by Wile E Coyote 34 » Tue Feb 03, 2009 10:58 pm
Here goes nuthin...For the record, I am from the North Texas area, my daughter plays on a first-year 14U team and we have been involved with select ball for 8 years. In addition, she does not play for the Diamonds, although at times I wish she was a 96, she also does not play for Fusion, but I think they are a strong team as well, and she does not play for Glory (Wines) either, but I think they are making progress. Yes our family has friends on the Diamonds.
It seems nobody from these teams wants to stand up for themselves so I will, although I am sure if you asked Troy he would say what's a computer and what is Hey Bucket. Also, I believe all of these North Texas teams really do not find it necessary to thump their chests on a forum such as this. They let their level of play and past accomplishments speak for themselves.
All of you South teams (I guess teams from Houston consider themselves to be from the south) and all of you Central Tx teams (Austin & SA) enjoy the Bomber tournament at the first of March. But know this, their are only 5 teams from N tX making the trip and 3 of those are 97 teams. I do not expect any of those 3 teams to finish in the Top 5. The 2 96 teams are good...the Longhorns are better in my opinion. Depending on their draw, I could see a Top 5 finish for them. The class of this tournament is the Oklahoma TNT...I mean Oklahoma Force...I mean Oklahoma Nemesis. Unless they beat themselves, I would expect them to win the tourney.
This Peppers team is a fraud, they are not even the best team in Houston. The 97 Kruzers????....come on you are kidding right. They are a great 97 team but not at the same caliber as some of the top 96 teams. Same can be said about the 97 Glory. Although I think the 97 Glory team might be better than the 96 team. At least that has been the case in prior years.
Here are the FACTS and I welcome anybody to challenge them: The Diamonds have more skins on the wall than any team in Texas. They have a bulls-eye on their backs every time they go to a tournament (although they have been playing up for a long time, beating 93 and 94 teams). The Fusion knows this more than any team and they did a very good job against them last year. They are everybody's Super Bowl. The times that Fusion beat them last year they usually lost their steam right afterwards. Supposedly the Diamonds have picked up a few players that have strengthened their already strong team. They have added some serious speed and more offensive threats. They will be stronger this year than last year. The Fusion organization is having difficulties in the N Tx area and I believe it has hurt some of their teams... including the 96 team. They have lost some players and I am not sure if they will be as strong, however they still have a strong pitching staff. 96 Glory seems to be getting better and better so they will be tough as well. I would also add the 96 Lady Longhorns in this discussion as well. They are a strong team. Bottom line, you never hear, see or read anything about any of these 4 teams from N Tx because they do not feel the need to justify their strength. At the top you have the Diamonds followed closely by Fusion, Lady Longhorns and Glory.
I am not intentionally trying to slam one organization or region, honestly, I just felt it was time to give N Tx some love. I promise this, I will be the first to give props to whatever team winds up Top Dog, regardless of who they are or where they are from. All I am saying is tap the brakes a little with all this talk about who the best is, dont take my word for it just ask CA or OK or AL or FL.
Wile E Coyote
PS - Smoke, I dont know who you are but you are either a Glory (Gray) parent, sorry I know that team name is no longer valid but there are like 5 14U Glory teams and I dont know which is which yet or a Diamond parent. Please refrain from typing in all CAPS in the future, it is considered a HB faux pas.
Acme Sucks!!