PGF v. ASA

[cleanup77]

I can't believe Gary Haning said the New Jersey Qualifier went well. IT WAS IN PENNSYLVANIA! Oh by the way, It was run very well with great weather, field conditions, and an alloted 2:15 for each game. Nice job PGF

[AlwaysImprove]

fastpitchdad05.... have you been to Midland ? Don't you want to embrace...

12,000 white Ford F-250's and 350's, jacked up to nosebleed elevation with large bumpers...

The Permian Basin oil museum?

Lightening breaking up your 107 degree weather and 95% humidity?

Telling your daughter why all underpasses have numbers on the pillars for water depth?

Getting a "Lord of the Onion Rings" t-shirt?

Watch with awe as an oil well slowly milks mother earth of crude...

Seeing the home of GW Bush.... like him or not... it isn't even his birthplace, just a residence...

Seeing a high school football stadium that would rival 95% of the colleges on the planet (as "Friday Night Lights" is all about Midland... and they take football very, very seriously)



ahhhhh... so much to embrace, to savor, to experience with glee and joy in the heart... Don't forget to try some health food at the fields, particularly the french fried Snickers !!!

Also, set yourself up by the board with bracket posted about 3 in the afternoon. Watch as some of the moms or dads not used to the heat pass out and drop like a rock. For some reason people pass out by the bracket board in Midland.

[Gary Haning]

I can't believe Gary Haning said the New Jersey Qualifier went well. IT WAS IN PENNSYLVANIA! Oh by the way, It was run very well with great weather, field conditions, and an alloted 2:15 for each game. Nice job PGF

Oops, yes that was stupid and I really did know. Jim Barsalona is my longtime friend from New Jersey, the tournament was first scheduled in New Jersey and I just boo-booed, i do it a lot.

Thanks for the correction and my apologies to the Quakers.

Gary Haning

[ssarge]

ASA isnt losing anything. When you have a qualifier run like the one in AZ this last weekend, and a history of Surf City eff ups by the same people who run both organizations, there is no loss of sleep at ASA.

If that is true, they are even dumber and more insular than I think. Which I suppose is possible, but the standard has been set so low that it WOULD be challenging.

The VAST majority of the body of work accomplished by PGF has been stellar. Apparently the Arizona qualifier was an exception, and the founder of PGF has responded in agreement, and pledged to make it better.

THAT will pay dividends, because it is behavior absolutely foreign to ASA. But also behavior that ANYONE can relate to as a model for how to build an organization. Kudos to Haning.

PGF, after one year, is well beyond a competitive "threat" to ASA. It is serious competition, and in the minds of many involved in the top programs, it has already supplanted ASA as the national championship tournament of choice.

Regards,

Scott

[ontheblack]

Scott, I dont disagree with your assessment of PGF. But with the exception of 18Gold, ASA isnt in panic mode yet, especially at the lower levels. If they lose 50 teams from 14U to PGF, they are still at 100 teams and the spin is that they are responding to the complaints of the 150+ field at 14u last year. They dont care that they are not getting the best, otherwise they wouldnt hand out berths to teams that only cut checks to be in qualifiers that dont get played, or only have 4-5 teams in them.

[porcupine]

They [ASA] dont care that they are not getting the best, otherwise they wouldnt hand out berths to teams that only cut checks to be in qualifiers that . . . only have 4-5 teams in them.

Didn't PGF just hand out 6 berths to a 14u qualifier that attracted 7 teams? That does not really sound that picky to me. Is the 6th best team in a 7 team field really the "best?" If not, PGF also is getting a watered-down championship. I don't have a gripe about it and I don't think there is anything PGF can do about it, but neither can ASA predict with certainty how a qualifier will be attended.

[JimHenry]

I think they both have their respective issues.

We pulled out of the PGF qualifier here in Phx 7 weeks ago and I still have not received my refund check from Keith Householder.

This will be my third trip to Midland
Midland in August = Phoenix in August
Homefield advantage for desert dwellers

[snackbar]

I think they both have their respective issues.

We pulled out of the PGF qualifier here in Phx 7 weeks ago and I still have not received my refund check from Keith Householder.

This will be my third trip to Midland
Midland in August = Phoenix in August
Homefield advantage for desert dwellers

Well good luck to you in Midland, TX
Midland in August (dry heat, humidity) = Phoenix in August (dry heat)
Sound like Midland has the slight advantage

[sftblldud]

I think they both have their respective issues.

We pulled out of the PGF qualifier here in Phx 7 weeks ago and I still have not received my refund check from Keith Householder.

This will be my third trip to Midland
Midland in August = Phoenix in August
Homefield advantage for desert dwellers

Well good luck to you in Midland, TX
Midland in August (dry heat, humidity) = Phoenix in August (dry heat)
Sound like Midland has the slight advantage

Read the Post. JamesHoe said they are from Arizona and that they are already Desert Dwellers but what I think he meant to say was they pulled out of PGF was because they are BOTTOM DWELLERS!!!!!!

[AlwaysImprove]

They [ASA] dont care that they are not getting the best, otherwise they wouldnt hand out berths to teams that only cut checks to be in qualifiers that . . . only have 4-5 teams in them.

Didn't PGF just hand out 6 berths to a 14u qualifier that attracted 7 teams? That does not really sound that picky to me. Is the 6th best team in a 7 team field really the "best?" If not, PGF also is getting a watered-down championship. I don't have a gripe about it and I don't think there is anything PGF can do about it, but neither can ASA predict with certainty how a qualifier will be attended.

Where was that qualifier?