HookedonGriz said:
I absolutely love your support, passion, and allegiance to the softball team. It’simpressive and admirable. I will disagree though on what you said about their bats. They only had 4 hits, going 1 for 10 with runners on base, and 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position. Their hitting was awful. It’s hard to beat anyone with only four hits.
Hooked: A careful examination of the game box score will reveal that you are absolutely correct and my statement regarding "bat-on-ball" pretty dumb. You're right. Four hits won't win many games. But, yes, I am taking a positive approach. I
do have allegiance and support for the Montana softball team (passion? meh). I think that's ok. I do NOT follow the team with blind loyalty, thus believe there are signigicant areas where this young team is making daily progress. They're going to be winners.
There's a really good extended video, recently published, with Seattle Mariners' manager, Scott Servais. In it he discusses many aspects of the Mariners' makeover (a team I believe has some serious issues: I am not comparing them in any way to the Montana softball team). But, Servais offers some of his personal "philosophy of the game" about how to develop a team. In some (not all) games, it's ok to look beyond the box score. With some teams (not all teams) it's important to look at potential when a young team breaks down in some games.
Another example: Three years ago, Montana's talented young team had some awful breakdowns in their quest for a Big Sky title. Through the mistakes, though, you could see their talent. All that team did was convert that subpar season into two straight titles.
This Montana team is still fundamentally a work in progress. But, mistakes & all, they're a lot of fun to watch.