Jump to content

jkates

Legacy Members
  • Posts

    363
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by jkates

  1. Richard Hidalgo hit 171 MLB HRs. I think he made it.
  2. The kid we expected to be our ace pitcher finally put it together last night. He'd been averaging ~28 pitches per inning in his first 4 outings. Last night he went 4 innings in just 44 pitches. 2 hits, which both came around to score on FCs and WPs, and 4 Ks. This kid throws as hard as anyone else in the league, but last night we asked him to throw at 80% effort. It looked like he only backed down to 90-95%, but he found his control. Really fun to watch him make adjustments and have success.
  3. You'll need to get copies of birth certificates, purchase the insurance, figure out which tournaments to register for, figure out when/where you're practicing, order uniforms, etc. And, above all, clearly communicate with the parents on expectations, scheduling, competitiveness, playing time, roster management, money, etc. USSSA runs better tournaments than Nations, IMHO. But Nations isn't a bad place to start because the competition is weaker. My son is on a 9AAA team in USSSA. Most of the boys have been together since 7AAC. This fall/offseason the coaches bungled some roster management and parent communication. A formerly tight-knit, fun group has turned into an awkward, not-as-fun group. Be careful with that dynamic. Hard decisions that hurt feelings are one thing. Unnecessary decisions that aren't communicated and then hurt feelings are another thing, and much harder to get over. Select ball can be fun. Our particular group usually doesn't play during the local league season. We pack 4 or 5 tournaments into June and that's it.
  4. Doesn't help that it isn't cropped efficiently. It's a dumb picture now, but we have some dumb people that will want to post it.
  5. If you're in it, be in it to win it. Good job by the boys.
  6. The previous channel button on the remote.
  7. GO ASTROS!!! Go Juila! Go George! Vamos Jose!
  8. I thought the film was underwhelming given the enormity of his achievements, but it's also hard to properly video free soloing when the guy is used to being alone and needs to focus. Honnold is a freak show.
  9. I dislike Geoff Ketchum. I am neutral on Cedar Park.
  10. I ordered one of them Dr Pepper milkshakes yesterday. Meh.
  11. Sad story. Awful. But are we just going to ignore that spelling of "Timmothy?"
  12. Yes, you can't put kids where they have no chance and risk getting hurt. But I "hid" kids at 3B and 2B all the time by playing them deep and praying the ball wasn't hit to them!
  13. This is the first year (coaching 9/10s) that we're really trying to get into the details of baseball. At ages 5/6 - 7/8, most of our coaching was positive, general, and fun. Our goal was to teach the kids high-level fundamentals so they could experience some improvements, but mostly to make sure they wanted to play again the next season. I rotated kids all over my infield and outfield during both practices and games. I silently judged the coaches who put the same kid at P and 1B every freaking inning, especially when we beat them. It's too easy to overcoach, but it can be so detrimental. Some of the kids I ended up with this season have only ever played for coaches who didn't help them, instead choosing to focus on the 4 good kids. Meanwhile, my kids are scattered throughout the league and contributing. Keep it light and fun, boys. It's a game. Let the boys play. You might even see better results.
  14. I hated that as a kid, and I hate it now. I had a coach that used to give hand signals....with no explanation. I guess he thought they were clear as day, but many guys on the team didn't agree. I try to be very clear, simple, and direct with the 9/10s I coach now.
  15. Industry rumor is a "grounding issue." Electrical.
  16. Great first game of the series. Way to battle.
  17. A close relative of mine is a recently retired SWA pilot. Here's a text he sent me when I inquired about the MAX. "There's a switch to disengage the MCAS system (pitches nose down at max electric trim motor speed if AOA sensors sense nose is too high). Boeing didn't put it in the pilot training manual that a faulty AOA sensor would put the nose down 17.5 degrees and trigger the stabilizer trim motor into the high-speed mode. Pulling back on the yoke is the natural reaction when this happens, but the correct action is to reach behind yourself to the back of the center console and disengage a switch that sticks up less than an inch. The Indonesian pilots fought the elevator for 17 seconds before crashing, but it doesn't matter how hard you pull on the yoke, the 17-degree dive mode is going to return until you disable the trim motor. Now, after November, everyone should have been made aware that the MAX has this fatal design error (It should never have been certified to do this), but it's not an easy process to redo the entire software design of the MCAS when there are so many systems, autopilot functions, fly control components, and interfaces together. It was supposed to have come out in January, but it got pushed back to April. They can say all they want about the government shutdown not delaying this, but I don't believe it. The FAA is responsible for signing off on every design change Boeing makes. The parameters of this MCAS system are way out of kilter for what its purpose should be. 17.5 degrees nose down command with full high-speed trim going is a handful of airplane for one pilot to handle with both hands. If the other guy doesn't get that switch turned off, they are going down. SWAPA said before Trump's announcement that the MAX was safe to fly. Yeah, because this thing has been pounded into everyone's head since the first crash, so US pilots are keyed to disengage the system. It's still my opinion that it's a design flaw (software fix). Boeing is gonna be on the hook for all the lost revenue for these canceled flights." I sent another text saying that as a non-pilot I don't understand it all but get what he's saying. He replied again, "The new engines have so much more power, which causes a pitch up from where they're located when the power is advanced, hence the MCAS system. They just decided not to tell anyone what it did, so some idiot marketing decision maker left it out of the training manual. They're lucky one of those crashes didn't happen in US airspace because the victim liability claims are unlimited here for willful negligence."
  18. Though not true LL, evaluations for my son's league (SBMSA in Houston) run this Thursday-Sunday (2/7-10). We "get" to sit around and watch 400+ 9 and 10-year-olds take hacks, run, field, throw, and pitch. Then next week, we will draft them all into ~37 teams. Practices can start on 2/24. Ready or not, here it comes....
  19. I was there in August for the Yankees series. It was neat but not amazing.
  20. I miss Carlos Correa. I like that the A's are winning. Keep pushing us, Atleticos!
  21. Jose Abreu is an old slugging .441. No thanks.
×
×
  • Create New...