redhotcoach
Out on good behavior
- May 8, 2009
- 4,704
- 38
And the winner is..............NO ONE!
NPF championship
- Thread starter redhotcoach
- Start date
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We Won...Sarcasm intentional
Actually we all were winners...the five of us remaining in the stands @ 6:30pm. We went across the street and saw "The Odd Life of Timothy Green"...Two Thumbs Up. Ate lunch at the bowling alley. Came back and watched Monica Abbott warm up. Got soaked for 1 hour. Watched a 6-3 putout of Natasha Watley. Game called. Told by PA, "thanks for coming, now go home, and check the site for any information". Got a free t-shirts, rally towels, and a few autographs. Special thanks to the players who didn't want to sign my daughter's ball (esp. the tall brunette lefty from the Pride)...they made quite an impression. Drove an hour home in a downpour.
During the first rain-out I overheard the head of Marketing speaking with somebody. He was asked if there was a Plan B in case the rain didn't stop. His response, "there is no Plan B".
Actually we all were winners...the five of us remaining in the stands @ 6:30pm. We went across the street and saw "The Odd Life of Timothy Green"...Two Thumbs Up. Ate lunch at the bowling alley. Came back and watched Monica Abbott warm up. Got soaked for 1 hour. Watched a 6-3 putout of Natasha Watley. Game called. Told by PA, "thanks for coming, now go home, and check the site for any information". Got a free t-shirts, rally towels, and a few autographs. Special thanks to the players who didn't want to sign my daughter's ball (esp. the tall brunette lefty from the Pride)...they made quite an impression. Drove an hour home in a downpour.
During the first rain-out I overheard the head of Marketing speaking with somebody. He was asked if there was a Plan B in case the rain didn't stop. His response, "there is no Plan B".
redhotcoach
Out on good behavior
- May 8, 2009
- 4,704
- 38
Yes we had the same rain here on Saturday. All day, non stop. They didn't have a plan b for our 12 year olds either. So they just kept playing. No one melted.
NPF season ends without champion
Aug 26, 2012 11:40 PM ET | By Graham Hays
Heather Burns
The National Pro Fastpitch playoffs ended without a champion on Sunday because of the weather.
ROSEMONT, Ill. -- The season ended as scheduled Sunday for National Pro Fastpitch. But it ended without a champion for the first time in the nine-year history of the women's professional softball league because of weather delays and what the league cited as scheduling conflicts for players on both teams.
Rain initially delayed Sunday's second game in a best-of-three championship series between the Chicago Bandits and USSSA Pride from 2:30 p.m. CT to 6 p.m., the latter start time was originally assigned to a third game, if one was needed to break a tie and settle the series. The potential third game would have been played immediately after the second game under the revised schedule. But after one out was recorded in the top of the first inning in Game 2, the field was ruled unplayable. Rain continued through a delay of close to 30 minutes, and the game and series were officially canceled.
"It looked like it might stop for 45 minutes, and it would have taken all that time to get the field ready," NPF commissioner Cheri Kempf said of the rain. "And then [the chance for rain] zoomed back up to 85 percent."
[+] Enlarge
Heather Burns
A few fans were left in the stands when the USSSA Pride-Chicago Bandits series was called Sunday night.
Kempf said there was no contingency plan in place for playing games Monday, and the option was unfeasible on the fly, citing both the costs to the owners and obligations held by players on both teams. Several key players on both teams will travel to Japan early this week to rejoin professional teams in that country, a means of augmenting salaries that rarely reach $10,000 for the NPF's summer season.
"The Pride pretty much said they would change their arrangements. It was not an official statement, but it was more of a player statement," Kempf said. "The Bandits had six players that could not change plans, including [starting pitcher] Monica Abbott going to Japan."
The commissioner made the decision to leave the championship vacant instead of awarding it to either the Bandits, who won Game 1, or the Pride, who finished with the best regular-season record.
"I can say that the championship wasn't complete, and it wasn't complete because Chicago stated it had six players that could not finish," Kempf said. "So therefore, I don't feel like that the right thing to do is to award the championship on one game."
Bandits owners Bill Sokolis was visibly upset in a brief conversation with Kempf on the field after the game and intimated his team deserved the championship.
"We're 3-0; they've lost twice, once to us," Sokolis said of the playoff records. "That's all I say."
Sokolis also denied any suggestion that the Bandits refused to play Monday without their six players, including Abbott and starters Megan Wiggins, Shannon Doepking and Amanda Williams.
"We could have put nine players on the field," Sokolis said.
Instead of finishing with a nationally televised championship game, the season ended in confusion for the four-team league. Players on both sides expressed frustration at not having an opportunity to settle matters on the field. One of the players set to travel to Japan this week, Pride veteran and former U.S. Olympian Lauren Lappin, said she would have changed her travel plans if necessary to finish with her team here.
"It's really tough to end a season like that," Lappin said. "I don't think anyone in that dugout, and I know no one in our dugout, wanted to finish things like this. We want to play. That's why we do this; we want to play to be a champion. And that's done on the field. I don't really know what to say about the final result, final decision. I definitely think there will be things done differently in the future to prevent anything like this from happening again.
"If we want to be taken seriously, I think this needs to have a final result for our fans, for the players in the league, for the owners in the league who invest so much in this."
Aug 26, 2012 11:40 PM ET | By Graham Hays
Heather Burns
The National Pro Fastpitch playoffs ended without a champion on Sunday because of the weather.
ROSEMONT, Ill. -- The season ended as scheduled Sunday for National Pro Fastpitch. But it ended without a champion for the first time in the nine-year history of the women's professional softball league because of weather delays and what the league cited as scheduling conflicts for players on both teams.
