By Dave Ornauer
Published: July 28, 2010
From an old Pacific Air Forces warhorse, Joe Renteria, comes word that Pope Air Force Base's interservice softball team became the first military team in history to win back-to-back Southern Softball Association of America state and Military Worlds tournament titles.
But he also said something that really opened my eyes: "This team is as good as the 1993 Pacific Force team" for which he played and batted leadoff.
I saw that 1993 Pacific Force team, which was sponsored by AT&T at the time. And few, if any, could ever compare to it.
Start with Renteria, arguably the best leadoff batter in Air Force softball history. David Heald, an All-Marine pitcher, would follow in the order. Next, the human redwood, Gurney Holley, followed by even larger human specimen Bill "Bam-Bam" Burrell, for his resemblance to pro wrestler "Bam-Bam" Bigelow.
Fifth in the order would be former Major League Baseball prospect Miguel Ortiz, with either Manny Jenkins or Darryl Shamble to follow, with All-Marine veteran Guillermo "Panama" Foster batting seventh (!!!). And that's probably the only team that Foster ever batted so low in the lineup for.
No way we could ever put Renteria's Pope team on the same field with Pac Force, or the International Guzzlers, winners of five straight Pacificwide open tournaments, or even the powerful Clark Diplomats or Kadena Falcons -- Renteria's old PACAF base team -- of the 1980s.
But I'd still like to see Renteria come to the next Pac-wide May 25-28 at Yongsan Garrison in South Korea, the best ol' military tournament in the world.
By Dave Ornauer
Published: July 28, 2010
Congratulations to Air Force Special Operations Command Korea's men, which needed two wins over Headquarters & Services Company, 602nd Aviation Support Battalion to win the 8th U.S. Army company-level softball tournament last weekend at Yongsan Garrison.
HSC 602nd ASB sent AFSOCK into the knockout bracket on the tournament's second day 11-4, but AFSOCK rallied to win its next five games, including 22-20 and 7-0 over HSC on championship Saturday.
Camp Casey's women had to work just as hard, falling in the first of two championship games 11-8 to Camp Humphreys before prevailing 10-0 in the second. It was a virtual rematch of the Firecracker Shootout tournament earlier this month on Okinawa, where Casey routed Humphreys in the women's final.
In the men's over-33 tournament, Yongsan left little to chance, beating Daegu/Area IV 17-7 in Saturday's final.
By Dave Ornauer
Published: July 28, 2010
Let's hear it for All-Army veteran outfielders Veronica Bangi (2008) and Shannika Taylor (three-times All-Armed Forces), who headline the five players selected to the All-Army women's softball tryout camp Aug. 25-Sept. 17 at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pa.
They're joined by first-timers Trina McGee of Daegu/Area IV, Lisa Marie Harris of Camp Stanley (collegiate pitcher for Elizabeth State University in North Carolina) and Shaqina Smith of Camp Casey.
Twenty others will also battle for the 15 spots on the All-Army team trying to unseat three-time champion Air Force at the All-Armed Forces tournament Sept. 18-24 at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla.
That's followed by the Amateur Softball Association's national championship Sept. 30-Oct. 4 at ASA's headquarters in Oklahoma City.
By Dave Ornauer
Published: July 25, 2010
Musings, mutterings and the occasional schmahts as Ornauer continues shaking his head at the marvel that was Saturday's U.S. Forces Japan-American Football League South Division title game:
-- After succumbing to Foster 25-7 in the 2009 South Division title game last Aug. 8, Torii coach Darell Keith hinted that would be his last game at the Wolfpack's helm. To which I replied, don't do it. This is a startup program. The worst thing that can happen to a startup unit is if the coaching post resembles a revolving door.
-- Think Keith isn't happy he returned to the Joint Task Force Wolfpack now?
-- Especially after dethroning his greatest rival, the Foster Bulldogs, 20-18 in Saturday's South championship?
