Chad Hall

Known to me for a million ideas a minute, Chad has quietly been taking the rest of the softball world by storm... Does he want it all? Probably... Would it be enough? Probably not... but we will get to that SHORTLY... LOL!!!

Chad had humble beginnings as most do. The eleven year veteran started playing in 1998 with Mountain Dew of Amory, MS giving the vertically challenged Hall, his first taste of the game... To say he has been hooked ever since, is a very SMALL statement for a monumental addiction.

Signing with SportsCenter/Worth in 2006, Hall has become a fixture on the Tatum/McKinney Express. What most people don't know... Chad led the 2008 NSA World Champs with a .683 batting average and a .739 obp. A very TALL feat amongst some of the games best!!! His second world title in two years, Hall has to be tortured to tell me anything about it!!! You would swear he forgot... But enough of what you have done in the game... Let's talk about off the field.

Owner of Hall Contracting, Chad makes a weekly commute to the Mississippi Gulf Coast Sunday night and returns home on Thursday night... I know this, because we are on the phone for half of the FIVE HOURS each way... LOL!!! Anyway, sharing his success with the game, Hall Contracting sponsors an E class team out of Amory. As if that wouldn't speak volumes enough, Hall started TAI Sports of MS in January of 2009. Starting rough, but slowly creeping towards smooth... Hall is excited and optimistic about the future of his store.

Now for the part I PRY OUT OF EVERYONE... I asked Chad what has changed since he started playing the game... "Used too, the paper was where you found a tournament... You brought your money, showed up and you played the game... Those days are over and will never return. The fact that there are 60 teams playing within an hour of each other is ridiculous. It is destroying the unity amongst teams... But really, NO coverage is what scares me the most about all these non sanctioned tournaments."

(Coverage? Coverage you say? We don't need no stinking Coverage...)

"People don't realize how vulnerable they are to lawsuit by holding a non-sanctioned event. If someone gets hurt, they can sue the person or group holding the tournament and the field owner. Since it is non-sanctioned, there is no legal or medical coverage from ISA, ASA, USSSA, whoever. In other words, here is what is going to happen someday... Someone is going to get hurt and sue. There will be no governing organization to hold responsible, so the owner of the park/field and the group holding the event will be CRUCIFIED. It stinks someone will be destroyed financially for everyone to see what a HUGE mistake it is."

IF that's the case, I asked what would fix it in his opinion?

"Where to start? First, EVERY association would have to crack down on NON-sanctioned tournaments. These teams don't realize the exposure they have, but the directors do. They need to crack down on their umps as well. Instead of being so nonchalant, they need to realize that everyone has to work on Monday.

Second, people are going to have to start approaching sponsors again, instead of being their own via 4 tournaments. I have been working on an article for you to try help everyone accomplish their team's financial goals.

But finally, people have to stop jumping all over. If they do leave, they need to start being grown and give their stuff back... Not keep it and act like it never happened... Teams don't have the extra money to keep 6 uniforms to the side... that is nuts."

This may have sounded preachy, but it is the writing... He shared some INCREDIBLE INSIGHT and I tried to capture it as purely as possible. He said so much that made sense, it was hard to omit anything... but please realize I presented just the facts, the jokes and laughs aren't in here, so any "Soapbox" talk is a result of my writing, not the opinion of a truly good and honest person trying to make a difference. Proud of you, brother... Keep it up... midget.

WRITTEN BY: TJAY BUSIN