hilly
04-13-2008, 08:11 PM
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Print Your Coupon for a free Roast Beef on Weck sandwich (http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/4262/tfbrownsadaw4.jpg)
OUT OF BOUNDS
With Brian Hillabush
<img src="http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/9227/img3109zv7.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/>
Finally
With all the lousy weather we've had in recent weeks, it was nice to have a full week of Section 5 athletics, even though spring break is going to put an end to that for a week.
I made it out to the Avon/Le Roy baseball game on Tuesday and it was a great start to the spring season.
The weather was in the mid-60s with almost no wind and no rain or snow.
The game itself was a 9-0 blowout in favor of the Oatkan Knights but the score isn’t always what spring is about now, is it?
Parents gathered along the fence to talk football (I was in Le Roy), the players had a great opportunity to shake off the rust and all thoughts of the snow finally left everybody’s mind.
You never know what to expect this early in the season in terms of quality of baseball, but it was a pretty good game for my first of the year.
Avon had two baserunners in the season-opener for Le Roy ace Shayne Herold, but the squad that had just upset Keshequa was no match for what should be one of the better teams in the Livingston Conference this season.
The Le Roy lineup is strong from top to bottom and Herold is definitely one of the stronger pitchers in the area.
It was definitely a good start to the season.
<img src="http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/3976/img3370uc2.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/>
<img src="http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/4079/img3378oo3.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/>
Pool Play mistake
I wrote a story this week on the new way Section 5 is doing the pool play games and I’m not a fan.
I wasn’t a fan of pool play to begin with and this is 10-times worse. A law firm sponsors the tournament, which I think is a mistake to begin with because no other high school tournament is named after a sponsor.
I have never understood the benefit of having a pool play title in the first place because you are basically rewarding the teams not good enough to make the real tournament.
People had no problem with how things were being run because there is no trophy, no MVP and teams that win are left with a small sense of accomplishment.
But now kids are going to be rewarded a championship trophy and a false sense of accomplishment for beating two teams that might have three combined wins.
Some of those in favor of playing up pool play will tell you that it makes the games more interesting and young kids will gain from winning games.
As much as this could be true, think about all the negatives that come from it.
Why would any kid want a trophy or a patch for winning games when his team’s season is a total failure. If your team went 1-6 during the league season, you should not be in the playoffs.
The next step is logically giving awards to players on the teams that lose in the sectional semifinals. If the teams that aren’t good enough to make the playoffs get awards, why don’t the teams that couldn’t win the playoffs the other teams didn’t get into?
I’ve always thought that teams that don’t make the sectionals should be able to schedule two exhibition games against teams that are at the same level once the regular season ends.
If a team doesn’t want to participate, it shouldn’t be forced to and teams should be able to schedule games that will benefit the program.
Maybe this is just the way things are going in society but it doesn’t mean we have to like it.
Print Your Coupon for a free Roast Beef on Weck sandwich (http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/4262/tfbrownsadaw4.jpg)
OUT OF BOUNDS
With Brian Hillabush
<img src="http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/9227/img3109zv7.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/>
Finally
With all the lousy weather we've had in recent weeks, it was nice to have a full week of Section 5 athletics, even though spring break is going to put an end to that for a week.
I made it out to the Avon/Le Roy baseball game on Tuesday and it was a great start to the spring season.
The weather was in the mid-60s with almost no wind and no rain or snow.
The game itself was a 9-0 blowout in favor of the Oatkan Knights but the score isn’t always what spring is about now, is it?
Parents gathered along the fence to talk football (I was in Le Roy), the players had a great opportunity to shake off the rust and all thoughts of the snow finally left everybody’s mind.
You never know what to expect this early in the season in terms of quality of baseball, but it was a pretty good game for my first of the year.
Avon had two baserunners in the season-opener for Le Roy ace Shayne Herold, but the squad that had just upset Keshequa was no match for what should be one of the better teams in the Livingston Conference this season.
The Le Roy lineup is strong from top to bottom and Herold is definitely one of the stronger pitchers in the area.
It was definitely a good start to the season.
<img src="http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/3976/img3370uc2.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/>
<img src="http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/4079/img3378oo3.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/>
Pool Play mistake
I wrote a story this week on the new way Section 5 is doing the pool play games and I’m not a fan.
I wasn’t a fan of pool play to begin with and this is 10-times worse. A law firm sponsors the tournament, which I think is a mistake to begin with because no other high school tournament is named after a sponsor.
I have never understood the benefit of having a pool play title in the first place because you are basically rewarding the teams not good enough to make the real tournament.
People had no problem with how things were being run because there is no trophy, no MVP and teams that win are left with a small sense of accomplishment.
But now kids are going to be rewarded a championship trophy and a false sense of accomplishment for beating two teams that might have three combined wins.
Some of those in favor of playing up pool play will tell you that it makes the games more interesting and young kids will gain from winning games.
As much as this could be true, think about all the negatives that come from it.
Why would any kid want a trophy or a patch for winning games when his team’s season is a total failure. If your team went 1-6 during the league season, you should not be in the playoffs.
The next step is logically giving awards to players on the teams that lose in the sectional semifinals. If the teams that aren’t good enough to make the playoffs get awards, why don’t the teams that couldn’t win the playoffs the other teams didn’t get into?
I’ve always thought that teams that don’t make the sectionals should be able to schedule two exhibition games against teams that are at the same level once the regular season ends.
If a team doesn’t want to participate, it shouldn’t be forced to and teams should be able to schedule games that will benefit the program.
Maybe this is just the way things are going in society but it doesn’t mean we have to like it.