quote:Originally posted by Coach Merc:
TR, not sure who's hosting it but that's where we're going. U of MD and a few other schools. It very well could be. Mike has the paperwork. We haven't been down there since Bear was hosting.
Wait just a minute Coach Merc. I sucessfully ran the Bear Classic, Showcase for Our National Pastime
through out the 90's and half way into this century and for sixteen years. I purposely kept the costs minimal and never denied a telented player the opportunity to play ever if he could not absorb the $15 expense for a shirt and cap.
It was people and ball clubs like yourself that kept the Bear Classic going. The Bayside Yankees participated one year (after Jimmy Gilbert got sick), and would not be invited back!
What is being observed in the last several years so called "Tournament Directors" charging teams as much as $800. (That includes ~ $675 for four games and $125 for attendance fees.
Univ of Maryland Facilities brought in a couple of business folks who forgot the entire purpose of the Bear Classic was for development and exposure of the local and regional talent.
Several past and current Univ of Maryland Baseball Coaches don't get it. Elite Baseball and Prestine Baseball and others don't get it. Tom Bradley got it. Kelly Kulina (may he RIP) got it.