A Sports Complex - or Not?

I have an item in this week's Notebook in the Citizen about talks that City of Elk Grove leaders want to see a large sports complex built. In my interview with Steve Detrick, a city councilman and a former youth sports coach, he told me that there's been several discussions about having an aquatics center, a baseball/softball complex and a soccer stadium/complex.

These discussions have been about three different sports facilities or even the possibility of there being one big facility somewhere near the Elk Grove Promenade. As Detrick told me earlier this week, "nothing is off the table."

What the City needs is sports facilities that are at least on par with what several California cities already have. That's what Detrick, Mayor Jim Cooper and other leaders want and it's for the overall good of the City's economy.

The Bee's Bill Patterson has an entry on his blog site that outlaws the altering of any non-wood baseball bat. Recently, former Sheldon baseball coach John Misplay told me that there were companies and even private individuals that were taking metal baseball bats that were not approved by BBCOR and counterfeiting the required logo onto the bats.

The BBCOR bats which are now the only ones permitted for use by the National High School Sports Assocation (NHSA) and the NCAA. Reportedly, there's quite a black market for outlawed bats that have been altered cosmetically to appear as though they'll pass BBCOR standards.

The idea behind using the BBCOR bats is that they supposedly hit baseballs equal to an all-wooden bat.