I was recently asked by CollClubSports if I was available to hand out the Championship Trophy for the National Collegiate Softball Association's World Series. I was excited and honored. One week later I flew down to Georgia, picked up my friend Tim and we watched 16 teams battle it out for the right to be called the NCSA Champions. The competition was fierce, these teams had earned the right to participate at this event by their strong play throughout the year. These winning teams were Virginia Tech, Florida State, Michigan, Florida, Penn State, Southern Illinois, Miami, East Carolina, Colorado, College of New Jersey, Illinois, James Madison, Kennesaw State, Antelope Valley, Naval Academy, and Connecticut. In the end the Florida State Seminoles with their bow and arrows in hand were too much for the Antelope Valley Pioneers.
For the first time, I found myself not rooting for a specific team but instead cheering for the players as they made diving catches, slid head first into second, ran down fly balls, and tried to get big hits when the pitchers were throwing 80 MPH fast balls with late movement. These are not the pampered athletes we root for on a national level, instead they are competitive athletes who never take a play off as they continually demonstrate their love and passion for the game.
Thank you to Sandy Sanderson, who is the founder of CollclubSports(http://www.collclubsports.com/), Christian Smith, the Director of Marketing and the die hard fans who stayed with Red Roof Inn even though the nearest Red Roof Inn was 47 miles away in LaGrange, Georgia. For discount rates for tournaments and events please contact me at jmurray@redroof.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment