12U Teams

[prod1966]

Smack -

I am humbled by your thoughtfulness, even though you are a little late in keeping your promise. Nevertheless, you are a man of your word and I give you props. In fact, you have inspired me to go ahead and post my avatar picture. So how is everything in Peppertown? I would love to get your take on state of union for your team and your competition. Who will be making the most noise from the Houston area? Things are under way here in DFW and teams are holding try-outs and practices. The strong seem to be getting stronger and the weak, well who cares about the weak. Because you asked for it, here is MY Top 5 in North Tx

Kruzers
Glory
Fusion
Lady Longhorns
Fastpitch America



Paul

[prod1966]

Smack -

I forgot to ask you what GYNO stands for? Remember I am new to all of this HeyBucket stuff so I dont know all the acronyms. While I am on the subject what does DD stand for as well?



Paul

[Ken Hutchinson]

First, I want to dedicate this post to my partner, David, from Brooklyn.

Next I want to give a shout out to RVW and wish him a speedy recovery from that painful groin injury. I wont ask how that happened. Finally, to my peeps Little Leprechaun, Red Sled 68, More Boar and last but not least my new homeboy little Avery "Lightning" Johnson.

Paul is either an idiot or somebody trying to do a funny bit. Anyone from the DFW area halfway knowledgeable of 12U knows his TOP 5 is a joke. Any Top 5 in DFW 12U that does not include the 96 Diamonds cannot be taken seriously. This guy must be crazier than an outhouse rat! Also I dont know how you put a team second that gets beat by its younger sister team. Glory has not been competitive over the last several years. My picks for Top 5, in no particular order would be: Fusion, Lady Longhorns, Diamonds, Elite & Kruzers.

I admit I dont know much about the Houston teams but from all of the reading, it sounds like the Texas Showdown Orange, I mean Tx Peppers are the team to beat from that area. Other scatter shooting thoughts include the following:

Huber Ranch is the nicest facility in all of Texas
Small Ball is not utilized enough
A strong catcher can win or lose a game
The 3 Keys to Winning are: Determination, Chemistry & Talent (in that order)
Winning a tournament does not make you the best team, just the best team for that weekend
The real best team is the one who performs at the highest level for an extended period of time
Darth Vader rules!
Hey Bucket is for Dads with no life and try to live vicariously through their very talented daughters

In closing, I want to wish all of the teams from Tx much luck this year and hope they have a great showing at nationals.

Word to your mutha!

[Ken Hutchinson]

Also, for all of my friends down in Austin, I will be heading that way for the next basketball game in my usual fan colors.

[ZIG]

Heard that would be the case. Also heard that the umpireing can be kinda shady also....Hope that is not true.

With the drought that part of Texas is experiencing I expect the fields to be pretty shaby also.

Ah the fields, I am going to my kid out to the recently cutlivated cotton field to hit her some ground balls to get her ready for the Bomber!

[ZIG]

Smack -

I forgot to ask you what GYNO stands for? Remember I am new to all of this HeyBucket stuff so I dont know all the acronyms. While I am on the subject what does DD stand for as well?



Paul

GYNO is probably refrencing your login name "Prod"
DD has been refered to as "Darling Daughter" and "Dear Daughter"

[ZIG]

Smack -

I am humbled by your thoughtfulness, even though you are a little late in keeping your promise. Nevertheless, you are a man of your word and I give you props. In fact, you have inspired me to go ahead and post my avatar picture. So how is everything in Peppertown? I would love to get your take on state of union for your team and your competition. Who will be making the most noise from the Houston area? Things are under way here in DFW and teams are holding try-outs and practices. The strong seem to be getting stronger and the weak, well who cares about the weak. Because you asked for it, here is MY Top 5 in North Tx

Kruzers
Glory
Fusion
Lady Longhorns
Fastpitch America



Paul

Teams that will make noise in Houston area, in no certain order:
Texas Bandits
Fort Bend Thunder
Texas Fury
Texas Aces
Texas Kaos
Texas Peppers
Texas Red Hots

[slapper]

I remember when my first DD played 10U and 12U. I was just like most of you guys. I was wrapped up in the he said she said, who is the best, who thinks they are the best, who is leaving who, who is joining who, who won this tourney or that tourney. All I can say is now that both DD's are playing 16U and gold. There are only a few tournaments that mean anything and the girls are playing to be seen. Playing well in front of the right coach at the right time is what its all about. Seeing them get their first email or letter from a college coach who saw them play and wants to talk with them. Going to college visits. Being invited to a camp has replace all the petty crap I thought really ment something. I would love to be there the first time your DD plays in a showcase where the score, the line up and the close calls don't really matter. I wonder how many of you will still be sitting in the stands keeping your books on the game and complaining about the draw. I think is funny when I here people say this team got any easy draw and that team got a tough draw at a 12U tournament. When your DD gets older you'll gripe because all the top teams are playing each other at the main field and yall had to play a scrub team that no coach cared about. Trust me your mind set will change and you will look back at what an idiot you were. I wish ya'll the best and may even stop by the Bomber tournament for a few laughs at the parents in the stands.

[onedownonetogo]

Generally agree with you Slapper except that sometimes teams that dominate at 10u, 12u, and 14u, tend to attract the better players as they age up and generally are the teams that get to play on the main fields in college showcase tournaments, so actually to an extent, it does matter.

[slapper]

Onedown, You are right about that for teams in the bigger organizations. We saw several teams that dominated for a year or two that broke up mostly due to parent egos. The teams that dominated in 10U and 12U 5 years ago did not dominate at the 16U and gold level last year. Some of the toughest teams we faced in the past are not around anymore and many that are have only 2-3 of the same players. What we see is the top organizations getting tougher a long as they dont try to have too many teams in the same age group. Teams and players will change a lot in the next 3-5 years. There will be many girls who dominate at 10U and are good at 12U become interested in many other activities (volleyball, track, basketball, boys) at 14U and all the sudden they are no factor in the team winning. Many of the top players at 10U and 12U will quit durring 14U. We also girls who are not verry good at 10U that continued to work hard and all the sudden out of nowhere a girl shows up who is a game changer and you never really knew who she was at 10U or 12U.