Lairderg's Open Salon Blog

60 Days to Support This Women's Baseball Film

Sun, 3 Apr 2011 14:04:22 -0400

Cami J. Kidder, an independent filmmaker, covered the World Cup of Women's Baseball in Venezuela this past summer, and is attempting to gather funds for her project, titled Throw Like A Girl. She was the only representative of US media filming the event. Along with footage from the 2010 World Cup, Kidder's film also features Justine Siegal, the founder of Baseball For All and the woman who threw batting practice for the Cleveland Indians and five other teams this spring.

To the Open Salon community: Let's contribute to this project in a world that's becoming increasingly unwilling to 1) treat women equally and 2) fund arts projects.

Go, go, go!!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/throwlikeagirl/re-launch-of-throw-like-a-girl-a-feature-length-do

Japanese women undefeated, take gold in Phoenix Cup

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 12:01:20 -0500

Hong Kong Allies take silver, while the International Earth Stars walked away wearing the bronze

Japan's Far East Bloomers moved through its tournament competitors with ease, winning all six of its games -- including the championship game -- scoring 78 runs while only allowing three. In the final at 1 p.m. Hong Kong time Monday, the Japanese women defeated the Hong Kong Allies, 12-1, scoring five runs in the first inning. The Allies scored the lone run in the bottom of the fourth, but could not muster two more to keep the game from being called under the "mercy" rule.

The Japanese women won their third Phoenix Cup gold medal in four years. In 2010, they settled for a silver when the Aussie Hearts (who did not send a team this year) grabbed the gold. The HK Allies, with a record of 4-2, earned the silver.

Earlier that day, the International Earth Stars, with a 2-2 record, battled the Allies for a chance at competing in the final game against Japan, but fell, 12-4, in five innings. As a result, the International Earth Stars, which includes women from the United States, the Netherlands, and Canada, received the bronze.

In other action, the Taipei Vanguard of Taiwan won fourth place, defeating Korea's Nine Vics team, 8-4, and Korea's DDDBall team scored eight runs in the bottom of the third to drop Hong Kong's iTeam and grab sixth place in the tournament.

The tournament's Best Coach award went to Manabu Suzuki of the Far East Bloomers, while Bloomers' pitcher Kazuho Nimi received Best Pitcher honors. Bloomers Team MVP went to infielder Namie Nakagome. Yea Lim of Korea's Nine Vics team received an award for having the most hits.

Other team MVP awards went to Yik Shan Hung of the Hong Kong Allies, Tessa Heeres (Netherlands) of the International Earth Stars, Ling-Hui Kuan of the Taipei Vanguard, Yea Lim Son of Korea's Nine Vics, Boyoung Nam of Korea's DDDBall, and Reyzelyn Villanueva of the Hong Kong iTeam.

To view more about the teams:

http://phoenix2011.tripleplaycom.net/team/team/1

Japan's Far East Bloomers predictably dominate second day

Sat, 22 Jan 2011 14:01:06 -0500

Japan's opponents score only two runs in three games

After Friday's defeat of the iTeam of Hong Kong, 12-1, the Far East Bloomers quickly rose to the top in Saturday action.

The Japanese women blanked the quick-starting Taipei Vanguard of Taiwan, 10-0, with a six-run first inning, handing that team its first loss of the tournament. Later Saturday, the Bloomers shellacked Korea's DDD Ball team, 25-1, scoring 10 runs in the first and 11 in the second.

However, the DDD Ball team did manage a win Saturday, scoring 13 in the first inning to defeat the iTeam of Hong Kong, 18-10, despite a four-run charge by the iTeam at the bottom of the fourth.

In other action late Friday, Vanguard scored seven runs in the second inning to defeat DDD Ball, 13-3.

The Nine Vics of Korea, the Allies of Hong Kong, and the International Earth Stars of the United States, the Netherlands, and Canada will be back on the diamond for the second round Sunday.

Videos of some of the games and the opening ceremony are available at

http://en.justin.tv/phoenixcup2011/

Asia Insurance Phoenix Cup Women's Baseball begins

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 16:01:55 -0500

International Earth Stars split two while Hong Kong Allies and Taipei Vanguard dominate on opening day

The International Earth Stars, which include players from the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands, split its first two games in the initial round of women's baseball tournament competition in the Asia Insurance Phoenix Cup 2011, held in Hong Kong.

The International Earth Stars defeated Korea's Nine Vics team, 8-4, but lost to the Allies of Hong Kong, 11-5, after the Allies mounted an eight-run charge during the top of the sixth inning.

IES team members include Zoe Galland, Stephanie Kung, Amy Schneider, and Shawna Marcurio of the United States; Canada native Sam Ostrom; and Jose VanVeen, Claudia Kranendonk, Linde Gerritsen, Tessa Heeres, and Michelle Bruijn of the Netherlands. Coaches are Philipe Yan, head coach; Rocky Ostrom, team manager, and Kevin VanVeen, pitching and first base coach. The umpire representing the United States is Perry Barber (Open Salon's own umpirepb).

