Little League Softball World Series (Does anyone care?)

[TheCloser]

I saw the LL softball site yesterday and saw that some team from Grand Terrance, CA is in the LLWS for softball and gets to be on ESPN. Has anyone ever played them? How good are they? Again, sad to see ESPN televise rec ball when they or someone else on one of the 500 channels on cable should televise the girls.

I just spent my morning watching the 18U Gold Nationals on the Internet with a bad camera man and those girls are all D1 athletes with some playing or going to big time schools! That came clearly should've been televised on ESPNU or something!

[MTR]

I saw the LL softball site yesterday and saw that some team from Grand Terrance, CA is in the LLWS for softball and gets to be on ESPN. Has anyone ever played them? How good are they? Again, sad to see ESPN televise rec ball when they or someone else on one of the 500 channels on cable should televise the girls.

ESPN doesn't have a choice. It is a package. To show the boys, you need to show the girls.

I just spent my morning watching the 18U Gold Nationals on the Internet with a bad cameraman and those girls are all D1 athletes with some playing or going to big time schools! That came clearly should've been televised on ESPNU or something!

ESPN was set to do the 18U last year, but would only do tape delay.

[TheCloser]

I'd take tape delay any day over not having it televised at all. The more exposure for softball the better.

I was happy to at least enjoy the games for the Internet. I guess we can chalk this one up to one-step at a time.

I'd love to see one our our top 12U travel teams like CA Smith or OC Impact go up against the LLWS softball winner. That would probably be a 14-0 game or something like that. That would probably help point some networks in the right direction.'

Can you imagine ESPN having a Jenny Finch on the OC Batbusters before she was famous.

[Martin]

It's not about the quality of play. It never will be because, frankly, watching 12 year olds that you do not know personally solely on the basis of their athletic abilities will NEVER make compelling TV. Even if they happen to be the very best 12YOs in the nation.

Williamsport will draw over 50,000 people for the Championship Game alone. They've been drawing these crowds long before the TV contract was in place. Decades before. The ASA 18U Gold Championship had about 100 people in attendance, most of them friends and family. Looks like we have some work to do.

But be careful what you ask for. Turning your 12YO into a shill for the ESPN/ABC/Walt Disney media monster may not be all that it's cracked up to be. They ask your kid a bunch of questions and if she answers them correctly (ie, their favorite show/movie/actor/food/etc... can somehow tie into a cross-promotion of one of their products), then she is put on the screen. We can watch radar guns display the pitching speeds of 12YOs and listen to coaches talk in the dugout as their players fail before a national TV audience. And in return for your free performance, they make millions.

[Sof T]

The umpiring was some of the worst I ever saw. The first base guy made three horribly wrong calls at first, called a strike on appeal, that the girl didn't get the bat off her shoulder. The commentators played one replay, and were ashamed to talk about it.
Then to top it all off, the third base umpire called time and kicked dirt off the base, never even reached for his brush, if he even had one.

[wadeintothem]

The umpiring was some of the worst I ever saw. The first base guy made three horribly wrong calls at first, called a strike on appeal, that the girl didn't get the bat off her shoulder. The commentators played one replay, and were ashamed to talk about it.
Then to top it all off, the third base umpire called time and kicked dirt off the base, never even reached for his brush, if he even had one.

That base umpire was beyond pathetic and horrible. The plate umpire seemed to do OK. The 1BU was an embarrassment.