Illegal pitchs-Florida/UCLA

[Bishop]

Not to get in the middle of Tojo and Bishop but man do I agree with the whole 13 yo attitude thing. It is hard and I like what you said about showing them the path but they need to decide to walk it. That is great!! My DD is in a whole new world right now and I am as stupid as a rock in her opinion. We have been very close and it hurts me to see this happen now but it is her life and I can only guide her so far in it. Luckily I have an 11 yo that still thinks I am pretty cool but that will only last for another year or so. I guess I need to make the most of it. Our motto has been and always will be "Attitude and Effort!" Some get it and some don't.

Thanks. It's good to know throw something worth while out there once in a while. Lucky the pitcher giving me fits isn't my own...but hey if she was I could beat her and get it over with. But I digress. 3 others in that group are 12 and soon to be rounding that corner, mine included. I guess it's good that I get a dose of it now with a kid I don't have to take home with me. For now I get to leave the frustration at the field.

 

[PEPPERS]

Guess what helps to promote the attitude that the grown-ups around them are stupid? People like Michele Smith who say that the pitcher is not cheating and is not gaining an advantage by doing something illegal. The NCAA for not cracking down on it consistently. The network for not pointing it out when it happens even when it isn’t called. The league and tournament umpires for not calling it.

I understand all the reasoning and rationalizations. But, when I try to explain that it is more important to do things the right way my kids have more than enough ammunition to support an opinion that it doesn’t matter.

Fowler and Candrea are cheaters. Here’s the evidence. The Wikipedia definition of cheating in sports: There is an implicit agreement among participants that they will play by the rules and eschew unfair measures to win. Cheating occurs when actions are taken that violate the rules of competition in order to gain an advantage.

Every illegal pitch gives the pitcher an illegal advantage. The difference in time and space between squaring the ball to hit for maximum distance in fair territory and hitting a foul ball pop-up is infinitesimal. That means that a few thousands of an inch or second can be the difference between a homerun and a weak grounder. The fact is a pitcher’s job is to make the batters miss by at least those few thousandth of an inch or second. Leaping a half an inch off the dirt or outside the lane means that they can affect the outcome of the pitch differently than a legal pitcher – an advantage. The rules do not stipulate that it is to be overlooked if the pitcher didn’t mean to or if it is hard for her not to. It does not matter if doing so is not the most efficient way to pitch. The fact that it might not be as efficient to leap (an arguable point to say the least) is still an advantage. If a pitcher loses 1 mph by pitching illegal it is just as effective as if she gains a mph or more. It is an unfair advantage. If a pitcher pitches legally 9 out of 10 times the one illegal pitch is still an advantage as it will change the flight path of the ball in some manner that the pitcher cannot achieve legally – an advantage.

Fowler has pitched illegally at least 23 times in front of the nation at THE showcase for college softball – she, and more so Candrea, should be an embarrassment. At some point she suddenly corrected the problem and it has gone away. We are now suppose to congratulate her for her toughness. I suggest another response – condemnation. Why? If she can correct the problem than why didn’t she before it caused so much drama and controversy? Why did it get fixed only when it became a disadvantage?

Basketball requires a player to miss a game if they get too many flagrant fouls during postseason play. If any sport has an issue with consistency it is basketball. Soccer has a red card. Fowler should have been kicked out of the tournament at some point for flagrant disregard for the rules. I know there isn’t a rule for that, it is merely what I think should have happened.

Candrea, his staff, all the Az supporters throwing fits when an IP gets called are complicit in encouraging cheating. The NCAA and ESPN are also complicit to some degree. Fowler’s mother booing when her baby gets called for cheating is complicit. Honestly, I have nothing against Fowler. She is probably a fine person in general and has the potential to be among the great pitchers of all time. I wish her as much success as she is capable in the game and in life just as soon as she understands that she has been cheating and permanently stops because it is the right way to play and live.

Candrea, on the other hand should be condemned and punished. He knows better. He had her for a half a year before games began. He allowed her to be in the sad position when the spotlight was shinning brightest. He allowed it to go on until it hurt him. Shame on you Mike. You hurt the sport and that is unacceptable. Your lame excuses that the umpires need to let her know what she is doing wrong or that they are not being consistent are unacceptable. You know what she is doing wrong and you know she has done it consistently – probably from the first time you viewed her skills tape.

Why am I so adamant about this issue? Candrea makes me look stupid when I try to teach my daughter to do things the right way. Michele Smith makes me look stupid when she says doing something illegal isn’t cheating. The NCAA makes me look stupid when it turns a blind eye to cheating. Everyone complaining about the IPs interfering with the game and it’s no big deal make me look stupid. I am perfectly capable of looking stupid from time to time all by myself, I don’t need the help.

At least on this one I know I am right because I can answer a simple question: What would John Wooden do if he were a softball coach? In the end this issue has less to do with softball and more to do with what lessons my kids will carry from softball into life. Watching Candrea complain that his cheater is being treated unfairly and the network announcers justifying cheating in a variety of ways is sad.

You made some great points in you post, the coaches and teachers who make their living coaching and teaching the hop and leap are going to protect their position. It is coming to the point, in my opinion, that to compete, a pitcher or a coach has to use or teach the hop or leap to stay competitive. My daughter hears it all the time that your good, but would be better if you jumped or hopped closer to the pitcher.

I advised earlier in a post that a D1 pitcher came to my daughter’s pitching coach to correct the leap and hop problem. After 2 lessons she told him that the motion had gotten her this far and she decided to continue using the hop and leap to pitch.

OK they’ve open a can of worms where doe’s it go from here?

 

[Bishop]

batsics1,

Congratulations, you are a purist. Some will throw that word at you like it's a slur but haven't figured out why yet.

Gabba gabba we accept you, we accept you one of us!
- Joey Ramone, Pinhead, 1976

I agree with a fair number of your points and reasons why. At this point, I should probably keep out of these threads. Someone pointed out I've strayed from discussing and slid into arguing. No point killing what little respect I might have by continuing to devolve into a fit of frustration.

After the hubub of this year, things will be different next year.

There may be consistent enforcement, maybe spotty again or they will change the rules so enforcement isn't and issue. Regardless, we won't be going back to the era of ignoring the rule without penalty. So that's good. I don't have any ability to affect the outcome of how things progress so I'll be shutting up and watching to see which way the tree falls.

Gabba Gabba Hey!

 

[SoCalSoftballdad]

Why am I so adamant about this issue? Candrea makes me look stupid when I try to teach my daughter to do things the right way. Michele Smith makes me look stupid when she says doing something illegal isn’t cheating. The NCAA makes me look stupid when it turns a blind eye to cheating. Everyone complaining about the IPs interfering with the game and it’s no big deal make me look stupid. I am perfectly capable of looking stupid from time to time all by myself, I don’t need the help.

You bring up a great point that young pitchers (and their parents) are looking to the older girls to emulate their pitching mechanics and they see these college pitchers leaping on TV and say, well Fowler does it, why can't I ? I even had a coach tell me that his IP DD wasn't illegal because she was doing exactly what the older girls were doing. I think the softball officals saw such an egregious disregard of the pitching rules by pitchers that they had to make a statement that it will not be tolerated anymore. In the long run, I think the IP crackdown will make the game better. This should be a wake-up call to all pitchers, get legal or you will not pitch.