I’m sure some if not many of you have seen this already, but I think it bears promoting anyway. It’s a video story from ESPN about a college game and the act of class and sportsmanship that one team showed another.

The basics are that a player on one team hit an over-the-fence home run — her first-ever as a player. As she was going into second on her home run trot she realized she didn’t touch first and turned to go back and touch it. As she turned she tore her ACL (probably metal cleats catching in the dirt, but that’s another story). She crawled back to first, then just lay there hugging the base. The umpire told her coach that no one from their team could help her around the bases, and they couldn’t use a pinch runner for her (the latter of which turned out to be untrue). So she was stuck at first, in pain, unable to go on, when a very classy thing occured.

Two players from the opposing team, with the hitter’s permission, picked her up and carried her around the bases, pausing at each one to let her touch it. They certainly didn’t have to do it, but they felt it was the right thing to do.

What an amazing thing. In our ultra-competitive society, where everyone is trying to gain an advantage, it would’ve been easy to let her lie there and her run not to count. The team on defense at the time went on to lose the game. But those players made the decision to do the right thing, consequences be damned.

What a tribute to those players, their coach, and their parents. I hope they were at least named conference players of the week. This is the type of thing sports are supposed to teach but don’t always do. If you want your kids to have role models, you couldn’t find any better ones than these young ladies.

This entry should actually be filed under “housekeeping,” but since I don’t have that as a category we’ll just leave it under General Thoughts. It’s something that I was finally able to figure out how to do, so I want to pass it along. I might even add it as a sidebar instruction since it doesn’t seem to be intuitive.

The topic is how to add this blog to your RSS reader. Those who are into the whole Web 2.0 thing are probably familiar with RSS readers. They are tools that let you aggregate the content from various blogs in a single place so you can see what’s out there and decide whether to read it. (Hopefully the answer is always “yes” for Life in the Fastpitch Lane.) Google Reader, My AOLand Yahoo! are three examples. Bloglines is another.

In the past I’ve tried to add the buttons in the sidebar that make it simple, but it hasn’t worked. I’ve also tried using their tools, but when I entered the URL for this blog I received an error message.

Yesterday I figured it out. What you have to do (assuming you have an account with one of the services) is click on the button that lets you add a feed, then come to Life in the Fastpitch Lane, click on the type of feed you want, then copy and paste THAT URL into the feed reader.

Here’s an example from Google. On the Google home page, go to the top and click on the link to More. In the left hand column there is a button that says + Add subscription. Click on that, and it will give you a box that tells you to find feeds or paste in the URL. With me so far?

Now come to Life in the Fastpitch Lane. In the right hand column there is a section labeled Syndicate. Click on your choice (Entries RSS 1.0, Entries RSS 2.0, etc.). The page will change and there will be a new URL at the top of the page. Copy that and paste it into the box on Google. Once you’ve done that your feed reader will start showing the latest entries.

I haven’t tried it on the others yet but I will. If there is anything different to do I will let you know. But I know it definitely works with Google.

Saw a very interesting article out on Jeff Janssen’s Championship Coaches Network site. It was part of an interview with Terry Francona, manager of the world champion Boston Red Sox.

Francona listed four things that are required to win at the highest level. (Actually there are more, but you have to be a paying member of his network to get the rest.) The four things listed are:

1. Establish your core values — things like being on time, respecting your teammates, etc.

2. You don’t have to have played to be a successful manager. You just have to be knowledgeable and a good communicator.

3. Create the right culture in the clubhouse. It’s really all about character.

4. Wherever you’re coaching is as important as the Boston Red Sox. Maybe not to the masses, but to the people you’re coaching. As a result, take your responsibility seriously and give it all you have.

It’s an article well worth reading in its entirety. Click on the link above to see it. But then remember to come back here!

I received an e-mail today regarding the requirement for an e-mail address and concerns about getting spam as a result. Please let me assure you that your e-mail address is only used for verification purposes. It does not appear on the site, nor can Web crawlers, bots, or other nasties see it and pick it up.

I have left many comments using my e-mail address and have received no spam as a result. I know this because the e-mail address I use here is not the only one I have. I get plenty of spam on the AOL address, but nothing for coachken@softballsuccess.com.

So please, feel safe in leaving your comments. No salesman will call. And if anyone else who has commented has had a different experience, please let me know so I can raise you-know-what with the powers that be.

Tonight I had the opportunity to watch a potentially bad situation with a terrible mismatch handled with class and honor on both sides. To me it is the best of what sports is supposed to teach our young people, but often doesn’t.

