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Baseball Around The World – Nigeria
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About the country of Nigeria
Located a short distance north of the equator, Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation at almost 129 million people and shares its largest borders with Benin, Niger in the north and Cameroon in the southeast. It is located on the Gulf of Guinea and is about twice the size of California. Nigeria’s capitol, Abuja, is located near the geographic center of the country.
This African country gained its independence from Great Britain in 1960 and has a Federal Republic Government modeled after the United States complete with an Executive Branch, a Senate, and House of Representatives. 
The United States is Nigeria’s largest trading partner and produces about 11% of the U.S. oil imports. Nigeria is listed as the 2nd largest economy in Africa and one of the fastest growing world economies.
The country’s two primary religions are Islam and Christianity which are split almost equally among Nigeria’s population with other indigenous beliefs making up the remainder of Nigeria’s religious population.
The country is recovering from years of military rule, but the latest elections in 2003 were the first peaceful civilian transfer of power in the country’s history.
Nigeria’s Problems
The Niger Delta Region is plagued by ethnic violence with the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force (NDPVF).
Nigerian cities at times suffer from inadequate infrastructure and with new economic growth come rapid urbanization leaving roughly half the population with access to potable water and appropriate sanitation.
Education is supported by the government all the way through the university level, but it’s not compulsory. As a result, 32% of male and 27% of female potential students attend secondary school.
Nigerian life expectancy is at 47 years and an estimated 3.6 million adults with HIV as of 2003. Other major infectious diseases afflicting the population include Hepatitis A and Malaria
The country has been a transit point for narcotics intended for European, East Asian, and North American markets; is a safe haven for Nigerian narco-traffickers operating worldwide; is a major money-laundering center; suffers from massive corruption and criminal activity; and remains on Financial Action Task Force Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories List for continued failure to address deficiencies in money-laundering control regime.
Growing and spreading hope and alternatives through Baseball: the Strikeout Foundation Full Story
College World Series Legends Team Voting
The Voting for the CWS Legends Team ended about a week ago and the results will be announced May 1st. Thanks to everyone who voted for me and I’ll keep you posted on the results. If I am on the roster, I’ll be traveling to Omaha for the 2010 CWS Opening Ceremony. Got my fingers crossed.
Legends of the College World Series
CWS Legends Team
It is an honor for me to have been chosen as 1 of 14 pitchers in the 60 year history of the College World Series to be voted on by the fans to be part of the Legends Team. Here is some information about the team and the voting:
http://www.ncaa.com/cwslegends/index.html
March 11, 2010
The Legends Team will represent those student-athletes who had the best CWS performances throughout the 60 years the event has been played at Rosenblatt Stadium.
The team will consist of 27 members: two former student-athletes per fielding position, four pitchers, two designated hitters, three head coaches and two “utility players”. The utility players will be determined after fan voting has completed, and will represent those student-athletes deserving recognition who may not have been selected by fans, media and coaches at a particular position.
“We could not think of a better way to celebrate the rich history of Rosenblatt Stadium and the fans that have made the NCAA College World Series the signature event it is than providing those who have long-supported the Series with the opportunity to select the College World Series Legends Team,” said Dennis Poppe, NCAA vice president for baseball and football.
The 95 nominees include every former student-athlete who was voted onto a previous CWS anniversary team (25th, 50th and all-decade teams), as well as individuals who played in the last 14 years as determined by a blue-ribbon panel from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, the Omaha World-Herald and NCAA staff.
“It’s really remarkable when you stop and think about all of the great student-athletes who have participated in the College World Series for the past 60 years at Omaha’s Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium,” said Jack Diesing Jr., president of College World Series of Omaha, Inc. “CWS fans have come to love and appreciate the passion these student-athletes brought to the Series, so it is appropriate that the fans have this opportunity to help select the CWS Legends Team.”
The nominees and how to vote can be found by logging on to NCAA.com/cws, and each person logging on to vote will only be able to submit their votes one time. Voting for the team is to be based solely on the former student-athletes’ performance when they were competing in the NCAA College World Series, and not for any regular season or post-collegiate performances.
The final CWS Legends Team roster will be announced in early May.
Those CWS Legends Team members will be invited to attend the final College World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium as guests of the NCAA. The members will be formally honored during the CWS Opening Ceremonies on Friday, June 18, and invited to attend the first day of CWS competition on Saturday, June 19.
A vote for Pat Ahearne, Pitcher 1992, can be made at http://www.ncaa.com/cwslegends/index.html
More about it when I go back to Omaha!
How to throw a change up.
I want to pass on a lesson on the basics of throwing a change up. It’s a pitch that a lot of players have trouble controlling, it’s a pitch that all managers want their pitching staff to have, and it’s a fun pitch to throw.
Changing speeds helps a pitcher take advantage of three dimensions of pitching to beat a hitter. Inside/outside is one dimension, up and down another, and if a pitcher can use the change up effectively, then he can beat a hitter with the third dimension of speed.
I would like to present the basics of throwing a circle change up. It’s not a complicated pitch to learn or is it a complicated pitch to throw. Without even seeing a pitcher throw, just taking this lesson and experimenting with it, he should have a pretty good change rather quickly. Full Story
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