| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| goyard |
Posted - 08/20/2008 : 22:54:38
**ECB 12U Astros Invite Your Support During NYBC in MEMPHIS**
• Full NYBC coverage at YouthMajors.com
• The 10-under bracket
• The 12-under bracket
• Field set for inaugural NYBC
Ever since its creation in ancient Greece, the Olympic Games have provided the opportunity for athletes from all backgrounds to prove their abilities against the highest level of competition.
That concept was one of the driving forces that led to the creation of the first National Youth Baseball Championships, which will be held from Aug. 21-24 at Gameday Baseball's First Tennessee Fields in Memphis, Tenn.
The tournament, which will be streamed live on MLB.com, will crown a champion from a group of eight teams in a 10-under division, as well as a winner from eight more in an 12-under division. More than 100,000 teams from eight youth baseball organizations around the country competed for a berth in this event.
Forty years ago, as an executive for the TVS Television Network, Einhorn made the decision to broadcast what was later billed as the "Game of the Century" between UCLA and the University of Houston. He's credited as one of people who helped make college basketball an immensely popular sport, and he could very well do the same with youth baseball, thanks to the far-reaching scope of the internet.
MLB.com will provide live video streams of 14 games from the tournament as well as the Thursday evening's opening ceremonies. In the MLB.com broadcast booth for the semifinal and championship rounds on Aug. 23 and 24 will be former Major Leaguers Harold Reynolds and Billy Sample. Joining Reynolds and Sample will be two more familiar MLB.com voices in Noah Coslov and Vinny Micucci.
MLB.com will stream four pool-play games in the 10-under division on Thursday and four 12-under pool-play games the day after. The 10-under semifinal games will be streamed live on Saturday at 10 a.m. ET and 12:30 p.m. ET, with the championship game to be streamed live at 5 p.m. ET.
The semifinal round for the 12-under division will be streamed live on Sunday at 11 a.m. ET and 1:30 p.m. ET with the championship game scheduled to be streamed live at 7 p.m. ET. Opening ceremonies will also be streamed live by MLB.com on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
"This is the beginning of something very special," said Rick Cerrone, tournament media director and 22-year Major League Baseball executive. "For eight outstanding youth organizations to come together for a national championship tournament, that's a major achievement in itself. To see these young players competing on the field this weekend will really be exciting."
The National Youth Baseball Championships is the brainchild of Eddie Einhorn, vice chairman of the Chicago White Sox, who drew together eight youth organizations to form the Major Youth Baseball Alliance, LLC.
Comprising the Alliance are: the American Amateur Baseball Congress (AABC), the Amateur Athletic Union of the United States (AAU), Babe Ruth Baseball, Dixie Youth Baseball, the National Amateur Baseball Federation (NABF), PONY Baseball, Super Series Baseball of America and the United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA). Altogether, more than eight million kids participate in these leagues.
There's the noticeable absence of Little League from this group, in part because that organization will be hosting its own world series over the weekend. Little League also features a different qualifying system, as regional All-Star squads -- not the teams that play together over the course of a regular season -- compete for spots in their tournament.
Given that these championship events will be taking place at the same time, there are sure to be comparisons between the two formats. Perhaps Little League will one day be involved in the National Youth Baseball Championships. For now, Einhorn and the Major Youth Baseball Alliance felt the time was right to bring together the remaining organizations in the best attempt at crowning a national youth champion to date.
The participating teams in the under-10 division are: Tomateros de California, Paramount, Calif. (USSSA); Juice 10's, Orlando, Fla. (AAU); Tamiami Playmakers, Miami, Fla. (PONY Baseball); Southern Jaguars, Atlanta, Ga. (NABF); Kenner, La. (Babe Ruth); McComb, Miss. (Dixie); Bonnie Braves, Brooklyn, N.Y. (AABC); and McKinney Marshals, McKinney, Texas (Super Series).
The 12-under division participants are: Blossom Valley Broncos, San Jose, Calif. (PONY Baseball); Norwalk Stingrays, Norwalk, Calif. (USSSA); Juice 12's, Orlando, Fla. (AAU); Gresham Park Yard Dogs, Gresham Park, Ga. (AABC); East Cobb Astros, Marietta, Ga. (NABF); Southeastern Lexington, Lexington, Ky. (Babe Ruth); Germantown Giants, Germantown, Tenn. (Super Series); and Texarkana, Texas (Dixie).
While the National Youth Baseball Championships will feature tournament play solely in these two age groups, the goal is to eventually crown champions in all age groups from eight to 17. Cerrone expressed hope that next summer will bring at least one more age group competing for a title, and that eventually international teams will be a part of the event as well.
Tune in to all the action, and watch the stars of tomorrow compete for a national championship. And who knows -- when that tomorrow comes and these players are gracing Major League diamonds across the county, one will be able to look back at the first National Youth Baseball Championships as the start of another mammoth sporting enterprise.Tim Ott is a reporter for MLB.com.
ROOT 'EM ON!!!!! Go STRO'S!!!!
