CWL 2008

2008: WHAT TO EXPECT

By Josh Cartwright
2.20.08

With little else happening right now in the CWL, I figured now was as good a time as any to write a little something about what to expect this season. Especially since we now know who all's playing, the team names, and all the relevant dates that things are going to take place. As of now, anyway.

And, for me, this is the toughest time of the year, by far. February, March, those are the months when wiffleball fever really starts to set in, and, unfortunately, you can't do anything about it. Well, except maybe write columns about wiffleball just for the sake of writing about wiffleball. But as far as doing something productive like, say, hit or work on the field, it ain't happenin'. It's either too cold, too wet, or something like, I don't know, open-heart surgery gets in the way, like it has in my case.

Yep, the bug that is wiffleball is working on me, working hard. I can't wait to get things rollin' and get this season underway. Heck, I can't wait to get out there and start prepping the good ole' cow pasture/CWL field and get it game-worthy. It's going to take some work, no doubt, but I believe this will be the best set-up we've had since the CWL started. And that's why, mainly, I wanted to write this little piece in the first place. Let's go over what to expect, how the field's going to shape up, and whatever else I can think of along the way that pertains to the C-DUB, not Curtis Ware, as Mitch Mitchellson likes to call it.

First off, the field. It's common knowledge that the CWL always has a nice field, cow field or not. A little unlevel, but nice nonetheless. And this year will be no exception. In fact, 2008 is going to be the best of the best, hands down.

The biggest change is the fact that we're turning the field around, completely. The outfield will now be where homeplate was and vice versa. The reasoning is simple. The field is more level when you turn it around. It doesn't seem it would be, but it is, go figure. And in turning the field around, we may also slightly angle the field to make it as level as possible. We've not had a chance yet to go out and mark things off and get a great idea of how the field will lay out, but we will soon, and we'll surely do whatever we can to make the field as level as possible, and as playable as possible. Of course, it's a cow field, it has issues, and it's always worse at the start of the season, but by week 5 or 6, it'll be as beautiful and cow-free as ever.

And, I know what you're thinking...a cow field! What have I gotten myself into? 20 bucks to play in a pasture. Trust me, it ain't like that. Well, it is but not the way you're thinking. Yes, it's a cow field, owned by Andy McMahan, which gives us the freedom to do whatever we want to the field without worrying about following any city or county rules. We can paint on the field for special events, park wherever we like, throw stuff, break stuff, although I wouldn't advise it, but point being....we can do whatever, and there's no charge to use it. Aside from the grueling, not-any-fun task of getting the cows out and the field prepared in advance, it's perfect. It's our own place, ours!

So what are we planning to do to the field this year? Well, we're getting a better fence for one. Gone is the silk, 3-foot-high fence, replaced by a mesh-type fence that's 4-foot high. The fence is going to look better, plus be more durable, albeit more work to put up. The Blue Monster is also returning but with an added panel, hopefully, and a color change. The Blue Monster will now be, dare I say, the Black Monster. I thought about doing away with the Monster, but only because it's so much work to set up, but it's become a famouse part of the league and I can't go around messing with stuff like that. So it stays put.

Also, we're getting ourselves another canopy to set up, providing the teams with more shade since there's no natural shade in the field. Plus, I think it'll look cooler having two tents set up. And, of course, we'll do the usual field lining and foul poles and numbers on the fence to signify distance and all that stuff. I wanted to find some bleachers to put up but I can't swing that. Bleachers ain't cheap and I can't find any old ones that someone might donate to the league.

I've also got plans to build a sweet backstop to catch every ball pitched, eliminating the need for someone standing behind the old backstop to catch the strays. It's nothing major, but it got old having to rely on someone rounding up the balls that were either too high or too wide for the old backstop to handle. That is unless someone out there has an already-set-up or easy-to-set-up backstop that we could use...hint, hint.

Str8 Rippin' star/cameraman Matt Catlett will also be filming the games this season. But unlike last season, we're not filming every game. It's just too much work. Instead, we're filming just the best two games of the weekend, as chosen by me. That is unless someone else wants to whip out there camcorder and do some filming of their own. We'll gladly take the clips you provide and put them on the site in the video sections of the CWL website. As much as we'd like to capture everything on tape, which makes for a better end-of-the-year video, it's way too much work filming every game, going through the footage, editing the footage, and then adding it to the site. Outside help would be awesome in catching more footage, but it's not something we're asking for.

And we'll do the usual stuff such as buying some new gear; bats, balls, trophies, and all the other essentials needed. I hope to have the coin this year to buy not just a title trophy for the World Series winner, which really just goes to the team captain, but trophies for the MVP, Cy Young winner, and Rookie of the Year. Silver Slugger and Defesive Player of the Year winners will, unfortunately, be left out. Sorry, but those awards just aren't big enough of an honor to deserve a personal trophy.

All-Star shirts wouldn't be a bad thing, either. Big P. sprung for all-star shirts last season, something we really, really appreciated, but it's something we don't expect him to do every year. If we have enough dough lying around after everything else is purchased, we may look into some cool all-star shirts for the worthy all-stars. Don't know just yet but that'd be a nice touch to All-Star Weekend. Big P. spoiled us last season with the shirts, and it's something I'd like to continue to do if the funds are there. Championship tees would also be something sweet to add to the mix, giving the winners a little something special to take home with them, but, again, we'll see. Shirts ain't cheap, especially when we need so much more important gear.

But, that's really all I can think of right now. We gots lots of stuff planned, more than I listed here, I just can't remember them all. But, as with each season, we're growing more and more, getting more extravagant each and every year. By next year we may just have our own retractable roof stadium. Okay, so maybe that's out of the question, but we're getting bigger and better, no doubt about it. 2008 is shaping up to be the best season so far, not just with the teams and vast number of players added, but with the added luxuries that we'll be tossing out there to make things more "real" and professional.

And I havn't even mentioned the World Series, a possible end-of-the-year DVD package, live podcasts from the field, and whatever else my wiffleball-loving, you're-getting-in-over-your-head brain can come up with. But we'll see. We've still gots plenty of time to scheme and come up with groovy plans for 2008. And any ideas you guys have would be greatly appreciated. I can't guarantee I'll be able to do it, but I'll certainly entertain all the ideas that flow my way.