| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| AllStar |
Posted - 07/12/2009 : 19:48:44
Only 1 GA team, the Powder Springs Titans, this week. I don't see them in USSSA. Anybody know, are they an All Star team?
They're 1-0.
4 GA teams next week. |
| 24 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| C. MORTON |
Posted - 07/15/2009 : 16:38:45
quote:
Originally posted by 12uCoach
Sorry, the 10U tournament is not the be all end all. How many teams did not go and went to play in any of the other Alphabet's instead? Would you not be proud of a AAU National Championship? They are Check Clears you are in (there are enough open slots), what about Triple Crown, or Super Series?
Excluding the league championships (AABC, PONY, Ripken, Dixie, LL) most of the others, at the younger ages (12 and down), are easy to get into. I will take my teams 6 experiences at Cooperstown over their USSSA, AAU, NABF, AAYBA, CABA, whatever else I signed us up for experiences.
Same thing with Cooperstown, it's not the end of the world if you don't go... |
| mrbama31 |
Posted - 07/15/2009 : 14:47:47
dblinkh1,
You are right on target. I heard teams keeping up with their ranking after each game regardless of whether they were 87th or 3rd. For many of the northern teams it is an opprotunity to play against top southern teams. Lets face it... the northern teams are at a climate disadvantage when it come to baseball. But I never heard them make excuses they were however amassed at how well most of the southern teams play the game. I think for most of those type teams they leave inspired to raise their level of play and at the same time enjoy the great atmosphere at Cooperstown.
Cooperstown Dreams Park was not designed to find out who was the absolute best team in the country...it was designed to give as many teams as possible the ULTIMATE youth baseball exprience. They have certainly achieved that. |
| TAZ980002 |
Posted - 07/15/2009 : 13:56:12
My son went to the 10u tournament this year with a team that went to Cooperstown with the intention of competing for the championship. I also have an 8 year old son that will be going to Cooperstown just for the experience. If his team is good enough to compete with the best 10u teams at that time, that's just a bonus. It does not have to be about winning the tournament. Win or lose, this was the coolest baseball experience I can imagine for a 10 or 12 year old kid. We took our whole family and everyone had a blast. We stayed at a bed and breakfast on a lake with many of the team parents which made the week even more fun.
I will say this about our experience this year. The team we played with is a tremendous group of coaches, players and parents. They have more fun doing travel baseball than anyone I have ever seen. I would suggest that anyone who commits to the Cooperstown experience, be realistic about your ability to compete and focus on having fun and soaking in the experience. Your ball player won't forget it. |
| dblinkh1 |
Posted - 07/15/2009 : 13:11:08
Yes there is a "winner" every week but every team that goes doesn't expect to win. I had the opportunity to talk to a lot of coaches when I was there and I would say everyone had realistic expectations about what they would get out of the experience. I spoke with one team and their town had sent a team every year and they had never made it past the first bracket game. This year they won their first game of bracket play and lost the second. Those kids were so excited and were expecting a heroes welcome when they got home to their home parks. Cooperstown is so much more then the weekly champion...it is about the experience. |
| DecaturDad |
Posted - 07/15/2009 : 12:57:32
For those who have gone to Cooperstown: Did you go to win or for the experience? If you knew your team would be done by the end of pool play, would you still go? |
| 12uCoach |
Posted - 07/15/2009 : 12:24:14
Sorry, the 10U tournament is not the be all end all. How many teams did not go and went to play in any of the other Alphabet's instead? Would you not be proud of a AAU National Championship? They are Check Clears you are in (there are enough open slots), what about Triple Crown, or Super Series?
Excluding the league championships (AABC, PONY, Ripken, Dixie, LL) most of the others, at the younger ages (12 and down), are easy to get into. I will take my teams 6 experiences at Cooperstown over their USSSA, AAU, NABF, AAYBA, CABA, whatever else I signed us up for experiences.
|
| AllStar |
Posted - 07/15/2009 : 12:20:42
quote:
Originally posted by C. MORTON
To me it would mean more if it were the a Majors week, an AAA week, and an AA week.
One question and one point.
When you say "mean more", does every week have to be like a world championship?
The week my son's team went, the Sweet 16 and probably most of the final 32 teams were good Major or very good Triple A teams. The Final 4 teams were all elite and each of those teams played in several elite tournaments before and after their week in Cooperstown. That title "meant" a lot, but it was still different enough from the AAU/USSSA/TC/USTBA State/National/World Championships these teams played in every week to make it unique.