-- Especially after JTF's version of the Music City Miracle, Kent Onuoha's 82-yard kick-return touchdown with 28 seconds left that saved the Wolfpack, which had just fallen behind 18-13 on Frank Bryant's 7-yard touchdown pass to Roger Veal.
-- Google Onuoha and you'll see that name associated with the Kansas State University track and field team and several events he ran last decade.
-- No doubt, he proved why he was a collegiate sprinter on that play. One Foster player had a shot at bringing him down, just shy of the goal line, but Onuoha somehow kept his balance and rambled into the end zone.
-- And the wall that Onuoha used to turn the left corner and spring himself free for the score ... just how "kick-return left," or "legs" as I've heard it called, was designed by coaches throughout the land at all levels. Only this time, it worked just as diagrammed.
-- Foster, with its wide-open, no-huddle spread attack, outgained the Wolfpack 181-41 (!!!) and forced six sacks and two turnovers. One would think a team that outgains its opponent by 4.5-1 should expect to win, right?
-- "You can't take a play off. That's what happens when you take a play off," Foster offensive coordinator Gerald Sharber said of Onuoha's return.
-- "We believed. We simply believed," Keith said.
-- Onuoha's decisive return capped a contest which saw the lead change hands five times. JTF got its first two touchdowns on a 10-yard pass from Mike Geddie to Joseph Huewitt at first-quarter's end; Foster answered with second-quarter TD runs of 3 yards by Bryant and 15 by Desmond Fagan.
-- Despite JTF's offensive yardage dearth, the Wolfpack caught a break when Foster committed two personal-foul penalties that set up JTF at the Foster 14, leading to Darrell Miller's 2-yard touchdown run with 11:25 left.
-- The defeat wasted a relentless performance by defensive end Jonathan Johnson who racked up 4 1/2 sacks. W.L. McMullen recovered two JTF fumbles.
-- JTF could have scored more were it not for a 65-yard touchdown pass being called back on a holding penalty, and another apparent TD toss being ruled out of bounds.
-- The teams combined for 54 passes, the most by two teams in one game this season. Bryant was 15-for-45 for 123 yards; Geddie went 4-for-9 for 73 yards.
-- So, what lies ahead for the Wolfpack, which now travels north for a showdown at Yokota High School's Bonk Field with the North champion Yokota Warriors?
-- Yokota (5-2, 160 points for, 97 against) is in its fourth Torii Bowl, but at home for the first time. The Warriors lost 15-12 at Yokosuka in 2000, 30-21 at Misawa in 2005 and 30-6 last Aug. 29 at Foster.
-- JTF might appear to be the most unlikely of candidates to reach the Torii Bowl out of the South. A year ago, when Keith contemplated quitting, the Wolfpack went 0-5 in the regular season before ousting second-place Kadena 12-6 in four overtimes last July 18.
-- Now, look. The Wolfpack sports a 6-2 overall record, 157 points for and 108 against.
-- But ... the Wolfpack has a bit of history against it: No road team has ever won the Torii Bowl. Yokosuka won it in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2007; Misawa in 2005 and 2008, and Foster last year, all at home.
-- Why? It's tough to ensure you get your entire team off of duty and to Yokota and back in just two days' time. Always keep in mind, the players are not hired to play football; they're hired to defend the nation.
-- This will be the second time Okinawa faces a North Division team for the title, following on last year's Foster victory. Kadena was to visit Yokosuka for the 2001 and 2003 title games; the 2001 game was canceled due to Sept. 11, and the 2003 game was never played, because both teams couldn't agree on a playing date due to transportation problems and duty commitments.
-- JTF will bring about half its roster to Yokota, Keith said, and the Wolfpack will "give it all we can."
By Dave Ornauer
Published: July 23, 2010
Now, it can be told -- the U.S. Forces Japan-American Football League's championship game will take place on July 31 at Yokota, after all.
The South Division champion, either Joint Task Force or defending league champion Foster, to be crowned Saturday at Kubasaki High School's Mike Petty Stadium, will travel next week to play the North Division champion Warriors at 4 p.m. July 31 at Yokota High School's Bonk Field.
