PGF Meeting??

[ontheblack]

Wow. Nice response, Is this the type hospitality that out of town teams can expect from our friends out west?

Don't let it bother you, these guys have won exactly as many PGF titles as you have.

True, but at least we are talking about Nationals (ASA and PGF) where good teams from California are participating, placing and winning. Take a look at the 60+ teams at the Utrip World Series in 2011 and let me know which ones from California you have seen play.

Do good California teams go to the PGF because they think it is the best or because it is in their own backyard??(Is that not one of the reasons it was started??) Many very good teams do not make the trip to ASA or PGF because of the distances involved- hard to comprehend for some diehard softball people- but a reality. The vast majority of teams from the east coast NEVER travel west of the mississippi- most never even come close to it. Most of the organizations on the east coast have never heard of PGF- those who have that are not in the "chosen group" for the Northeast qualifier find the slots already filled by out of area teams given the inside track. There are many very good teams that either do not do a "nationals" or if they do it is within driving distance. If PGF really wants to be a true national tournament-IMO they need to get a better presence outside of the California, Arizona & Texas and find some more high calibre teams from other parts of the country. Drop the invites to all but the previous top ten finishers and those who host qualifiers. PGF I feel have done a great job so far-but it could be so much more.

If he is a 97 in OKC, then playing ASA in Bloomington was certainly closer than Florida, so why didnt they go after the original brass ring?

Based in California means annual travel to the likes of Birmingham, Bloomington, Chatanooga, Midland, Moline, etc. My kid's team and the vast majority of the teams she plays seek the best competition available. Prior to last year, that meant ASA. This year my kid will play PGF if they qualify and if not, then ASA in Sioux City, which compared to previous years is almost the West Coast. If u-trip was in SoCal and PGF was east of the Mississippi, we would still be going to PGF or ASA because that is where the best play. Period.

As for a greater national presence, 4 states (the 3 mentioned plus Georgia) make up the majority of the top 25 at ASA at this level.

FWIW, most of the good 97 14U teams that will be at PGF have played at nothing but 43' since September. We all have the same advantages and disadvantages as he would have competing at ASA or PGF.

[LETHAL WEAPON 25]

So basically what your saying without just coming out and saying it is.....We must suck, because we've never played ASA or PGF.

As for a greater national presence, 4 states (the 3 mentioned plus Georgia) make up the majority of the top 25 at ASA at this level.
Hmmmm.....I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure that in Midland last year at ASA/USA the 14U winner AND 2nd place team neither one, came from those 4 states. The winner was from Ohio and 2nd was Tennesee Fury.
FWIW, most of the good 97 14U teams that will be at PGF have played at nothing but 43' since September. We all have the same advantages and disadvantages as he would have competing at ASA or PGF.
The obvious difference being it wont cost your local teams 30 Grand to be there.

Look Im bored with this already. I wish your DD's team the best of luck at PGF. It's very fortunate that you live close enough that such a high caliber tournament is available to you at a very affordable cost. You guys can continue to make light of the whole 40' vs 43' issue if you want. We will agree to disagree. I just believe it is very difficult on a good hitting team to play 90 games at 43' then switch to 40' for your final 10 against the toughest competition in the country. At the very least you would be at a considerable disadvantage. Listen, Im no dumb ass, I know how difficult it is to compete at that level. You not only have to have an Extremely talented team, but you have to catch the right breaks, and probably need to get Lucky somewhere along the way. And that is not even considering the pitching distance. Could we adjust? Probably.....Could we be competitive? Most likely ....... Could we win it? at 40' Not very likely. At this point, Having a decent opportunity to win is still important when your talking about spending that kind of dough. I know you guys will scream about playing the best competition ( which we do all year long. We play 16's till the National Level stuff ) and college recruiting should be the emphasis and all that, but you guys are smart enough to know that if your relying on the National you play to get your kids deals then your probably in trouble on that front anyway. I promise you, if we NEVER played an ASA or PGF National, our kids aren't gonna have any trouble getting opportunities at the next level.
Oh and for the record we will be playing in the Freedom Invitational in Colorado in June (formerly the fireworks) I believe that is an ASA tournament which will be 40' that will have SEVERAL elite travel teams in it. Just thought I'd mention that in case you guys want to keep insinuating that we dont want to play tough competition. Maybe we'll see some of you there??
Once again good luck to all, here is wishing for a fun, injury free season.

