Based on a lack of available players, 3 games in the past two days and the fact that today's game has no bearing on the playoff seeding the Braves request to cancel tonight's game was approved.
imagine that you wait all winter, spring, get rained out and now don't even want to play! remember this post next Feb. fact is we got piled up despite the good efforts of the mgr's and league officials to get all games in. and no one wants to risk playing for nothing when the playoffs loom in 2 days....not even those who would play beyond the mercy rule I guess.
much thought has to go inot planning for next years 35+ season....again we didn't finish, agian there's arguements aobut seeding and makeups. and we never saw a complete schedule till mid season. not to knock the powers that be here. they did what they could. but warnings go up every year that perhaps we have too many teams, play too many games have too few fields and some in poor shape and we continue to get worse. One board member was appalled we had no plan to get better. i would have to agree onthe field side. i think we can actually play at better fields if we raise the fee substanially and have a planned and concerted effort to secure contracts for quality fields. jreel
To be fair, the Braves had enough to field a full team and were ready to play the game. We just used the ethical and moral high-ground on the message board in an effort to not make the Blue Jays look bad. But since Mr. Reel opened the can of worms, that's the fact of why the game was cancelled. Incidentally, the Blue Jays also withdrew from the playoffs so before casting aspersions, perhaps you'd like to get your facts straight.
I sincerely hope you take to heart your statement, "much thought has to go into planning for next years 35+ season" because every time someone brings up methods to improve, new ideas are met with criticism and complacency. Then the status quo is implemented and the board sits back and says, "see, we told you."
I would submit that if no real change is going to be made towards ensuring a little more competitve balance then perhaps the league should look at restructuring the ways the teams play each other. Perhaps we should look at going to a two-division system where the good team all play one another and the not-so-good teams all play one another? Perhaps the regular season will mean more to the lower teams?
I have a very well-thought out proposal that I'd like to put some structure to and submit but everyone I've talked to said I'd be wasting my time because the board is unreceptive to real change. Why should any of us waste our time trying to help out when we are constantly turned down in favor of unilateral implementation of policy? Seems to me we'd almost be better trying to start our own league.
Not sure what league you play in Rob - but the 35 division is pretty goddamn competetive and filled with a number of deeply talented teams, filled with quality players, and men.
Just goes to show you can't please everyone.
Best of luck starting your new league.
Jonny Martin
(I'm one of the board members that I guess you assume just sits on our ass all year.)
To be fair, the Braves had enough to field a full team and were ready to play the game. We just used the ethical and moral high-ground on the message board in an effort to not make the Blue Jays look bad. But since Mr. Reel opened the can of worms, that's the fact of why the game was cancelled. Incidentally, the Blue Jays also withdrew from the playoffs so before casting aspersions, perhaps you'd like to get your facts straight.
I sincerely hope you take to heart your statement, "much thought has to go into planning for next years 35+ season" because every time someone brings up methods to improve, new ideas are met with criticism and complacency. Then the status quo is implemented and the board sits back and says, "see, we told you."
I would submit that if no real change is going to be made towards ensuring a little more competitve balance then perhaps the league should look at restructuring the ways the teams play each other. Perhaps we should look at going to a two-division system where the good team all play one another and the not-so-good teams all play one another? Perhaps the regular season will mean more to the lower teams?
I have a very well-thought out proposal that I'd like to put some structure to and submit but everyone I've talked to said I'd be wasting my time because the board is unreceptive to real change. Why should any of us waste our time trying to help out when we are constantly turned down in favor of unilateral implementation of policy? Seems to me we'd almost be better trying to start our own league.
The reality of that night is that the Braves didn't have enough players (nor did the Jays) and when i talked to our manager about the difficulty of either of us getting a sub on short notice (we were both 150+ miles away on business) and the fact that the game had no impact on the playoffs cancelling it seemed preferable to having two teams scramble to get enough players to play the game.
Now we are scrambling to get 9 players to our playoff game.........my guess is on the stronger, more competitive teams they don't face any issues with having a full squad for the playoffs.
In the last week or two i have been involved in several games where the 10 run rule was invoked.........on the losing side in the 35's and on the winning side in the 45's......and i was glad to see the games end.............it's not much fun to win 19-1 and it certainly is no fun to lose 11-0, particularly at the end of a 2-16 season.
We had a doubleheader against the Mets this week and after scrambling just to get enough players so we could play i can honestly say i wasn't looking forward to playing.....we had no pitching and really no shot at winning............i can handle losing but i really had a tough time getting excited to go play games i knew we had now shot of winning, nor even being competitive.
As expected the Mets romped in game 1........showed sportsmanship by not running up the score etc.
To show how bad the talent difference was.....in the top of the 1st in game 2 with the score at 0-0 the Mets didn't steal or play hard.....and they still built a 9-3 lead.
While most of us just love to play a season of loss after loss makes it difficult to get excited and i am sure is part of the reason a team with 18 players on the roster can't get a full squad to late season games or playoffs - the Blue Jays aren't even participating in the playoffs.
I don't know whether it is possible or not but the split divisions seems to be working well in the 45's - just look at the standings / records. I know all of us on the Braves looked forward to the games against the other weaker teams and enjoyed playing in them as we were competitive in those games.
To try and force parity among all of the teams ways will be very tough, if not impossible,..........and will probably do more damage than good.
