2005 WWBA Perfect Game (Jupiter, Fl)

Yes, The Bama Bombers, #33

We'll be there, NY/SF Bandits #23

Better take a rain coat. This is shaping up to be like July in Marietta....

Actually, the storm (Wilma) should have passed thru by Tuesday and the weather forecast is cool and dry. Looking forward to it! (But it is still FLorida, so yes, bring your raincoat.)

Deborah's Son will be there he'll be pitching for College Select's team

TRHit will be there also I do believe

My favorite lefty pitcher from Tampa has had a few invites to play for teams.

One from California and one from Florida.

I know he can only be there for one day, but he is a great addition to any team even for a day.

That would be worth the trip. I'd have to take notes so I could say some hellos.

Doc

You are correct I will be there as will Deb's son

In fact he was with us this weekend at Villanova and threw very well. He will be a huge asset for us in Jupiter

Is the hurricane going to have an effect on this tourney or will Jupiter not be effected?

Right now it appears that all systems are go---PG is due to have an update tomorrow morning on their site

Knowing the PG organization as I do, all will be well and the "show will go on" !!!

We'll be there with the Bama Bombers. Surprisingly, all the fields and surrounding area are o.k.

My son will be there with the Carolina Cubs. He is #11 (I think) and is a LHP.

I don't know who might be flying into Fort Lauderdale airport, but wanted to pass this along. I contacted my airlines(American) to check on my flights and was told they had been cancelled. We were due to arrive into Fort Lauderdale from DFW on Thursday. I am for sure there might be quite a few people in the same situation, because when I made my original flight about over 5 weeks ago, there was nothing available into West Palm Beach airport, therefore I had to fly into Ft. Lauderdale. Anyway after an hour on the phone this morning, all that was available was flying into Orlando. Just wanted to give a heads up.

lew

It is all a waiting game at this point-- I spoke with WPB Airport and our hotel and it is still up in the air

The Latest News from Jupiter

Important!

2:00 pm Tuesday Oct 25





The PG WWBA Championship is not officially called off, but it does not look good. If the tournament gets called off it will be made up at a later date. First choice would probably be Nov 18-21.



One of the major concerns will be the fact that college recruiters will be in their "dead period" after the first week of November. We have people in touch with the NCAA to see if a ruling can be made to allow college coaches an exception in this case, because of the natural causes that changed the dates. After talking to several MLB Scouting Directors this morning, we feel certain the very large number of scouts attending will remain the same and could even get larger in three weeks.



The situation in West Palm is not good. The Roger Dean Complex that survived the storm in decent shape will be used as a FEMA staging area tomorrow. Things became much more troublesome today, once people understood the total problem. There is a severe lack of supplies in the West Palm area. Ice, water, food, gas and of course electricity. There are hotels open for business, but other hotels have told teams not to come. At 1:05, the latest report from West Palm officials& The airports in West Palm, Ft Lauderdale, and Miami remain closed at this time. Palm Beach International remains without power and will be closed indefinitely. Local schools are closed all week.



The local news has reported it could take quite some time for this area to return to normal. Power could be out for a substantial time. There are many unknowns at this time.



Our decision is very easy in some ways, while very difficult in others. Obviously there is a big financial stake involved for us and all those who plan to attend. However, first and foremost, the well being of the thousands of people going to the event, has to be the major concern in any decision made.



We look at it as two separate and much different "worst case" scenarios.



If we call off the tournament well in advance allowing people the chance to change their plans and/or stay home.



Then the power comes back on and everything miraculously returns to normal. People are likely to say "PG blew it, they panicked, they called it off for no reason, it's a perfect weekend, we should be playing."



And I guess they would be correct in having that opinion.



If we decide we are going to play the tournament come hell or high water. Thousands of people travel to West Palm/Jupiter as always.



Then the predicted power outage remains the same. Water, ice, gas, food, etc are in short supply. The 7 pm curfew remains in affect. Thousands of pissed off people are looking for those responsible for putting them in this extremely uncomfortable and potentially dangerous situation.



If I were one of those people, that's the exact reaction I'd have.

Those are the two "worst" possible scenarios! As I said it's a fairly easy decision based on common sense. We could look bad if #1 happened. We would be despised and for good reason if #2 happened.



