Barnhill-Collegiate Player of the year. #usasoftball

[TMoney]

I am certain that I have seen numerous, threads devoted to illegal pitchers in the past. There are many reasons why KB pages drag on and on:

1. Shes been very successful, and therefore draws a great deal of attention. (Would a guy that hit 10 HR's using HGH have garnered as much attention as Barry Bonds?)
2. Many people have decided to defend her.
3. The world's integrity is diminishing by the minute.

 

[nanotech14]

I look at like this. Barnhill is illegal and does gain an advantage because of it. NCAA, umps and others choose to look at other way, it doesn't make it right. We have people on here that are making excuses for her and saying what is the big deal. I would bet these same people would have a fit if their neighbor was making money off of something illegal, ex." insider trading, or illegal gambling", and the law knew about it but looked the other way. The NCAA is a joke, it is all about the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. I see that her major is in Public Relations, I guess I would cheat too.

 

[MattM]

Blacklabgator what is your assessment of Barnhill's mechanics?

Don't know who it is but have a feeling it's not a compliment.
That's fine. I'm sure you're too wore out from moving the goal posts on this topic to respond any other way.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[corlay]

So we sat on the heat which at the time was her drop ball

Impressive that in 5yrs. (2012-2017) or less she has developed a true riseball...

 

[GunnerShotgun]

I find it amusing that you some of you would allow your daughters to play for an institution that is so corrupt and and all of the actors are lacking integrity. It would appear that your self righteousness only goes so far.

Criticizing a nonprofessional athlete is petty. Go after the coaches, umpires, and NCAA.

 

[riseball]

Impressive that in 5yrs. (2012-2017) or less she has developed a true riseball...

I would expect that her drop is probably still her fastest pitch. Have not met a pitcher yet that throws a true rise as their fastest pitch. I expect she only developed a true riseball after working with Jenn Rocha at UF so the time frame is probably even shorter. Based on her mechanics it seems that until she arrived at UF she never benefited from competent pitching instruction. Rocha worked with the hand she was dealt with respect to the mechanics and certainly made the most of it. I have to imagine that both Rocha and Walton viewed Barnhill as a calculated risk knowing full well that the actual enforcement of the rules would render Barnhill much less effective. That said I wonder what other lapses in character are acceptable at Florida in order to win?

 

[knightsb]

Last year I had a conversation with a former coach of the Chicago Bandits of the NPF. He was an assistant when Monica Abbott was playing there. I asked him why Abbott never gets called for an IP. He told me the following story:

The Bandits were playing in a Nationally televised game. The field ump called an IP on Abbott. The HC calls time and walks out to ask the ump why the IP was called. The ump explained Abbott was taking a step forward from the pitcher's plate with her pivot foot. The HC told the ump that every time he called an IP he was going to call time and request an IP explanation and that would not make for a good fan experience, or good television and if calling the IPs was going to continue it was going to make for a very long day for everyone.

IPs are not being called in College Softball because it would make for a poor spectator experience and bad television. This year more games than ever have been made available for television viewing. I do not believe the umpires have the intestinal fortitude to call IPs. I don't believe the NCAA has the intestinal fortitude to tell the umpires to call the IPs. JMHO.

...and Florida knows it, and they don't care, just look no further than social media.

 

[BobInMadison]

I would expect that her drop is probably still her fastest pitch. Have not met a pitcher yet that throws a true rise as their fastest pitch. I expect she only developed a true riseball after working with Jenn Rocha at UF so the time frame is probably even shorter. Based on her mechanics it seems that until she arrived at UF she never benefited from competent pitching instruction. Rocha worked with the hand she was dealt with respect to the mechanics and certainly made the most of it. I have to imagine that both Rocha and Walton viewed Barnhill as a calculated risk knowing full well that the actual enforcement of the rules would render Barnhill much less effective. That said I wonder what other lapses in character are acceptable at Florida in order to win?

Well, for the Florida football program, we already know the sad answer to that question. There ARE no lapses in character that would get a star player bumped from the team. The only good thing that one could say about Gator football is that they aren't Baylor.

Sad if that has spread to Florida softball as well.

At least at Baylor, the corruption seems to have been more or less confined to football, or at least to the major NCAA sports. My son's rowing Milwaukee School of Engineering rowing team spends a week every February practicing with the Baylor rowing club, and the Baylor rowers are an honorable bunch. Corruption in one sport doesn't have to spread to every other sport.

 

[Classof2020]

Well it finally got serious when KenB chimes in. You don't usually see him on the high drama threads. Him, like most of us, enjoy a good "how do we get the right spin on the curve" conversation.

I also don't think it's OILF, although I thought of it myself for a minute. She wouldn't be defending a cheater like this, although she did love playing devils advocate and having a good argument. I think this is a relative or previous coach - who else would so adamantly defend something do indefensible??

Riseball thanks for taking the time and effort to argue for what is right. That is something that we don't have a lot of in our society anymore. There has definitely been a huge loss of absolutes and morals and it permeates every aspect of life. This whole conversation has made me think about what I might encourage my DD to do and it's reminded me that it's a game, a very important game, a game that makes people a lot of money, but you really have to be able to live with yourself and be proud of how you played the game and how you treated people, and what you've taught people. And I'm so grateful for my DD to have a coach like Ken who wouldn't encourage her to do all she can to cheat and get ahead at all costs.

 

[BobInMadison]

Interesting comment above about what would you think if your neighbor was involved in illegal gambling.
I did gamble (legally, as far as I know) for some years, and got to be quite good at backgammon.
Some of the professional gamblers I knew were extremely honest in their gambling. ALL the time. I later found out that sometimes wise guys would get into the games. The wise guys had money up the wazoo, and they didn't mind losing money, as long as the game was honest. One friend of mine, Doug H., had the reputation of being one of the most honest gamblers in the world. That meant anyone could get into a game with Doug, and have no worries at all about being cheated. Ever.
All I know is Doug lasted decades gambling with his reputation intact. I'm not sure how a wise guy would react to being cheated, but it might not be pretty.

interesting, I had a reputation for being honest, and someone who was very much opposed to any dealings at all with wise guys. I think I found myself in a game with a wise guy a time or two. That game was extremely honest, I can tell you. The wise guy had a presumably armed bodyguard with him. He game me his home phone number, and told me he lived with his mother. I couldn't make this stuff up. I never called the number. I didn't want to get involved with wise guys. That was a path that could not lead anywhere good.