Devon Park (Softball Hall of Fame)

[Midtowner]

No, actually, it is covered. Bostock v. Clayton County in 2019 ruled (with a 6-3 majority with some conservative justices joining) that transgendered individuals cannot be discriminated against or fired because of their "new" sex conflicting with their biological sex. This transposes pretty easily into Title IX of the same act (https://www.justice.gov/crt/page/file/1383026/download) since the language is essentially interchangeable. And historically, the Court has interpreted Title IX's language broadly, since the language itself is broad (as established in North
Haven Bd. of Ed. v. Bell). Adding these pointless obfuscating adjectives like "assigned" or "identity" in front of the word "sex" goes against the broad nature of the statute, according to the courts. If Congress wants to clarify by adding those words, fine, they can pass a new law, but until they do the language of the statue is pretty clear, and Bostock affirms that.

This post is worth re-posting.

Gorsuch and Roberts voted with the majority in this. Assuming ACB would vote to overturn, that'd still be 5-4 in favor. I can't imagine Title IX's anti-discrimination language re gender be interpreted differently than Title VII. And I see you with the oyez reference. That's such a cool site.

[BoulderSooner]

This post is worth re-posting.

Gorsuch and Roberts voted with the majority in this. Assuming ACB would vote to overturn, that'd still be 5-4 in favor. I can't imagine Title IX's anti-discrimination language re gender be interpreted differently than Title VII. And I see you with the oyez reference. That's such a cool site.

thank you for reposting i misss that the first time

[AnguisHerba]

Concerning whether the NCAA can "get out" of its contract with OKC, I would be quite confident that when the following statement was drafted, the lawyers were sure to quote language that exists in their current contracts so as to make the message quite clear to the counterparties.

When determining where championships are held, NCAA policy directs that only locations where hosts can commit to providing an environment that is safe, healthy and free of discrimination should be selected. We will continue to closely monitor these situations to determine whether NCAA championships can be conducted in ways that are welcoming and respectful of all participants.”

Said another way, I'm sure there's language in the contract that allows the NCAA to terminate the deal if OKC can't provide an environment "free of discrimination." All that stuff is usually called "boilerplate" until it suddenly matters.

[Laramie]

It would be tragic if Oklahoma City lost the NCAA softball tournament related to some IMO stupid bonehead move the Oklahoma State Legislature made to put its stamp on a transgender related argument. Also, I can't imagine a guy having his most precious jewel removed so he could compete as a woman in softball.

BTW, does the Oklahoma legislation have better things to do than concern themselves with transgender issues that probably won't impact the sport. Also does the NCAA need to concern themselves with this becoming a future issue.

Oklahoma City has a 13,000 seat (Second to none, Softball Stadium) ready to welcome the NCAA's Women's College World Series and the economic impact this will generate for our city. We've invested $27.5 million in upgrades to keep this tournament thru 2035. This is one of our economic impact events for our city besides those of horse show industry:

“Teams and fans flood local hotels, restaurants and shops during each tournament and their direct economic impact is more than $15 million,” said Mike Carrier, president of the Oklahoma City Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Every game is broadcast on ESPN and, as a result, Oklahoma City is mentioned multiple times during each game to a national audience, in addition to broadcasting shots of the Adventure District, the downtown skyline, the city’s many amenities and other images indicative of OKC’s renaissance.

According to Carrier, “You can’t buy that kind of positive exposure.”--VeloCity, June 3, 2019

Think of the additional seating (4,000) with 9,000 permanent seats and the fact the the tournament could be expanded to a 16, 32 or 64 team bubble adding an impact of $20 million to $25 million depending on the expansion of the tournament in a bubble style environment.

Also the opportunity to beef up the Adventure District with a future hotel in the area to serve Remington Park, OKC Zoo, National Softball Hall of Fame, National Cowboy Western Heritage & Firefighter's Museums and the annual softball tournament.

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[dankrutka]

I'm watching the OU-OSU Big 12 championship game on ESPN2 right now and it seems like the updates included extending the field, which means there's a temporary softball wall and then a deeper permanent wall. So, there's like a decent gap between the fence used in softball games and the deeper fence. In the past, there were fans sitting in the outfield, but now they can't because the field extends well beyond the softball wall. Am I looking at this correct? Is this in an aim to host baseball too? I hope I'm misunderstanding because this really reduces the benefit and intimate feel of a softball-only field.

[Laramie]

USA Hall of Fame Stadium is a softball specific stadium. The amateur men's game requires the extended outfield, IIRC its a 25' difference.