Tonight we plan to make a final decision. If the power is not restored by tonight that final decision will be to reschedule. If somehow the power is restored and everything will be normal by tonight, we still plan on playing later this week.

The Latest News from Jupiter

Important!

2:00 pm Tuesday Oct 25

The PG WWBA Championship is not officially called off, but it does not look good. If the tournament gets called off it will be made up at a later date. First choice would probably be Nov 18-21.



One of the major concerns will be the fact that college recruiters will be in their "dead period" after the first week of November. We have people in touch with the NCAA to see if a ruling can be made to allow college coaches an exception in this case, because of the natural causes that changed the dates. After talking to several MLB Scouting Directors this morning, we feel certain the very large number of scouts attending will remain the same and could even get larger in three weeks.

The situation in West Palm is not good. The Roger Dean Complex that survived the storm in decent shape will be used as a FEMA staging area tomorrow. Things became much more troublesome today, once people understood the total problem. There is a severe lack of supplies in the West Palm area. Ice, water, food, gas and of course electricity. There are hotels open for business, but other hotels have told teams not to come. At 1:05, the latest report from West Palm officials& The airports in West Palm, Ft Lauderdale, and Miami remain closed at this time. Palm Beach International remains without power and will be closed indefinitely. Local schools are closed all week.
The local news has reported it could take quite some time for this area to return to normal. Power could be out for a substantial time. There are many unknowns at this time.
Our decision is very easy in some ways, while very difficult in others. Obviously there is a big financial stake involved for us and all those who plan to attend. However, first and foremost, the well being of the thousands of people going to the event, has to be the major concern in any decision made.
We look at it as two separate and much different "worst case" scenarios.
1. If we call off the tournament well in advance allowing people the chance to change their plans and/or stay home.

Then the power comes back on and everything miraculously returns to normal. People are likely to say "PG blew it, they panicked, they called it off for no reason, it's a perfect weekend, we should be playing."

And I guess they would be correct in having that opinion.

2. If we decide we are going to play the tournament come hell or high water. Thousands of people travel to West Palm/Jupiter as always.


Then the predicted power outage remains the same. Water, ice, gas, food, etc are in short supply. The 7 pm curfew remains in affect. Thousands of pissed off people are looking for those responsible for putting them in this extremely uncomfortable and potentially dangerous situation.

If I were one of those people, that's the exact reaction I'd have.
Those are the two "worst" possible scenarios! As I said it's a fairly easy decision based on common sense. We could look bad if #1 happened. We would be despised and for good reason if #2 happened.

Tonight we plan to make a final decision. If the power is not restored by tonight that final decision will be to reschedule. If somehow the power is restored and everything will be normal by tonight, we still plan on playing later this week.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE
Jupiter Tournament to be Rescheduled
Moved back three weeks

Due to safety concerns the PG WWBA Championship scheduled for this week in Jupiter Florida has been rescheduled for November 18-21 with 2 games and registration scheduled the evening before, Thursday November 17th.

The Roger Dean Complex will now be used as a staging area for supplies due to the recent hurricane. The reports we are getting from those in West Palm is not very encouraging. There is a lack of supplies, no ice, water, gas, and power remains out in many parts of the area. The airport is experiencing serious problems. While some hotels are fine, many others are uninhabitable. At this time there is a 7 pm curfew in effect. Area schools are out for at least the rest of the week.

Because of all the above and the uncertainty of anything improving dramatically over the next few days, even if power returned, we have decided to reschedule the event. Also, we have been told the hotels that are operational are filling with evacuees, FEMA and power employees and they have precedence over other people, by State Law. Over the next few days we will be addressing all the concerns regarding the rescheduling.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Those who used the Global Housing Bureau to secure rooms… Please do not call them… They have no power and have no way to handle the calls. Please do not contact hotels directly, the Global Housing Bureau will be contacting you very soon. All others who secured lodging on your own, please contact us at Perfect Game – staff@perfectgame.org

For those contacting us… We will make sure the information gets forwarded to the Global Housing Bureau immediately.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email – staff@perfectgame.org

Those that have booked rooms through the Global Housing Bureau should not have to worry about contacting the hotels. The Global Housing Bureau will automatically cancel your reservation.