Initially, a July 31 game at Yokota was ruled out because sports and fitness center staff is supporting another event. So as at every South Division home game, this will be a do-it-yourself effort, as Coach Selwyn Jones said his Warriors would provide the support needed, lining the field, filling water buckets, etc., post-game cleanup, etc.
A tip of the hat to Yokosuka MWR which had offered Berkey Field just in case.
But Yokota gets its home championship game, hosting the Torii Bowl for the first time, and hoping the fourth time will be the charm; the Warriors lost their three previous trips to the Torii Bowl. And the South Division will vie to make it two straight Torii Bowl victories for Okinawa teams.
By Dave Ornauer
Published: July 20, 2010
I can no longer sit idly by and watch the debate over the merits of whether the U.S. Forces Japan-American Football League's Torii Bowl should be played on Sunday, postponed another week or not played altogether, whichever happens.
All I know is, I'm afraid the spirit of cooperation, which was the backbone upon which the USFJ-AFL was founded in 2000, is apparently quietly disappearing from the debate. Much talk about who and what is to blame. Very little movement at this point toward finding an equitable solution for all parties.
To start, I'm all too aware that the mission comes first, that the USFJ-AFL's players are hired to defend the country, and that playing football is a pleasant diversion for those who play. But at the same time, competitive leagues demand serious solutions in tough times, and this very much qualifies as the toughest situation the league has faced in seven years.
Yokota, the North Division champion and the highest remaining seed based on head-to-head regular-season results, awaits the winner of Saturday's South Division title game between Joint Task Force and defending champion Foster at 6 p.m. at Kubasaki High School's Mike Petty Stadium.
That alone eliminates the 25th as a date for the championship game. July 31 at Yokota is out because its sports and fitness staff is supporting another event.
But another solution can be found. It has to be. It can, will and must be.
In past years, teams have reached out to help one another when the going got tough, everything from providing ground transportation to letting teams play on other teams' fields; it's part of the bedrock upon which this league was founded.
Part of the cooperation I mentioned above was demonstrated in the years that Yokota didn't have a field to call home. The Warriors played their home games one season at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, another at Yokosuka Naval Base.
If the coaches and commissioner Sean Dath can reach into that bag of tricks, or any ol' magician's hat, I'm sure a solution agreeable and equitable for all parties can be found. It may mean somebody hosting the Torii Bowl might not be playing it on their home field ... but at least the game will be played.
Otherwise, we'll be back to 2003 all over again, when a date could not be agreed upon to play the game, when bickering and name-calling ruled the day ... and the game wasn't played at all. Trust me; I remember those days. I remember the debate. I saved the e-mail thread, which included a plea from the league's first commissioner, Tim Buck, for civility and order to prevail.
It didn't.And it drove then-commissioner Joseph Howell out the door, hands raised in the air, going, "enough of this."
It led the USFJ-AFL downsizing to four North teams, Yokota, Atsugi, Misawa and Yokosuka; only by the solid presence of then-new commissioner Kyle Rhodus did the league remain alive.
Thank goodness, also, that the three Okinawa teams were able to find a home in the Okinawa Football League, but that lasted just two years, 2004-05, and only in the last year and a half have any new teams joined OFL holdover Kadena in the USFJ-AFL.
We cannot, will not, must not revisit 2003. Here's your chance. Work out the problem. Don't make matters worse by fingerpointing, blamegaming and other unproductive noise.
Nobody wants to see Yokota get a Torii Bowl victory by forfeit, least of all Yokota. "We've waited so long for this to happen. We're dying for this to happen," Warriors coach Selwyn Jones said.
Does anybody else? Didn't think so.
Work the problem. Get the game done. That's what we all want to see.
By Dave Ornauer
Published: July 20, 2010
We're no closer at 8:40 p.m. Tuesday to a new date for the U.S. Forces Japan-American Football League championship Torii Bowl game, which has been postponed for a second time.