[exD1dad]

Hey Jonriv..there's great athletes everywhere but if you break it down to simple population from Ventura County north of LA to the border there's 19 million people to draw from in So Cal, that's huge...Oklahoma has what 3.25 millionish ? Alabama has the same population as the greater philadelphia area & so on & so on. That makes the talent a mathematical equation that gets converted into an abundance of Cali players moving to the next level, it's like the best Mens Lacrosse players have always come from Long Island & MD cuz there's more of them.

90066's DD is the captain of my DD's HS team & she played down in San Diego for a season & look where she ended up (200 miles give or take they commuted) my DD's TB team just picked up a kid from Bakersfield (100 miles away from the San Fernando Valley) & she played last year down in Orange County. People like that set goals to be the best doing whatever it takes. Seven weeks ago we played a team from Las Vegas ..for a friendly, A friendly... why ? because they want to hone their skills against the best possible competition. Whether we think PGF is the best or not we'd be idiots not to make that our #1 priority in today's troubled economic times. Sure we can go to USSA world series in West Covina or NFA in San Diego or Hemet or whatever but that's 2nd tier in SoCal. It's great for a lot of people.

So when somebody like Lethal Weapon says they're not coming cuz it's it's 40 ft..My BS radar starts bouncing off the charts....Trust me I now the difference between being a big fish in a small pond & competing with the best in the nation.

[fastpitchdad05]

Hey Jonriv..there's great athletes everywhere but if you break it down to simple population from Ventura County north of LA to the border there's 19 million people to draw from in So Cal, that's huge...Oklahoma has what 3.25 millionish ? Alabama has the same population as the greater philadelphia area & so on & so on. That makes the talent a mathematical equation that gets converted into an abundance of Cali players moving to the next level, it's like the best Mens Lacrosse players have always come from Long Island & MD cuz there's more of them.

90066's DD is the captain of my DD's HS team & she played down in San Diego for a season & look where she ended up (200 miles give or take they commuted) my DD's TB team just picked up a kid from Bakersfield (100 miles away from the San Fernando Valley) & she played last year down in Orange County. People like that set goals to be the best doing whatever it takes. Seven weeks ago we played a team from Las Vegas ..for a friendly, A friendly... why ? because they want to hone their skills against the best possible competition. Whether we think PGF is the best or not we'd be idiots not to make that our #1 priority in today's troubled economic times. Sure we can go to USSA world series in West Covina or NFA in San Diego or Hemet or whatever but that's 2nd tier in SoCal. It's great for a lot of people.

So when somebody like Lethal Weapon says they're not coming cuz it's it's 40 ft..My BS radar starts bouncing off the charts....Trust me I now the difference between being a big fish in a small pond & competing with the best in the nation.

Totally agree about the BS radar, I thought the same thing.

Either way they'll have their chance to put up or shut up next year with no 40 ft excuse to fall back on. Who knows if they'll even qualify.

[exD1dad]

oh you're in it for another title on your signature

I don't think you guys suck, I just think you have misplaced priorities..if you don't need PGF or ASA to move your girls up why you going to Colorado ? BS, 40 ft BS You remind me of the kid who owned the only foot ball on my block growing up in Detroit, when he didn't get any passes thrown to him he took his ball & went home. You play to win..I get it

One day you might get lucky & learn there's more to life than winning.

[jonriv]

Hey Jonriv..there's great athletes everywhere but if you break it down to simple population from Ventura County north of LA to the border there's 19 million people to draw from in So Cal, that's huge...Oklahoma has what 3.25 millionish ? Alabama has the same population as the greater philadelphia area & so on & so on. That makes the talent a mathematical equation that gets converted into an abundance of Cali players moving to the next level, it's like the best Mens Lacrosse players have always come from Long Island & MD cuz there's more of them.