If everyone works together we will still have the biggest scouting attraction in baseball this year. It will just be three weeks later.

Stay up to date, log on to http://www.perfectgame.org or http://www.worldwoodbat.com

PG

Thanx for a timely notification--- we can all now move forward with changing flight arrangements etc

Wow PG, sorry to hear about another showcase impacted by weather! Maybe you need to move the next one to Vegas!

Seriously, good luck with all the arrangements to reschedule!

Any word from the NCAA about waiving the dead period?

It's been a tough time for the 06's with Perfect Game. Last year the big event was moved from Jupiter to Ft Myers. Then this summer rain during both the 17U and 18u events in East Cobb and now the last big chance for this group and more bad weather...

WoW

An act of God and the airlines take advantage--instead of just rolling it over to the weekend in question they bag you for additional costs, etc--they are begging for cutomers and they do this

We got hit with the extra fees too. Jeb said to call for price gauging with gas and generators, can we call him for this?

It is worth the try--the airlines showed no sympathy at all in discussing the flight changes

Has anyone heard about housing? The new date is the beginning of a holiday week for some people. Good for us as we already have the whole week off from school for Thanksgiving.

We experienced the same thing with our airline. It ended up costing us an additional $274.00. Unbelievable! They had no sympathy at all.

I called Southwest Corporate Customer relations and they gave me my same fare. It would have been better than double otherwise. You may try to do that with your respected airlines.
These **** airlines want us tax payers to bail them out of Bankruptcy, but can't give you a break on an act of Mother Nature.

Don't know if this will help but at least it may get on the radar screen. Gov. Bush's e-mail and the State Attorney general link to.

jeb.bush@myflorida.com

Florida attorney general

FAA e-mail for consumer complaints
airconsumer@ost.dot.gov.

quote:

Originally posted by J563:
I called Southwest Corporate Customer relations and they gave me my same fare.

I called Southwest and got zapped with an additional $ 125.00 my fares were no longer available.

I was told to wait until tomorrow and see if the flight gets cancelled then they have to give you full credit. Most flights are being cancelled today and tomorrow anyway. If you cancel in advance they are hitting you with the fees.
If you don't show up for the flight they will make you pay the fee to re-book anyway. It may be worth the shot.

Oh Yeah, you would think that major airlines would have some common sense, the area has been shut down and devastated by a "Major Hurricane".
Since new schedule is close to Thanksgiving, I think it would be best to change flights as soon as possible.
But on another note, waiting to see if NCAA will consider PG's request to waive the "quiet period" during the event. The new shedule doesn't affect the MLB prospects as much, but will surely have a big impact on the 06 college prospects. Without contact from colleges until period is over, some prospects may be forced to make decisions they may not be ready to make or hold out, only to be left out in the cold.
I hope the NCAA has better sense or more compassion than the airlines.

quote:

Originally posted by NC Dad:

quote:

Originally posted by J563:
I called Southwest Corporate Customer relations and they gave me my same fare.

I called Southwest and got zapped with an additional $ 125.00 my fares were no longer available.

Mine were no longer available either, until I called corporate.
Did you try the corporate number? 212-792-4223
I did not have my original 8am flight down there avaialble, but got a 12:30 flight. Return flight stayed the same.

Southwest Customer Relations Number is:
214-792-4223

Just rebooked with Southwest at the same fare.
Went through Customer relations not reservations

I wish Southwest was the airline I could of used. Unfortunately American Airlines is not sympathetic at all to the situation.

airtran changed my flight without any troubles at all. Makes you wonder when the discount airlines are easier to deal with than the full price ones.

It's been a rough year with these natural disasters.

But regardless of the weather, there's a big secret in store for the wwba championship, which I'm almost postive will make the airline hastles not seem so bad.

Rick Stephenson
http://www.prospectmovie.com

Is it true that Nov.18-21 is a NCAA dead period and Perfect Game is trying to get the NCAA to give a wavier for this tournament?

I was under the assumption that the coaches could attend the event, but they couldn't talk with the PLAYERS at the event during the QUIET period. Is that the case or is it that the coaches can't attend the event?

This will be a pleasant surprise that will have a huge potential benefit to players coaches and scouts.

Still waiting for the "secret"...Do tell!