NSA Music City NIT

I have to tell you all, this is one of the top and first class tournaments in the country. I know that Brooks and Jim along with the whole NSA staff has made this one of the most powerful tournaments in bigtime softball in a short time. This tournament ranks right up there with the Dudley, Little Rock and The Smoky. I have said that I don’t think any of the elite major teams should be allowed to play in this NIT or the Thoroughbred. I know that Aubrey’s got beat early and didn’t play very well in this one. I also know that Aubrey’s was the class of the field in this one. I also know that the better teams can get beat on any given weekend, and that just happened to Aubrey’s this weekend. I believe there are four major teams in the country. Those four are Resmondo, Bell, Team Combat and Aubrey’s. After them there are about ten very, very good A teams. I believe that if these ten other teams are in the same tournament any given weekend, any one of the ten has a chance to win, and that my friends is how this game should be. I would bet this, if you broke up the teams Resmondo, Bell, Combat and Aubrey’s and let all the teams select three elite players on each roster from those teams and any other elite players playing on other teams, you could put together about 16-20 very good competitive teams to play 10-12 tournaments a year, period. I guarantee you, if that was done you would see the most competitve, exciting softball tournaments the game has ever had.

ABS/Easton who won this great tournament is one of those teams who has a chance to win every weekend, when Resmondo, Bell, Combat and Aubrey’s is not entered. I know that the critics are going to ask me why has ABS not been in the Top 15? The answer is I didn’t think they were going to play enough big NIT’s to warrant being in. I can tell you now, they will be in no matter where they play. I had seen their roster and knew they could be one of the better Class A teams in the country, and they sure are. This is a veteran club who have players who know how to win. I think they will be a team to reckon with in the Class A Worlds I guarantee you. Congratulations on a great weekend and good luck in whatever you guys do the rest of the season.

Second place went to Laser Vision/Easton who has become one of the top Class A teams in the country. This team with it’s new additions have begun to show the softball world it is ready to take on all the very good A teams. Congratulations on a great weekend. Too bad you had to leave early. I have been saying for years, I would like to have all the money that has been spent by sponsors who had to stay over on Sunday because the tournament ran late. The Conference USSSA has stopped all that, as they only bring back four teams on Sunday. By doing that, nobody misses their flights unless the weather causes problems. I believe that all associations should only bring back four teams on Sunday, and nobody will miss their flights.

Third place went to The Scene/Mattingly Softball. These guys are for real and will give all the best A teams in the country a battle every weekend. This is a very good team who can play the game. Good D, great O! This club is very competitive and will not take a back seat to any of the A teams. Congratulations on another great weekend. Good luck in the future.

Fourth place goes to Damage Control/Miken who has a good team, but has not played up to their potential. I think this weekend may get this team headed in the right direction, we will see. Congratulations on a good weekend, and good luck down the road.

The “Shoppe Boys”, who finished tied for 5th in this one, just had a bad one. Every team has one or two of these type of weekends during the season This was Shoppe’s week.