Fake softball energy trend

[The Man In Blue]

OU softball team decries double standard of women celebrating ahead of WCWS finals

Alyssa Brito and Jayda Coleman are two of the most fiery OU softball players. They say they aren't about to change, even if they face criticism.

sports.yahoo.com

I'm faintly reminded of the days when UConn seemed to own women's basketball. Today, the sport has grown and there are many really good teams.

I am very mixed on the article and the reaction ...

I don't participate on social platforms and generally don't pay much attention to things like this, but I would guess that a high level of the criticism is more about the fact that NCAA baseball has cracked down -- and cracked down hard -- on the overly excessive celebrations, using props, etc. while NCAA softball seems to be embracing it to bring excitement to the game.

Any time you become an overly dominant force in a sport, you will be criticized for everything you do.

Celebrating something as minor as a walk, especially when you are on your 50th win in a row with little to no real competition, will always be seen as a slight against the other team. A walk is far more about the pitcher throwing four balls than the batter refraining. "Did you see me watch that pitch! H311 yeah! I was all like, 'nope!' I'm awesome!"

Act like you've been there before.

I love to see players play with fire and passion. I don't care to see screaming and whooping it up over a routine play, men or women.

 

[Lobster Birch]

I’m going to go with Patty Gasso on celebrating even the small things. I think you have to be hard in the head not to. I mean, have you seen the success she’s having? It’s insane.

 

[The Man In Blue]

I agree with celebrating the small things. However "celebrating the small things" means appreciating them, not blowing them up and totally out of proportion.

 

[_MIA_]

I don’t get why anybody cares one way or the other tbh..how does it effect you personally?? Nobody is getting hurt..

The bat flipper from OSU got crap a few years ago too so it isn’t just an OU hating thing.

 

[The Man In Blue]

I don’t get why anybody cares one way or the other tbh..how does it effect you personally?? Nobody is getting hurt..

The bat flipper from OSU got crap a few years ago too so it isn’t just an OU hating thing.

From an officiating point of view, people do get hurt. Flip the bat this time, especially on something minor, get plunked next time ... then tensions rise ... next batter gets hit, benches clear ... this is why NCAA baseball has cracked down.

That said, women don't seem to have bench clearing brawls ... celebrate!

 

[_MIA_]

From an officiating point of view, people do get hurt.

So is that why it bothers you? In which case that is fine (I mean it is fine either way just I can be on board with that reason)….and you would be about the only person who has that reason.

 

[Westwind]

Look I get it. I grew up playing baseball in the 80’s and 90’s. You didn’t do anything to show up your opponents, you respected the game etc. Thing is this is not the 80’s. You know how you really respect the game? You play your as$ off all the time. Watch OU (or any of these teams). Watch where the batter ends up on a popup to the IF. Watch them run out every GB. That is how you respect the game..the other stuff, fake or not, is just that..stuff.

I can’t tell you how much I appreciate seeing a player play hard and run this way. Those players are rockstars in my book.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

I was raised at a time when you didn't show up the opposing players and team. If you did, there were consequences for those actions. As TMIB said, act like you've been there before. Does it turn me off when a batter goes nuts over a walk? Yes, but I'm not their target audience. Do my girls behave like that when they get a seemingly inconsequential walk in a game? Absolutely not. I feel it's classless. Is it done to intimidate the other team? Perhaps, and OU has been so successful that it's hard to argue against, but it doesn't mean I have to like it.

I guess I'm just old. I prefer the bench clearing brawls the Yankees and Red Sox used to have. Seeing Graig Nettles knock out Bill Lee was a highlight of my youth. I used to enjoy the bruhahas in hockey between the Islanders and Rangers or Flyers. Maybe that's why Slapshot is one of my favorite sports movies. But the game was different back then. The players policed themselves. Show up a pitcher after a homer, the next guy gets drilled. The next guy then tells the original guy to knock it off because he's tired of getting hit. That doesn't happen now. Again, maybe I'm old.

Then again, with all the protection batters wear nowadays, getting drilled doesn't mean as much as it used to.

 

[_MIA_]

Yes, but I'm not their target audience.

To me this is the key..especially for baseball. Baseball is dying..If I want any possibility of a flourishing game for my young sons I need to concede that it cannot be the same as it was when I was growing up. Sometimes I feel as if the "get off my lawn" type baseball fans in 2023 would rather it just go away than have it change..

 

[_MIA_]

I will say that the broadcast crew using the word "unapologetic" 58 times in 4 innings is starting to annoy me..