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BOSL NEWS – President's Message 2011 To All BOSL Players; Though another successful season has just come to an end, the wheels are already in motion as far as next season goes. Our AGM will take place on Thursday, October 27th at 7pm (Hector’s Lounge/BOHC Clubhouse) – All of our AGM’s are important, but this one even more so as there will be several rule changes that will be voted on and also our nominations for the Board of Directors have grown to the point that we will definitely be having an election whereby our players will once again choose who is on THEIR Board of Directors, which is as it should be. So let’s try and get as many guys out as possible. Usually it’s the same 45 or 50 guys and, to be honest, that’s woefully inadequate for a league this size. Simply put, we need a better turnout.
Another major component of our AGM is voting on rule change proposals. Next year in particular seems to be a year of change in our league with 5 or 6 sets of captains being replaced, 2 long-term board members moving on and what will likely be a slew of rule change proposals that will be voted on at the AGM. Much like running for the board, there is a process in place to deal with potential rule changes. Here it is. “Any proposed rule changes must be written and given to any executive member. The rule will then be given to the Rules Committee to be studied on the effects it will have to the league. After the rule has been examined it will be presented to the league captains at a meeting prior to the AGM and then voted upon at the AGM. Rules will only be changed at the end of the season and take effect the following season.” For complete information on rule changes vist the website. As we have no captain’s meeting scheduled prior to the AGM and because we do not have a Rules Committee per se, we will modify this a bit for this year. Please have your rule change submissions to me no later than Friday, September 30th – I will then forward the list of submissions to our board/captains to get their feedback and we will in turn suggest any wording changes, etc., to the individual that submitted the rule change. Once set, we will then distribute a list of all rule change proposals to the entire league on Thursday, October 13th (same date that we send out the official candidates list) – At the AGM, there will be a brief discussion on each submission before an official vote takes place and it will either pass or fail at that time. That’s all for now! Mike Porkolab
First it was Richard Nixon that gave us Watergate. Then Mike Porkolab followed up with the infamous BOSL Heatgate scandal last Thursday. But both pale in comparison to what happened last night at Millcroft Park where Toquegate 2011 occurred! On a night where temperatures dipped well below 32 degrees Celsius, the game between BOHC and perennial powerhouse, Better Bitters, was in jeopardy. BOSL President Mike Porkolab stated, “I was about to cancel. We can’t have guys playing in that kind of cold weather. What if they get frostbite?” – On the command of Umpire-In-Chief, Peter Woodhouse, the teams were told to “PLAY BALL!”. With Better Bitters players struggling to stay warm and huddled together in their dugout, the BOHC players were far better prepared and came out in TOQUES to keep their body temperatures warm enough to compete at a high level. What followed can only be described as an upset for the ages with BOSL pulling out a 17-15 win. Kevin Roseneck felt the TSN Turning Point occurred in the first inning, “Striking out the President looking on all 3 pitches was huge! It set the tone for our team. I threw him three ice balls and he didn’t stand a chance!” – Porkolab countered with, “Yeah, but I was too cold to swing! I should have cancelled dammit! I should have cancelled...” With the 2 teams not facing each other until 2012 now, the 2011 chapter has been written. Or has it? Better Bitters Captain Frank Goodrum feels that BOHC may have won the battle, but the war will go to Better Bitters. “No way they catch us in the standings! We are a half game ahead and that’s just too much for them to overcome with only 13 games left.” – BOHC Captain Kevin Elkins disagreed though, “We are a cold weather team and they simply aren’t. They can’t win on a cold July night, how the heck are they going to get it done in Arctic August? The Dave Little Award will be ours. Heck, we have Dave Little on our team anyway, so how can we not finish first?” Stay tuned... Fletch – BOSL News Reporter President's Message 2011 To All BOSL Players; Thank you all for your feedback on tomorrow night. I apologize for doing a 180 here, but I have decided that we will be CANCELLING all games tomorrow night. I cannot knowingly send our 224 guys out in record setting heat “hoping” that nothing horrible happens. In doing some extra research today, I came across the chart below. Note, game time temps for ALL of our games tomorrow night fall into the 40-45 degree humidex and the 46 is not far off...For anyone wanting to read the entire link, here is it is It also appears that tomorrow’s temps are going to be the hottest since 1937. So I can’t be more clear that this is not just some really hot summer day here. This is a once in 75 year type of heat. And though this sounds a bit melodramatic, it only takes one guy to drop dead and one widow to say to me at his funeral, “Mike, why didn’t you cancel when you had the chance?” – Though we are all adults here and we make our own decisions, gambling with someone’s life is just not a gamble as President of this league that I am prepared to make – it’s just not worth 1 game of baseball in a 50 game season. I know this decision will mean many league players will want to hang me and it would have been the same thing the other way had we played – but I have no problem taking the heat on this one (get it, heat? HA!) as it comes with the territory – but if I’m going to get hung on a 50/50 decision, then it will be one that my conscience can live with. See you all on Tuesday...Bring your jackets as I hear it’s going to be a cool one!
