D3baseball.com Daily Dose

I recently participated in an e-mail interview with Chris Preston, who writes for ESPN.com, about our sites and the state of small-college sports information on the Web. His piece was recently published and I wanted to point it out as a good discussion of where the sites have been and where they are heading.

Though the column inexplicably starts with the younger site — D2Football.com, the various D3sports.com sites are discussed in some detail.

Just one note: I didn’t promise weekly columns in other sports, just suggested that they could be possible. Anyone interested, let me know.

By Jorge Rosado (Bronx Community College)

Today was a really fun day. We woke up and toured around Florence. We saw and visited a couple of monuments. The one we visited that I like the most was the Dome. We went all the way to te top which was tiring because there was so many stairs we had to walk up.� But once we got all the way up to the top it was worth it. The view was unbelieveable because we can see all of Florence. After our morning tour we ate lunch at a restaurant in Florence, and after a little more touring in Florence we got on the bus to Parma.� We settled into our rooms for a little while then we had dinner as a team.

By Richard Gomez (CCNY)�

Today we left Rome and went straight to Florence. When we got to Florence we met the two gentlemen who were responsible for our trip here. We then got warmed up on the baseball field and had another children’s clinic and the clinic was great. After the clinic we took batting practice, then we started our game against the Florence Lions. It was a great game and we won once again to improve to 3-0 on the trip. I had a good game. I went 4-for-4 with four doubles, four runs batted in, and two runs scored. After the game we checked into the hotel then met for a team dinner. While at dinner we met Dr. Susan Larkin, who is the athletic director at John Jay College. She really impressed me with how much she knows about Italy. Overall it was a great day because I got to meet some great people and I had a chance to practice my Italian, since the bus ride from Rome to Florence was a few hours.

By Jose Lopez (CCNY)

Today we had the morning off which was needed after playing our first game the night before, and all the walking we have been doing. At 12 p.m. we left the hotel to visit the Neuttono War Cemetery, which was a place where American soldiers burried their fallen brothers during World War II.

The cemetery was very touching, as I walked around I could not believe what so many young Americans sacrificed for this country. These men are real heroes to me. The complex was immaculate as these 7,235 fallen soldiers bodies deserve.

After the visit to the cemetery we did a clinic for some children. The clinic was great, but my only regret was I didn’t have more to give them. The game was interesting to say the least. We were losing 4-0 in the 6th inning and we got to see and we got to see some Italian baseball customs. They were a little bush league but in the end we pulled the victory out 7-4. We got a great pitching performance by William Marte. After the game the people of the town had us stay for dinner. The food tasted great, especially after the win.

By� David Chestnut� (Baruch College)�

Today we visited the American University of Rome. The school has almost 600 students during the fall and spring and about 300 in the summer. Many of the faculty there are actually former CUNY faculty members. When we first arrived on campus we were taken to the best view in Rome. This was located on top of one of the buildings of the university. The sight was beautiful because we can see the whole city from there. We then got a chance to check our email at one of the computer labs, which was badly needed. I had not had a chance to talk to any of my family or friends since I got here so I left them messages on their myspace accounts. We then ate lunch at the school with the president who gave us information about the school. For their hospitality we gave them CUNYAC hats and tee shirts signed by the team. We left after that and headed to the baseball field for a childrens clinic. This was a lot of fun as we got to teach the children of Italy baseball and interact with them. Even though we didn’t communicate with them much verbally since we don’t speak the same language, we communicated with them through the game of baseball, which shows how much understanding these kids have for the game and the great future of baseball there is in Italy. After the one hour clinic we took batting practice and got ready for our game against Nuova Roma, an organized team in Rome, Italy. We beat them 25-1. They were not that strong as a team though. I went 3-for-6 and pitched two scoreless innings. After the game we signed autographs for the children and took numerous pictures with them. This was fun because we put a smile on their face and a show for them. All in all day four of the CUNYAC Goodwill Tour was a great day.

