Texas Teams In Colorado - Few End Up in Top of Brackets

[softball3421]

I think Texas had a pretty good showing in Colorado. Looks like Texas teams did not fair quite so well at the Indy. Congratulations to these teams for a great week, and to all teams that accomplished their goals of showing off their girls on a big stage.

Texas Aces Express McCorkle - 18U Gold was the last Texas team standing and they tied for 9th place out of a 100 or so teams. I would say that is fairing OK.

There were 80 teams in Indy.
I would not classify 4 TX teams in the final 32 and 1 in the final 16 as fairing OK if you are looking at the overall picture.

That's exactly what I was saying. Of course there are still some elite top level teams in Texas but it's my belief that in general, overall, the talent is down this year in Texas. I'm not just talking about Colorado either. I have seen a lot of average to below average teams at all the qualifiers this summer as well. Maybe a product of early commitments? Players who are committed early are now less motivated? Seemed to be a big run over the last 1-2 years on these early verbals.

[CULater]

I don't think the talent level is down as much as I think there are too many "Gold" teams.

We are back to where we were before ASA created the Gold designation. I don't know of any 18A teams in Texas. They all try and qualify for Gold or PGF.

[softball3421]

I don't think the talent level is down as much as I think there are too many "Gold" teams.

We are back to where we were before ASA created the Gold designation. I don't know of any 18A teams in Texas. They all try and qualify for Gold or PGF.

I'll agree with that too! I have long said we need a couple of early season tournaments to qualify to be "Gold". Then host your regional and southern qualifiers with those teams who have been recognized as gold level teams.

Now that I think about it, this would also help the topic being discussed on the other thread in regards to umpires. If you cut these "Gold" qualifiers down to 24 or 36 teams then they could hire just the top level umpires.

These 100+ team qualifiers are just plain stupid!

[Trophy Hunter]

Why would anyone leave the Boulder tournament to go to Fireworks?
I heard many oaches were upset with the TC format since teams were so spread out at severals different parks and they said they were spending more time driving around then watching games.
I know Indy was loaded with coaches.

Wasn't impressed by the overall turnout of colleges at Fireworks. They had a big list of hundreds up on the board, but we spent a lot of time at three different parks watching a variety of teams and the turn out seemed dismal.

I heard there were 900 teams at Fireworks / Sparkler across the age groups and that might account for part of it. There were numerous parks, a lot of road construction, and commuting from one park to another could take upwards of an hour. There wasn't a single game or venue I would say was "loaded" with coaches.

I don't recall seeing a single coach from a name program - no Pac, no SEC, no Big 10 or Big 12. I'm sure they were around somewhere, but obviously traveling on a different circuit than we did, and we were at mostly Super 96 and the top 16u elimination games. Last year was like a "who is who" but this year was like "where are they."

Fireworks wasn't very coach friendly, IMO, (spread out, no programs, hard to find teams with so many playing, even the food carts for the coaches were carrying around day old warm fruit!) With many more of the top teams in Boulder it seems like Fireworks lost a lot of ground this year from a recruiting standpoint. I'm sure they made a ton of money though, and will rake in even more next year with entry fees going up from around $1100 to around $1600.

[sward]

At the coaches meeting on Monday, they said over 818 teams and close to 12,500 players. Not sure if that included the Jr Sparkler in Colorado Springs either. Traffic was a nightmare to get to the parks and some of the addresses and locations were tough to get to for even my new GPS. However, my DD enjoyed herself and we got to see some good teams. Would have liked to done better, but that's how life goes. I remember seeing Mizzu and Iowa State at some remote sites we played at, but not sure if there were others. I know they were pushing the coaches to be more "electronic" and were pushing scouting tools via iPad and iPhone. One think that got my attention is that each televised game cost TCS about 30K. So that is where I am thinking a lot of money went.

Scott

[softball3421]

At the coaches meeting on Monday, they said over 818 teams and close to 12,500 players. Not sure if that included the Jr Sparkler in Colorado Springs either. Traffic was a nightmare to get to the parks and some of the addresses and locations were tough to get to for even my new GPS. However, my DD enjoyed herself and we got to see some good teams. Would have liked to done better, but that's how life goes. I remember seeing Mizzu and Iowa State at some remote sites we played at, but not sure if there were others. I know they were pushing the coaches to be more "electronic" and were pushing scouting tools via iPad and iPhone. One think that got my attention is that each televised game cost TCS about 30K. So that is where I am thinking a lot of money went.

Scott

I read on the Belmont coach's twitter account that he had driven over 1,000 miles during the week in Colorado which was some 300 more miles than his previous record.

[Phantomz08]

I think Texas had a pretty good showing in Colorado. Looks like Texas teams did not fair quite so well at the Indy. Congratulations to these teams for a great week, and to all teams that accomplished their goals of showing off their girls on a big stage.

Texas Aces Express McCorkle - 18U Gold was the last Texas team standing and they tied for 9th place out of a 100 or so teams. I would say that is fairing OK.

There were 80 teams in Indy.
I would not classify 4 TX teams in the final 32 and 1 in the final 16 as fairing OK if you are looking at the overall picture.

Dang it Spaz, why you have to go and burst my bubble.

I guess being the only Texas team in the final 16 was a huge accomlishment for us, not for Texas as a whole.

Thanks for bringing me back to earth.

What place did ya'll finish? I stopped by the fields around 1:30 or so on Sunday and could tell who was playing the championship game for our bracket, but was clueless as to the other two games going on. Please explain.

[GO REBS]

I think Boulder was the place to be as far as recruiting goes. I saw top D1 coaches at every game. Practice. Pool. Bracket. Having only two complexes to play and only a mile apart makes it easier. Oh and the competition wasn't to shabby either.

GO REBS

[br9467]

Having been at both, hands down Boulder had way more. In our game against EC Bullets, the whole SEC contingent plus a few west coast biggies were there. They were watching the EC pitcher throw heat from about 38-40 ft with a beautiful crow hop. Umpire said he was instructed not to call IP's. Really, who did that do any good, the girl? I aint taking anything away from her because of that because she was humping it up there. But there were way more d1 major schools in Boulder.

[sward]

At the coaches meeting on Monday, they said over 818 teams and close to 12,500 players. Not sure if that included the Jr Sparkler in Colorado Springs either. Traffic was a nightmare to get to the parks and some of the addresses and locations were tough to get to for even my new GPS. However, my DD enjoyed herself and we got to see some good teams. Would have liked to done better, but that's how life goes. I remember seeing Mizzu and Iowa State at some remote sites we played at, but not sure if there were others. I know they were pushing the coaches to be more "electronic" and were pushing scouting tools via iPad and iPhone. One think that got my attention is that each televised game cost TCS about 30K. So that is where I am thinking a lot of money went.

Scott

I read on the Belmont coach's twitter account that he had driven over 1,000 miles during the week in Colorado which was some 300 more miles than his previous record.

Growing up in Houston and living in ORD, PDX and now DFW, I would have to say that the roads and traffic in Denver sucks. However, I did find a few good micro brews. Kinda makes up for it. Gas was also about 50 cents a gallon more up there too. Never thought I would look forward to $3.09/gallon fuel.