90066's DD is the captain of my DD's HS team & she played down in San Diego for a season & look where she ended up (200 miles give or take they commuted) my DD's TB team just picked up a kid from Bakersfield (100 miles away from the San Fernando Valley) & she played last year down in Orange County. People like that set goals to be the best doing whatever it takes. Seven weeks ago we played a team from Las Vegas ..for a friendly, A friendly... why ? because they want to hone their skills against the best possible competition. Whether we think PGF is the best or not we'd be idiots not to make that our #1 priority in today's troubled economic times. Sure we can go to USSA world series in West Covina or NFA in San Diego or Hemet or whatever but that's 2nd tier in SoCal. It's great for a lot of people.

So when somebody like Lethal Weapon says they're not coming cuz it's it's 40 ft..My BS radar starts bouncing off the charts....Trust me I now the difference between being a big fish in a small pond & competing with the best in the nation.

I agree that the 40- 43 sounds like BS. Very weak

My only point is that(conceding California & ASA dominance) is that there are some excellent teams in the Northeast that you guys just never see. ASA is just not the dominate org here(a rec team was runner-up in the CT State champs two years ago) Most orgs and parents in my area are not willing to make the trip to Ok or California. Most consider going to NC or Ohio a big deal(I am not saying they are right) Many very good teams do not even do a national tournament. They feel they get a better bang for their buck doing more local tournaments. The teams that most of you see from the Northeast is a small sampling and in many cases not the best.

I would love to see more Northeast teams venture out- it would serve them well. When my DD's team went to the TCS WS in Park City(I know, not a big-time tournament) they were one of only two teams from the Northeast. At the NSA in Charlotte- they were one of five.....

I commend teams that seek great opponents- would love to see a CT or NY team "tour" California and play local teams, but I doubt it will happen

[3'sDad]

If someone wants to extend the PGF invite to DD's 14U team from here back East instead of Lethal Weapon's team, DD and her pitching partners will be happy to pitch from 40'.

The movement pithes will move a bit less and the speed pitches will be quicker....and DD's change-up may even be more effective. Plus Mom & Dad would enjoy the week in sunny CA.

Just my $0.02.

[jonriv]

If someone wants to extend the PGF invite to DD's 14U team from here back East instead of Lethal Weapon's team, DD and her pitching partners will be happy to pitch from 40'.

The movement pithes will move a bit less and the speed pitches will be quicker....and DD's change-up may even be more effective. Plus Mom & Dad would enjoy the week in sunny CA.

Just my $0.02.

NIce....

[LETHAL WEAPON 25]

If someone wants to extend the PGF invite to DD's 14U team from here back East instead of Lethal Weapon's team, DD and her pitching partners will be happy to pitch from 40'.

The movement pithes will move a bit less and the speed pitches will be quicker....and DD's change-up may even be more effective. Plus Mom & Dad would enjoy the week in sunny CA.

Just my $0.02.

Really, it's not about the pitchers. Well unless you have one throwing in the 60's. That type pitcher is going to dominate most games at 40' by herself. It has more to do with hitting. I dont see why it is so hard for you folks to understand that if you spend all season seeing 60 from 43' that it might be a little difficult to expect all 12 girls to adjust to 60 from 40' in IDK a week???
You guys can call it BS if you want, but I know it must be a factor because last year they tried to put on a 43' tournament in Texas and invited a bunch of the top teams, but most of the good Texas teams said they wouldn't come if it was 43' because it was a week before their HOF qualifier which was going to be 40'. Funny, alot of those same teams were banging on us for saying it was silly that the RM College Exposure was 40'.
So why don't we get to what is really the issue, weaker hitting teams LOVE 40' because they can go get a dominate pitcher and survive. Those same teams would get destroyed at 43'. Why? because 43' is a way more OFFENSIVE game and you have to be able to hit from top to bottom to compete. Daddy cant hide his daughters .200 batting avg behind his pitchers 0.9 ERA
Because as you guys who really understand the game know, the 3' is HUGE. I dont care if your shooting it out of a potato rocket from 43' a good hitting team is gonna hit it. You better be able to pitch and not just throw. I'm sure you softball geniuses know the difference.

[Sftbll4ever]

I can tell with for certain, there were MANY teams that placed in the top 10 in PGF last year played mostly 16u right up until the tournament. The did QUITE well!