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.

Today is the first day of Spring, and the weather report calls for an inch of snow today, plus four to six inches tomorrow here in the Chicago area where I live. So much for global warming.

My advice, if you ever want to see high school ball played this year, is for everyone to get in their cars right now and start driving around. Also find any old aerosol cans you have and start spraying. Let’s do what we can to break down that ozone layer and get some warmth going so the snow stops and the fields can dry out.

Just one man’s opinion.

There was an interesting article in the New York Times today about athletic scholarships in college. Just in case the link goes dead I will try to summarize it.

Essentially it talks about how coaches of minor sports (including softball) don’t have nearly as much money to spend on scholarships as everyone thinks. While the money sports like football and basketball have tons of money to spend, sports like softball are challenged to try to make the money go as far as they can.

Here’s a quote from one college baseball coach:

“It’s like we have a salary cap from the professional sports model,” said Godri, whose baseball program can dole out the equivalent of six full scholarships across four years. “Except we’re dealing in thousands, not millions, and we have to stretch it across 25 or 30 kids.”

Imagine that. Six full scholarships across four years being stretched across 25 to 30 kids. That’s not a lot of money available. Sure, some schools have bigger softball budgets, but they also have their picks of the talent available too. From the article, it looks like there’s not that much money available in most schools. That lines up with what I’ve read and heard from college coaches, who talk about splitting scholarships.

What does that mean to the average softball parent? For one thing, if you’re paying for lessons in the belief that your investment will cover your daughter’s college expenses you could be in for a surprise. Even if she gets an athletic  scholarship it may not be enough to cover the difference, say, between a private and a state school. The truth is, if you’re looking for college money you’d be a lot better off investing the money in savings bonds. Or maybe Lottery tickets.

A better reason to invest in lessons is to help your daughter maximize her potential and have the best possible experience she can have. Success tends to breed success as they say, and being successful on the softball field can lead to success in other parts of life. It will also give her great memories that will last for years.

All is not lost in the college department, however. While you may not get all the money you hoped for, being an athlete can help you get into the college of your choice. Assuming you have the grades, if the softball coach wants you at the school he/she will walk your application in to the admissions department. He/she may also be able to help you get grants, academic scholarships, and other assistance.

The point is don’t count on scholarships. Look on them more as found money. Instead, invest in your daughter for her own sake. It will pay off for sure.

Had to share this with all of you. One of the things GoDaddy lets me do with this blog is check statistics such as how many page views articles have received and what browsers are being used. It also shows which posts have been printed the most.

So what are people into? Is it a particular view on hitting, or perhaps one of the how-tos on pitching? Nope. Almost always at the top of the list is a very old post about Buzz donuts — the donuts with added caffeine (as I recall). Guess it shows you where people’s minds are.

Alright, this is my fourth attempt to get this posted. There seems to be some sort of problem with the link mechanism today. And being able to link is important since I’m referencing something on the outside.

In any case, something cool happened for me over the weekend. I was asked to be featured as a Softball Authority/Guest Coachon the National Forum on Girls’ Fastpitch Softball blog. It’s a pretty cool sight with a number of interesting articles — an offshoot of the Softball Institute. The post before mine was a Q and A with Jennie Finch, so I’m in good company.

As part of the post I contributed an article you may find intesting. Check it out when you get a chance, and be sure to poke around the rest of the site. It’s full of great information. For those with Digg and similar accounts, I sure wouldn’t object to getting a few Diggs too!

Had dinner with my daughter Kimmie and her boyfriend Timmy (I’m not kidding) tonight. Timmy is a competitive paintball player who competed at the national level in 2007, so I’m assuming he’s pretty darned good.

While we were eating he mentioned that he had read one of my Softball Magazine articles — the most recent on making the most of what you have instead of fretting over what you don’t. He told me it had actually helped him in his approach to paintball.

You see, Timmy is short and rather slightly built. He said he would often wish he was taller so he could shoot over the barriers, and that it bothered him he wasn’t. After reading the article, though, he started thinking about it and realized he is very fast, and can move low to the ground — two assets in the level of paintball he plays. He said he’s learned to embrace those things, and not worry about the height thing.

Now, sure, he could’ve just been kissing the ass of the father of his girlfriend. But he seemed sincere. In any case, many of us spend a lot of time worrying about what we don’t have instead of working with what we do and creating opportunities with it. It was great to see an example of someone who took that advice to heart and used it to improve his game.

Normally this is not the sort of thing I would write about here. But as a graduate of Northern Illinois University and the father of two sons now in college at Eastern Illinois, the events of last Thursday have left a pretty marked impression.
 
I can’t help but think about the families of those victims and how difficult it must be to deal with the randomness of it all. I picture the families excitedly opening the acceptance letter when they found out they’d gotten into NIU. I picture them, like us, helping their kids move into their dorms or apartments to begin another semester, or celebrating the holidays not know that it would be their last together. And I picture students getting ready to go to class Thursday morning, perhaps wondering if they should blow it off for the day, and thinking about weekend plans that would never be.

In the softball world we often put way too much importance on which teams our kids make, where they’re hitting in the batting order, or whether they win a particular game. This is one of those reminders that all those things are minor in the big picture.

Hug your kids tonight.