[OutsiderFan]

Ten years ago, the Pac-10 dominated the NCAA Softball Championships.  There were always 4-5 Pac teams in the championships, with UCLA, Arizona, Cal, Washington, Stanford, ASU being mainstays.


Now, it's the SEC, with five such teams of their own, and the Pac-12 only Oregon and UCLA.  Auburn, Tennessee, Florida and Alabama only recently became softball powers. 


Is this cyclical or has their been some kind of sea change based on what always makes the SEC strong, the fan support that comes from having virtually no major league teams in their markets?

[OutsiderFan]

Ten years ago, the Pac-10 dominated the NCAA Softball Championships.  There were always 4-5 Pac teams in the championships, with UCLA, Arizona, Cal, Washington, Stanford, ASU being mainstays.


Now, it's the SEC, with five such teams of their own, and the Pac-12 only Oregon and UCLA.  Auburn, Tennessee, Florida and Alabama only recently became softball powers. 


Is this cyclical or has their been some kind of sea change based on what always makes the SEC strong, the fan support that comes from having virtually no major league teams in their markets?

[BobK]

Florida has been a power. 
Many of the players in the SEC are from CA.  Great question as to why.

Interesting you bring up SB with the two brobdingnagian stories today on Stanford

[BobK]

Florida has been a power. 
Many of the players in the SEC are from CA.  Great question as to why.

Interesting you bring up SB with the two brobdingnagian stories today on Stanford

[needle]

Merc story on Stanford softball

Among six key seniors, three hurled accusations against Rittman and three others swear by him


"It's hard to see Stanford being the laughingstock of the Pac-12," said outfielder Leah White, one of three seniors who quit the team with 10 games to go, unhappy with the new coach.

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_28203959/o...-its-knees

[needle]

Merc story on Stanford softball

Among six key seniors, three hurled accusations against Rittman and three others swear by him


"It's hard to see Stanford being the laughingstock of the Pac-12," said outfielder Leah White, one of three seniors who quit the team with 10 games to go, unhappy with the new coach.

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_28203959/o...-its-knees

[Stymie]

This Mercury News article does not paint a pretty picture of the Stanford Athletic Department.  I'm surprised we haven't heard of this SNAFU earlier, and I hope Mr. Muir deals with the aftermath with more than silence.

[Stymie]

This Mercury News article does not paint a pretty picture of the Stanford Athletic Department.  I'm surprised we haven't heard of this SNAFU earlier, and I hope Mr. Muir deals with the aftermath with more than silence.

[needle]

And the much, much longer and more in-depth Daily article:


[/quote][quote][color=rgb(51, 51, 51)]In May, Senior Associate Athletics Director Earl Koberlein — who now oversees softball instead of Blue — reached out to the three players who had quit to set up a meeting. Roulund thought it was a nice gesture, but called it “too little, too late.” The players said they have not yet responded.[/color][/font][/size][color=rgb(51, 51, 51)]It remains to be seen whether Hanson can repair the relationship with her returning players. One freshman said that she was “miserable” and felt she had compromised athletics for academics in coming to Stanford.[/color][/font][/size]
[color=rgb(51, 51, 51)]“When you don’t care about the game you’ve devoted your entire life to, something’s wrong,” she said.[/color][/font][/size]
http://www.stanforddaily.com/2015/05/28/...signation/

[needle]

And the much, much longer and more in-depth Daily article:


[/quote][quote][color=rgb(51, 51, 51)]In May, Senior Associate Athletics Director Earl Koberlein — who now oversees softball instead of Blue — reached out to the three players who had quit to set up a meeting. Roulund thought it was a nice gesture, but called it “too little, too late.” The players said they have not yet responded.[/color][/font][/size][color=rgb(51, 51, 51)]It remains to be seen whether Hanson can repair the relationship with her returning players. One freshman said that she was “miserable” and felt she had compromised athletics for academics in coming to Stanford.[/color][/font][/size]
[color=rgb(51, 51, 51)]“When you don’t care about the game you’ve devoted your entire life to, something’s wrong,” she said.[/color][/font][/size]
http://www.stanforddaily.com/2015/05/28/...signation/

[BobK]

This has been publiczed before in both the Mercury and the Daily but these stories are far more to the point and outstanding.  A shame no SB fans here, this has been a brobdingnagian well publized story now for a year. 

