… Not anyone from Dallas.
Despite good efforts during the week, including two teams in the semifinals, Dallas teams at the Gay World Series of Softball in Minneapolis got shut out, with no teams finishing in the top four. Ah, well. We’re proud of our men.
And our women. See, softball play is not really over. The women’s World Series, held in San Diego this week, features three teams from Dallas, and we’ll be keeping tabs on them, too. Check in for results!
It’s getting down to the wire at the Gay World Series.
Of the six Dallas teams in competition, only two — The Dallas Drillers Division C team and the Hidden Door Assault Division B team — advanced to the quarterfinals which take place today, adding three wins to their tallies in Thursday’s play. The Drillers will face off today against the Houston Toros and the Assault against the Twin Cities Frostbite. It was a let-down for the other four teams — Woody’s X-plosion B, Dallas Drillers D and Woody’s Demolition Crew D all lost their games, while Woody’s Wreckin’ Crew C went 1-and-1.
The finals are on Saturday. We’ll have the final results on Instant Tea when we get them!
We reported yesterday that the six Dallas teams of Pegasus Slowpitch Softball Association had a remarkable first day of play at the softball Gay World Series; the second day, while not quite as impressive, continues a winning streak, with no teams with a losing record (Hidden Door Assault is 2-2; the rest all have winning records), and Woody’s X-plosion is actually 4 and 0 so far. Woody’s Demolition Crew is the only team to record a tied game.
Here are the updated scores; the Wednesday results are in bold.
Division B:
Hidden Door Assault (2-2): vs. the Seattle Battalion 14–4; vs. Atlanta Ambush 10-9 (loss); vs. Houston Hellraisers 14-6; vs. D.C. Blitz, 11-1 (loss)
Woody’s X-plosion (4-0): vs. Twin Cities Frostbite 10–9; vs. NYC Wings 12-7; vs. Austin Shady Ladies 14-4; vs. San Francisco Hit Men 15-4.
Division C:
Dallas Drillers (3-1): vs. Milwaukee Force 12–9; vs. Twin Cities Infinity, 8-6; vs. Columbus Fury 8-5; vs. Providence [R.I.] Grind 4-6 (loss).
Woody’s Wreckin’ Crew (3-1): vs. Memphis Neons 16–6; vs. Atlanta Ambush 13-12; vs. Chicago Blues 8-10 (loss); vs. Long Beach Havoc 17-1.
Division D:
Dallas Drillers (3-1) vs. Southern New England York Street 17–7; vs. Atlanta Aggression 10-5; vs. Columbus Falcons 13-17 (loss); vs. Twin Cities Lost Sox 14-13.
Woody’s Demolition Crew (3-0-1): vs. Milwaukee Silver 23–5; vs. Fort Lauderdale Hurricanes 12-10; vs. OKC Roughriders 7-7 (tie); vs. New Orleans Hit Dats.
Sure, Dallas is still basking in the championship light of the Mavericks winning the NBA Finals — and even the Rangers making the final of the MLB series — but some smaller teams around these parts have made their own news.
Last year, the local team TKO won the B Division championship at the
NAGAAA World Series in Columbus, Ohio. They weren’t the only heroes: Four other teams from the Pegasus Slowpitch Softball Association placed in the top five in other divisions.
Could this year be a repeat? Seven teams are embarking on a trek to Chicago for the 35th Annual Gay Softball World Series. TKO is back in the mix but has graduated to the A Division while the remaining six round out the other divisions.
— Rich Lopez
For more information about the teams visit DallasPSSA.org and for the World Series, visit GaySoftballWorldSeries.com.
………………..
A Division
Team: Round-Up TKO
Factoid: The most competitive and serious division, this is for the true hardcore athletes out to win. Last year, after 11 tries, TKO won their first World Series titles as B Division champs; this year, they have moved up to A — the only local team in this division.
B Division
Team: Dallas Woody’s Xplosion
Factoid: This team just formed last year — and actually defeated TKO in a June scrimmage.
Team: Hidden Door Eagle Assault
Factoid: You could say this is the team’s first season (it didn’t exist with this name until recently), although some say it’s morphed from the team Wolfpack.
