what allows many of the Northern Kentucky teams to play each year.” In My Opinion by Ron Jeffers I have often wondered why the USSSA organization, which seems so progressive in so many ways, has never placed the importance on their umpire program that the Amateur Softball Association has. The USSSA organization places little to no emphasis on their umpires wearing the proper uniform or wearing it correctly. I have personally observed, what they call their World Tournament, and saw their umpires with and without caps, some in shorts and some in long pants, some with and some without socks, different shirts and this all by a crew in the same game. One base umpire even went over and sat on the grass between innings, while the plate umpire was chatting for a few minutes with some fans between innings. If this were an ASA National Championship game, these same umpires would not have been allowed to take the field looking like they did, and they would have been sent home, never to return, for their actions on the field. I do not understand this because I know the USSSA organization does a great job in most every other area of their program. They once had a National Umpire-In-Chief that was a joke, even in his own program, and did little more than operate as a driver for people coming to their National office in Virginia. At ASA’s National Tournaments they hire their very best umpires, bring them in from around the country, pay for their lodging and transportation, provide them with food and drinks, evaluate their work, usually by a member of their National Umpire Staff, and provide this written evaluation to the umpire’s commissioner and local umpire in chief. The expectation of the ASA umpires is very high, and if they cannot, or do not, meet these standards and expectations, they are not invited or scheduled to return to this competition. If you take the time to look and compare the ASA rule book to the USSSA book, along with the index in the book you can very quickly tell how much importance and significance the USSSA organization places in the writing and preparation of the rules book they provide to their umpires and teams. The USSSA rules book devotes the same space, or number of pages, to “communicable disease procedures” as they do for the “index to rules”. One page for each. The ASA rules book devotes twenty five pages for their “index to rules.” Now we are not comparing apples to oranges. Both of these organizations are playing the same game, and oftentimes with the same players and teams. Why the difference? The ASA offers an unbelievable library of training aids for teaching their umpires, including films, books, umpire mechanics manuals, transparencies and etc. They also have a new National Exam each year, and a training program second to none in any sport in the World. They offer many weekend clinics as well as weekend, hands on, umpire schools, where the umpires spend two complete days on the field, and in classrooms with professional instructors. They have these excellent schools from coast to coast each and every year, and if the umpire wants or needs more training, they have a week long umpire school, at their National Hall of Fame Stadium and offices in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. I won’t even begin to tell you what the USSSA offers their umpires in a comparable training program, because there is none. I was hired to conduct one of these weekend umpire schools for the ASA several years ago, and the ASA commissioner asked me if the local USSSA umpires could attend as well.