Congratulations Napa Envy Gold 14U!

[Foul Ball Magnet]

Mocha, I am not sure why you are still so butthurt about all of this. The Envy manager came on here in person and explained why they were in the tournament... which was NOT listed as a "B" tournament by DF Softball. With so many small fringe teams in NorCal, it is hard to know what you will face on any given weekend. So many teams with one or two studs (coaches DD's) and the rest should be playing rec ball.

It is not Envy's fault that all of the other teams they faced could not compete with them. As far as playing in Suisun, it was advertised as a Napa/Suisun area tournament so until the brackets come out, you have no idea what fields you are at. I am sure they were hoping for a Napa venue. Again, no great conspiracy there.

What I really want to know is how the heck a 14U team cannot even get three fricking outs for 65 minutes. How many walks and errors were involved in that top of the 1st inning? Boggles the mind.

I do have to laugh that all of a sudden you felt the need to list your DD's stats. Good for her, glad she had a bit of success. Hopefully she learned something out of the game that will help her compete better in the future. I am sure she has probably already moved on and is thinking about the next tourney... maybe you should move on too.

[speechash1]

Mocha Mike-

I am a parent for a player on the 14u Envy Gold team. I must admit that I am getting quite the laugh out of the comments being made regarding Envy Gold and wanted to share a few thoughts.

1) When we signed up for this tournament, we thought it was going to be in Napa. We were very bummed when we found out it was in Suisun. Yes, we usually play out of town but our team manager lets us stay local about once every season. Playing locally usually means weaker competition, but not always. Over the past 5 years that my daughter has played softball, the level of competition has varied greatly at the DF tournaments... you just never know what you will get until that weekend comes.

2) In hindsight, we probably should have played up in the 16/18 level, but we did not realize that until we started playing the other teams. My daughter is only 12 years old, will be 13 next month. She already plays up an age level to further develop her skills and to keep her reaching her fullest potential. Over half of our team is doing the same thing. My daughter is the tiniest one on the team, she is barely 5 ft tall and is lucky to weigh 100 pounds. She's a very good athlete, she's the starting center fielder and is the lead off batter. Although it's a bit scary to picture her playing against 15/16/17 year olds at this point in time.

3) I have no idea who (Tyler Durden) is- to us he's just a random person commenting on this post. He is not a parent or affiliated to Envy Gold in any way. I must admit that his comments are quite entertaining though!

4) Thank-you for complimenting our coaches and players for being courteous and respectful during our games. I cannot say the same for some of your parents. My daughter relayed to be some of the comments she overheard from your parents such as, "Go back to Colorado!" How is that an appropriate comment to be making to a 12 year old player whose just there to play some softball? I won't repeat some of the other things she heard coming from your stands.

5) Yes, our team traveled to San Diego, Fountain Valley and Colorado for some tournaments last Spring/Summer. Did we do well in those tournaments? Absolutely not! We played in those tournaments to see "real life softball at its finest". They took their losses in stride and then came home and worked that much harder to get better both individually and as a team. I think that teams often learn more when they lose than when they win.

6) My daughter told me that she did have a good time playing softball this weekend. It wasn't because we beat a bunch of teams, it wasn't because we won the championship, it was because she was doing what she LOVES, playing softball. She was also excited to see some local friends playing from other teams- something she doesn't get the chance to do when she plays out of town so often. She also had her grandparents from Fort Bragg there to watch her play, something they can't do very often when we head down south or out of state.

7) Lastly... our Championship game against the Chico Aces was very competitive- our final score was 4-1. This team was also a very good team and gave us a good run until we finally broke through in the bottom of the 4th and scored our runs. The game was 0-0 until the 4th inning. If your team had played the Chico Aces, would you be complaining about them too? I'm sure they weren't too thrilled to drive all the way from Chico to play a bunch of much weaker teams. I know we gave them the game they were looking for Sunday afternoon. One of our Saturday games had a score of 9-3, I don't consider that a shut out. That team was able to compete with us and isn't on here complaining..


I'm sorry you and your team feel bad about this past weekend's games, it clearly was not our teams intention to do so! Our head coach Rick also came on here trying to explain that same thing, but I don't think you really heard him. Let's all use this past weekend as a good learning experience and don't worry... I don't think you will be seeing our team again anytime soon.

