Alabama Softball helmets

[Carter23]

anybody know the background info as to why their helmets are like 7/8 dark blue and 1/8 red? doesnt seem like there is any form to the color change or anything... thanks, its been bugging me lately

[WSU151]

anybody know the background info as to why their helmets are like 7/8 dark blue and 1/8 red? doesnt seem like there is any form to the color change or anything... thanks, its been bugging me lately

That's how a lot of college softball helmets are, unfortunately. I don't think there's any other reason behind other than trying to make it look cool and different for the ladies.

[pcgd]

Probably cause its not a real sport.

Great...now i'll have some college softball catcher kick my a$$.

Ok...sorry I respect women's sports and all. There are many sports where the game is played well and is somewhat entertaining. Soccer comes to mind right away. But softball is just a joke. The chants, the uniforms, the strikeouts all the time, the fences (190 feet??? are you kidding??), and the generally all around bad play. I was watching this feature on some pitcher from UCLA...she literally CAN NOT throw to first base. I'm not talking chuck knobloch style...I mean the ball goes 5 feet if she throws overhand.

And the sad thing is all across america, there are girls teams that honestly believe they can beat the guys baseball team in a game of softball.

Anyway...those helmets suck.

[cranium]

Just to pile on . . . I watched several games in the Softball World Series this year. Thank the Lord for tivo so can you speed up the game. They need to move the pitcher's rubber back to give the hitters a chance.

Anyway, it appeared that UCLA wears a white stirrup over white socks. What is the point of that? Thankfully, I didn't notice any of the players adopting the long pants in vogue in MLB. Of course, some of the teams didn't always wear pants. None wore hats. Sorry, just my two cents.

[slapshot]

200 feet? If they're lucky. Go to any Little League baseball field, a good one with a backstop and other fences. If it's regulation, it's 200 feet to the fences. All the way around the outfield. And this field is for boys (& a few girls) up to age 12. Twelve! I've seen little league games where the kids hit it out regularly. These kids are pitching faster than the women's softball pitch.

Long story short? Eleven and twelve-year-old boys are stronger and more fundamentally sound than your national college champions for softball. And they score more too. How can the best college softball teams across the country manage a few meek hits a game, and the only scoring comes by the home run?

[simpsontide]

I don't like them either and I love UA and live in Tuscaloosa. They do have some of the best uniforms though.

[FiddySicks]

And they score more too. How can the best college softball teams across the country manage a few meek hits a game, and the only scoring comes by the home run?

OK yeah but most of the scoring in Little League comes from Little League defense. You dont see too many college softball pitchers tossing the ball over the center fielders head trying to make a play on a fielded ground ball at the mound.

[slapshot]

If you mean a lot of the scoring comes from defensive errors, then sure, but that happens in a lot of leagues.

Most softball hits are line drive singles or slap bunts (where it looks like the batters have at least one foot outside the batter's box). Little League kids hit singles, doubles, even triples if it rolls past a charging outfielder.

It's one thing to play small ball. Part of the gameplay in the National League, wouldn't you say? A single, steal, sac bunt, suicide squeeze, it's exciting, because it's also infrequent. Not in college softball. It's boring as hell to just watch singles and one base-at-a-time advancing all the time. Why not just watch a basketball game of just layups? Or a 9-6 football game with just field goals? A 0-0 hockey tie?

[FiddySicks]

If you mean a lot of the scoring comes from defensive errors, then sure, but that happens in a lot of leagues.

Most softball hits are line drive singles or slap bunts (where it looks like the batters have at least one foot outside the batter's box). Little League kids hit singles, doubles, even triples if it rolls past a charging outfielder.

It's one thing to play small ball. Part of the gameplay in the National League, wouldn't you say? A single, steal, sac bunt, suicide squeeze, it's exciting, because it's also infrequent. Not in college softball. It's boring as hell to just watch singles and one base-at-a-time advancing all the time. Why not just watch a basketball game of just layups? Or a 9-6 football game with just field goals? A 0-0 hockey tie?

I agree with you. Id rather watch the Spelling Bee than Softball, but, if defensive errors didnt come into play as much as they did in Little League it would compare a whole lot to softball. In LL there is no leading off, no stealing before the ball reaches the catchers glove, no advancing on passed balls, do you see where im going with this?

[kom22]

I find it pretty lame that a few of you honestly have taken the time to attack and talk down of a sport of someone else. None of you would be able to hit even a single off of any of those pitchers at the WCWS. And no one forces you to watch the games. Personally I found the games to be much more entertaining than most MLB games on today.

I have taught softball for many years, seen many girls aged 12-15 throw the ball 55-60 mph underhand and place it dead on in the corners for strikes. If it makes you feel important to attack the sports of others simply because they are girls then more power to you. It would be one thing to attack the merits of something like a beauty pageant, but these girls make the best with the sport they have.

Watch a girl like Kat Osterman from Texas. She strikes out 17 of 21 batters in a game. The girls playing the sports didn't make the rules, and they play a much more fundamental game then the majors or even the men's college game. If all you watch a game for is homeruns, then no softball isn't for you, but those girls in the tournament play their hearts out.