Rain initially delayed Sunday's second game in a best-of-three championship series between the Chicago Bandits and USSSA Pride from 2:30 p.m. CT to 6 p.m., the latter start time was originally assigned to a third game, if one was needed to break a tie and settle the series. The potential third game would have been played immediately after the second game under the revised schedule. But after one out was recorded in the top of the first inning in Game 2, the field was ruled unplayable. Rain continued through a delay of close to 30 minutes, and the game and series were officially canceled.
"It looked like it might stop for 45 minutes, and it would have taken all that time to get the field ready," NPF commissioner Cheri Kempf said of the rain. "And then [the chance for rain] zoomed back up to 85 percent."
[+] Enlarge
Heather Burns
A few fans were left in the stands when the USSSA Pride-Chicago Bandits series was called Sunday night.
Kempf said there was no contingency plan in place for playing games Monday, and the option was unfeasible on the fly, citing both the costs to the owners and obligations held by players on both teams. Several key players on both teams will travel to Japan early this week to rejoin professional teams in that country, a means of augmenting salaries that rarely reach $10,000 for the NPF's summer season.
"The Pride pretty much said they would change their arrangements. It was not an official statement, but it was more of a player statement," Kempf said. "The Bandits had six players that could not change plans, including [starting pitcher] Monica Abbott going to Japan."
The commissioner made the decision to leave the championship vacant instead of awarding it to either the Bandits, who won Game 1, or the Pride, who finished with the best regular-season record.
"I can say that the championship wasn't complete, and it wasn't complete because Chicago stated it had six players that could not finish," Kempf said. "So therefore, I don't feel like that the right thing to do is to award the championship on one game."
Bandits owners Bill Sokolis was visibly upset in a brief conversation with Kempf on the field after the game and intimated his team deserved the championship.
"We're 3-0; they've lost twice, once to us," Sokolis said of the playoff records. "That's all I say."
Sokolis also denied any suggestion that the Bandits refused to play Monday without their six players, including Abbott and starters Megan Wiggins, Shannon Doepking and Amanda Williams.
"We could have put nine players on the field," Sokolis said.
Instead of finishing with a nationally televised championship game, the season ended in confusion for the four-team league. Players on both sides expressed frustration at not having an opportunity to settle matters on the field. One of the players set to travel to Japan this week, Pride veteran and former U.S. Olympian Lauren Lappin, said she would have changed her travel plans if necessary to finish with her team here.
"It's really tough to end a season like that," Lappin said. "I don't think anyone in that dugout, and I know no one in our dugout, wanted to finish things like this. We want to play. That's why we do this; we want to play to be a champion. And that's done on the field. I don't really know what to say about the final result, final decision. I definitely think there will be things done differently in the future to prevent anything like this from happening again.
"If we want to be taken seriously, I think this needs to have a final result for our fans, for the players in the league, for the owners in the league who invest so much in this."
That is too bad the weather spoiled the games on Sunday, We were fortunate enough to attend the game Saturday evening and we were treated to a pitchers duel between Cat and Monica ending in a 2-1 victory for the Bandits. Couldn't believe, Monica would go from 72-74 mph pitch to a change up at 52-54, Wow is all I have to say. Afterwards, my DD got autographs from members of both teams as well as Jennie Finch. She was pretty stoked.
From my facebook:
Chris Hendrickson
What a weekend. For all of you who have called me, texted me, sent me emails (I'm still working on answering you) for everyone who came up during the game today I can only say I understand your frustration and disappointment. I appreciate your understanding that the circumstances were out of our hands. And I join with all of you that this is not how a Championship should be determined, or that instead of celebrating the careers of Rachel Folden, Caitlin Lever, Katie Burkhart, Jami Lobpries and others that the last thoughts of 2012 are that of not having a Champion.
Many of you say you wont support the NPF anymore. I'm going to ask you to KEEP supporting your favorite team. Make your voice heard by showing up at games and celebrating the game. If you stop coming to games then your voice disappears. The dreams that these young athletes are living disappear and then so do the dreams your daughters, granddaughters, nieces, friends have.
Chris Hendrickson
What a weekend. For all of you who have called me, texted me, sent me emails (I'm still working on answering you) for everyone who came up during the game today I can only say I understand your frustration and disappointment. I appreciate your understanding that the circumstances were out of our hands. And I join with all of you that this is not how a Championship should be determined, or that instead of celebrating the careers of Rachel Folden, Caitlin Lever, Katie Burkhart, Jami Lobpries and others that the last thoughts of 2012 are that of not having a Champion.
Many of you say you wont support the NPF anymore. I'm going to ask you to KEEP supporting your favorite team. Make your voice heard by showing up at games and celebrating the game. If you stop coming to games then your voice disappears. The dreams that these young athletes are living disappear and then so do the dreams your daughters, granddaughters, nieces, friends have.
Worst thing they did was not stream it, after showing every game all year. They posted we could watch it, knowing full well they weren't showing it. Then made no explanation. Plus now they know that should never again use the north for national championships. Should of had it at Wide world of sport complex. It has to be the biggest Sports farce ever. They have the worst streaming, because the cameras are set to never give you a crowd shot. We all know, no one is there, or at team USA games either. But if you don't stream the games you will never build a fan base.
We met Chris on Sunday (he even let my daughter and her friend try on his size 14 Championship rings)....really great guy! It's too bad there was no Championship game on Sunday....but that's the way of fastpitch.
Amy, thanks for all the info!
- Jul 26, 2010
- 3,554
- 0
Maybe they should consider playing in California where it not only doesn't rain in the summer, but there are actually fans!
-W
-W
- Jan 25, 2011
- 2,280
- 38
HEY, that's not fair we are big fans, but I do see your point about the weather. Just that, why should Ca. get everything?
