My Article Database: Free Articles for Teaching and Studying English as a Foreign Language in China - by Paul Sparks




 Homepage
 About Me
 Teachers
 Students
 Lessons
 Photographs
 Links
 World News
 ICQ Chat
 Contact Me
 Articles
 
My Article Database:

 

Accounting
Acne
Adsense
Advertising
Aerobics
Affiliate
Alternative
Articles
Attraction
Auctions
Audio Streaming
Auto Care
Auto Parts
Auto Responder
Aviation
Babies Toddler
Baby
Bankruptcy
Bathroom
Beauty
Bedroom
Blogging
Body Building
Book Marketing
Book Review
Branding
Breast Cancer
Broadband Internet
Business
Business Loan
Business Plan
Cancer
Car Buying
Career
Car Insurance
Car Loan
Car Maintenance
Cars
Casino
Cell Phone
Chat
Christmas
Claims
Coaching
Coffee
College University
Computer Tips
Cooking
Cooking Tips
Copywriting
Cosmetics
Craft
Creative Writing
Credit
Credit Cards
Credit Repair
Currency Trading
Data Recovery
Dating
Debt Relief
Diabetics
Diet
Digital Camera
Diving
Divorce
Domain
Driving Tips
Ebay
Ebook
Ecommerce
Email Marketing
E Marketing
Essay
Ezine
Fashion
Finance
Fishing
Fitness
Flu
Furniture
Gambling
Golf
Google
GPS
Hair
Hair Loss
HDTV
Health Insurance
Heart Disease
Hobbies
Holiday
Home Business
Home Improvement
Home Organization
Interior Design
Internet Tips
Investment
Jewelry
Kitchen
Ladies Accessories
Lawyer
LCD / PLASMA
Legal
Life Insurance

Return to Articles about Sports

Softball: Olympic Sport No Longer?

by: jay moncliff
Fast pitch is different from the looping, relaxed pitch often used in recreational softball leagues. Fast pitch players must hit a ball traveling at about 70mph. This is slower than baseball, but certainly much faster than the meandering slow pitch game. However, since the pitcher’s mound and the home plate are much closer than in baseball, (40 feet versus 60 feet) the player must react to the pitch just as quickly.

The first softball, a spur of the moment creation in that long-ago first game, was a boxing glove tied into the shape of a ball. Today’s softball is 12” in diameter, significantly bigger than the standard base ball at 9”, and all white. Softball is actually a misnomer, as the ball used in the game is no softer than a baseball, just larger.

The playing diamond is much smaller than baseball’s, with only 60 feet between bases. Baseball diamonds have 90 feet between each base. This makes for a faster, more active game than baseball, a fact that many softball enthusiasts cite as one of the reasons they enjoy the game so much.

Softball games are also two innings shorter than baseball games. However, like baseball, softball seems to inspire devoted fans and players. Many truly love their softball and pursue the game with an almost fanatic passion.

In 1996, women’s fast pitch softball made its first appearance at the Atlanta Olympic Games. The United States team took the first gold medal in the sport, beating China in the gold medal game 3-1. An orthopedic surgeon from Florida, Dot Richardson, hit the first Olympic softball home run ever to win the game for the United States, an achievement she calls her most memorable.

After being an Olympic sport for the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympic games, softball was recently dropped from the 2012 London Olympics by a tied vote of 52-52 with one member abstaining. Only a simple majority of 53 votes were needed to keep softball in the Olympics, and softball supporters are trying to get the vote reconsidered.

Unfortunately, the Olympic committee doesn’t seem very interested in recasting this important ballot. Although the softball federation will certainly have something to say about this, the situation doesn’t look hopeful for girls fostering an Olympic fast pitch softball dream.

Perhaps confusion on the part of the Olympic committee caused them to drop women’s fast-pitch softball from the London games. There has been speculation that the committee members thought that women’s softball was just a female version of baseball, and not popular enough to matter. Whatever their motivations, we hope that the committee will reconsider and reinstate women’s fast pitch softball.

About The Author:

Jay Moncliff is the founder of http://www.softballcenter.info a website specialized on Softball, resources and articles. This site provides updated information on Softball. For more info on Softball visit: http://www.softballcenter.info

This article is free for republishing

 

New! Watch Online Articles with YouTube for Free:

 

 

 

 

Click Here to Return to Top of Page