Shawna Marcurio posted this on her Facebook page about the experience: "We split our double header today. We beat the Korea Nine Vics 8-4 in our first game, and we lost our second game 11-5 to Hong Kong. We were ahead in the whole game and then had one bad inning and couldn't bounce back after that. Oh, well... we have the day off tomorrow to relax and recover, and then we play again on Sunday. It was completely fun, and we had awesome weather.... sunny and warm, not a cloud in the sky."

According to the description on the Phoenix Cup website, the International Earth Stars took its name to reflect "the team's mission of creating international peace, harmony, and camaraderie through the great game of baseball." (http://phoenix2011.tripleplaycom.net/team/team/1)

In other action, the Hong Kong Allies started their winning ways by defeating the Korean Nine Vics team, 13-7. Another team that is already two up in first round play is Taiwan's Taipei Vanguard. The Vanguard scored 10 in the top of the fourth inning to crush the iTeam of Hong Kong, 16-3. The Taipei women also defeated Korea's DDD Ball team, 13-3, blasting the game open with seven runs in the second inning. In addition, Japan's powerhouse Far East Bloomers began the tournament with a win against the iTeam, 12-1.

Putting a real face on Gannett's November layoffs

Tue, 9 Nov 2010 10:11:40 -0500

Life's Labor Gone

Yesterday, a former newspaper colleague, my friend of more than 20 years, and my partner of 15 years, Benjamin Meritt, lost his job of 22 years with the Hammonton News in southern New Jersey. His layoff, along with fellow HN staffers Nanette Galloway and Max Levine, became part of hundreds of layoffs throughout Gannett properties this month. (1) The company posted a third quarter profit in October, but still complained of sagging advertising sales and "the rise of digital media." (2) More on that later.

Meanwhile, a man who loved what he did is no longer employed. Ben, even though he was imperfect, was one of the best newsmen of his region. Even though he had his own opinions of the people and towns he was covering, which he shared with me often, he always acted as a professional, covering Hammonton and other communities with care, attention, and impartiality. He worked many long hours, some of which he was never compensated for, to make sure he had everything he needed for his weekly stories. He filled the shoes of absent or laid-off reporters, photographers, and typesetters, year in, year out.

He did what I would not do when I worked as his colleague 15 years ago. He stayed; I left. He stayed despite hearing me speak from my deepest instincts that the company we worked for, Gannett, was beginning to contract into itself. To me, Gannett was beginning to eat its young for profit. I knew that in 1996 and quit, leaving only a tiny ripple of protest that made no difference at all to such an insatiable maw, the persistently unsatisfied rich of this country, who have been given the nod to increase their plunder by last week's election. The so-called "Voice of the People " had spoken. What a joke.

I thought I had principles; I thought I was the one with courage, but I was wrong. Ben was the courageous one. Even though he didn't get a raise for three years back in the 1990s and received pitiful two-percenters since, even though no one would have blamed him for quitting when he was ordered to come to work while his mother's dead body still lay in bed at home, he continued. He stayed and did the job he loved, day after day, week after week, year after year, despite being paid significantly less, and working just as hard if not harder, than his daily colleagues. Ben maintained his professionalism, despite not having any protection at all from the encroachment of his newsroom by the business and advertising end, despite having no layer of protection from the weekly onslaught of the whiners, threatmongers, and general screaming meemies who had no idea what real news is supposed to be.

How could this company, with all its resources (especially in the 1990s) and its high-level "braintrust," not come up with news sources that combined print and online media? Gannett still blames digital media for its lack of significant profits, when it could have solved that problem at least a decade ago. Such foresight could have save hundreds of jobs, including Ben's. There's really no excuse, but greed.

Once I heard that Gannett managers regarded newsrooms as "a drag" on newspapers' bottom lines, one "publisher" who couldn't even read once declared he could "get newswriters off the streets." In a speech before the National Conference for Media Reform (as I recall) a few years back, Bill Moyers mentioned how Gannett rewarded a manager who had eviscerated the Asbury Park Press newsroom. That manager, through a flunky, perfected his "management" skills on the Atlantic County weeklies before advancing his company's greed-driven massacre there. When I heard that speech, I felt proud of my instincts, vindicated for my fierce resignation. I'm not so proud now.

Ben Meritt stayed -- and his reward? He's been kicked to the curb along with hundreds of others in Gannett this week.

All I know is that all the money is the world cannot save a human soul. Ben's soul is his own, but now his life's labor is gone.

(1) http://gannettblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/week-nov-1-7-your-layoff-comments-part_350.html

(2) http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=201010211134dowjonesdjonline000598&title=correct-1015-gannett-3q-profit-rises