Monday, August 11, 2008

My old ball park is going to Little League World Series!

So there I am Saturday morning with breakfast in hand and thinking, I'll watch a little TV while I'm eating breakfast. So I flip through the channels and see that Little League baseball is playing on ESPN2. It was a regional championship game.

Now, back up and let me state that the Little League baseball games of the Little League World Series is probably the ONLY sports event I typically watch - ever! So I tuned in and watched the game.

Note: LLWS is not one game or series of two teams like in Major League baseball. It's the final round of championship games of the US and International teams. 16 teams, 8 US teams, 8 International Teams.
LLWS Team Breakdown

I noticed the Northwest regional championship game was that evening, so I decided to tune in to watch that. As I was watching they showed a list of teams that already made it into the Little League World Series. I noticed that Tampa, FL (where I moved here from last year) was in the list. What do ya know? My old home town has a team going to Williamsport, I thought.

Now remember, I was also tuning in to watch the Northwest regional game. It turns out that a Washington team that was pretty local won the NW regional game and their trip to Willaimsport as well.

So, I was in a dilemma. Do I root for Tampa, FL or Mill Creek, WA?

Just for grins, I decided to look on Little League's website ( Little League Home ) and see if I could see what part of Tampa the team was from. I stumbled across this page:
CPLL going to LLWS

HOLY COW!!! *BAM*

Not only was a team from Tampa going, but it is a team from *MY* old baseball park. Citrus Park Little League is the park that *I* played at for all my youth. I played there for about 7 years. OMG! That's so cool.

Well, no question on who I'm rooting for now. MY park is in it!

GO CITRUS PARK!!
GO CITRUS PARK!!
GO CITRUS PARK!!



Well, the story could end there and still be cool, but it turns out there is even more. I look up Citrus Park Little League's website ( CPLL ) to see if there is any info about it. Nothing, really. So I email the website info email link and friendly suggest maybe they could add a little guest book page or some venue to allow people to wish the team well and give motivation.

I get a response from the website admin guy who sends me a blog link ( CPLL Blog ) and tells me that not only did CPLL send a team to the Little League World Series, but the Big League Softball World Series also has a team coming from CPLL. They have TWO teams going to their respective world series'.

This is the coolest thing since sliced bread!!!!

I don't know what to say, other than CPLL Little League baseball and Big League softball teams - YOU HAVE A FAN IN SEATTLE!!

No comments: