Legends of Fastball Classic Wrap Up
June 2, 2008
Kitchener, ON
I would be remiss today if I did not take the opportunity toextend my sincere thanks to all of the volunteers, committee chairs, ISC representatives, participating teams and the greatest fans in the game who made the 2008 edition of the Legends of Fastball Classic another unqualified success.
We were certainly blessed with some fine softball weather even with storm clouds looming on all sides most of the weekend.
I have been the point man for this tournament for the past 5 years, but its is really the unheralded people behind the scenes that make this event a success. My committee of Dave McLelland, Sue Sherry, Jim Uhrig, Dennis Dosman, Duncan Matheson, Ray Alviano, Joe Todd, Bruce Beirman and Al Doran take care of the ‘big picture” from an operations and ISC perspective. Anne Boehm and her Children’s Wish Foundation always make that special effort to supply key volunteers throughout the weekend, and of course many family and friends of the committee and the game give up a great deal of personal time to brave the elements in pursuit of success for thistournament. Thank you all.
John Thompson and Sue Sherry did another great job on the Diamond Dirt program, and Paul Hutchison did an outstanding job on media relations.
Congratulations to the 5 Legend honourees : Dan Donahue,Barry Musselman, Doug Neil, Brian Stere and Bruce Bierman
Congratulations to the 10 teams who battled through tough 5team divisions, and especially to the tournament finalist ScarboroughWolverines and tournament champions the Kitchener Rivershark Twins.
Al Doran made the scores accessible to the world through hisyeoman work on the web site and as always he did a class act job on behalf ofthe committee.
Kitchener parks staffled by Mark Johnson offered participants a world class venue on Friday eveningand kept it that way all weekend. As always Mark a pleasure working tournamentswith you and your capable team of turf techs.
The Legends Classic is proof that early season tournamentsare an integral part of many fastball teams agenda year after year. The fieldmay vary each year but the quality on the field rarely does. The fan appeal isalways there and the team of organizers and volunteers is world class. My sincere thanks to everyone for keeping the game alive in Ontario, and to thehandful of leaders who make tournaments of quality a priority in big cities andsmall towns throughout the season.
Larry Lynch
Legends of Fastball Classic
Tournament Chair