General recommendations for high humidex ratings:
If being outdoors is an absolute necessity, drink plenty of liquids and take frequent rest breaks. In hot, humid conditions, there is a considerable risk of heat stroke and sun stroke. Mike Porkolab President's Message 2011
On behalf of your Board of Directors, I would like to welcome each of you to the 2011 season. It is the goal of our Board of Directors, Captains and Umpires to make this, our 31st season, the best one yet! Looking back to the 2010 season certainly brings a big smile to my face. Countless BOSL players and their family members helped contribute to what was a tremendously successful year, both on and off the field. Our support of both the Burlington Special Olympics Softball Program and Carpenter Hospice could not have gone better. The BOSL gave the Burlington Blues Softball Teams a big boost last year, and equipment/financial support not withstanding, the highlight had to be the Exhibition Game between members of the BOSL and the Blues that took place at our Mid Season Tournament. A special thanks to each of you that surrounded the field and added to the atmosphere. You were instrumental in giving the athletes a day that they will never forget. And to each of you that participated in the Skills Camp the week before, what can I say other than you did the league and yourselves proud that day. The 2010 Charity Golf Tournament was not without its challenges, however, at the end of the day we raised over $12,000.00 for Carpenter Hospice and the 84 Golfers who attended left knowing that they supported a wonderful cause. Toronto Maple Leaf Alumni - Jim McKenny, Mike Krushelnyski and Lou Franceschetti – provided the golfers with great entertainment throughout the day and really added to the event overall. I personally witnessed the dozens of hours put in by the Golf Tournament Committee and their hard work certainly paid off, so thank you to all those who had a role in getting the tournament off the ground. We said good bye to one of our own in November with the passing of original and founding league member, Andy Smith. In what turned out to be Andy’s farewell to the league, he and his wife, Aileen, were on hand at our year-end dance to present the inaugural “Andy Smith Award” which will be given each year to the Year-End Tournament Champions. As much as it was Andy’s farewell to the league, the rock-star-style standing ovation that was given to Andy as he left the building was the BOSL’s farewell to Andy and is a moment that I will never forget. I would like to thank outgoing Board Members Tom Moffat, Paul Bindner and Dave MacKay for their outstanding work and dedication over the past several years. In addition, I would also like to acknowledge the hard work put in by all of our volunteers last year from Board Members to Captains to Tournament Volunteers to anyone and everyone who gave their time for the benefit of the league. Without each of you, last year does not happen. So thank you… The 2010 season also proved to be a great year on the field as well. Congratulations to all of our prestigious award winners! Deeth and Company could not have been a more fitting group of guys to win our first Andy Smith Award. Well done boys! The Dave Little Award was hotly contested right until the last week with Independent Traffic finishing a top the standings for a second year in a row when the dust settled. Can they three-peat? Only time will tell. There is not a more deserving recipient of the Willard Pilatzke Award than Wayne McSpadden who most definitely exemplifies the spirit of the league. Congratulations Wayne! Our Captains of the Year and Warner Thomas Memorial Award Winners, Jeff Palmer and Ron Vandermeulen, are the blue print of what being a captain in our league is all about. Speaking of Ron Vandermeulen, he was also the recipient of our Keith Dunlop Award which recognizes exemplary on-field sportsmanship and it didn’t end there – Ron was also one of those 15 year veterans to receive the Bob Brown Award Pin for playing 15 years in the BOSL. To see the other 12 recipients of their 15 Year Pin, the 16 winners of their team’s Most Valuable Oldtimer Award and all of the historical award recipients, please visit the Hall of Fame section of our website – www.bosl.ca Speaking of our website – simply put – it’s the best one I have ever seen! Without a doubt our league’s centrepiece. Scot Cameron, you are the man! On behalf of our entire league, thank you! With the 2010 BOSL chapter now closed, we are now only about one month away from the start of the 2011 Season. Though it may be tough to top the on and off-field successes of last year, we are going to give it the old college try! The first thing you will notice on April 26th, at our League Stag, will be a new style of uniform and hat. John