NEWSFLASH! The US team has lost to Japan, 3-1, in the World Softball Championships. The Americans will probably get a rematch with Japan for the championship, however. The US next faces Australia, whom it has already beaten 11-2, with the loser of this next match receiving the bronze medal and the winner playing for the title. Video coverage of the World Championships (archived, if not also live) is available at the tourney website. Softball fans are also dissecting the games on the discussion forums at Ultimate College Softball (see links section on the right).
NiJaree Canady, whose sub-1.00 ERA helped lead Stanford to the Women's College World Series in both her years with the Cardinal, announced on July 24 that she is transferring to Texas Tech. I've lived in Lubbock for 27 years and can say that the town has been improving with a greater selection of restaurants and shops, and a new downtown performing arts center. Likewise, nice new facilities have been dotting the Texas Tech campus . Still, it seems unlikely that Canady would have become a Red Raider without the $1 million annual Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deal for her, made possible by the donation of a Texas Tech alumni couple. So stunning an event is this, even in the ever-changing world of collegiate athletics, that the New York Times even ran a behind-the-scenes story on Canady's path to Texas Tech. I look forward to being in the stands to watch Canady pitch next spring, an opportunity I never expected to have.