Impact Scoreboard

angry and insignificant

I see you the same way everybody else does..........

Angry and Insignificant

 

Reading between the lines

Seems like respectforthegame is trying to make the point that in the good old days grown men praised, promoted and coached student athletes because they had a passion for the game and for the kids. Somewhere along the way it has turned into a business. Now organizations promote players that pay them to play for them. No one is holding a gun to anyone's head to get sucked in but that does not change the facts. I have no beef at all with impact and personally think they put on the best tournaments in the best venues. Although it does perplex me why everything went wrong and youth baseball became a business.

 

Make no mistake - he's NOT insignificant..

I'm going to keep out of the basis of this fight, but Mr. Loflin is NOT insignificant.
Any person who has put as much time, and I'm sure money (note I said I'm sure about the money, though he won't like taking that credit) into a once proud, but for a while dormant legion program, all to revive it FOR KIDS, is not insignificant. He's bought - maybe not correct way to phrase it , so I'll say at least been a part of getting - the jerseys, the sod, the dugouts, the dirt, the bleachers, the scoreboard, etc. I've seen him on his knees and back on the ground, sweat pouring, to make a facility better for kids - not just roll in, writing a check to use a facility, only to roll out with more cash in hand than he arrived with or wrote said checks for. (Oops - said I wasn't getting into the fray... sorry!)


You guys can fight all you want and exchange verbal blows, but I can drop the names of dozens of kids right here, right now, who have benefited from Chad and his work with/for the Kernersville Legion program. Some of those benefits have come in part through scholarship possibilities, but most probably just in priceless memories. And in the last 5+ years, "the program" has very much been Chad and his efforts. I'm not linked to the program in any way, and have even had differences with him and it. But we talk eye to eye, face to face, like men. Even if I think he and his program are wrong in an area, I have enough intelligence and respect to know that the man is not insignificant.

Angry, yes, I think he may be.
Insignificant, not hardly.
Choose another harsh word.

[On a lighter note, to maybe break the tension here... be careful with Loflin.
Playing with him as a teenager in the 80's, an opposing team's player ragged him all game one summer night about his socks being high - before it was re-popularized after a 40 year break. Though he never said a word back, Chad told me for 4-5 innings he was going to pop the kid. Going through the line after the game, the kid (we were all 16+) mouthed off one more time and laughed - at which time Chad kept his word. The kid's lip quickly matched Chad's high, red socks; I don't think the other guy's teamates minded he did it. Just one of those things I have often remembered with a grin. And please, please resist bashing that 25 year old action by a hard-nosed kid who grew up to be a fine, significant member of his community.]

OK - ya'll can get back at it.
Ding! Ding!

 

It all goes back to the "Big Bertha" in golf...that is when it became so apparent that folks in our ever-changing society would willingly whip out the checkbook and try to purchase a performance improvement. Paying $400 for a new driver back then really did nothing for the golfer who had a 10cent game, but they sure sold a lot of drivers. Soon thereafter, manufacturers started cranking out the high-tech baseball bats and adopted the same sales approach...."the new, crazy triple anodized, trampoline mimicking, z-fraction, chemo-balanced titanium rocket launcher will make Junior a star...and we promise if you give us $350 you will see for yourself". Now, new age Moms and Dads were buying 9 year olds expensive bats on the bet that Junior would make the All Star team and be the athlete that everyone wants him to be. Then the are lessons to be undertaken....Mom is more willing to write the check than Junior is to really work for it, but hey...everybody's doing it.

I have given pitching lessons at my home for kids ages 8-13 over the years and I charge a few bucks just to make sure I am not sitting on my bucket all weekend as a kind of weekend baby-sitter....in that time I have seen some fantastic young pitchers and some have gone on to be successful pitchers, but I have also seen many parents trying to create a high-performing player by just writing a check and it is that willingness to try to purchase performance in our society today that at least contributes to the money-changing aspects of today's youth baseball.

P.S. I too have paid for lessons over the years.

 

I do respect that Braves, but I do also agree with "give me more games while the competition eats watermelon in the shade". I'm not a negative guy, but I do believe in backing kids that are so influential. I did see AP on the front row at Duke. That's gotta be a bad PR move, but that is a total joke because I am a State alum.

 

That was actually Lee Land. But good try.

 

On earth as it is in Heaven.

 

Braves please don't lock this thread, it's an instant classic.