C Division
Team: Dallas Voice Drillers
Factoid: In their first year together, the team says hard work, focus and practice are their way of preparing for the series — and maybe a shot or two.
Fun factoid: “Three out of seven players are drag queens,” third baseman Keith Dossiere says.” Figure out which ones.” (We think he’s kidding, but not sure.)
Team: Round-Up Fuse
Factoid: Currently the division champions, Fuse also boasts an 11-game winning streak.
D Division
Team: Round-Up Diesel
Factoid: “We are the ‘bear’ team in the PSSA,” team member Curtis Glenn says. “We are kinda the Susan Lucci of softball. We have finished in 5th place in our last three tournaments.”
Team: Dallas Boom
Factoid: The Boom had a very healthy season with a 12-win record out of a 16 game season. They dominated most victories with scores two and three times above their opponents.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition August 26, 2011.
U.S. District Judge John Coughenour in Seattle has ruled that the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance has the right to limit the number of non-gay players on gay softball teams in the association, according to this report from MyFoxDFW.
NAGAAA, by the way, is the organization with which Dallas’ Pegasus Slowpitch Softball Association and North Texas Women’s Softball Association are associated. NAGAAA also sponsors the annual Gay World Series, being held this year in Chicago, Aug. 29-Sept. 3.
Judge Coughenour wrote in his ruling: “Plaintiffs have failed to argue that there is a compelling state interest in allowing heterosexuals to play gay softball.”
The judge did say, however, that the case — brought by three bisexual men on a San Francisco NAGAAA team — can go to trial because there were some questions over how NAGAAA applied its rule allowing no more than two non-gay players per team. Trial is set for Aug. 1.
The three men filed the suit after their eligibility was questioned by rivals during a 2008 Gay World Series game in Seattle.
ULTIMATE LGBTCity Councilman,
Fort Worth District 9
City Hall,
1000 Throckmorton St.
817-392-8809
If there was one award we could have predicted the winner of last fall, it was this one. Joel Burns made history in 2007 when residents of Fort Worth’s District 9 elected him to represent them on the City Council, in the process becoming the city’s first-ever openly gay council member. But it was in 2010, after Burns made headlines around the country with a 12-minute heartfelt appeal to LGBT youth contemplating suicide, that his star really sparkled. Recounting his own teenage experience with bullies, Burns spoke of the successes in his life since then and the love he found with his husband, J.D. Angle. And Burns promised: “It gets better.” And it did, for millions of Americans, after hearing Burns. That’s more than a role model; that’s a hero.
— Tammye Nash
2701 Reagan St.
214-528-0144
RCDallas.org
1640 Rhode Island Ave., N. W., Washington, D.C.
800-777-4723
HRC.org
There may be no “I” in team, but there’s definitely an “A” in gay. And Dallas is home to two of the most A-list gay sports clubs anywhere. Voice readers agreed, voting both into the top spot as their favorite social/sports organization. Pegasus Slow-pitch Softball is a league with more than two dozen teams, with names as colorful as the players: Imagine getting up to bat against a pitcher for the Donkey Punchers. Or the Itchy Kitties. Or Sons of Pitches. Pretty intimidating, right? Well, not really. PSSA is celebrated for its camaraderie, sportsmanship and sense of fun. The spring season just started, so it’s not too late to catch them in action or put on a jersey and join a team. If you prefer hitting balls with your hands instead of a bat, DIVA, the Dallas Independent Volleyball Association, is the perfect organization for showing off that killer serve or power spike you perfected when nobody was looking in middle school P.E. There are five divisions of teams (recreational, intermediate, competitive, advanced and power), so no matter your skill level, there’s a team (with or without a net) waiting with open arms. Just not so open that they miss the ball.
— Steven Lindsey
4015 Lemmon Ave, Suite 4001,Suite 321
Next Black Tie Dinner: Saturday, Nov. 12
972-733-9200
BlackTieDinner.org
5910 Cedar Springs Road
Services at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sundays
214-351-1901
CathedralofHope.com
3923 Cedar Springs Road
Caven.com
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition March 18, 2011.
