Another rain out on a beautiful day :)

[NLC_LF]

MASA and Meriden should be ashamed!!

“It’s Friday, 7/20, all games are rained out, the fields just got too much water yesterday.” This message was put on the hotline at 1:30 pm on Friday. I was at Nessing and Columbus Park; all the fields are lined with chalk and ready to go. All puddles have been cleaned up. The Fields are fine, I repeat they are FINE and ready to be played on, and we get postponed!!! Are you kidding me??? Wallingford is playing. Is there not any communication at all with this league and the city? The one time all year they manage to get all the fields ready after a rain storm that happened the day before, and you still go ahead and cancel our games. This is a joke!!!

[SoxFan]

Unbelievable. I hadn't checked the fields, but was very surprised to open the paper this morning and see that no games were played last night. The REGULAR season is now extended to 8/3. D2 seems particularly hard hit, but I'm sure other divisions have felt it as well. I play in D2 for the current occupants of first place...we have 3 games to play, one being this Monday 7/23...and guess what, the forecast calls for showers. :( I'm marking my calendar to make it up on 8/6. :rolleyes:

[NLC_3B5]

Friday truly was puzzling as far as why MASA would cancel games. I realize we got some of the worst rains all year on Thursday, and I (finally) applaud the grounds workers for getting the fields into shape, but I now question their motives. There were teams out practicing on Friday night on a day games should have been played. The fields were dry and completely without mud, and as a previous poster mentioned, lined as well. The grass was dry and infields were borderline dusty. In the past, we have played in much worse conditions than that, so it was a head scratcher as to why we couldn't play.
There was some chatter down at the fields that there was a softball tournament taking place on Saturday, which is why so much effort was put into working the fields. If this is true, I am somewhat appalled that this much work can be done after a torrential downpour for a Saturday tournament, but can't be done after light rains the night before (referring to other games this year that were canceled from rains the night before).
I realize this is a rec league, but we do pay considerable fees in order to play, and have some expectations from the city and Parks/Rec department that have just been a major let down this season. I have no problem with games that are actually rained out b/c it is raining all day/during gametimes, and I also realize that this summer has so far seemed to be an extremely rainy season, but there needs to be more effort done to get these games in on time.
I think there is some sentiment throughout the league that this season is beginning to be a washout itself. Many people have the expectations of playing softball mid-April to mid-July, with playoffs moving into early August, and can safely make vacation plans, or other plans after that. I realize people don't make plans solely around the softball season, but I'm sure that is a thought to more than one player in the league. The way this season has progressed so far, it's a very real possibility that the 2007 MASA season can extend into the last week of August! Although I can't say this is a huge problem on my team (although we are losing some players throughout the month), I have talked to teams that are basically giving up on the playoffs because they won't have enough guys. These players allotted a specific amount of time (months) for softball, and with all the rain have gone way over on that time. Now, they will be missing the playoffs, and hurting their teams' chances in the process. I even believe there is a monetary penalty if you have to forfeit a game in the playoffs, which is a very real possibility now. At the very least, if this is the case, this fee should be waived.
Basically, although long winded, what I'm trying to say is that the rain and lax attitude in postponing games is affecting this league in many ways, and I'm having a hard time seeing any positives in these events thus far.

I'm really looking forward to an explanation though, (which I realize I will never receive) as to why the games were postponed on Friday.

Thanks,

3b