The simple solution is if you don't want to watch them, or don't enjoy the sport they play, then turn it off, don't go to a uniform website and piss and moan about how they play like 12 year olds.

Sorry to rant, but come on.

kom22

let the flaming begin...

[FiddySicks]

One thing i do gotta say in kom22s support is that Softball girls are some tough ladies. Ive seen girls go out and get cuts and scrapes and broken bones and miss absolutely no time. I know this girl who plays softball for my high school and broker her pitching hand sliding into second and went out and finished the game on the mound. She got killed but that takes some guts.

But it stil doesnt do anything for the fact that womens college softball is just plain boring to watch on TV. I can see how with the atmosphere it would be cool to go to games, but watching it sucks.

[pcgd]

If you mean a lot of the scoring comes from defensive errors, then sure, but that happens in a lot of leagues.

Most softball hits are line drive singles or slap bunts (where it looks like the batters have at least one foot outside the batter's box). Little League kids hit singles, doubles, even triples if it rolls past a charging outfielder.

It's one thing to play small ball. Part of the gameplay in the National League, wouldn't you say? A single, steal, sac bunt, suicide squeeze, it's exciting, because it's also infrequent. Not in college softball. It's boring as hell to just watch singles and one base-at-a-time advancing all the time. Why not just watch a basketball game of just layups? Or a 9-6 football game with just field goals? A 0-0 hockey tie?

I agree with you. Id rather watch the Spelling Bee than Softball, but, if defensive errors didnt come into play as much as they did in Little League it would compare a whole lot to softball. In LL there is no leading off, no stealing before the ball reaches the catchers glove, no advancing on passed balls, do you see where im going with this?

Here's the difference. You are comparing your local little league team to the BEST college softball teams. Watch the little league world series and those errors go away. They play the game better than probably 50% of the high school teams in the country.

I'm not attacking them because they are girls. I'm saying they AREN'T fundmentally sound. I'd have the game on for 5 mins and I'd see an error everytime. Fly balls, throws to first, etc. I'm amazed that a woman that can't throw to first base is more fundamentally sound than a MLB player.

There are plenty of women's sports that are entertaining. I mentioned that before. Basketball isn't bad, and soccer is very entertaining. Volleyball is one sport that I'd watch women's over men's anyday, and its not cause of the shorts. But softball to me just isn't a fundamentally sound sport to watch at any level.

And I have watched plenty of softball at the high school and college level in person. (this happens when you are friends of softball players) One team was one of the best in our area, and the other was an middle level division 3. Not elite or anything. But I've seen the game enough to know that I don't find it entertaining at all.

Basically, I'm a jerk. I'm not trying to offend anyone even though I'm doing a terrific job of it.

[kom22]

To generalize that all softball players cannot make a throw to first because you turned on a game and saw it in five minutes is like saying you watched a baseball game and within five minutes saw the left fielder drop a ball, and assume that means all players can't catch.

And again to answer the boring on tv, its on one week a year, I'm pretty sure with like 5 ESPN channels, 2 Fox Sports Channels, etc. you can find something to substitute your thirst for sports for the 40 hours its on.

And as for boring television, that is in the eyes of the viewer I suppose. If you watch it and expect it to resemble baseball than you are discounting the sport and yourself. Unlike basketball, soccer, volleyball, etc. it is a different game from the mens version. The field is different, the ball is different, the bats are different, etc.

To each there own, I just don't see the need to attack the players and the game.

kom22

From a uniform standpoint though, the Texas team wore like 5 different uniforms, and Tennessee and UCLA had 3 or 4 each as well. A bit much.

[FastPitch_Dad]

Probably cause its not a real sport.

Great...now i'll have some college softball catcher kick my a$$.

Ok...sorry I respect women's sports and all.  There are many sports where the game is played well and is somewhat entertaining.  Soccer comes to mind right away.  But softball is just a joke.  The chants, the uniforms, the strikeouts all the time, the fences (190 feet??? are you kidding??), and the generally all around bad play.  I was watching this feature on some pitcher from UCLA...she literally CAN NOT throw to first base.  I'm not talking chuck knobloch style...I mean the ball goes 5 feet if she throws overhand. 

And the sad thing is all across america, there are girls teams that honestly believe they can beat the guys baseball team in a game of softball.

Anyway...those helmets suck.

Spoken like a true gentleman. I come to this board for the obvious reasons... But to my surprise, I stumble upon a flamer post from someone who is SO KNOWLEDGEABLE about Womens/Girls Softball.

It's fine if you don't like the sport. It's even ok if you think that it's easy. It's not cool to make light of the abilities of these young ladies. If you haven't walked a mile in their shoes, then you really wouldn't know what they go through to play the game.

Sounds like someone has a little _ _ _ _ _ ENVY. Fill in the blanks.

This is a great board, but junk like this makes it just like any other trashfest.

[slapshot]

don't worry, Pat, I'll be joining you on the jerk bench.

It's nice to know that if you don't like women's college softball you're immedately labeled a misogynist with penis envy.