The postponement is largely due to the South Division pushing its championship game back to Saturday, at 6 p.m. at Kubasaki High School's Mike Petty Stadium.
While the move was made partly to let wounded players heal and to add a few days' cushion to a jam-packed makeup schedule that saw Kadena and Joint Task Force play twice in five days, the crux of the matter is "finding a dedicated stadium" for South Division teams to play, assistant coach Paul Nuttall of defending champion Foster said.
South Division games have changed venues this season the way some people change socks. It almost appeared as if the division had found a home at Ryukyu Middle School on Kadena, but that fell through late last month. Two games have been played at Kadena High School -- which doesn't have lights -- another was played at Courtney Bowl and last week, the South Division semifinal was staged at Joint Task Force's practice field at Camp McTureous.
Mike Petty -- a first-class facility with turf in far better shape than any of the others -- was made available but only on Saturdays.
Problem with staging the South title game on July 24 is ... the Torii Bowl was slated for July 25 by commissioner Sean Dath. Impossible for Foster or JTF to do, play the Torii Bowl one day after the division championship.
Dath is on leave from his regular job, as Fleet Activities Yokosuka's acting chief of public affairs, and was unavailable for comment.
Problem with trying to reschedule is ... Yokota can't host a game the following weekend because fitness and sports at Yokota is supporting another event that weekend.
Problem with that is ... the next available date is Aug. 7, on which the three North Division teams have scheduled a game with a Japan X-League semipro team; all three North teams are contributing players to that.
Aug. 14? Much too late in the game, several have said. "We don't want to drag out the season," Yokota coach Selwyn Jones said.
Should the South title game have remained on Tuesday? "We were ready to go tonight," said one JTF player.
Should Yokota find some way to squeeze in the game despite the other activity taking place July 31? "We accommodated Yokota last year; it's only fair that they do the same for us this year," Foster receiver Corey Moore said.
Should another way be found to play the game on July 31, such as having Yokota host it at Yokosuka Naval Base's Berkey Field? In the spirit of cooperation, that would be the ticket.
"July 31 is the best date for all concerned," Moore said.
The problem is, getting that date to work.
Stay tuned. More to come.
By Dave Ornauer
Published: July 20, 2010
A playing date for the U.S. Forces Japan-American Football League's Torii Bowl title game appears to be in doubt now that the South Division championship has been moved to Saturday at 6 p.m. at Kubasaki High School's Mike Petty Stadium on Camp Foster.
The game was postponed to allow players who'd played two games five days apart a chance to rest, for injured players on both sides to heal and for the chance to play at Mike Petty Stadium, which is a first-class field.
However, that makes it impossible for the Torii Bowl to be played on July 25, its most recent scheduled date as announced earlier this month by commissioner Sean Dath.
More to come. Stay tuned.
By Dave Ornauer
Published: July 17, 2010
Simply put, the better team won Friday's Marine Corps Far East Regional Basketball Tournament. Emphasis on the word "team."
Although Terrence Terrell was named tournament Most Valuable Player and got selected to go to All-Marine tryout camp along with teammate Antonio Gibson, no one player really stood out on a 3rd Marine Logistics Group squad which won its first title since 2002, 77-49 over U.S. Naval Hospital Camp Lester.
If one player slumped, others were there to pick up the slack. If Marvin Shannon was cold from the field in the first half, Gibson (10 first-half points) and Willie Watts (11) were there to provide offensive microwaving. And defensively, 3rd MLG was relentless, using six steals to score 12 points in a 19-0 run over 7:10; 3rd MLG had 16 total steals, and held Hospital without a basket for 8:50.
"We couldn't keep up with their pace," Hospital coach Anthony Morris said.
3rd MLG's victory -- predicted at tournament's beginning by one Marine Corps Community Services Semper Fit Athletics official who said, "3rd MLG's the team to beat" -- kind of restored order to a tournament that saw, relatively speaking, a few oddities not seen in awhile.
