Out of Bounds: BBGC needed 'super' delegates! By Jake Linger
Most folks in Bowie who have any association with either Bowie Boys and Girls Club or that of south Bowie surely already know that county boys and girls club members voted in favor of the amendment to the county bylaws which require full participation in county athletics.
Or else!
Essentially, the county wishes to have its participating boys and girls clubs playing within the county and not, for example, playing lacrosse in Anne Arundel County or football in the Baltimore Beltway League.
The vote was held Thursday at Prince George's Sports and Learning Complex and, despite the diplomatic efforts of Bowie Mayor Fred Robinson and state Sen. Doug Peters, county boys and girls club executive director Calvin Massie garnered the necessary votes as he knew he would. The amendment will go into effect March 1, 2009.
The funny thing about the vote is that Massie "guesstimated" last month that, of the 31 clubs eligible to vote for or against the amendment, 26 would be voting for the bylaw change. But, as we seem to learn over and over again, votes can change and voters can - and will - be swayed.
Of the 17 club presidents in attendance to vote at last week's meeting, nine were in favor of the bylaw change and eight were against it.
Duh!
Maybe BBGC could try and get the Florida and Michigan delegates counted.
"South Bowie could have swung the vote," said BBGC president-elect Lynn de Seve. "But (BBGC believes SBBGC was) afraid of losing their fields or of the pressure Calvin Massie was putting on them. Who really knows?"
Isn't this all just so curious!
Ten clubs did not even show up to vote, undoubtedly giving the impression they did not care to vote out of support (or nonsupport) for one of the two sides. That is exactly why Sean "P. Diddy" Combs launched his "Vote or Die" initiative in 2004 to encourage Americans of all ages to get out and vote. Granted, his message may have been a bit harsh (not in all countries, mind you) but he had the right idea.
My dad always told us growing up that if you don't vote, then you lose your right to complain about the results and the ensuing issues that arise as they are directly related to the election. When 10 club presidents choose to not be present for what may be the biggest vote in recent memory that affects all county youth athletes, they should be punished in some way.
Maybe they could lose their vending machine privileges for a month or something.
Listen, who knows how this will all shake out, but the evidence - and speculation and hearsay - suggests that the county is covering its tracks in some way, but luckily for them they found a legitimate way to maneuver out of their situation by bringing more money back into the county boys and girls club by mandating how clubs participate.
Instead of creating alternatives for clubs to play outside the county for certain sports, Massie and his Merry Men (and Women!) decided to simply take a hard line and be done with it. Why can't BBGC simply pay a predetermined extra fee for playing lacrosse in Anne Arundel County? That seems fair. If clubs want to pass some of the rules by, then fine. Just pay a little bit extra. Everyone wins.
But, Massie decided that it is easier to ask the club to leave as opposed to working with them. So, if BBGC has any courage, they will take their club and become stronger by aligning themselves with stronger clubs that will allow their participation. If the county does not want Bowie money, then some organization will.
Everyone at BBGC has said the same thing over and over, good luck to SBBGC and all hope that they prosper and thrive. Additionally, nobody blames south Bowie for wanting to be the "big cheese," but it will be difficult in the early going for the club to expand to handle a large exodus from BBGC to SBBGC, not that it will happen that way.
BBGC and SBBGC are both quality organizations that will more often than not do right by their youth athletes. Now, more than ever, is the time to put up and reflect that statement so I don't eat those words between now and March 1.
I will, however, eat those words if they are sugar-free and low in carbs.
Now that the big vote of 2008 is behind us, can we please turn our focus to other moderately important things, like electing our first minority president in our country's history! Electing Barack Obama will reduce our nation's carbon footprint by 85 percent. (Sadly, I cannot confirm this and, in fact, it is absolutely false. But, that's politics.)
---
Last Friday the Blade-News was the only credentialed media to attend the media day for the U.S. Olympic softball team at Bowie Hampton Inn. The team was in town for the "Bound 4 Beijing" tour as part of its preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. Considering that the Blade-News is the sole newspaper located in Bowie, I almost felt like the host publication for the event, which does not speak much to my party-planning skills.
I was fortunate enough to speak with Monica Abbott, who was the starting pitcher for the U.S. team when they played the Washington Glory Saturday at Prince George's Stadium.
And rest assured, the men parachuting over Bowie were Green Berets. I was fully aware of that and I still nearly had a wicked flashback to the movie, "Red Dawn."
In addition to Abbott, I spent time chatting with outfielder Jessica Mendoza, Kelly Kretschman and - gulp! - pitcher Jennie Finch. The latter has such a decorated softball career and, as a result, she has had many additional opportunities presented to her.
Being gorgeous is not an opportunity, by the way. That is just luck.
Jennie and I spoke about her three seasons hosting the popular weekend television series, "This Week in Baseball." Barry Bonds was more than gracious to appear in an on-field segment with Jennie a few years back, but he refused to take a full swing at her pitches. (Steroids are cyclical, you know.)
The entire weekend was incredible. Attendance records - not to mention the poor Green Beret who did not quite make it to the playing surface - were obliterated at Prince George's Stadium. Nearly 9,000 fans watched Team USA defeat the Glory, 2-0. The game was a scoreless tie until the sixth inning. Abbott pitched two innings and struck out five and gave up no hits. Cat Osterman pitched the middle three innings and gave up two hits to accompany her six strikeouts and Finch pitched the final two innings, giving up three hits and striking out two batters.
Congratulations are in order for every one of the Bowie Baysox staff for helping to put on a fun show and a spectacular event. The game went one step further to put Bowie on the international map. If 26 more fans could have been fit into the stadium, the all-time record for Team USA softball in this country would have been tied. As it stands, the 8,724 attendees broke the non-Olympic attendance record.
Well done, Bowie. Perhaps our city will have had some influence on the team's performance in Beijing in August.
