[Alsfastball] RE: Senior men's nationals : residency - response by Conrad Margolis

[Al Doran]

From: "Conrad Margolis" <conradmargolis at telus.net>
Subject: RE: Senior men's nationals : residency - by Chad Rawn - II
Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2004 18:46:23 -0700


RE: Senior men's nationals : residency - response by Conrad Margolis

Apparently there is a rumour circulating that I authored the "anonymous" 
posting that kicked off the debate on Al's service about the residency rule 
for the Canadian Championship. That rumour is incorrrect. I am not the 
"anonymous" author, and I did not arrange for the posting to be made. 
However, I can attest to the accuracy of the report that a letter was 
submitted to Mr. Hapgood/ Softball Canada prior to the start of the 
Canadians, regarding the residency issue. The letter listed specific 
players who were on the rosters of 3 teams, and asked that Softball Canada 
rule on the eligibility of those players. I signed that letter along with 
coaches of two other teams, and personally delivered the correspondence to 
Mr. Hapgood on the eve of the opening day. Several other team 
representatives subsequently told me they would have signed the letter as 
well, if afforded the opportunity to do so. Unfortunately, logistics 
prevented those other teams from getting on board. The rosters were not 
disclosed until approximately 5:00 p.m. the day before the start of the 
event, and we were told by Mr. Hapgood that any challenges had to be issued 
by midnight that night. So a letter was drafted in haste and the ball was 
put in the court of Softball Canada.

To date, it seems that Softball Canada's only tangible response to the 
letter was Mr. Hapgood's posting on this service in reaction to the message 
from the anonymous writer. To my knowledge, Softball Canada has still not 
issued a written ruling in response to our letter.

Given that the 3 western teams that medalled, including the Grey Sox, did 
not use players whose eligibility was challenged, this posting should not 
appear to be a case of "sour grapes". Our team, and most of the others 
whose representatives I met during the
Canadians, take the position that there should be uniformity to the 
application of the residency rules. As we said in our letter, we think 
Softball Canda should enforce its eligibility rules such that all teams are 
competing on a level playing field. But, in my opinion, it is not just 
Softball Canada that bears responsibility for applying the rules uniformly. 
Participating teams and Provincial/Territorial Associations should also 
take steps to ensure that they are abiding by the regulations. Players also 
should take some responsibility, although some of the finer points have to 
be determined by those who have the authority to keep the game organized, 
rather than the players. If you don't agree with the rules, there is a 
mechanism for attempting to have them changed.

In closing I wish to congratulate the Saskatoon Black Sox on winning the 
Championship, and bronze medalists Sakatoon Merchants for a great 
tournament. Incidentally, the pitcher who suffered the tough 1-0 loss for 
the Grey Sox in the final, Rick Smith of Victoria,  almost signed in the 
off-season with Saskatoon Black Sox but was not able to because the Black 
Sox used up their one allowable import spot on catcher Craig Crawford. 
Kudos to the Black Sox for abiding by the eligibility rules, then going 
undefeated throughout the 14 team tournament.

Sincerely,

Conrad Margolis
Vancouver Grey Sox
604-802-8921 (cell)
mailto:conradmargolis at telus.net

-----Original
snip



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