PGF Finals Today !!!!

[fastpitchdad05]

@FPdad
Most of it is a numbers game. As one who's kid has always played in OC, there havent always been enough good teams with good coaches for all the kids who want to play. But that appears to be changing.

Its also cyclical with regards to talent. Case in point, a few years ago, my kid, fresh out of 12u, beat a well known SD org's 18 team. Today that wouldnt happen as that 18 team is pretty darn good.

The landscape changes quickly. At one time, being a BatBuster meant Case and Steve McNee was USA Athletics. Now we have Team Mizuno, an overnight sensation. In San Diego, TNL and Power Surge are winning again, there is a SD Bat Busters org fielding several teams, and a former founder of TNL trying to jump start the San Diego Aztecs. Heck, I hear even Tom Dodd is back.

Lots of choices today that didnt exist just a few years ago. Meanwhile Rico continues to dilute his org by doling out franchises at a rate that has McDonalds jealous.

Well I wish the landscape would change again...now!

Either that or have Team Mizuno ask my DD's org to be a San Diego branch.

http://www.teammizunofastpitch.com/faq

Wow. Ok thanks, never mind.

[AlwaysImprove]

So you're saying use the "super org" to get recruited and then bail on them if you don;t get playing time?

There's got to be a better way.

Nope. A purely mercenary mentality on the part of the organizations justifies--nay, requires--a correspondingly mercenary mentality on the part of the players. Anyway, it's one thing to ride the pine for a "super org" if you actually belong there (although even then it's not very smart if you've already been recruited). It's quite another if you are good enough to play and are never given an opportunity.

Tera Blanco is a stud, no question. I've been singing that kid's praises since 2007, when I first saw her play. Reasonable minds can certainly differ about whether she is better than the other studs that Rico had on his bench, when she is rested. But to go/stay with Blanco over, say, Sammy Cordova, when Sammy is fresh and Blanco isn't anywhere near it, well, that's a joke--and, as has been pointed out in this thread, it calls into question either the competence or the motivations of whoever is making that decision. Period.

Great observations as usual. For me org's largely a reflection of what parents want them to be.

The large 22 person roster with mercenary mentality is a direct out growth of the previous "version" of what teams were. Teams used to have 11 kids, and often many good teams would be shutdown because the #9, #10 and #11 kids on the roster would group together and shut the team down because they were not getting play time. This sometimes left the number 1 or number 2 pitcher in the nation sitting at home for Nationals.

[ontheblack]

The large 22 person roster with mercenary mentality is a direct out growth of the previous "version" of what teams were. Teams used to have 11 kids, and often many good teams would be shutdown because the #9, #10 and #11 kids on the roster would group together and shut the team down because they were not getting play time. This sometimes left the number 1 or number 2 pitcher in the nation sitting at home for Nationals.

Cheaper than sitting on the bench.