2005 Bloomington Firemans

Jean Shoppe/Worth travels to the great state of Minnesota to play against some of the best teams in Minnesota and the Midwest. Play they did, as they won this very good tournament. They sure silenced some of their critics by winning this one. This is a very talented team. I believe they are caught in a tough scenario, playing in Class B or playing in Class A. I think they can beat the good B teams pretty consistently. When they move up to the A division, they definitely will have trouble beating the better A teams. This team is a lot like AM/Las Vegas, who beat the good A teams, but struggle against the two supers. Jean Shoppe can play and win against the lower division of Class A teams. Like I’ve said, they will struggle against the better A teams, it’s that simple. This weekend, they played against some of the lower Class A teams and they won. I believe if they pick up a couple of more good A players then they can compete against better A teams. I think they should stay Class B ball for this season and make the move up next season. Great job this weekend boys! Long Haul/Miken, who is a very nice lower A team, can compete against the better A teams finished in second place in this one. Remember two weeks ago in Little Rock they won with 3 or 4 of the best A teams entered. Good job in this one that’s for sure. I want to commend Jeff Barnes, who just does a terrific job running this big tournament. Jeff had 154 teams playing in all divisions in this great Firemen’s tournament in Minnesota. Great job Jeff! It’s people like you who will keep this great game of softball moving forward.