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| 12 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| goyard |
Posted - 08/23/2008 : 22:52:24
there is some very good baseball going on here in Memphis! There is some very tough competition and some very good battles being fought! Experience so far has been awesome! Stro's play Sunday am at 11:00 et. Boy's won a tough battle tonight and advance to semi's in the morn. MLB is doing a great job with this and the teams and families are having a blast!!!!!! |
| 12uCoach |
Posted - 08/23/2008 : 13:41:30
Had nice conversations with the heads of AAU (and Chet remembered our only game meeting in 1997), PONY and Dixie Youth, as well as my many calls from NABF about the tournament. The issues will be dealt with on a League by League baseis. BUT, I strongley urge each and every 12U and 10U team to begin looking at going to NABF, PONY, Super Series, Ripken, or AAU next year. To try and get here.
I know it is an economic issue with CDP, but, it is something everyone should do.
When we are back, please contact anyone who went and see how they felt about it. TV, MLB, Opening ceremoinies, after 15 years of travel ball I am awed by it all. |
| Mike Corbin |
Posted - 08/23/2008 : 09:48:26
I agree about this tournament happening late, but it is happening "late" for us. Many people around the country don't go back to school until after Labor Day. Where some of our kids, Cherokee Co to name one, went back to school I believe on August 4th. Even the Elite 24 goes all the way to that date.
Also, I think for a first time event it is a great effort. I can't imagine what it is like to try abd get half of these organizations to go along with this event. Many of these organizations want to believe that their World Series is the end all be all of the Summer anyway. If they can tweak it that would be nice to get them to split it up into a Rec and Travel division. Then they could put teams together that have played similar rules for the year.
If there is enough interest and it is talked about enough. Then it certainly will be easier to get the other organizations involved. It should not take to long with the backing of MLB. This event has the potential of gettign big in a hurry. I wish them luck in the future and wish the Georgia teams the best of luck this weekend. |
| CHIEFOFSMOKE |
Posted - 08/22/2008 : 23:09:26
Nice win for the Astros tonight. Good luck tomorrow. |
| 12uCoach |
Posted - 08/22/2008 : 22:10:06
Couple of rules for you. Basically it is National League rules. Bat nine, no Courtesy runner, only allowance is starters may re-enter once. That was the discussion in our game tonight, if 2B came out after his injury, he had no subs to go in. In case of injury, a bench player chosen by other team may re-enter was the decision. The 2B is OK.
Standard 4 inning in one day to be able to pitch next day, max 6 in 1 day, max 12 for tournament.
No metal spikes. PONY allows spikes for All-star and beyond.
I apologize to those who watched the end of the game and had to see my ugly mug. I do really bad interviews. |
| greglomax |
Posted - 08/22/2008 : 16:47:49
These are very nice video streams. The Astros will be on at 6:45 CST. |
| greglomax |
Posted - 08/22/2008 : 12:22:01
Topscout,
I don't disagree. The problem is they had to wait until all the santioning bodies got finished with their championships. It is unfortunate that the tournament is after school has started. My disagreement is, with the few number of teams they have playing, they could have gotten the tournament over if 2 days. They would have been better having it on labor day weekend and utilizing the extra day off. |
| Topscout |
Posted - 08/22/2008 : 11:29:33
I pulled my initial comment because it was a bit too judgemental, but my belief is that this tournament should have been scheduled earlier so that all kids wouldn't have an early year school conflict. |
| greglomax |
Posted - 08/21/2008 : 22:03:21
Topscout,
Are you meaning just this tournament or pulling kids out of school for any tournament?
I am not sure I agree that this tournament is any less important to attend than most of the others. |
| upthemiddle |
Posted - 08/21/2008 : 21:46:38
yea what top said , but is work ok |
| BBCoach |
Posted - 08/21/2008 : 20:05:01
Good Luck to The Georgia Teams!
I applaud the effort of the organization in attempting to determine a TRUE National Champion and not just an organization National champion. However, I don't think, even with their best intentions, this tournament is going to determine the best team Nationally in each age level.
First, you have recreation teams from organizations which require players from a specific district competing against TRUE travel baseball teams which draw players from a much larger geographic area. Second, there are teams from these recreational organizations which do not play under the same rules all season(i.e. lead-offs, third drop strike, etc.). Third, not all National organizations are represented such as Triple Crown, USTBA, BPA to name a few from the travel baseball community. Fourth, all the teams representing are not the Champions (some second, third, etc.) from the different organizations.
If they want to claim this tournament as the TRUE Youth National Championships they should decide to include all organizations and split the tournament into two segments, one being recreation based and one travel based ( Majors, Minors, what ever name they would like to apply). A good example is the Little League champions from Alabama several years ago that decided in the fall they would go to travel tournaments and went 2-12 against travel teams and in the spring decided to go back to the recreation based organization.
The tournament has already seen the differences in play level with today's scores (13-4, 10-0, 14-1 and the last game in a lop-sided 14-1 margin). It is already proven the recreation based teams are out matched. One team is representing a travel based organization which only had 5 teams in their 10U Midwest National Championships.
I believe what they are attempting to do is commendable but, until they tweak the system a little more, we will still not know who are the best teams in their age level Nationally.
The organization should get an "A" for effort but, barely a passing grade in the selection of organiztions and the structure of combining the different levels of play.
Just an opinion. What do you think? |
| 25LOVESTHEGAME |
Posted - 08/21/2008 : 10:37:09
Sup Yard!!! you write all this or cut and paste??? We will be watching. Good luck to the Stros |
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