Alicia Stephenson: Summer Games Olympiad Coach

Here's a url about another one of our BC Summer Games Softball Coaches, Alicia Stephenson: http://www.clive.canoe.ca/TeamCanada/stephenson.html
Alicia has an amazing Softball History, and we are really pleased and lucky to have her on the team!

SALT SHAKER!

I realized something the other night. The Cult is the only band that is played regularly (almost every night) on VH1 Classic's "Metal Mania" and "120 Minutes" video blocks. Well, let me ammend that. "Fire Woman" by The Cult is played on both shows. Every night. Seriously, The Cult actually made other videos so why play "Fire Woman" exclusively? But this particular video has not only reignited my long-dormant love of The Cult it has also started me down the path to forgiving Ian Astbury for pretending to be Jim Morrison in that awful Doors "reunion" tour. That was a really bad idea.

Just like I can tolerate kids who pretend they're dancing at a disco in Berlin right now even though it's just the sewage-scented floor of the Cavern, I ADORE the idea of a kid from Cheshire developing an obsession with Native American culture and growing his hair out like Cher's and wearing black leather fringe outfits and cowboys hats. It's a two way street. Also, I remember watching this video as a very very young girl and feeling the first pangs of "I think I like those kind of boys" and telling my Mom that David Bowie from Labyrinth was no longer my first choice for a future husband. Twenty years later, I can't say I've shaken it. This further proves that in some ways, you can never take all the Garland out of a girl.

Also, Mastadon and my friend Sean may in some small way be responsible for this recent rediscovery and reignited hesher passion.



Did I mention I also found myself thinking "Glen Danzig actually looks kind of good in the 'Mother' video" during a Metal Mania video block this weekend? What the fuck is happening to me?

Heavy Metal Parking Lot in Brooklyn 2003 - Dallas-style

Let me start out by saying that I am in no way a person out to tell people their idea of "fun" is wrong. Whatever makes you happy is cool with me as long as it's not akin to Michael Vick's idea of fun. That being said, I am more than a bit apprehensive about the Dallas scensters' loving embrace of Brooklyn-esque dance rock of 2001-2004. Is this because I actually lived in New York City in 2003 and saw the climax and rapid denouement of this movement? Probably. Did I think the movement was particularly interesting to begin with? Most definitely not.

I am a fan of quite a few acts that would be lumped into whatever this current/not-so-current trend actually consists of. I think I may have given up on keeping a name tagged to it after electroclash though blog-house is by far the funniest of the names I have seen. My main problem with the music is that I can in no way differentiate a Britt Daniels remix of an LCD Soundstystem song from a mash up of a popular modern R&B hit and an old Rapture song. The beats are too similar and the kitch value only holds my attention for 30 minutes max.

BUT, the music is the least of my problems with this whole thing. Now most times, people would claim it's all about the music and frown upon someone talking more about the clothes, accessories, pouting and posturing than the tunes. In this case though, the clothes and accessories and bandanas and neon colored wayfarers are so integral to the whole thing. Everything about the look is meant to convey a "fuck it man, I comedy dress" sort of attitude. Dallas, you've gotten an American Apparel. Congrats. Why make every night out your own personal AA catalog photo shoot? If the movement is so much about fashion then surely it's a disservice to the movement to be dressed in 2003's cast-offs? Also, you mostly just look silly. Because you're trying to look like you don't give a fuck. You're trying to give the camera a dead stare. But you changed ten times before you went out. Those jeans would have cost you more than you make in a week if not for your employee discount. You're not taking the train home. You're taking 75 home (or you know, Munger maybe?) so at some point you are going to have to take off your sunglasses to be able to drive. Kind of ruins the whole thing.

What amuses me is that many of these people who love this stuff are probably pretty smart people. But guess what? About 18 years ago, there was another group of people who wore neon clothing and threw the horns and screamed "fuck yeah!" all the time. Those people were hair metal fans. Poison said "Don't need nothin' but a good time, how can I resist? Ain't lookin' for nothin' but a good time and it don't get better than this." That's pretty akin to the general attitude of the new crop of Brooklyn-looking scensters. But no one looks back at Heavy Metal Parking Lot and says "man, those kids really had something going." It's not revolutionary. I'm all for having fun and getting drunk but pictures of you and your friends holding your drinks in the air with your mouth open don't tell me anything other than there were beverages available for purchase and something caused you to open your mouth wide. These aren't going to be the shots they use in a "I Love the 'Aughts" kiddos. They're just another Heavy Metal Parking Lot.