By William Marte (Queensborough Community College)

Today was probably the best day in my opinion so far. We went to visit the Coliseum today, which was one of the places I was looking forward to seeing. I felt very fortunate when I went inside because I thought to myself, “wow, how many people would so much to be in my shoes right now?” I also thought to myself the many people that have a love for history and never get to see a place like this except for television and pictures. It made me feel very lucky to be where I was at that moment. While at the Coliseum I learned some pretty interesting things like women fought at the Coliseum (against midgets). Also interesting to me was that men as young as 16 would put their life on the line to fight in matches at the Coliseum. Today, we also went to the Palatino, a place near the Coliseum, where we got to see where some of the Roman Emperors lived. I was really amazed by the architecture and how many of these sights are still up thousands of years later. It made me realize how smart people were years ago that they can build sights like these. It’s no wonder that
Rome had so much power 2000 years ago. Overall today was good and I am looking forward to continuing on with the trip and getting back onto the baseball field.

By Paul Rittenhouse (Kingsborough Community College)

Today was another pleasant and educational day. We went to visit the pope at the
Vatican which was absolutely amazing. I never thought I would actually be in his presence. The place was completely filled, there was no room to take a step. Before this I had only seen the pope on television where I always thought it was beautiful. Now that I have seen it firsthand I can say that it is. To meet people from different cultures and ethnic backgrounds from all over the world is an experience itself. Later in the day we visited the Trivia Fountain. I threw in a coin for good luck. The atmosphere was amazing and everyone was very peaceful. I really enjoyed my time in
Rome on Sunday, and I am looking forward to the rest of my time here.

By: Thomas Benedetto (Queensborough Community College)

Day one of the Goodwill Tour provided us with an opportunity that was very unexpected. Our flight from
Kennedy
Airport to Paris was delayed and it forced us to miss our flight from Paris to
Rome. Being that we were in Paris from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. the staff decided to take us on a trip to the city of
Paris. We viewed several pieces of artwork and war emblems. We were privileged to see the

Eiffel
Tower, Arc de Triomphe, and Champs-Elysees. There was an amazing number of people on hand to witness these fascinating places. As we finished our day of tourism we jumped on a 7 p.m. flight to
Rome. When our plane landed we met our very generous bus driver Carlo who took us to our hotel. When we arrived at our hotel we began to feast on a great meal. All in all it was a very satisfying day.

Inside my apartment is cool, outside it is raining and I have the radio playing Prairie Home Companion which is live from a softball field in Lanesboro, Minnesota. It has only been four days since I returned to Minneapolis from Grand Chute and the Championship Series but it seems like forever and a day ago.

I just finished editing the last of the games and put them on our partner website Pictureprints.net. 4,776 photos from the 14 games out of 10,000+ taken by myself, Ashlee Carmody and Larry Radloff.

For my first trip to the Fox River Valley for baseball, it was a great experience and I cannot see a reason why I will not return next year. Hang on one second.

::runs over to the dresser and knocks on the top::

Ashlee and Larry did a great job covering the tournament for us despite a freak injury off Daniel Maycock’s bat to Ashlee’s left foot. We hope her big toe heals quickly. A special thank you to the Cortland State trainer who was immediately on the scene of the accident and helped Ashlee get her toe on ice and keep the swelling at bay. She’s a trouper, I tell you. She came back the next afternoon and continued to shoot and stayed through days three, four, and five.

As I said we have 4,776 photos from the Championship Series on Pictureprints.net and we also have an additional 10,000+ photos from 50 more baseball games this year. Next year we hope to have more games covered from more locations than just Minnesota and Grand Chute.

Thank you to all of you out in the ether that helped make the first year of D3baseball.com a successful one!� I hope to meet some of you next year at the 2008 series.

Sitting in the Paper Lion enjoying an end of the tournament dinner it dawned on me - The tournament is not over. After 11 games in three days, only two games on Memorial Day seemed like a well…. a holiday. Those people scoring the game were working hard though as Emory surprised everyone by dispatching both Cortland State and Wisconsin-Stevens Point with an offense as potent as any in the tournament.

The Emory contingent near by my table made sure that I should not call the Eagles a cinderella team. The coach also made that clear well before the hitting came around. How can a 43-9 team be a cinderella team? Personally I am still living down calling the Emory baseball team “likely to disappoint” in the South regional. Yeah likely to disappoint those who don’t believe they can win the Championship Game.

Kean has always been my pick since the start of the season so they are not doing anything unexpected. Their pitching has been fantastic but a strength of the program for a while now.

I am one of those who will watching and enjoying the best Division III can bring. It will be a heck of a game - that I can assure.