Vlade posted on July 20, 2014 11:49
- The roster expansion to 8 players has really shed a new light on the role managers play, and in our case, Truck specifically. Whereas last year, Truck's role was to take the only 6 guys we had on the roster and write them down on a slip of paper before wandering over to the bench to swill suds, now he is constantly going over lineups, defensive alignments, and pitching rotations before wandering to the bench to swill suds. In car trips, at meals, in the hotel room, and anywhere else we happen to be, Truck is bouncing all of his ideas regarding these decisions off of us. Having to keep one or two guys on the bench every game when all eight want believe they can contribute and want to play is an unenviable role, but Truck is a professional heartbreaker, and virtually every move he's made has been the correct one thus far.
- Chris Gallaway wrote a pre-tournament article about the importance of social media to the game of wiffleball, and if this year's edition of the tournament is any indication, it sure looks like wifflers across the country - both NWLA and non-NWLA alike - agree with the Commish. HRL has received many tweets from home and around the country wishing us well, and eagerly awaiting updates. Doing a search of the tournament's official hashtag, #NWLA2014, will reveal the excitement from all corners of the country and from our friends north of the border. Over the years it's seemed as though the ties that have bound all of the NWLA leagues together has been league websites and YouTube, and while those are still important communication tools, 2014 could be the year we start seeing more and more interactions between the leagues via social media well beyond just the 3 days of the tournament. Keeping ourselves, and those who have even a passing interest in what we do, engaged in our sport year round can only be a positive.
- Wiffle life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get, and odds are you're going to end up fat and out of shape if you partake too much (trust the author on this one). That said, as we've gone along in the tournament, we've found that what we thought we knew about our team in Minnesota is much different than what we really have here in Ohio. Based upon our results last year, we had a quiet confidence that we could compete again this year (or in H8R's case, a boisterous confidence), but we left town with two pitching "aces", and now find ourselves with three with the emergence of Smallpox. We know he's a good pitcher in HRL, but did not necessarily expect him to make a start in Ohio, let alone take control of the rotation and be one of the tournament's elite pitchers. A guy like Vlade, who has had a terrible year in HRL, steps up to lead the team offensively in a big win over PWL to keep them undefeated. TwoBat, while always being a quality hitter, is hitting over .700 thus far. There are surprises all over this team thus far, and we look forward to seeing what other ones are in store on Sunday.