Monday, March 31, 2008
A FLY IN THE OINTMENT...
It seems that the old adage is true!
If things are going too good, just wait...'cause it will turn bad before you know it.
The preceeding statement pretty much applies
to the plight that the C.O.B.A. Major Baseball League finds itself in, after some events which unfolded over the course of
the last week. The new team for the 2008 season, the Clarkson Twins, must have realized they bit off more than they
could chew, when they entered the league back in January. Last Wednesday, they officially withdrew from the league before
even holding their first practice.
Of course, this creates a number of headaches
for league executives as they try to pick up the pieces. The major issues lie with the schedule. How will the
dropped Clarkson games affect the remaining games in the schedule? Certainly some teams will be looking at big gaps
in their schedule with these games removed. In addition, the changing of the divisional setup and the playoff format
must be reviewed by league managers, in order to come up with the best way to approach these newly created questions.
Those questions will be addressed next Monday, when the COBA Major Executive get together for an emergency meeting.
As one COBA Exec said, putting a positive spin on it, "At least this situation came up before the season started. It
would have been much worse if they had already played some games".
So, what does the folding of the Clarkson
team mean to the St. Catharines Metros? The only thing we know at this point is that the doubleheader scheduled for
May 18 in Clarkson is scrapped...as is the home game on Thursday, July 11 (this date will probably be used as a
home rainout date). The cancellation of these 3 games is now reflected on the "2008 Schedule" page - linked to
the left of this page. Any other changes affecting the Metros will be reported here next Tuesday. We'll update
you at that time.
Till then, we'll see all the players
trying out for the Metros on Tuesday night - 8:30 at Thorold High School.
Monday, March 24, 2008
TUESDAY THIS AND THAT...
Just a couple of quick announcements for
this week...
1. As promised, the Metros 2008
schedule is now posted on the website. Just click on the '2008 Schedule' link (to the left of this page). We have
the entire 30 game sked for the season, as well as the set dates for the playoffs, the All-Star game and all the tournaments
that the Metros have committed to, for this summer.
2. The Metros indoor workouts continue,
this evening and every Tuesday evening until we move outside (hopefully by the 3rd week of April). There is, however,
one important change to the indoor sked. The workouts will begin at 8:30 and run until 10:00 from here on in.
That's a change from the previous start time of 7:30. Once again, that's Tuesday night - 8:30 at Thorold High School
- for the Metros' indoor workouts.
3. This week's showcase
video is a very special clip. It's a 2 and half minute video that dramatically emphasizes all the great attributes of
the game we love. It's beautifully put together, and it's inspirational...it's our March 25th Showcase Video.
Just scroll to the bottom of the page and press "Play".
Thursday, March 20, 2008
C.O.B.A. MAJOR BASEBALL LEAGUE SHEDULE RELEASED
Well, the C.O.B.A. Major Baseball League
held its last pre-season meeting on Tuesday night, and the highlight of the night was the unveiling of the 2008 schedule.
This is always a big night within the league, as the plans for each team over the course of the season can now begin
to be set.
Here are some of the highlights:
This year each C.O.B.A. Major team will
play 30 games, in 15 weeks...with the first game (between Mississauga North and Milton) being played on May 3. The final
night of the season is August 13, when Erindale plays at Mississauga and Milton plays in Burlington.
Due to the extra games scheduled, there
ar 21 doubleheaders in the 4 months...with each team playing from 3 to 5 of them.
The COBA All-Star game, featuring the
Johnson All Stars and the Andrews All Stars will be played on Sunday, July 27th at Bernie Arbour Stadium in Hamilton.
The Glanbrook Grizzlies will be the hosts of this years showcase.
The playoffs begin on Thursday, August
14 with 2 out of 3 first-round series. That will lead to a 6-team double knockout tourney beginning on Friday, August
22 and finishing on Sunday, August 24.
As for the Metros...the highlights of
their schedule are:
Opening day - Saturday, May 10 in Milton.
Final games - Saturday, August 9 - as
Brampton comes to town for a doubleheader at Community Park.
Other doubleheaders - Sunday, May
18 in Clarkson, Saturday, May 31 with Etobicoke at St. Catharines, and Saturday, June 28 with Oakville coming to town.
All doubleheaders in St. Catharines will begin at 12:00 noon.
Home Night - once again, the Metros' primary
home night is Thursday with the home opener being Thursday May 15 versus Glanbrook. They'll also play 2 home games on
Mondays in July.
We hope to have the entire Metros schedule
published on the website by the end of March, so keep checking back here for that.
That's all for now...talk to ya next week.
Friday, March 14, 2008
HAP WALTERS TOURNEY - FILLED UP!
Well, we're starting to get back on our
feet after a couple of weeks of illness. So here is the latest in Metroland!
1. The Hap Walters Tourney for 2008 has
been sold out! The Metros could not be happier to get this tournament back off the ground after a year's hiatus due
to the re-scheduling of the Elimination Tourney (away from its regular weekend). This year's "Hap" will be on the weekend
of July 18 to 20 in St. Catharines and Thorold. And our field of teams is outstanding!
Making up the tournament field for 2008
are:
Leaside Leafs (GTBL)
Newmarket Hawks (GTBL)
Oshawa Royals (EOBA)
Markham Pioneers (EOBA)
Ajax Spartans (EOBA)
Windsor Stars (WCBA)
Windsor Athletics (WCBA)
Etobicoke Rangers (COBA)
Erindale Cardinals (COBA)
Milton Red Sox (COBA)
Burlington Brants (COBA)
St. Catharines Metros (COBA)
The Metros wish to thank all the teams
for their participation...it is teams like these that make the "Hap" Walters Tourney one of the best on the Senior calendar
every year.
2. The C.O.B.A. Baseball Schedule
for 2008 is rounding into form and should be released at the C.O.B.A. manager's meeting on Tuesday night in Burlington.
The schedule will feature 30 regular season games per team (over the course of a short 15 weeks). The extra games has
necessitated the use of doubleheaders to offset the expanded schedule. We'll post the highlights of the new schedule
next week, after is has been approved.
3. Just a reminder that the Metros'
next indoor workout will be this coming Tuesday, March 18, at Thorold High School (the same night as the COBA meeting).
Start time is 7:30. While GM Walters and Mgr. Hedden are at the meeting, Coaches Spiece and Zimmerman will run the practice.
Work hard, boys.
4. We've posted the first pcture
from the 2008 Metros season...a group of the guys shootin' the breeze at the Metros startup meeting in February. Just
click on the "Photo Album" link at the left of this page.
5. Finally, we've added a new "feature
film" to our website. This week, its a fun little piece about steroids in baseball. Mix a little satire and a
little inuendo and you get..."Baseball on Steroids". Scroll to the bottom of this page and press "Play".
Monday, March 10, 2008
SORRY!
Just a note to appologize for the lack
of updates on the website. Your humble webmaster has come down with a pretty bad case of post-Mexico (or just seasonal
Canadian) cold and flu. Hopefully we'll be feeling better by the end of the week, and can get back on track.
In the meantime, I have to remind everyone
that this week is March break for High Schools in Ontario, and thus Thorold High School is closed. There will be
no indoor workout for the Metros this week. Things are back to normal next Tuesday, at 7:30.
Monday, March 3, 2008
WEEEE'RE BAAAAACK !
Just a quick note to let everyone know
we're back from Mexico...burnt to a crisp and loving it!! As you can imagine, the stuff piled up while we were away,
so we'll just leave this note as is. There will be a full update later in the week. Talk to ya, then.
