Shocker!

9 days ago

It's interesting how a simple change of inflection can take a word and totally flip it on it's head. Shocker is a great example of that. By all means, it s should imply that the outcome of something is a surprise, shocking even. Something that you clearly weren't expecting and hits to out of left field. On the other hand, if you take that word and add a bit of gusto, a little high pitched long "o" sarcastic love, and an explanation point to it, you get a word that is the polar opposite.

I'm sure you have heard it said that second way before. In fact, you are probably saying it yourself in your head right now aren't you?

Sorry, I was trying to find a GIF to make my point hit home a little more clearly, but I just couldn't seem to find the perfect one.

In any event, I am feeling the full spectrum of the word this morning as I look at the results of the two Little League Softball World Series games that took place yesterday.

It's not surprising at all to me that The Southeast Division took down the Northwest Division team 5 to 3 in Game 14. This sets the Southeast team up for Game 17 on Friday that will see them facing either the Southwest or Mid-Atlantic after game 15 is played. This is a case where I am using "shocker" in the sarcastic form.

I've long said that the softball teams from the south are no joke, so I'd actually not be surprised to see the Southwest win their game against Mid-Atlantic today and then the Southeast team take them out to force a Southwest/Southeast match up in the semi-final. We will see if that actually is the case though.

On the flip side, we have a case where I am actually shocked at the outcome of a game. In the orange side of the bracket, the Central Division knocked Latin America out of the tournament yesterday with a 2 to 0 victory.

I know it's probably a bit stereotypical of me to expect that a Latin X team would automatically do good in baseball/softball, but lets be honest, the statistics kind of speak for themselves don't they?

So, that leaves the North Carolina and Asia-Pacific match up in game 16 today. I honestly can't guess who is going to win that game, but if I had to lean one way, I would probably give my nod to Asia-Pacific, sorry NC fans.

Either way, I think the Central team is going to have their work cut out for them in game 18 as they will face the loser of that North Carolina/Asia-Pacific game. It's entirely possible we will see an NC/A-P rematch in the semifinal Game 19. Of course, since it is double elimination, NC would have to beat Asia-Pacific twice to make it to the final game I think.

I honestly can't wait to see how this all works out!