I CAN'T WAIT FOR BASKETBALL SEASON TO START. FOR REAL.

Isla Powell's Softball Resume

More information on Isla Powell and her Softball History can be found at: http://islapowell.blogspot.com/

The US has won this year's KFC World Cup of Softball. As many of you may have seen on ESPN2 earlier this evening, Cat Osterman pitched Team USA to a 3-0 win over Japan in the championship game.

Team USA is taking on Canada in a Sunday afternoon match-up. Currently, it's 4-0 US, with the Americans batting in the top of the fifth. The University of Washington's Danielle Lawrie, whom many of you will remember from this past spring's Women's College World Series, has just come in to pitch for Canada.

Update: The US coasted to a 7-0 victory over Canada. The Americans have now clinched a spot in Monday night's KFC World Cup championship game, probably against Japan. Only if Japan loses both of its Sunday night games -- to Venezuela and China -- will it not make the final.

The US team is now playing its evening game of the Saturday schedule, in which it leads Japan, 1-0, after an inning played. Monica Abbott is pitching for the Americans. I would say Team USA has a fairly deep pitching staff, you think?

Update: Japan kept things relatively competitive, but the USA ultimately prevailed by a 4-1 score.

Earlier today, the US routed the Dominican Republic, 9-0.

As most readers of this blog would probably be aware, there's some major softball going on, with the KFC World Cup taking place in Oklahoma City. Games involving the USA squad are being shown on ESPN and ESPN2. This article shows the schedule.

Team USA opened up last night with a run-rule-shortened 9-1 win over Venezuela.

As I write, the USA is playing its second game, leading 8-0 over China after three complete innings; another run-rule game thus seems likely.

All three American pitchers that have gone so far are ones who ended their collegiate careers in 2006. Jennie Ritter (Michigan) and Alicia Hollowell (Arizona) threw last night, and Cat Osterman (Texas) is currently in the circle.

Other players on the US roster include former Arizona outfielder Caitlin Lowe and former Tennessee pitcher Monica Abbott, who faced each other in this spring's Women's College World Series; Natasha Watley, one of the heroes of UCLA's 2003 NCAA championship; and Jennie Finch, the star pitcher of Arizona's 2001 NCAA championship team.

Update: The USA finished off China, 8-0, in a five-inning game shortened by run-rule.

New Website Up!

There is a web site set up with more info on the BC Summer Games. It is http://www.geocities.com/standup_prod/summergames/main.html
You can also read about our Surprise Coach, Alecia Stephenson, who spent 6 yrs with the Canadian National team (1991-1996)and was a member of the 1996 Canadian Olympic team. Alecia earned a 4 year softball scholarship at Sacred Heart University where she excelled as their number one shortstop!

I was just looking over the official website for the National Pro Fastpitch women's softball league. Given that softball has one of the latest-ending seasons within collegiate athletics and is inherently a spring/summer sport, this means that college seniors good enough to play at the pro level hardly get any break between NCAA and NPF action.

Two players that we saw just about a month ago in the Women's College World Series, Northwestern's Eileen Canney (pitcher) and Garland Cooper (1B), are in fact teammates again, with NPF's New England Riptide. And, today, the twosome led the Riptide to victory in a game against Philadelphia.

I plan to do some additional, periodic entries on the NPF over the summer, with a focus on prominent collegiate players of the last few years.

Happy Fourth of July to everyone!

In recent softball news, the USA team took first place at the Junior World Championships (19 and under) in Enschede, The Netherlands.

In line with this age limit, the American players appear to have been a mix largely of those who just completed their frosh year of college and those entering college this coming fall. Both through this USA Softball collection of player journals and the official USA roster at the tournament website, you can see who played for the Red, White, and Blue (the two lists are not identical).

Some of the familiar names from this past college season would include K'Lee Arredondo (Arizona), Tiffany Huff (Tennessee), Maggie Viefhaus (Michigan), and Megan Langenfeld (UCLA). As noted in the article linked to Langenfeld's name, an additional four players from the USA team will be joining the Bruins for this upcoming season.

Another member of the team was Brittany Lastrapes, an incoming player for the University of Arizona and the younger sister of Dominique Lastrapes, who recently finished her career at the University of Washington.