-- Edited by johnc on Saturday 8th of August 2009 05:28:27 AM
The are ways to CREATE parity without FORCING anything. It takes creativity and imagination which some here seem unreceptive to. I guess we'll just keep plugging along blind to the issues. As long as the issues don't affect a select few then nothing is wrong.
Rob - Sorry you feel the 35 division doesn't have enough parity for your liking. I pitch and hit in the division, and game in and game out, it's a tough haul.
As for your continuing rants against the board, understand that, year in and year out, the board continually turns over with new members. This year I think there are 4 new members, myself included, who have stepped up to the plate to give something back to the league. If you've had problems with the "board" be a man and name names. To unilaterally dis the board does nothing to help your cause.
This years board has been particularly pro-active in dealing with a variety of issues, and implementing some real improvemnts.
I, for one, appreciate the work youv'e done on the website. You'll find posts of mine dating 3 years ago pointing out the obvious shortcomings we had at the time. Don't let personal attacks against league members put a blemish on the good work you've done.
Not sure what league you play in Rob - but the 35 division is pretty goddamn competetive and filled with a number of deeply talented teams, filled with quality players, and men.
Just goes to show you can't please everyone.
Best of luck starting your new league.
Jonny Martin
(I'm one of the board members that I guess you assume just sits on our ass all year.)
The division is a very competitive division for 7 of the teams. But a refusal to acknowledge a competitive IMbalance is pretty shortsighted. All you have to do is look at the standings and click on the "Game Results" link on the 35+ Website and you can see there is a huge DISparity from top to bottom.
And I never said I was "starting my own league," I said I'd have an easier time starting one than trying to get any ideas passed through the board (as had been my experience in year's past).
It appears as though I was wrong as now I see Quentin (whom I worked with to get the 25+ website up and running), Mario (who I respect when I dealt with him as manager of the 25+ Orioles) and now you (whom I respect because I've always had good relations with the Cubs as they are a class organization in victory and defeat) have all reached out and at least been open to some new ideas.
However, dealing with some League Presidents in years past has proven difficult.
Maybe I will try this year and see if it's less like banging my head against a wall and more like actual progress. I look forward to submitting my proposal in full and I am working with Quentin now to develop it and put it in the proper context for submittal.
I, for one, appreciate the work youv'e done on the website. You'll find posts of mine dating 3 years ago pointing out the obvious shortcomings we had at the time. Don't let personal attacks against league members put a blemish on the good work you've done.
John, as I stated in the other thread, I allowed this to turn into a personal attack because the verbiage used to convey the point of a board member came across as a personal attack on two of the teams in a league that he is supposed to represent and they were further backed by someone else despite the fact that another board member commented on the poor choice of words and the original author wrote a "clarification" post.
It always has been - and always will be - in my nature to attempt to right a wrong I feel has been passed onto somebody (whether it's me or anyone else). I won't back down just because the offender happens to be a board member. In fact, the deed is more egregious when it is a board member because they are supposed to be the representatives of the league and should be held to a higher standard. And if a board member makes a back-handed comment like "a couple of teams who won't be playing past Saturday anyway" they should be held aco****able. It's a pretty lousy thing to say about teams that you are supposed to represent. And then to have someone else back them up is as ridiculous as the act itself - especially when that person is also supposed to be a senior member of the league held in high esteem.
If you want the credit for the good, you should be held acountable for the bad. That's what an elected position is all about.
figured you would come up with a snappy comeback to my post. all you are pal is this generation's Rene Leroux, a guy who thinks he has ALL the answers and could really straighten things out in this league if everyone would just do like you say. well guess what, the man you so easily attack is the reason we have a league to play in here in the capital district. he has guided this league from a collection of a few teams in a 35 division to what we have now, which is a thriving baseball league with four distinct divisions. things are so bad here that an entire 18 division decided to join our organization and reap the benefits of what we have to offer. if you think you have all the answers, my suggestion is for you to go start another league and then YOU can be in charge of everything and we'll see how that turns out. my estimation is you wouldn't have the foggiest idea of what it takes to start something akin to what we have here today,and you would probably end up ruining it if you could get it started. you may have some good ideas, and passed thru the proper channels i'm sure they will be looked at, and if viable, will be implemented. until that time, maybe you need to go back and look at your past posts and then ponder the question of a 16 yr old division. P.S.-- I will be at swift rd. park playing in the 55 div. championship game tonight at 5pm. i would be more than happy to discuss my intellectual merits with you.
"The guy I so easily attacked" wrote a post of apology for offending and his comments were interpreted as such by more than just me. Therefore, it would seem as though he at least acknowldeged he may have gone outside the boundary of ethics expected of a high-ranking board member and it would seem that since another board member recognized it and spoke out, perhaps he was (and in turn, now you are) wrong.
I guess if that's not enough for you, then there's nothing left to do but wish you luck in your game tonight.
Thanks for the rather heartless comparison to a character who suffers from depression. I hope you have never had to deal nor ever have to deal with depression or the loss of sibling. I know I have dealt with depression and my wife dealt with the loss of a brother at age 14 (like Holden losing his brother at age 13) and both are very difficult to deal with.
I guess I could reference a few Shakespearean characters that come to mind as they pertain to your recent posts but in an effort not to belittle you or any of the life experiences you may have had, I shall refrain - especially from using words like "lousy" or "crumby." I like to keep my posts in reference to what is actually written here so I comment on that and try to leave personal lives out of it.
As I said earlier, I wish you luck in your game tonight.