Andersen, Scot Cameron and Brian Bodnarok did an outstanding job of giving our league a new look, a better quality uniform/hat while, at the same time, saving the league money over last year. And if there is a year where it is important to save money, well, this is that year. As many of you know, we have recently closed the book on our past GST obligation to the CRA. The costs to our league related to this turned out to be roughly $20,000.00 when everything was added up. Before I became President, I recall listening to Paul Jamieson each year at the AGM field question after question as to why we had so much money in the coffers. Each time he explained that this amount was what it was (anywhere from 45k-55k during his tenure) for various reasons, namely the unknown and in case we ever fell short of our 240 player registration goal and had to run the league with a revenue shortfall. Well, the unknown happened with the GST situation – boy did it ever happen and, ironically enough, this year we were unable to attain 240 players and will be running the league using a revenue base of 224 players. So Paul, a very big thank you to yourself and to those board members before you for having the foresight and fiscal responsibility to set the league finances up in such a way that we have been able to weather the recent storms. The Board of Directors, with John Andersen leading the way, have been working very hard this off-season to cut costs where doing so will not effect the overall enjoyment of our members. Though it’s early yet to be discussing year-end numbers, even with the revenue shortfall caused by 224 versus 240 players, we are currently looking at a balanced budget and hopefully a year-end cash position next September in the 31k range. This should set us up nicely moving forward. One significant capital investment that we are currently looking at is to invest in league-owned AEDs (defibrillators) – We are still very much in the early stages of our research here, but if all goes well, we are hopeful that at some point this year we will be able to outfit each of our 4 diamonds with a league-owned AED pending board approval. This will take a serious financial commitment (i.e. a combination of significant fund raising and perhaps existing league funds), but if it all comes together, it will mean another added safety measure to protect our membership whose average age is 51.9 this season. More to come on this in the near future… Speaking of player safety, despite being well-intentioned in changing balls last year to a softer core/compression, the end result was not what we had hoped in that the effect on the game itself was detrimental. We are going back to the ball of 2 years ago which is simply put, a better quality ball. The pitching height of 8 to 15 feet will remain the same and we are hopeful that this will continue to protect the safety of our players, namely our pitchers and corner infielders. As always, the BOSL will be making a strong commitment to our charitable partners in 2011. This year I am pleased to announce that we will be partnering up with both the Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization as well as the Nelson Youth Centre to provide support to both of these worthwhile programs. We will provide announcements on our website in the coming weeks as to how/when this support will take place. In addition, we will also be doing our Pints for Pints Contest once again. It takes all of 30 minutes to donate a pint of blood, so let’s all work together to shatter our 2011 goal of 75 pints donated by the BOSL. Good luck! Also stay tuned for information that will be coming in the next month or so with regard to our off-field social events. You will notice on the Events Calendar that we are taking a one-year break from our Golf Tournament, but don’t fret, as we have some other ideas cooking up as we speak that we feel will be a nice change for our membership. For those of you that are diehard golfers and are disappointed about the absence of the tournament this year, I would suggest exploring an individual team golf day. Our team, Better Bitters, organized a trip to Wooden Sticks last year and we even rented a limo bus to add to the day! So definitely feel free to do your own thing as a team. Lastly, kudos to Tom Clancy, Scot Cameron and Larry Gagnon for their great work in creating an on-line registration system for the BOSL. What a tool this will be going forward! Please feel free to visit the website and have a look at the very easy to use form. I encourage everyone to utilize this tool in September when it comes time to register for next year. Wishing all of you and your families a safe and enjoyable 2011 season… Yours truly, Mike Porkolab
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To All 2011 BOSL Players and Families;