10/7/2011 5:39:59 PM
FORT MYERS, Fla. -Weird things are going on when I call up the Travelblog to make a new submission, something to do with gamechanger or something, so I'm not sure if this even going to get posted. I'll give it a shot.
The first day of the 2011 WWBA Underclass World Championship has reached its final hours, but there are still games scheduled to start about an hour from now at 8:30 p.m. EDT here at Terry Park. It's the first of three very long days for the PG crew, the players, families, coaches, scouts, umpires and everyone else involved, but it's why we do what we do.
It was an interesting first day, one in which I never left Terry Park. A very brief but intense downpour halted action for a couple minutes mid-afternoon when one giant cloud decided to drop its load, but other than that it was a beautiful day.
The main central concourse area here at Terry Park has been turned into a mini-carnival midway, absent the Ferris wheel or the Tilt-a-Whirl. All kind of venders have set up their tents and opened their trailer doors, selling every piece of baseball equipment imaginable. This is truly an event that every young baseball prospect needs to experience, if for no other reason than for the number of college coaches that are present.
At just one game on one field here at Terry Park this afternoon, I spotted coaches and recruiters wearing shirts from Miami, Air Force, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Florida State, Auburn, Ole Miss, Florida Atlantic, Clemson, Central Florida, the U of Florida and Florida Gulf Coast. That was at one diamond. There were probably 30 other games going on across the area at the same time, with dozens of other coaches and recruiters at those sites.
I am going to start my morning Saturday at the Lee County Sports Complex, make my way over here to Terry Park, mosey over to the Red Sox 5-Plex and finally wind up back here.
Unfortunately, not much time for local restaraunts reviews or cold beers. But there's more to life, you know. Not much, but a little.