[BobK]

This has been publiczed before in both the Mercury and the Daily but these stories are far more to the point and outstanding.  A shame no SB fans here, this has been a brobdingnagian well publized story now for a year. 

[Roberton3]

I've been following the softball news stories for a while.  It's always incredibly hard to judge this kind of thing from the outside, but Muir's handling of the situation looks pretty bad.

[Roberton3]

I've been following the softball news stories for a while.  It's always incredibly hard to judge this kind of thing from the outside, but Muir's handling of the situation looks pretty bad.

[needle]

In reading the stories, what stands out the most is that no one looks good.


Not the players now talking to the press who quit after they were going to be benched for a game. Not the group that's quiet now but by these accounts presented a list of petty gripes (along with what may or may not have been valid concerns about the role Rittman played in this mess).


Certainly not Marcello, the S&C guy accused of acting inappropriately with students, a charge denied by one particular individual but seemingly substantiated by the SU investigation.


Rittman at best seems way out-of-touch with his players, while the new coach seems to have lost the team in large part through her own actions.


And Muir and staff seem to have done a horrible job in communicating with the team, first by not doing more to listen to players and get a better read on the situation and then by not communicating what exactly the admin's role has been in all this mess.

[needle]

In reading the stories, what stands out the most is that no one looks good.


Not the players now talking to the press who quit after they were going to be benched for a game. Not the group that's quiet now but by these accounts presented a list of petty gripes (along with what may or may not have been valid concerns about the role Rittman played in this mess).


Certainly not Marcello, the S&C guy accused of acting inappropriately with students, a charge denied by one particular individual but seemingly substantiated by the SU investigation.


Rittman at best seems way out-of-touch with his players, while the new coach seems to have lost the team in large part through her own actions.


And Muir and staff seem to have done a horrible job in communicating with the team, first by not doing more to listen to players and get a better read on the situation and then by not communicating what exactly the admin's role has been in all this mess.

[Stymie]

This Mercury News article does not paint a pretty picture of the Stanford Athletic Department.  I'm surprised we haven't heard of this SNAFU earlier, and I hope Mr. Muir deals with the aftermath with more than silence.

Apologies for my ignorance of this story until now.  It's hard to keep track of all sports when living 6000 miles away from the center of the universe (aka The Farm).

[Stymie]

This Mercury News article does not paint a pretty picture of the Stanford Athletic Department.  I'm surprised we haven't heard of this SNAFU earlier, and I hope Mr. Muir deals with the aftermath with more than silence.

Apologies for my ignorance of this story until now.  It's hard to keep track of all sports when living 6000 miles away from the center of the universe (aka The Farm).

[Mick]

In reading the stories, what stands out the most is that no one looks good.

Not the players now talking to the press who quit after they were going to be benched for a game.

Wow.  So that's the only reason why they quit, because they were going to be benched for a game.  And I thought it happened after two years of stress caused by virtually every single adult who should have had their best interests at heart, including their AD, their former coach, their former trainers, parents of other players and not in the least their current coach. 
But what I take from your post is that it was just because these seniors were being benched for a game, one of said seniors having played for 217 games in a row, another of which said "it was just the epitome of the whole season."  I must have read the article incorrectly.

[Mick]

In reading the stories, what stands out the most is that no one looks good.

Not the players now talking to the press who quit after they were going to be benched for a game.

Wow.  So that's the only reason why they quit, because they were going to be benched for a game.  And I thought it happened after two years of stress caused by virtually every single adult who should have had their best interests at heart, including their AD, their former coach, their former trainers, parents of other players and not in the least their current coach. 
But what I take from your post is that it was just because these seniors were being benched for a game, one of said seniors having played for 217 games in a row, another of which said "it was just the epitome of the whole season."  I must have read the article incorrectly.