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Softball: Olympic Sport No Longer?
by: jay moncliff
Fast pitch is different from the looping, relaxed pitch often used in recreational softball leagues. Fast pitch players must hit a ball traveling at about 70mph. This is slower than baseball, but certainly much faster than the meandering slow pitch game. However, since the pitcher’s mound and the home plate are much closer than in baseball, (40 feet versus 60 feet) the player must react to the pitch just as quickly.

The first softball, a spur of the moment creation in that long-ago first game, was a boxing glove tied into the shape of a ball. Today’s softball is 12” in diameter, significantly bigger than the standard base ball at 9”, and all white. Softball is actually a misnomer, as the ball used in the game is no softer than a baseball, just larger.

The playing diamond is much smaller than baseball’s, with only 60 feet between bases. Baseball diamonds have 90 feet between each base. This makes for a faster, more active game than baseball, a fact that many softball enthusiasts cite as one of the reasons they enjoy the game so much.

Softball games are also two innings shorter than baseball games. However, like baseball, softball seems to inspire devoted fans and players. Many truly love their softball and pursue the game with an almost fanatic passion.

In 1996, women’s fast pitch softball made its first appearance at the Atlanta Olympic Games. The United States team took the first gold medal in the sport, beating China in the gold medal game 3-1. An orthopedic surgeon from Florida, Dot Richardson, hit the first Olympic softball home run ever to win the game for the United States, an achievement she calls her most memorable.

After being an Olympic sport for the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympic games, softball was recently dropped from the 2012 London Olympics by a tied vote of 52-52 with one member abstaining. Only a simple majority of 53 votes were needed to keep softball in the Olympics, and softball supporters are trying to get the vote reconsidered.

Unfortunately, the Olympic committee doesn’t seem very interested in recasting this important ballot. Although the softball federation will certainly have something to say about this, the situation doesn’t look hopeful for girls fostering an Olympic fast pitch softball dream.

Perhaps confusion on the part of the Olympic committee caused them to drop women’s fast-pitch softball from the London games. There has been speculation that the committee members thought that women’s softball was just a female version of baseball, and not popular enough to matter. Whatever their motivations, we hope that the committee will reconsider and reinstate women’s fast pitch softball.

About The Author:

Jay Moncliff is the founder of http://www.softballcenter.info a website specialized on Softball, resources and articles. This site provides updated information on Softball. For more info on Softball visit: http://www.softballcenter.info

This article is free for republishing

 


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 Skateboarding - One of the Most Exciting and Skilled Board Sports
 by: Ben Ruhland

If you’re looking to get into a board sport why not try out skateboarding? Let me guess you and your friends go out on weekends looking for something to do but you’re bored stiff. Well I can guarantee you skateboarding is a sport you’ll never be able to give up on once you get into it. It’s a board sport that can have a steep learning curve depending on the person but most people can pretty much master the basics within a couple of months.

Skateboarding has developed quite a bit in recent years. For decades when skateboarding was in its infancy, it was seen as an activity performed by youngsters, mainly rebel kids. In these earlier years skateboarders were perceived as outcasts who went around vandalizing other people’s property by skating on it. It is becoming more understood these days but it still has a long way to go before people will fully understand the skill and dedication that goes into this sport.

The basics of skateboarding like pushing yourself along the street are easy to learn but once you get into the tricks and manoeuvres such as the most basic trick, the ollie, it takes quite a bit more practice to master. You need to learn the ollie as it’s a fundamental move that is combined into the majority of tricks where the board leaves the ground. The ollie is what could be considered a “jump” where the skateboard and the rider leave the ground with the board under their feet. To really master this basic move it can take a natural skater up to a year to really get it down.

When learning to skateboard some protective gear can go a long way to ensuring your safety as you can expect to take many falls when first starting out. A decent helmet, some elbow pads and knee pads will give you the safety you’re looking for and a little extra confidence knowing you won’t get too hurt when you fall. You can buy this protective gear fairly cheap from most skate shops and even some general purpose stores.

It’s easy to get nervous when first starting out on a skateboard because your balance will most likely be very out of tune. But don’t worry, every single skater you see out there on the skate park doing all those big moves, grinding rails, doing big grabs on the half pipe, they were all just like you when they started out. It’s a sport that takes a lot of dedication, and it relies on practice. If you put in the hours you’ll be popping kick flips in a matter of months. So go out there and get practicing, it’ll keep you busy for many years to come.

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