March 29 2007: A woman’s work is never done. Or, in the case of umpiring a big-league baseball game, rarely done. On Thursday afternoon a minor league umpire, Ria Cortesio, worked the bases as part of the umpire crew for the Chicago Cubs-Arizona Diamondbacks game at HoHoKam Park, the first female umpire to work a Major League exhibition game in nearly 20 years. 

Cortesio is the only female umpire in pro ball. She will be in her fifth season at Class AA and ninth overall. “I was kind of expecting it,” she said. “Umpires with my seniority usually get picked. I’m looking forward to it. There will be a lot more people in the stands than I’m used to.” 

It’s good for baseball, too. and it’s about time.  (more…)

Filed under: Baseball, Profiles by jane
1 Comment »

March 17, 2007 Four different Badgers scored as the No. 1 Wisconsin women’s hockey team defeated Minnesota Duluth 4-1 in the NCAA Frozen Four championship game at Herb Brooks Arena to claim the team’s second straight NCAA title. (more…)

Filed under: College Athletics, Ice Hockey by admin
1 Comment »

March 2, 2007 The 13th Annual Premier Action Sports Event to Offer Live Coverage of New Disciplines Including BMX Big Air on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC August 2-5, 2007.

The major change to the event slate is the addition of Women’s Surfing. The National Surf League’s (NSL) “The Game” will once again be the format for competition in Puerto Escondido, Mexico July 5-8. (more…)

Filed under: Events, News Bytes, Surfing, X Games by admin
No Comments »

Rules of the Game: Softball is a game closely resembling baseball that is played on a smaller diamond than baseball, with a ball that is larger and softer and a bat that is slightly different in size and weight and can also be made of aluminum.

Softball is a team sport in which a ball, eleven to twelve inches in circumference, is thrown by a player (called a pitcher) towards an opposing team player called a batter who attempts to hit the ball with a round, smooth stick called a bat. The ball itself is also called a softball.

Scoring is accomplished by the batter hitting the ball as far away as she can and then running and touching a series of four markers on the ground called bases before the opposing team’s fielders return the ball. The batter can stop play at anytime by stopping on one of the bases if she feels that he cannot get ‘home’ safely. If the opposing team can throw the ball to the runners next base before he gets there she is ‘out’ and no run is scored.

(more…)

Filed under: 101-Basics, Playbook, Softball by admin
No Comments »