For one, Marine Corps Base Camp S.D. Butler, which won the tournament in 2006 and '07 before losing the last three finals, exited quietly after going winless in pool play -- including Hospital's historic first-ever Far East Regional hoops victory -- and losing its playoff game to 1st Marine Aircraft Wing.
For another, there was Wing, exiting stage left after falling to 3rd MLG 66-62 in the semifinals. For Jelani Nix and Wing, there would be no bringing fourth the title.
There were some young, promising stars such as Andre Brown and Tony Moses of 3rd Marine Division/III Marine Expeditionary Force and offensive dynamo Cody Ryan of Base; talk about people who never saw a shot they didn't take (with apologies to Will Rogers).
And then, there was Hospital. What a breath of fresh air. Not only did the Corpsmen win two games, they became the first Hospital team since they began play in Far East Regionals in 1993 to reach the finals of one. Ever.
And how special it was to see Capt. Terry J. Moulton, USNH Camp Lester commanding officer, and his whole command staff -- and spouses! -- in attendance to cheer on their favourites. Now, that's command support. :)
By Dave Ornauer
Published: July 17, 2010
Now it can be told. Yokota's Warriors, the North Division regular-season and playoff champion, own the driver's seat and will host for the first time the U.S. Forces Japan-American Football League championship Torii Bowl against the winner of Tuesday's South Division title game between defending league champion Foster and Joint Task Force.
But in the wake of Yokota's 18-14 North title-game win over Misawa comes the $64,000 question: When will the Torii Bowl be played?
Coaches of both South teams have indicated that five days simply isn't enough time to schedule a trip from Okinawa to Yokota, once the South champion becomes known.
So, the Torii Bowl, which right now is scheduled for July 25, may have to be pushed back? This, after all the coaches when polled by commissioner Sean Dath agreed to the date, as well as agreeing to the revised South playoff format, which was squeezed into 10 days because of a late regular-season postponement?
Perhaps not everybody knew what they were agreeing to when they agreed to it. On one hand, yes, it can be said that five days in a military environment, when mission comes first and aircraft are dedicated to it, is simply not enough time. On the other hand, if everybody agreed to Dath's mandate, then everybody agreed to it, yes?
In any event, Warriors officials have already spoken preliminarily with Yokota's sports staff to see if a delay of six days, to the 31st, may be a possibility. That would give the South champion 11 days to formulate a travel method.
As it is, hat's off to a Yokota team that has been starved for a championship since last winning the old USFJ title in 1994, and the same season winning the Japan Private Football Federation's Grandheights League and the JPFF title, downing a Japanese team from Kyoto nicknamed ... wait for it ... the Ringostarrs. You can't make up stuff like that.
Yokota will play in its fourth Torii Bowl, but for the first time at home. The Warriors suffered road losses of 12-6 at Yokosuka in 2000, 30-21 at Misawa in 2005 and 30-6 last Aug. 29 at Foster.
It's interesting to note that of the eight Torii Bowls played, not a single road team has ever won. Yokosuka won at its Berkey Field in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2007; Misawa at Hillside Stadium in 2005 and 2008 and Foster at Kubasaki High School's Mike Petty Stadium before a decidedly home crowd last Aug. 29.
(FYI, the 2001 Torii Bowl was canceled due to Sept. 11 and 2003 also scotched when Yokosuka and Kadena could not agree on a playing date).
While Joint Task Force and Yokota haven't played this season, JTF has won both its encounters with the other North teams by wide margins, at Yokosuka and at home to Misawa. Yokota shut out Foster 6-0 at Yokota High School's Bonk Field in the teams' lone regular-season meeting.
We'll see who takes care of business when the South title game takes place at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Camp McTureous. But ... here's an idea of who I think might be visiting Yokota, be it on the 25th or the 31st, and what the host team might have to say about it:
"Gimme two beats, two claps and an oooo, ahhh!"
"Who brings the heat in the Kanto? You know!"
Join
Dave on Facebook