Fastpitch The Movie
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- Aug 21, 2008
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When this movie was made (1995-96 ish) there was 48 teams in the World tournament as shown in the movie. Now there's about 32 or so. And of those 32, only about 5 stand a chance of winning. The disparity between the "money teams" and poor teams has never been so great, and there's fewer and fewer teams to make up the difference. In the movie, both that old timer (Jack Addison) and Eddie "The King" Feigner seemed to think the game would be dead by 2000. Well, it's 2020 and not dead. But, lets be honest, it's on life support and it's GOING to die. It's only a question of when. There are no influx of people playing the game and no incentive for males to play it like there is for females (college).
Assuming it's played this year, the 2020 World tournament will be in Quad Cities Iowa in August. The 2021 tournament will be in Kitchener Ontario in August.
I truly wish dads and coaches who "love softball" would try the game themselves. I'm not talking about stepping into the batters box against the top teams or top pitchers but, there is still plenty of beer leagues and city leagues around North America. People who say "there's none in my area" are usually wrong, they just haven't looked or wanted to look. But playing it, even at a rec level, will give you a whole different perspective on the ups and downs that your DD's go through. Last night there was a broadcast of somekind on Facebook from the Texas Bombers, hosting Nyree White and Amanda Scarborough. The guy who was the host mentioned "our game" several times and I wondered if he had ever tried "our game".
Assuming it's played this year, the 2020 World tournament will be in Quad Cities Iowa in August. The 2021 tournament will be in Kitchener Ontario in August.
I truly wish dads and coaches who "love softball" would try the game themselves. I'm not talking about stepping into the batters box against the top teams or top pitchers but, there is still plenty of beer leagues and city leagues around North America. People who say "there's none in my area" are usually wrong, they just haven't looked or wanted to look. But playing it, even at a rec level, will give you a whole different perspective on the ups and downs that your DD's go through. Last night there was a broadcast of somekind on Facebook from the Texas Bombers, hosting Nyree White and Amanda Scarborough. The guy who was the host mentioned "our game" several times and I wondered if he had ever tried "our game".
It's so hard to imagine a game so great fading into the twilight. I feel like the luckiest guy in town to have played it "back in the day". I got out after 1989 so did play against several of the guys in the video.....most of them were at the beginning of their careers.
It has to be hard for a non-player to understand the mystic and legend of the men's game when it was in its heyday. Interesting that the stories get more embellished every year.......have a few old fastpitch buddies I chat with occasionally and every year the homerun went another 20 feet farther. Gotta love it.
It has to be hard for a non-player to understand the mystic and legend of the men's game when it was in its heyday. Interesting that the stories get more embellished every year.......have a few old fastpitch buddies I chat with occasionally and every year the homerun went another 20 feet farther. Gotta love it.
- Aug 21, 2008
- 2,386
- 113
Well said. And more and more pitchers threw over "100 MPH". LOL, it's just laughable.
What could be done to bring men's fastpitch back I wonder? It looks like it was a blast.
I actually checked this movie out of the library many years ago.
- Aug 21, 2008
- 2,386
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Nothing I'm afraid. I can't think of anything that hasn't been tried.
They still play some decent tournaments in San Antonio. I used to love pitching there.
The lovely ASA governing body has abandoned the game for the most part. But the worst betrayal of the game came at the hands of the ISF when they pushed for women's olympic softball but not men's. They turned their backs on the entire male gender instead of fighting for both to be an Olympic sport. Then, when the ISF disbanded and they became the WBSC, they completely gave the middle finger to the sport that got them started, men's fastpitch. How does the ISF, as softball organization, back BASEBALL for the Olympics instead of their own sport? Places like Athens and Rio who don't play much baseball and softball could've built 1 stadium instead of 2 for the games!! Men and women could play on he same field, just move the pitching rubber back and the fence. That's much easier than building a huge baseball stadium!!
Sorry, I could get on a soapbox and rant about this all day long. I'm sure you guys don't wanna hear that.
Bill
I watched this more than a few years ago on your recommendation. I found it fascinating as well as funny. I still have it on DVD. I wish I had gone to watch one of the tourneys you used to hold in Erie. I would have been honored to meet these guys.
Library......I remember those.
