| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| coachz |
Posted - 01/27/2009 : 10:00:21
Why does it seem this tournament is nowhere near what is was maybe 3yrs ago? Has the bad weather hurt it that much? It just seems to have lost it's shine. |
| 14 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Mike Corbin |
Posted - 01/30/2009 : 21:31:30
I see a "Battle of the Best" that is being hosted by Brian Shook and the 11u Longhorns. Is that the same one? Otherwise I can't find a listing for "Tournament of Champions on the 11u tournament page of the EC website. |
| Mike Corbin |
Posted - 01/30/2009 : 17:20:14
Is there an 11u East Cobb Tournament of Champions? If so who is running it? And what are the dates?
I know that there is a TOC in Cincinatti, hosted by the Cincy Flames, over July 4th but that is the only one I know about. |
| tater77bug |
Posted - 01/30/2009 : 13:39:45
Lomax is arrow straight on this...BITS is as good as any...and it's in the middle of nowhwere...very well ran, very well advertised, fields are just okay, but they are light years ahead of Border Wars...my feeling is that as long as it says it is sponsored by "chattanooga colonels" then it is not under new management but just another set of parents from the same park...I hope it is better than it has been lately...funny thing is 12u is loaded at BW. |
| baseball12s |
Posted - 01/30/2009 : 10:35:18
These tournaments that are trying to attract National Attention should do a better job of recruiting teams. The two top tournaments that I have seen around the Southeast and probably in the country in the 12 year old groups are the Battle in the South and the East Cobb Tournament of Champions.
Both of these tournaments have gained National attention because they recruit the teams and offer the teams to play against the best competition around. Most of the major teams want to face the best of the best weekend and week out. The facilities also help but the way the tournament is ran and the competition definetely attract the better teams. Both of the above tournaments are completely full by January 1st each year. Observing both the Battle in the South and the East Cobb Tournamnet of Champions I would have to say that these are the premier tournaments in the country next to the respective World Series. If I'm not mistaken Im pretty sure that the Tournament of Champions offers 2 game pool and then Double Elimination with 24 teams in the event. With the way the economy is now a days tournament hosts need to think about trying to play a guarantee of 4 games. |
| greglomax |
Posted - 01/30/2009 : 09:52:39
For 11-14 age groups Battle in the South has replaced Border Wars as the "Get in early or you won't get in" tournament of the year. I believe this is for 2 reasons:
1) BITS is in May, not March, so the chances of better weather is higher
2) The tournament has a national draw that brings teams in from CA, TX, FL, OH, etc)
For the 13U division, BITS will be tougher than any Super NIT this year. |
| coachz |
Posted - 01/30/2009 : 09:07:18
I think the new management is hearing plenty with the lack of teams entered. This tournament, at one time, was one you had to be entered in by the first of January or you would be shut out. Now it's struggling to get 10 teams. Looks like the Scorpions are the only 10u's "traveling" to this one now. |
| Hook Em Horns |
Posted - 01/29/2009 : 09:02:24
Tell the New Management to get into the 21st century and update the tournamnet via the web on a website. A tourney this size should offer that convenience. Hanging around at the fileds till midnight to find our who you'll play is a joke when everyone has interent acceess these days. Just my .02 |
| cobras08 |
Posted - 01/28/2009 : 21:39:17
It baffles me that so many coaches and parents complain about field conditions??? I can understand if the size is not right for the age group but what hapened to the day's of playing the game and performance?? too much is put into the fields, bats, gloves, shoes, etc. I like some of the old parks like "we old folk" played on. we payed no attention to the fields and equipment just baseball and our teams performance! not all areas have the money like we do in Cobb for sports venues and its good to take your team and show how blessed we are!! |
| greglomax |
Posted - 01/28/2009 : 19:56:53
My understanding is the people who ran the tournament a few years ago are not the same people that run it now. The people running it before were doing it as a fundraiser for their travel team. I believe they broke up or moved on to HS teams. The tournament was handed off to another group who run it now.
The biggest problem is the weather, just like Slugfest. No matter how well it is put on, you can't do anything about mother nature. |
| tater77bug |
Posted - 01/28/2009 : 11:48:41
Gosh, I haven't been called a whipper snapper in 40 something years. I am fam to home cooking but directors are not priveleged to anything except pulling off a quality tourney and getting to enjoy being at the park and seeing kids enjoy the game. If they feel they are entitled to any advantage they are in IT for the wrong reason...surely someone with your experience would know that....I do agree that it makes no sense to blame someone from Rome for this Tourney's problems the last few years...they can't control the rain but they could be more organized in the event of rain and the park is just awful for an elite tourney...maybe it could be moved to East Ridge, Jack Mattox, or even Heritage in Dalton...I agree that the competition makes the tourney but having gone to the Cincy Flames tourney last year with teams from all over the country, I am convinced that if you do not play on good fields then you are subject to having teams not come back...the fields in Cincy were a joke...and i heard many teams say they would not be back...I too hope that Border Wars regains some steam. It is an excellant early opportunity to play against some very fine teams. But with some facility upgrades and organization it could become one of the Elite tourneys in the country.....right now it is not an elite tourney....just an opinion from one of the lil rascals...LOL |
| tater77bug |
Posted - 01/28/2009 : 08:48:02
I have to agree, the park they play at is below average at best. And the local team seems to have a surprisingly easy pool. Obviously they can't control the weather but that park is a joke for high end travel baseball. Not an elite tourney!!! |
| baseballpapa |
Posted - 01/27/2009 : 22:05:23
How does any team from Rome keep a good travel team from playing in Chattanooga. Any team that has played in the Border Wars knows without being told by Rome that the tournament is only a fragment of what it once was. I've played longer than you little rascals and I fully expect the home team to have the most favorable of pairings especially in the early goings while I am paired against the top 1 or 2 teams in the country out of the block. For you young whipper snappers this is called "Home Cooking." and comes with the privelege of being the host and director. But it makes it so much sweeter to hoist that trophy when you know you have bested the best that they could throw at you.
But the good news for the Border Wars is that I hear the tournament is "UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT" and hopefully will again rise to being known as one the better elite tournaments in the Southeast because what made the tournament great when it was great was the caliber of teams not the director of the tournament. Most top notch teams thirst for the chance to beat the best and if the best is not there then the victory is not as sweet.
One piece of advice for the new Director. If you see you are not going to be able to play, do not open your parking lots, charge the weekend admission fee and then slide off into the sunset without any refunds.
|
| Marinersfan |
Posted - 01/27/2009 : 12:59:06
In my view its the perpetually bad weather in TN this early in the year, average fields, questionable (at best) decisions related to weather (last year, the teams played in the mud bowl friday night, sat around all day in the pouring rain Saturday until they officially called it Saturday evening), long way to go when metro Atlanta teams get paired up with the same local teams they play every week instead of out-of-state teams, no website to track games.... Not an elite tournament in my opinion, but others may disagree. |
| tombstone |
Posted - 01/27/2009 : 10:56:38
I HEARD IT WAS THE BUNCH FROM ROME THAT HAS RUN EVERYONE OFF |
