How hard is it to send equipment to the Iraqi Baseball Team???

[Motown_Johnny]

Do we really need much more than an address where we can ship stuff to?


I suppose if you want to get fancy you could set up a site that mirrors a gift registry and have people pick out items to send themselves or donate money specifically for.

I for one would love to donate a left handed baseball glove to some deserving lefty out there, if only I were certain one was needed. It would also be cool to be the one to send them the home plate. maybe numbers for the scoreboard, or the letters needed to spell out their team's name & Visitors (in the language of their choice).


Anyways, I hope Ms. Maddow gets us some info soon. I think all we need is an address but if she wants to get all organized on us then that is OK with me too.

[BlooInBloo]

1. Well, Maddow's not a fucking idiot, so I imagine there's more to it than I'm aware of.

[Motown_Johnny]

2. I didn't mean to imply that she was. I guess I just wanted to do something right away and now I

am anxious.

[babylonsister]

3. Here's a McClatchy story w/more info, and I'm with you. I'd be

happy to contribute a few bucks to this cause. Money is exactly what they need. Rec'd with thanks!


With one bat and no uniforms, Iraq's baseball team hits field

USIRAQ-BASEBALL

Laith Hammoudi / MCT

Mohammed Tariq is the only player on the team who has a baseball shirt, Yet, it's for a Japanese team, not Iraq. | View larger image

By Laith Hammoudi | McClatchy Newspapers


BAGHDAD — They've only got a five year-old softball bat, a threadbare cap, three scuffed balls and nine second-hand gloves from a flea market. They train on a college soccer field. And there's not a uniform among them. However, they love America's pastime as much as Crash Davis of "Bull Durham" ever did.

Meet Iraq's national baseball team.

The venture was the brainchild of three young Iraqi men from the U.S. They played ball at their American high school schools, came to Baghdad on a visit five years ago and left behind a curiosity and interest about a sport that, unlike soccer, didn't involve yellow cards, flops or nets.

"We were a group of physical education students," recalls Ysir Abdul Hasan, 23, the assistant coach. "We loved it because it's a new and strange game for our society." The Iraqis were also struck with the challenge, he adds, "especially for the striker who plays against the whole other team."

Striker or batter, coach Hamza Madlool, 26, formed the current team after an earlier team had to be disbanded at the height of the country's civil unrest. Players on that club and the baseball federation president, Isma'eel Khallel, got e-mail and telephone threats from Sunni insurgents linked to al Qaida Iraq. The insurgents accused them of playing "an occupation game."

However, it was lack of money, not death threats, that sent the earlier team to the showers.

Even so, Madlool says he loves the game "because it is more enthusiastic than any other." His family was delighted with his new sport and encouraged him to go on. Eventually, he wound up coaching a women's softball team, which won a championship. "I felt as if I were the No. 1 man in the world," he beams.

The reincarnated ball club still faces money problems today. Ali Abdul Hussein, the general secretary of the baseball federation, said there are many talented Iraqi players, but they lack gear and a place to play. "The Iraqi Olympic Committee didn't allocate a budget for our federation because it's new," he explained. "This year they gave us only 100 million dinars (about $84,500) as a donation."

Some 60 percent of that goes for organizing local championships, fees to join Asian and other international baseball associations and other costs. Besides the Baghdad squad, teams have been formed in four other Iraqi cities.

more...

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/71740.html?storylink=MI_emailed

[Motown_Johnny]

7. Great article, thanks..... but now I am more anxious

I have a pair of spikes that I bought on impulse and have never worn. Then sit on a shelf in my closet. I would ship them off tomorrow if only I knew where (and then just hope they fit someone).

[babylonsister]

8. I'll try to find some info for all of us. I bet that story pulled at a lot of

people's heart strings. I'll keep you posted if I find anything.

[Maru Kitteh]

4. I didn't see the story but it sounds like a very fine idea. Best of luck to you!

[Tangerine LaBamba]

5. Funny -

I listened to that, and my reaction was that there are probably a whole lot of kids here in the United States who would love to have some baseball equipment............................

[babylonsister]

6. True, but they haven't been living in a war zone of our making.

This is what the Iraq team has. I could find it in my heart to help.


They've only got a five year-old softball bat, a threadbare cap, three scuffed balls and nine second-hand gloves from a flea market. They train on a college soccer field. And there's not a uniform among them. However, they love America's pastime as much as Crash Davis of "Bull Durham" ever did.

[Motown_Johnny]

9. there are charities here like the Police Athletic League... they do exactly that kind of thing

and I am on their mailing list.


Helping an entire country establish a new sport doesn't happen very often. I would love to be a part of that.

[riverwalker]

10. we discussed this before, in 2003

From DU Post in December 2003

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x845310



WICHITA, Kansas, Nov. 22 - A Wichita man's project to send baseball equipment to the Middle East is getting some big-league support.

THE PROJECT, CALLED Operation Home Run, began in Wichita last summer when Steve Knowles' son, Marc, asked his father to send baseball equipment to Kuwait so he and other U.S. soldiers could play ball when not on duty.
But Knowles said that when he asked minor-league baseball teams for help, only the Wichita Wranglers responded. He didn't get too far with big-league teams either.
Kansas Republican Congressman Todd Tiahrt learned about the program and has been able to open doors that Knowles couldn't...
---------------

[Motown_Johnny]

11. Kinda... that was equipment for U.S. Soldiers.. this is for Iraqis

but good memory.. damn

[Canuckistanian]

12. Couldn't they just ship the equipment with one of those palettes of cash?

They never had trouble delivering the cash, did they?

[NNN0LHI]

13. With the amount of oil in Iraq these people should all be living large

We are pumping out their oil and putting it onto supertankers as fast as we can. Where is all the money going?

Don

[Motown_Johnny]

14. to the corrupt government Shrub and Cheney set up

[babylonsister]

15. But they're not. What does that tell you? nt