Back to the diamond for a minute. The granddaddy of all Pacific interservice Grand Slam softball tournaments, the Typhoon Classic at Okinawa's Torii Station, was canceled when only one -- that's right, one -- team turned in its paperwork and paid its entry fee before the deadline.
Call it a case of bad timing, said new Torii Station fitness and sports director Joe Kumzak. His predecessor, Jim Perry, just transferred to Hawaii and Kumzak is still in-processing after moving from Camp Zama's Yano Fitness Center to Torii.
That leaves only the Kanto Kup as the Pacificwide Labor Day weekend tournament of record ... and as I type this, it is currently being drenched by more of the relentless showers that have assaulted the Kanto Plain since Aug. 21.
How ironic, too, that the Typhoon Classic has been dogged by bad weather over the years. The one year when Okinawa is tinder-dry over Labor Day weekend ... no Typhoon Classic.
Kumzak says he plans to revive the Typhoon Classic next year and make it bigger and better than ever.
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It is a sad commentary on the direction Softball is heading in the PACIFIC, specifically on Okinawa. During my stay in Okinawa 1998 to 2008, it seemed the quality and size of the Typhoon Classic Softball tournament declined each year. It was just a matter of time before they completely dropped the ball.
Kadena Al