the only problem about amber and cameron is that they are past players that the girls have been around....and there is quite a bit of disrespect for both of them....it may cause more harm than good. i haven't heard too much excitement about the upcoming year.
There is quite a bit if disrespect for Cameron? That's interesting. I kind of get the feeling that you are close to the team. I'd like to think that I'm friends with several of them and I've never heard anyone badmouth Cam. Is it a "disrespect" or is it just a lack of respect?
Cameron is a student assistant and I will never understand why Sarah asked her to do that because the team does not respect her at all. She was a good player and I am not taking that away from her. However, she has a major attitude problem and tries to start things. In fact she has been in the outfield arguing with people on her team who were either in the dugout or on the field. She disrespected her teammates and Sarah several times so whenever I heard that Sarah had asked her to be her student assistant, I was shocked.
I would be surprised to see that there was a lack of respect for Amber. The seniors this year are the only players who played with Amber so the other girls don't know her as a teammate. I know she worked at Tech after she graduated, but not with the softball team. So again I would be surprised if there is a lack of respect for Amber. Plus Amber was team captain when she was a senior, and I feel as though Amber did an extremely good job of leading the team the best she could.
ya i knew several of the players quite well. from what i have heard everyone is shocked to even see dawson back on that field, let alone the "hiring" of 2 new coaches. the way i understood it is that personalities clashed very badly between the girls and the two new coaches. it should make for an interesting season....
I don't know why anyone would be shocked to see Dawson back on the field because the adminstration doesn't give a crap about softball. It's like saying you're surprised to see Mazeitis on the volleyball court. They don't care about volleyball either. Both have had several players quit over their careers at Tech for various reasons and both have had not so good records. I think both would have had more success had so many players not quit. Dawson lost several players after the 2004 season. One player who probably would have helped the most was a pitcher who was extremely homesick. Two more infielders quit and transfered for academic reasons. Mazeitis had similar circumstances. Her setter graduated after the 2003 season but had one more year of eligibility. Due to a private issue, that setter could not come back which left 2 freshman setters. Then the freshman with the most experience after the 2004 season left for medical reasons.
If someone has a personality clash with Amber, they have got serious issues. She is probably one of the nicest people around. I don't know Shelli that well, so I can't say anything about her. I haven't heard too much about her though. As far as Cameron as a student assistant, that is extrememly shocking. As I stated before, Cameron has a bad attitude and I can see her causing a lot of problems if Sarah doesn't keep it from happening. I hoped over the years that she would have matured, but she hasn't really. Maybe getting her away from being a player and seeing it from a coaching stand point, she will finally understand why she had so many problems with so many people.
So because one player quit because they were homesick means she should not recruit from the west coast? Rochelle Sandberg made it. Regan Clark made it. Carly White made it. Christine Echols made it. Jen LaRussa made it (not Sarah's recruit). Sabra Warner made it (not Sarah's recruit).
The west coast is full of talent. I am not saying that Louisiana isn't, however, what is "historically" the powerhouse softball conference...the PAC 10. If you look at the past year's Women's College World Series, you had a team from the PAC 10 and the SEC. Take a look at Tennessee's roster. Eight players were from California and two were from Hawaii. Last time I checked, Knoxville, Tennessee was further away than Ruston, Louisiana. That's a team that has been in the WCWS for 3 of the last 4 years. I am sure they have had players quit from the west coast so should Ralph Weekly quit recruiting from the west coast?
Honestly, I bet very few teams in NCAA D-I softball don't have players from the west coast. If the coaches aren't recruit from the west coast, they better because great players get overlooked by big schools and smaller schools can always find a diamond in the rough out there.
Amber and Shelli are full-time and Cameron is a graduate assistant. Amber will be a great addition. She did it all at Tech--softball, Tech Talk news editor, leadership roles, etc. She was a true student leader. She has been working for Hearst Newspapers through a fellowship for almost two years. She's an amazing writer and also has a Masters from Tech in counseling. Plenty of potential to do whatever she wants, but she loves Tech and softball so much that she would rather be here than making a bunch of money somewhere else. I can picture her being very high up in the Tech hierarchy ten years from now.
The softball team has had more than its share of drama the past couple of years. We've had some good talent, enough to win more games than we have, but it just hasn't happened.
ULL remained in the top 25 this year because of who they are. They teach to be power hitters yet there is a major weakness in their swing. When teams figure it out and have the pitching staff to exploit it, the hitters have no clue what to do with it. They lost to Alcorn State for pete sake this year! They didn't even win their conference tournament and got the at-large bid to the NCAA because the Sunbelt's conference winner doesn't get an automatic bid in softball. They actually lost their first 2 games in the coference tournament. They went played their two games and went home in the NCAA Regional Tournament. They lost to Houston and Sam Houston State. Two teams I would have thought they would have easily beaten. They dropped out of the final NFCA poll after being #24 before the tournament.
LSU has 5 girls on their team from California and they stay ranked as well. They actually knocked Tennessee out of the top spot late in the season. They finished the season ranked 10 in the final poll. We have 4 girls on our team from the west coast. It's not like our whole team is from there, and then the majority of them are from Louisiana and Texas.
I think the softballers need to date the Physics majors at Tech. someone who will tell them in order for the softball to leave the plate, a force of the bat is needed. the games I watched last year makes me think we led the country in 3rd strike looking strike outs. there were some games we could of went to the plate without a bat because all the player did was stand long enough for strike out. Need someone to be aggressive with the bat.
I'm hearing that Bryan Beck is being considered for an assistant's job in softball for next year. Has anyone else heard this?