I think Michigan's 1-0 win by HOMERUN last night backs up my point. If you have a team sport that is so focused on one good player, it's very boring to watch. If Roger Clemens or Pedro Martinez pitched every game (or every other game) and struck out 21-24 each time, would that say more about them, or about the batters who struck out? I wouldn't want to see the same pitchers dominate the other team every game.

No matter how good the softball teams are, if they go up against the dominating pitcher (which each team seems to have), it's almost guaranteed they'll be shut out. One run if they're lucky, and usually by homerun.

Unlike basketball, soccer, volleyball, etc. it is a different game from the mens version. The field is different, the ball is different, the bats are different, etc.

Yes, and by making things that much different for women than men, it makes a more boring game to watch on TV.

[BBTV]

Uh... OK back to the helmets.

Anyone have a close up of one? Either the Alabama or another one in that style? Is that color "splotch" a gradient thing, or just a random color patch?

And, what's up with uniforms that include shorts? How are you supposed to slide in shorts? And the super high stirrups with the shorts? I'm not knocking the sport, because I don't know much about it, but come on, it is kind of hard to take it seriously when they dress like that.

[slapshot]

Those helmets remind me of San Diego State's football helmets, but not as good looking.

Most of the teams I've seen wear compression sliding shorts under the uniform, and knee pads. I'm sure there are girls sliding into bases occasionally, and I'd bet they all get raspberries as well.

[BallWonk]

Not gonna join in the piling of some folks' beloved sport here, but I've always had a problem with the assumption that girls have to play softball. In my first years in Little League, girls had to play baseball (softball league didn't start until age nine or something). There was a girl or two on each team, and they were usually among the best players. (Probably because every boy was in the league but only the most motivated girls joined.) Then, after the second year of coach pitch, no more girls. It was just assumed that girls should go play softball as soon as that was a choice, so all the terrifical baseball-playing girls in my league beame softball players one year. My team lost its best hitter and fielder, which doomed us to a last-place finish. I saw the same phenomenon as a coach in the late 1990s - highly driven and athletically gifted girls excelling in baseball at a young age and then being steered into softball.

Add to which the fact that the US women's national baseball team just won the first World Cup of Women's Baseball in Edmonton, and I just don't understand why girls have to play a different version of the game. I really believe that we'd have women in Major League Baseball* by now if not for the ubiquitous segregation of girls into softball. Nothing wrong with softball as a sport, just the assumption that girls have to play softball instead of baseball.

*Shortstops, secondbasemen, and specialist relievers, anyway. Honestly: Is there anything Craig Counsell can do that an elite woman athlete cannot? Of course not. I say this as a fan of Craig Counsell.

[kom22]

Last comment about this topic, then I hope it dies down. Many of you seem to forget that this is college softball. College Baseball is much the same way in so far as they can have one great pitcher. They may not be able to pitch 139 pitches every game, but the action can be just as slow paced.

If anything the action can be more exciting, since its only 60 feet to first, in field plays are less routine, and there is a greater chance of baserunners.

Yes, the scores are usually lower than baseball games, but it makes those plays that much more important. I am still unclear how a yellow ball, 60 feet to first, and a wider bat make it any less interesting to watch, but I digress, to each their own.

If you watched the championship game last night, which Mighigan won in the 10th I believe, you would have seen near perfect execution of defense. With a runner at second and no outs, in the bottom of the 8th, which is extra innings, Mighigan played perfect defense, not allowing the baserunner to score under intense pressure. How you can say a championship game contested to extra innings of the third game, and after so many hours of play, these girls were playing extremely tight defense, much tighter than baseball, less time to get the girl out, doesn't make sense to me.

But as I said, this is my last comment on the topic, lets move on, its you guys that are missing out and cheating yourself of some greats athletics.

kom22

[no97]

OK, I've done radio play-by-play of high school baseball for the last six years, and softball for the last three. The local softball team had for the first two of those years a pitcher who went on to a D-I scholarship. In one of those seasons, the softball team was 23-0 (lead by the D-I recruit as a senior, and a D-II recruit pitcher backing her up) before losing in the play-offs.

So, with that said, I've seen a lot of good softball. I've also seen a lot of "bad" softball. My wife, who will occasionally come to games with me, and is not much of a sports fan, but did play sports growing up, and had a sister who played softball in HS, agrees with my assessment that the pitching circle should be moved back.

Softball is a pitching dominated sport. If you have a great pitcher, you can win every game. It is not like college baseball, where a team has one great pitcher, and several good ones, because the arm motion is different, and a softball pitcher can pitch games on back-to-back days. Or two games in one day. Or three over the course of two days, in extreme cases, as was the case in the play-offs last year for the HS team I covered.

To counter the dominance the pitcher has, I think the circle should be moved back. Give the offence a chance to open up. From a broadcasting standpoint, I cant tell you how many times there are three-up and three-down innings, and we go right back to commercial. It makes for bad radio.

As to the helmets, I think they are awful. One thing I like about the HS team I cover is that they look as much like a baseball team as possible. Everyone wears a hat. They all have jerseys with piping, and have baseball pants with stirrups pulled to their knees. I think it is a great look.

Moose