The situation was this. Our high school team was playing a conference game against a team from what is probably the most disadvantaged school in the conference. It is well known that this school struggles each year just to field a team, much less one with skills. You didn’t see any $300 bats in the hands of their hitters, and not a single parent was in the stands on their side that I could see.

It appeared tonight that several of the players on this varsity team were in their first year of playing fastpitch softball. The pitcher looked to be a volunteer who probably rolled more balls in than she threw strikes. It is the same year after year. There is no summer ball or early training for the players on this team. Their coaches generally do all they can do to teach basics most coaches expect to be learned by 10U.

Prior to the game, there was an agreement that our side’s offensive inning would end after five runs scored unless there were three outs made first. It was a good thing, because three outs were never made before five runs, and at least a couple of times there were zero outs when the teams switched it up. Our coach instructed his team not to steal a base under any circumstance — again a good thing given that the softball gods tend to punish coaches who run on weak teams by having a key player turn or break an ankle.  He also started his bench players, including a pitcher who has only seen limited action. A couple of starters never even saw the field.

Runners advanced only on walks or hits, and even then the baserunning was purposely not very aggressive. I know there are those who will say that you should never let up, you want your runners to always think aggressively, etc. But I disagree with them. This coach did the right thing in restricting it. He had to play the game because it’s conference, but he knew he didn’t have to be a jerk about it. The final score was still lopsided, but the players on the losing side were treated with dignity and respect for their situation. The umpires, too, were helpful in explaining to the girls why certain calls were being made so they could learn a little more about the game.

But that was only part one of the lesson. Part two was in the conduct of the players and coaches from the visiting team. They never once got down on themselves or each other. They seemed to have fun, and looked like they were grateful just to have the opportunity to play this great game, take a couple of at bats, and wear the uniform of their school. When the game was over they were all smiles, and during the concluding high fives between the two teams a couple of them got in line a second time just for fun.

This is a team that is very likely going to go 0 for the season. But that’s not what matters to them. They are part of a team, something larger than themselves, and for a few innings whatever other life challenges they have don’t matter. They’re there to play ball.

So many of us get caught up in the wins and losses. So many players and coaches like to use games like this to pad their stats or serve some other selfish purpose. Today was a reminder that what Grantland Rice said is really true:
 
          “For when the One Great Scorer comes

Every now and then I think this bears mentioning. While I own the Life in the Fastpitch Lane and get to pick the topics, this is really not intended to be a one-way street. If you have thoughts, ideas, plays, reactions to plays, etc. to share, please by all means leave comments. I am eager to hear from you. We can all learn much from one another.

Our local high school team finally had their first gmes today — about two weeks after the season was supposed to get started. It was actually a double header, with our team playing two different opponents.

The girls looked a bit rusty in the first game, but seemed to do better in the second. The bats started coming alive, and even though there weren’t a lot of hits to get people on base, at least they were swinging the bats and hitting the ball hard. When you’re doing that, base hits (and more) can’t be far behind.

It was definitely chilly out there — those of you in the south and west have no appreciation for what it’s like sitting in 45 degree temperatures for five hours — but at least there was plenty of sunshine to help warm things up a little.

The local weather is calling for temps in the high 50s Monday, but with rain. I hope not. The girls have to be tired of working in the gym. It’s time for the reward of playing the game. And watching it.

…only where you finish. That’s something players need to remember, especially in the preseason or the early part of the season. Sometimes they get all worked up over who is getting the most press, or who the coach likes the best, or who is #1 on the depth chart to start. It’s important to know where you stand, of course. But if you perform well these things have a way of working out.

Case in point. One of my former pitching students came home from college at Winter Break very unhappy. Despite having hit pretty well during fall ball, she was told by her college coach not to bother working on hitting because she wouldn’t be seeing many plate appearances. If she was going to pitch, he wanted her focused on that. She loves to hit and was going to miss that part of the game.

Well, when the first games of the season rolled around, she was allowed to hit for herself, both when she played first and when she pitched. She started off on the low half of the batting order, but in the last few games she’s been hitting cleanup — and doing quite well there.

So despite the early word, she kept working and proved herself. That’s a great lesson for all of us. Not just in softball but in life. It really doesn’t matter where you start out. Only where you finish. So if things aren’t going your way right now, hang in there. Keep working hard, and be ready when your opportunity comes. If you can do the job, your coach will want you in there.