Hollowell's Pitching Clinic

what espn said

Don't have any figures, but the ESPN guys this a.m. said that the WCWS softball got a higher market share on ESPN than the Stanley Cup hockey game got on OLN ; I guess he was talking about Mon. night.

 

You've got to be kidding!
Who looks at the Yahoo sports page?
The game on Monday was the front page story on the ESPN website.
Are you saying that only men watch sports?
Give me a break!!

 

Going Pro

She will play in the National Pro Fastpitch league (www.profastpitch.com, checkout the article dated 2/16/06) in between preparing for the 2008 Olympics. Quite a few of the ladies from former Olympic and NCAA championship teams play in this league

 

more education?

I thought I heard she was going back to get more degrees. I guess she can do that and play pro softball & prepare for Olympics.

 

OLN.. Outdoor Life Network (predominantly hunting channel). You have to have the 3rd tier package on Adelphia where I live to get it...'

ENKA.. do you really think ANYONE whether it be male or female who hasn't played the sport or has a relative who is or has played is watching? Have you been to a college game in Charlotte in March? Who is in the stands?

If we continue to deny that the sport needs to change its marketing we will continue to fight the fact that it doesn't generate enough fan interest and thereby enough money which in turn leads to so little scholarship money. There were other factors at work but do i really have to rub salt in the Olympic wound to make my point?

Regardless of what was reported about attendence I saw tons of empty seats down the left and right field lines in last nights and in game #1. The only "full" house I saw was the TX game and the anouncers attributed that to the drive ins from Austin.

... thought this would stir things up a bit.. maybe it will get some people thinking.

 

I am a huge fastpitch fan. My dd played for years and I've always been a big fan and still am. I think this is our problem. Unless you are a die hard fan or have someone playing you go to watch the game can be boring.
I went to Walnut Creek this week end and to be honest the games were not very exciting even for me. It is not much fun to sit and watch pitchers dominate the game. I appreciate this but I am more than just an ordinary fan but still not having any direct ties to the games being played I wouldn't go back to the games again. Almost everyone wants to see offence (i.e. this is why pro basketball takes some much defence out of the game) and your casual fan is not going to enjoy watching pitchers strike out batter after batter and the only offence is bunts and slaps which is pretty much how our game is played at a high level. Fastpitch will never be a big market sport because of this so you won't ever see it on TV alot

 

Yes-
I think there are plenty of fans out there that have not played or do not have a relative that has played the game.
The sport does need to be promoted but to suggest wearing skimpy uniforms to do that is ridiculous.

 

agree

In reality, what could be done to increase offense besides moving the pitcher back 3 feet; & many doubt that would make a significant difference?

(like at the WCWS games I watched, when Arizona got up by say 3 runs (3-0), the game was essentially over with Hollowell pitching. NW did get runners on, in fact there were 21 base hits in the final game by both teams combined, but it seems the likelihood of a team at that level overcoming a 3-5 run lead is basically nil. In college baseball, many times no lead is entirely safe and the scores many times are in the double-digits for both teams ). But I know that baseball & softball are different games & I respect that.

I heard something funny on one of the radio shows ; they were talking about the possibility of college baseball going back to using wooden bats because those guys are aiming for the pro's at the end of their college careers, and since the pro's use only wooden bats the college prospects would be better evaluated if they also used wood. Then they said if that happened, colleges may be forced to have their women softball teams go to wood bats as well due to "equality" rules/ policies. If women softball were to go to wooden bats, then the little bit of offense that we have now would be wiped away & hits would be rare occurrences.

 

Abbott vs Finch

A poster above suggests that A Ward become another J Finch as opposed to M Abbott (inspite of the fact that she's going to UT). I think that gets at the heart of what's being talked about here. Certainly not "politically correct" or even just plain old correct but does reflect the reality of our culture, even our sport culture. Look at women's tennis (Kournikova) open-wheeled racing (D Patrick) and, of course, beach volleyball. As FP softball has become more popular the old stereotypes (think mullet haircuts) have, fortunately, disappeared but the marketing of womens sports without some "sex appeal" angle is still problematic in America.

An aside . . . I think Monica Abbott is fascinating. Did anyone notice the glitter she wore in WCWS. I have feeling she's a much different person than the first impression I suspect most casual fans perceive.

 

Rule Changes

My daughter is not even middle school age yet but have watched a lot of games over the last two years. I think the sport should consider the following:

1.) Moving the pitchers mound back
2.) Moving the bases back
3.) Inning limitations on pitchers
4.) Strictly enforce the batters box rules on slappers
5.) Consistently call a strike zone that is not ankles to shoulders
6.) Use a smaller home plate than baseball - with a bigger ball, a pitch on the corner is much harder to hit than a baseball

Too many players appear to be swinging with the purpose of making contact, not driving the ball hard. The players need to be taught to swing and drive the ball hard, in my opinion.

The game as it is played today is too easily be dominated by a pitcher.