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| C. MORTON |
Posted - 07/15/2009 : 11:16:48
Everyone should have the chance to go and play at any tournament in the world if that is what they want to do..Cooperstown is turning into a selling point for teams to get players.."We are Cooperstown bound next year" is what teams say to try and get better players..To each his own..Maybe Disney will start a Whoever wants to play Would Series and take teams by the weeks with no real winner..The only teams that are truley Real winners are the 10's one week with one team winning it all.. |
| 12uCoach |
Posted - 07/15/2009 : 09:31:22
No matter how good or bad a team is, every kid should have a chance to go and play, they will remember it for years. I'm looking forward to reading about the first group of 10's and 12's that are 2nd Generation Cooperstown kids (Could be as early as 2013 for the 10's)
You can change your odds of winning just by looking at what teams go which weeks. Before you send in your paperwork requesting a certain week, look back at the last 2 or 3 years to see which parks send teams the same weeks. Then look at the fact that Florida & Georgia teams go early. Use this to your advantage.
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| C. MORTON |
Posted - 07/15/2009 : 09:18:55
Here is the way I see it...Seems like more and more teams go to Cooperstown "JUST TO GO" not to win..I know anyone can go, but some teams are going " TO WIN." If a coach knows his team is there just to say we went to Cooperstown Take your lumps and remember why you are there in the first place..There are some serious teams there and they get put with the weak teams..It's not their fault that they came to bring home the hardware..Here's my thing with COOPERSTOWN anyboday can go that whats to go at 12..To me it would mean more if it were the a Majors week, an AAA week, and an AA week. To me to pay that kind of money and get KICKED back to the state you came from is just dumb..But to each his own.. |
| dblinkh1 |
Posted - 07/14/2009 : 17:45:54
Powder Springs wins again. It is interesting to note they have only played teams that were undefeated before playing them. Tonights game is against Hickory Hornets (5-0). |
| AllStar |
Posted - 07/13/2009 : 22:05:58
So I guess the question is whether or not your seeding is more important to you than cutting a bunch of kids that you're beating by 4 touchdowns some slack.
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| dblinkh1 |
Posted - 07/13/2009 : 20:25:29
Back to the original question...Powder Springs will represent Georgia well. Tonights game hasn't ended but if they win they will bump off another 3-0 team and move up. If they go undefeated the runs they gave up in the first game will come back to haunt them in the standings. At Cooperstown it is all about limiting runs scored. |
| 12uCoach |
Posted - 07/13/2009 : 16:07:21
quote:
Originally posted by mrbama31
Letting players hit lefty starts that whole laughing and disrespecting your opponent much more so than letting them hit. I would not want the other team to start doing things like batting lefty if I were getting beat badly. That would be more disrespectful than simply playing it out straight up....batting lefty seems like your poking fun if you ask me..
I disagree 100%. We have always made our players hit from both sides of the plate during batting practice, there is no poking fun. It was part of OUR game. I would love to see all my players switch hit, and I always hope that this is a first step. One kid we had was 8-8 from the other side of the plate one year.
I was amazed when I was coaching high school at how many kids had NEVER taken a swing from the other side... |
| Texas Baseball |
Posted - 07/13/2009 : 14:58:42
During the Miramar Canes vs Team Rattlers game, week 4, the Rattlers had a 21-2 lead going into the bottom of the second. The Canes were the home team. Rain delayed the game for 3 hours and when they came back to finish the game, the Canes sac bunted 3 consecutive times. The Rattlers did the same in the top of 3 and so it went for 15 consecutive outs.
This was a bracket play game and the Canes wanted to keep their runs against average as low as possible. |
| Dr. Old School |
Posted - 07/13/2009 : 14:58:33
I have heard the "Let the kids bat from the opposite side" option and have head mixed opinions about whether that becomes a blatant show of disrespect or not. It seems like you are really rubbing it in that the other team stinks. Now that may be the lesser of the evils, though.
As for position switching, as mrbama31 mentioned, the need is to keep down your runs scored as opposed to run differential. Winning 34-1 is worse than winning 1-0. Not all tournaments use runs allowed as the second tie breaker after record, but those that do, like Cooperstown, need to re-think that.