 

You should be accurate and request that people send you free information so that you can then charge people for it.

I'll skip this one

This entire organization is a joke.

Too personal of an opinion for me to comment

You don't provide anything that your "players" would not already accomplish on their own.

This may be true now, but was not always the case. For years people across the state were upset with Andy. Why? Because he didn't have the time to drive all over the state watching and evaluating talent (although he did put on 225,000 miles on his jeep doing that kind of thing.) He would write an evaluation of the talent he had seen and people would be angry that he didn't do writeups of players in their area. So what did he do to correct that? He established tryouts in different areas of the state so he could evaluate the best talent in each area. For what reason? To promote them.to the colleges in NC and SC. He didn't have the Dirtbag teams and he didn't have a summer team. He would invite the best talent he could find and take them to the PG World Series in Jupiter. That was the extent of his showcase team involvement, but it also became his most favorite thing to do.
Each year he would expand his involvement by creating events. One of the first one was the Pitcher/Catcher showcase held in January each year at Elon. It marked the first time an event of this kind could be successful.in NC. Every college in NC and SC attended. It was an invitation only event that represented players from all over the state. People couldn't argue it was only Andy's players attending because he didn't have a team. It was years later before that argument could be made.
During this time, he was the absolute leader in promoting NC players to the colleges. He developed credibility with recruiters (not an easy task), so when he promoted someone they listened. He helped countless of players in our state that were not affiliated with Impact.

You provide one thing that keeps you in business & that is an ego massage.

Too personal to respond


My quotation around players earlier is not a slight to them because they are players before they come to you. During their time with you they are participants because there has to be game in order to have players.

No argument here. He looks for the best players in our state to promote them. He's not looking for players he needs to develop. He leaves that to their coaches (which can be many; HS coach, pitcher/hitter instructor, Dad, agent, etc...) No matter how talented the player is, the feedback Andy provided to the families from the recruiters is priceless. He could tell them "everything." From the schools that have great interest in their son, to the one's that were using him, or a school that was getting ready to lose their coach. To this date, there is no one more "plugged in" to what's going on at every college program in the SE. He is a confidante with every college recruiter. Some of them trust him more than their HC.

How often do you tell people that you were the CO-national champions. You know the game that decides who wins the whole tournament for that weekend that you guys call "national championship" that ended in a tie in 2010.

Unquestionably, the best showcase event and most talented fielded teams, by far. This event is attended by every D1 school in the country; every MLB organizations with many sending their whole staff. A player can arrive as an unknown and leave with every ML club asking for personal information that months later can make him a top round draftee. To accomplish an unbelievable goal of winning (or tying, I'll mention this more later) the PGWWB World Series is someting our whole state benefits from. The success our teams have had in Jupiter have opened doors for many players looking to play outside of the NC boundaries.This is a very important accomplishemt that goes beyond just Impact Baseball.

To address the co-championship is something that has never been mentioned on this board. It came down to highly regarded and previous champion, Chet Lemon's Juice vs Dirtbags. After 7 innings in the championship game Chet ran out of pitchers, while Andy still had 2 studs needing innings. Chet told Andy he didn't have any more pitchers and didn't want to risk hurting someone by throwing them again. AP could have forced a forfeit and taken the championship, but didn't. I bet many people don't know that, just like they don't know about how many players he has promoted outside his organization.

Quit preying on these kids and get a real job.

He doesn't do anything different than what other elite teams do. They scout talent and invite players- and promote them. The fact that he could make this into a career is something I salute. He loves his job!... Something most wished in their careers.

You are great at judging talent so become a scout. Baseball has many unwritten rules and one of them is players that get it want to pass it on. That is why there are numerous coaches across this country that give time, effort and money so kids can experience the game we love.

Many of the coaches that have experienced success in HS are now coaching Showcase baseball. They are great stewards of the game--Danny Hignight comes to mind. In fact, when you look at the staffs of On Deck-CBC, The Heat, Cubs, SCP, Dirtbags, and countless others, the one thing that has changed is the credibility of the coaches: Successful HS coaches, ex MLB players and coaches, ex MLB scouts...some of the best coaches this state can offer. There is nothing wrong for them to be compensated for their time, experience and talent. In fact, they should be...it's not like a HS coach gets a fair compensation for their efforts from the school districts.

 

..I won't, just for you