[MochaMike]

Thanks for posting up... Interesting that you joined today to make your first post.

May I ask how you found out about this thread?

Can you answer the questions about posted by others regarding the 21-0 victory stats?

Next, I heard from through the rumorville that your team was initially supposed to play in a different tournament but it was cancelled so you were a last minute sign up for the Napa/Suisun tourney... Is this true?

As for your daughter being 12, good for her.... I remember her because many of the other girls were over 5'5 & built like bricks. However, she is playing up & on a good "A" team.

Don't you think it was a waste of your time to be there?

As for the 9-3 game Saturday, that was against the Windsor Wicked, who is actually one of the better B tourney teams in the area...... (won several tourneys during the summer), I was surprised when I saw the 9-3 posting.....

As for the Chico A's... they had a good 1+ hour break before the game with the Envy.... Envy played 3 back to back, and I imagine scoring 30+ runs in 3 hours is tiring.

As for the Colorado comment she was rather frustrated (rightfully so) & I actually repremanded that parent & asked her to take the high road.

[MochaMike]

It is not Envy's fault that all of the other teams they faced could not compete with them.

I never blamed the players/parents.... The Manager/Coaches are responsible. I'm pretty sure your aware some thought is given by most teams as to which tourney they play & who they play against. The more competative the team, the more thought involved. After all, it does effect a team's reputation.

I do have to laugh that all of a sudden you felt the need to list your DD's stats. Good for her, glad she had a bit of success. Hopefully she learned something out of the game that will help her compete better in the future. I am sure she has probably already moved on and is thinking about the next tourney... maybe you should move on too.

This point does have some validity. I posted that because she was proud (as was I) of her performance... Maybe it was selfish/bragging... The point I was trying to make is overall, you are right, she did move on (that is one of her strong suits, she recovers quickly mentally on & off the field)... But I'm pretty sure several of the other girls didn't feel that way.... They were truly questioning why they were there/playing against a team that was that good.

[artomatic]

Oh my!
And to think I almost missed this post.

MochaMike, what exactly are you trying to accomplish here?
When you go fishing on the internet, you never know what you will catch, and it seems to me you don't like the opinions you are fishing for.

You sure have spent a lot of time and energy researching the hell out of this Envy team, time that could have been spent worrying about your team's own set of problems.
The Envy coach showed a whole lot of restraint in his reply, which he really didn't need to waste time on.
Nobody on that team owes you a damn thing, take your 9th place trophy and move along.

And who is Tyler Durden you ask?
He's the hero Napa/Suisun deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. A dark knight.

God Bless Hey Bucket and softball parents.

[Tyler Durden]

Thanks for posting up... Interesting that you joined today to make your first post.

May I ask how you found out about this thread?

Mikey, why is that interesting?

[MochaMike]

MochaMike, what exactly are you trying to accomplish here?.

Is this a retorical question? I clearly questioning the ethics of a talented & proud A team playing in a slightly better than house tourney.

You sure have spent a lot of time and energy researching the hell out of this Envy team, time that could have been spent worrying about your team's own set of problems.

Not really, 5-10 minutes on google told me all I need to know. I'm not a coach, I'm a parent... And I'm pretty sure my daughter's team doesn't have a "set of problems".

As for "a lot of time"... Do you have a daughter currently playing? I'm trying to figure out why a 52 year man would have 2.5k posts on a girls softball BB.

Nobody on that team owes you a damn thing, take your 9th place trophy and move along.

Technically, it would be 3rd or 4th.

And who is Tyler Durden you ask?
He's the hero Napa/Suisun deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. A dark knight.

Sounds like you have a crush?

[MochaMike]

Thanks for posting up... Interesting that you joined today to make your first post.

May I ask how you found out about this thread?

Mikey, why is that interesting?

You know why. And it's Mike, which is my real name... (unlike a schizophrenic pseudonym).

[cazzy]

Its been a while. I am very excited forArts retort.

[jtat32]

The games were played in Suisun, not Napa..

But they still got to play in Whine Country.





Thank you ladies and gentlemen. - I'll be here all week.