What about when you are on the other side of the situation, how do you handle it? |
| mrbama31 |
Posted - 07/13/2009 : 14:40:37
Letting players hit lefty starts that whole laughing and disrespecting your opponent much more so than letting them hit. I would not want the other team to start doing things like batting lefty if I were getting beat badly. That would be more disrespectful than simply playing it out straight up....batting lefty seems like your poking fun if you ask me.. |
| Hurricane |
Posted - 07/13/2009 : 13:56:06
I would let the kids bat lefty and hold off on stealing and running on pass balls. Throw kids who normally don't get to pitch. I would pick a number like 12 runs or something. |
| bigslick |
Posted - 07/13/2009 : 13:18:12
When our team gets ahead by a lot of runs 15+, the kids must hit from the opposite side of the plate. For switch hitters, this is no disadvantage, but some kids can't hit at all from the other side of the plate. This way, the score doesn't get out of hand. No one wants to see a socre of 34-0 like Dr. Old School mentioned... |
| mrbama31 |
Posted - 07/13/2009 : 12:04:54
We just got back form Cooperstown and let me first say it was awesome. In regard to this subject I feel that the rules are set up so that your main goal as a team is to win and keep runs allowed to a minimum during pool play.
With our team we only took 11 players and they all were very good players so the idea of pulling the dogs off is very difficult to do especially on 200ft fences and with all the money,time and energy that had been put into us being able to go in the first place. Every homerun that a kid hits there is a thrill. I would never ask one of my players to make an out on purpose...especially where they may hit another homerun....which lets face it how many homeruns does the avg ball player get to hit in his career. I know this.... if you want to have a legitimate shot at winning the tourney you need to try and throw shutouts when you can.
This may sound somewhat hard core but its not my players fault that the other team is not competitive. Now stealing bases should stop once you get up by the run rule differential.
I also feel the cheering may want to calm down a little bit...and your team should make sure they do not laugh, poke fun or do anything that disrespects the other team or the game. But playing hard and trying your best is the right course to take but do it with respect for the opposing team.
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| AllStar |
Posted - 07/13/2009 : 11:24:30
quote:
Originally posted by Dr. Old School
I just saw something that I have debated about before but wanted to see what others thought. (This just happened in a Cooperstown game but is not specific to that tournament or age group)
When a team is playing another team and is winning by an astounding margin (More than 25 runs) how do you play the rest of the game out if the tournament's first mercy rule does not kick in until the 3rd inning?
You see this in Cooperstown more because of the wide diversity of teams attending. (Beaver Valley Red just beat a team from WV 34-0, when I started watching, it was 25-0, which triggered the question again).
I have talked to some people that say it's the other team's job to get you out and your kids should not back off in the field or at the plate and play down to the competition. Others say it is poor sportsmanship to continue to pour on when you clearly know the game is out of hand. Most agree that you can cut down on the extra bases you take but the rest seems to be up for debate.
Also, if you are on the receiving end, how do you handle it to get the other team out without compromising pitchers for other games.
I would like to hear other's comments.
Bat from the other side.
Move kids around. Let that big kid play middle infield. Let that wiry middle infielder catch. Let a non-pitcher, pitch. You know how it is, the point guards all want to dunk and the bigs all want to shoot 3's. Let kids doing something different. If your seeding is more important to you than showing your opponent a little mercy, this isn't an option.
If you're on the receiving end, suck it up and take your lumps. Maybe save your pitching.
No good answer I don't think. |
| DecaturDad |
Posted - 07/13/2009 : 10:48:31
I would think the winning team could put players in positions they do not normally get to play. Let the kid who never gets to pitch have a chance. Put a weaker kid at first...
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| Dr. Old School |
Posted - 07/13/2009 : 10:22:28
I just saw something that I have debated about before but wanted to see what others thought. (This just happened in a Cooperstown game but is not specific to that tournament or age group)
When a team is playing another team and is winning by an astounding margin (More than 25 runs) how do you play the rest of the game out if the tournament's first mercy rule does not kick in until the 3rd inning?
You see this in Cooperstown more because of the wide diversity of teams attending. (Beaver Valley Red just beat a team from WV 34-0, when I started watching, it was 25-0, which triggered the question again).
I have talked to some people that say it's the other team's job to get you out and your kids should not back off in the field or at the plate and play down to the competition. Others say it is poor sportsmanship to continue to pour on when you clearly know the game is out of hand. Most agree that you can cut down on the extra bases you take but the rest seems to be up for debate.
Also, if you are on the receiving end, how do you handle it to get the other team out without compromising pitchers for other games.
I would like to hear other's comments. |
| gabulldogs |
Posted - 07/13/2009 : 07:36:15
Played them a couple times this year. They are a AAA travel team. Do not see them going far into the brackets like some of the other Ga. teams though. |
