- First off, let’s thank God for the beautiful weather we had for the 09’ Classic Spring
Training event. Aside from some rain in the pre dawn hours on Thursday the skies were
generally clear this year. Well, it was a bit nippy Friday morning and later that evening
during the home run derby competitions. But aside from that, the weather was great!
It was great seeing some old friends as well as meeting and making new friends. I think we
ended up with 64 new campers this year which really makes it hard for me to remember
everyone's name. I hope everyone had a good time and arrived back home safely. I heard
Bob Woodward was stuck in Jacksonville International Airport for 12 hours. That should
have given him time to look over the $300,000 worth of sculptures us taxpayers bought
for his amusement.
I have received quite a bit of positive feedback on the event by phone and e-mail and I
want to thank each of you for your feedback, positive or otherwise. I want to thank all of
you for attending. Personally, I think this year was my weakest run event I've put on. I
think several factors played into that, 1. The event is getting big and more things are
going on, 2. I'm getting older and old ball players just keep getting worse,3. My wife was
having some medical issues and we had the cancer cloud hanging over our head.
However, I'm happy to note she is cancer free. Anyway, I slipped some but I have an out
because if you remember my disclaimer before you signed up, I said "if your looking for a
professionally run event then go to the Softball Magazine's Spring Training camp at $275
or the Senior Spring Training Camp at $525. I guess that sums that up! LOL. I've realized
that I'll have to get some more help in certain areas and tighten up some other areas so I
have made my notes and put them in my 2010 folder!
Now, this may come as a surprise but it takes more than my pretty face to get this thing
done so I want to start off by thanking those people that made this event possible.
My wife, Debbie has put up with a lot of things not getting done around the house due to
the amount of time I spent on this event. Debbie did quite a bit of errand running for me
and she is always willing to jump in and help with anything I need. During the banquet,
the food was delayed because the cook went home sick and Debbie was manning the table
out front, which I thought was running slow so of course I opened my big mouth by
telling her to "pick it up". Well, long story short, I was wrong and Debbie, Shannon, Todd
Carter, Marty Coyne and several others were doing all they could do to get finished as
quickly as possible. I want to thank this group for their extra efforts!
- I had some other people that help me mostly behind the scenes such as my daughter
Shannon, my son Justin, another son Curt Jr supplied his truck for my use. Kevin
GoForth's wife, Heather helped Debbie out with registration and other duties! Brian
Milstead along with Chuck and Vanessa Esienburg helped me secure and rent the BP field
up for Thursday night during sponsor's night and Vanessa worked her tail off to get the
water off the fields. Thanks!!! Lynn and Kathy Moser helped with the sweat shirts and tee-
shirts! Bob Butler, Keith Gibbs, Kevin GoForth and David Allgood supplied the pitching
screens for our use. Thanks guys!
This years field bosses were Sargent Parker (Randy), Troy Yowell and Kevin Crotts from
Maryland, Ryan Davis, Don Norquist, Mickey Kelly and Justin Hollis. Thank you guys for
a job well done. Jennifer did a great job as our photographer. Last year she was the most
photographed camper with 41 photos being taken of her! I want to thank John and Tom
for opening the gates and setting up a concession stand this year. I don't think they sold
much but I really appreciate their efforts.
We would have nothing without our sponsors. Rob Harris, owner of WalkOff Sports. Rob
has been sponsoring this event for several years and continues to be the fuel that keeps
the CST running. Rob always has his lowest prices of the year at the CST!! Thanks Rob!!!
....and I'll bet Keith Gibbs really wants to thank you for throwing that last bat in during
the banquet! Please support Rob at Walkoff Sports during the year when you need softball
supplies.
Johnny McCraw and Bobby NiFong of Combat did a super job this year. They kept some
demo bats in front of people and after Johnny had to fly out to California Bobby did a
great job promoting his bats and representing Combat very well. This was Bobby's first
full year here being on the fields and in the banquet and it was apparent that he picked up
on the spirit of the event when he jumped up during the banquet and presented Liam
with a Combat softball bat. So, if your needing Combat gear, please look these guys up
this year. By the way Coop, these two guys have put northeast Florida firmly in the
Combat camp.
Obie Oberhelman, owner of the Ultimate Sports Company sent his representative Ed
Andrews over this year. Ed did a fantastic job representing The Ultimate Sports Co. and he
too picked up on the spirit of the event and pitched in to help Liam. Obie, Ed and The
Ultimate Sports Co. supplied the winner of each event with an Ultimate Bat bag! Obie's
company only makes bat bags and thats all they have been doing for 18 years. Their bags
are made of the finest material with heavy duty zippers. Please check with Obie if you
need a bat bag during the 09’ season. Thanks again, Obie and Ed for making this event
what it is!!!
Pete Vinci, owner of Vinci Pro Sports, has been involved with this event since the first
spring training event in Lake City in 2002. Pete hasn’t made it down the past four years
and we really miss him because he is one of the true great guys and his love for the game
comes shining through. Pete, always sends down some giveaways for the raffle and we
really appreciate his support this year as well as in the past. Thanks again, Pete! If your
looking for a quality ball glove his are hard to beat!!!
Kevin and Mike Macenko from Anaconda Sports gave us a great deal on the softballs again
this year and provided some shirts for the give-aways. As usual, these balls are the best in
the business and they were fly’in out of the park like crazy. So, drop Kevin or Mike a line
during 09’ for your softball needs. Thanks Kevin! Oh, be sure to look them up for the
Senior Combat softball bat!
Kevin Bass, President of Bass Gloves is our newest sponsor and his company is growing
very fast. Kevin is a great guy and he set up at sponsors night at Armstrong Park but
didn't sell much. It looked like everyone was wanting to get to those fields and start
hitting. I think he did better on Friday and there were several campers looking for him
Saturday. I know my back was hurting real bad Friday so I purchased some turfs from
him to wear Saturday and I got to tell you, they really helped my back. Kevin told me he
has heard other people say that but I have to say I wasn't a believer until I wore them
Saturday. Kevin, I hope you come back next year, we would love to have you back! Rob is
going to get me for telling you this but I need to let the rabbit out of the hat, Rob has he
best prices of the year at this event and after being here for a few years the campers know
that and flock to him.
David Johnson, aka BabyJ donated the travel bags for the give-away program. I know Joey
worked you over pretty good in the banquet with the shoe jokes but i thought the bags
were pretty handy. Thanks for your efforts on that and in building the stainless steel
tables that held the softball lugs!
Bob Woodward supplied some "Sluggo" demo bats for the campers to hit as well as
donating a proto-type "Sluggo" bat which was given away during the banquet. Bob
brought the bats to get some feedback from the campers on the design as he is looking for
ways to improve the bat. Bob, if you haven't already done it, check on Ray Demarini's
story. They told him he couldn't compete with the big boys! He told everyone that would
listen that there was no way these over-grown companies could compete with him and his
passion as he lived, breathed and sleep softball and was dedicated to developing a start of
the art bat!. It looks like Ray was right!!!
- A special thanks to the City of Jacksonville Parks and Recreation Department for getting
the fields ready. OK, I sure I missed someone.........but I hope not. Now, the good, the
bad, the ugly!
