MICHIGAN SOFTBALL: REGIONAL CHAMPS
The game is at 1pm on ESPN2.
This year has been really exciting for the underdogs. There have been many seeded teams that have lost games.
#1 Cali lost to Arkansas. They play for the Regional Championship today.
#5 Florida lost to South Florida, in the final game. Florida dismissed their 3 top players for a racial incident against a black teammate. I applaud Coach Walton for doing the right thing here. He knew his team would be weaker. He could has kept this all quiet until the tournament was over but he didnt. Too bad marky mark didnt do the same thing with Chris L. Rucker. marky mark was in the hunt for a B1G Title and possible NC. marky mark is a loser.
#7 Tennessee lost to Virginia Tech. They play for the Regional Championship today.
#6 Texas lost to Northwestern. They play for the Regional Championship today.
#8 Texas A&M lost to LSU. They play for the Regional Championship today.
And the most shocking is #12 UCLA is OUT. They lost to my sleeper pick Hofstra and SD State. UCLA was playing at home too. Yikes. Hofstra and SDSU play for the Championship.
My other sleeper pick; La-Layafette is 2-0 and should win their Regional today.
BTW: #11 Oregon won their Regional last night. Wonder why they played early? They had BYU in their Regional and BYU does not play on Sundays.
Want to get this one out of the way in game one. I just saw last week with Central Michigan that you lose that first game to the team you beat earlier in the tourny (Miami (NTM)) and that second game later in the day becomes a lot harder to win.
I have always wondered what the data shows in relationship to the "IF game". Intution tells me that it is difficult to win 2 games back to back so the team in the winners bracket is sitting in the drivers seat. However, this conclusion is based on my personal experience and that may not be representative.
I've wondered that too both before and after last weekend. Would be an interesting study to look at indeed. Espically to see how big (if any) of a difference there is in the team needing to win two being home or away. Don't have the slightest clue where to find enough of the raw data to try and find any trends though.
when I write my book, I will look at that. The other raw statistic that I am interested in is the first-pitch strike. What does the data show? Is there a significant difference there?
So keep an eye out for the book.
Very impressed with Florida for doing the right thing, especially because of the timing involved.
Florida was ranked #1 at one point this season. They are certainly in the top tier of teams. He could have easily said the matter is "under investigation and we will comment at the appropriate time"
Coach Walton, +1 to you good sir. Maybe msu will take a hint.
Let's go underdogs but most importantly
Go Blue.
Florida lost to FGCU, not USF.
FGCU beat Florida on Friday night. Maybe that is what you were thinking.
Right. The UF-USF game ended about twenty minutes ago. At the time of your original post the game hadn't even started yet and UF had only lost to Florida Gulf Coast. UF ended the regional 2-2, with the loss on Fri to FGCU and the loss just a few minutes ago to USF. Maybe you were just really confident about your pick.
Not that it really matters though.
Correct me if I'm wrong. If we win this game we advance and if we lose we have to play another game, which would be an elimination game.
Correct
and move on. lose and play one last game where winner moves on.
That's nuts that UCLA is out. There's really no reason they shouldn't be in the WCWS every year, and win it every other year. There is more softball talent in greater LA than maybe the rest of the country combined. I know that's a bit of an exageration, but softball is HUGE here, like football is for guys in the South. That's why even Michigan always has a few SoCal girls on the team (including the Big Ten Freshman and Pitcher of the Year).
SoCal is a softball mecca. UCLA is a perenial power.
- five straight B1G championships
- 13 straight NCAA regional finals
- 18 straight NCAA tournament appearances
- NEVER had a losing season in program history
- The most elite coach in the country
- 2005 National Champions
- 18 Consecutive 40+ win seasons
THIS Is Michigan.
GO GET EM LADIES! GO BLUE!
wearing blue over white.
lets get something done.
Ashley come up with a big hit.
Look at a Gus Macker tournament for decent amounts of data. When my teams sobered up on day two (usually after an early morning loss), we had a long road to hoe just to get to the finals. There were more games to play than a softball regional, but it the data would still be comparable. We were never eliminated in the finals no matter which bracket we came out of, but that was a pretty good team. I'd have to argue that relatively even teams should see the better rested team win at least 85% of the time.
**Edit- This was supposed to be a reply much further up. Kids are not conducive to mgoblogging.
Are off to a great start!!!
having a good Regional. She usually plays better than this.
that was a great heads-up play. Get the lead runner with no outs....priceless.
Louisville's Alicja Wojncy "guaranteed 3 victories". Yea right...I hope she packed a lunch.
Awesome defense. Runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs and they cant get a run in? Way to go ladies. A stab in the back to Louisville.
Knapp is having a tough weekend with the glove. Great the team is picking her up
Is banging..
Your mother did not love you when you were a child? Keep it clean.
He still is a child... Literally....
banging tho. I really like them.
Better than our white pants
I know Michigan is playing great ball, and Louisville might not be playing the best. But they do no look like a 4 loss team.
That was a great catch by Louisville CF after misreading it off the bat
Score early and often.
Like you said yesterday don't run into the tag.
noticing that. It is difficult to coach that. It is the difference makers like this that wins ball games.
This is the first game I've been able to watch this year, and it looks like the catcher has a matte winged helmet. Is that true or am I seeing things?
If it's intentional, is there a practical use for it (e.g. no shine in the pitcher's eyes)? Or just because it's trendy (at least in football). Has it always been like that?
I like the look of it, although I wouldn't want the football team to switch. For those of you wondering what our helmets would look like with an Oregon twist, this is pretty close.
the atcher has been a softball tradition for years. Maybe Wolverine Historian can give us insight. I think we used it since softball became a varsity sport.
I understand why the catcher has a winged helmet, but is it matte (vs. the shiny football helmets)? Or am I seeing things?
would make sense. You don't want the glare distracting the pitcher.
Go Blue!
Was Jessica Mendoza (the announcer) wearing a glove?
Yes. Yes she was. I'm hoping there was some reason that we weren't made aware of.
And the other announcer had a bat in her hands...... Hmm.............
Red blob behind home plate has been replaced by a giant white blob today
Go to KFC buy him a bucket of chicken give it to him and thank him for inventing the famous bowl
What was he wearing on Friday? Am I misremembering he was rooting for Michigan over Kentucky?
It would make sense he is rooting against UK. if Ohio was playing against UK, I'd be rooting for UK too.
looks a little bigger today. I wonder if a double beef buritto was in order last night?
so Georgia advances.
Rooting for Michigan all the way from Houston.
Where are you rooting from?
With an umbrella in Louisville ky