[Laramie]

NCAA Softball Championship Selection Special. March 16, 2021 - 6:00 P.M., ESPN

[kukblue1]

I thought I had heard that they were not letting fans in for the college world series has anybody heard anything different on that

[Laramie]

I thought I had heard that they were not letting fans in for the college world series has anybody heard anything different on that

Women's College World Series Tickets

USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium | Oklahoma City, OK - https://www.primesport.com/d/ncaa-wo...e-world-series

June 3, 2021 - June 9, 2021

[jedicurt]

I thought I had heard that they were not letting fans in for the college world series has anybody heard anything different on that

back on april 22nd, NCAA announced 50% capacity for both baseball and softball world series

[mugofbeer]

I've liked the occasional shot they've done on the Big XII chamionship towards left field showing the horses at Remington.

[GoGators]

I'm watching the OU-OSU Big 12 championship game on ESPN2 right now and it seems like the updates included extending the field, which means there's a temporary softball wall and then a deeper permanent wall. So, there's like a decent gap between the fence used in softball games and the deeper fence. In the past, there were fans sitting in the outfield, but now they can't because the field extends well beyond the softball wall. Am I looking at this correct? Is this in an aim to host baseball too? I hope I'm misunderstanding because this really reduces the benefit and intimate feel of a softball-only field.

It’s always been like that. The outfield stands are temporary and set up in between the two outfield fences. They just didn’t roll them out for the big 12 championship for some reason. The outer fence is set back to accommodate slow pitch softball. Most softball fields are set up this way with a closer temporary fence for fast pitch.

[Laramie]

Date Correction:

NCAA Softball Championship Selection Special. Sunday, May 16, 2021 - 6:00 P.M., ESPN

[Laramie]

Oklahoma given No. 1 overall seed in NCAA Tournament

The No. 1 ranked team in the land has been given the top spot as Oklahoma softball was given the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament set to begin later this week.

Despite being the top-ranked team for the vast majority of the season with their gaudy 45-2 record and 32 run-rule wins, it was widely speculated the Sooners could potentially be given the No. 2 spot with UCLA being selected above them due to Oklahoma’s relatively light schedule in terms of difficulty. But, the committee obviously didn’t see it that way giving Patty Gasso’s club the honor--https://soonerswire.usatoday.com/202...rall-seed/amp/

[SEMIweather]

Pretty nice to see 5/7 Big XII teams make it, with three being nationally seeded.

[Laramie]

Pretty nice to see 5/7 Big XII teams make it, with three being nationally seeded.

Biggest surprise was OSU Cowgirls; they deserve recognition. Cowgirls IMO are underrated. Hope they meet the Sooners in the finals here in OKC.

[dankrutka]

It’s always been like that. The outfield stands are temporary and set up in between the two outfield fences. They just didn’t roll them out for the big 12 championship for some reason. The outer fence is set back to accommodate slow pitch softball. Most softball fields are set up this way with a closer temporary fence for fast pitch.

Gotchya. Thanks for the clarification.

[MikeLucky]

Biggest surprise was OSU Cowgirls; they deserve recognition. Cowgirls IMO are underrated. Hope they meet the Sooners in the finals here in OKC.

They are the #5 overall seed. I would say that is recognition. Lol

They definitely have a great team this year and as a Sooner fan and an Okie, I hope to see more bedlam and especially near the end of this whole thing. What an awesome thing that would be for the city and the state

[DowntownMan]

Norman regional is announced at 100% capacity!

[Martin]

Norman regional is announced at 100% capacity!

so that means... both norman regionals will be at 100% capacity? : )

[Laramie]

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Norman Regional: The four-team, three-day event features Wichita State (39-11-1) facing Texas A&M (31-21) at 5 p.m. CT Friday before Oklahoma (45-2) take on Morgan State (24-15) at 7:30 p.m. CT Friday.


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[Laramie]

Does anyone recall if the upper deck to USA Hall of Fame Stadium was used for the Big XII college women's softball tournament, only saw camera angles of the lower levels.

[Bellaboo]

It was announced last night that the WCWS will be allowed full capacity.

[Pete]

It was announced last night that the WCWS will be allowed full capacity.

This is great news, particularly for the tourism industry.

Always get tons of traveling fans from all over the country.

[Laramie]

Does anyone recall if the upper deck to USA Hall of Fame Stadium was used for the Big XII college women's softball tournament, only saw camera angles of the lower levels.

This pic is from the May 14th Oklahoma State-Texas game.

Good news to hear--the tournament will allow full capacity.