Hey there, faithful readers. Welcome back to another season of Softball West and “Ain’t Nothin’ Soft.” First of all, a quick poll: Raise your mittened hand if you still have snow on the ground? Now I know some of you are sitting by the pool saying, what? Snow? Where does she live? Siberia? In the mountains at some Himalayan-like altitude? Nope. I live in Spokane, Washington, and-- all of you living in the “northern tier” states will understand this next. Frankly, I have cabin fever, or better yet, “Field Fever.” You know, that point you get to where all you want to do is let your eyes roll back into your head as you smell the green grass and gaze with reverence at the freshly dragged and un-cleated, red infield, smell the leather as your glove slowly warms up...and still, there’s a little “bite” in the crisp morning air.

But, back to reality, here in the North, you just never know about February. A few years ago when I was playing for my Gonzaga club team, we had our first outdoor practice on a very warm (for us) 55 degree Valentine’s Day. This year, the GU team and all of us going through softball withdrawals will be lucky to shovel down to our infields (yes, it happens here) and be happy to put cleats into the permafrost-like dirt, rutted up from some kid peeling out on his BMX bike way back last year before the Great Flash Freeze of November. Try taking a hard grounder at SS with a bad hop off a frozen bicycle rut sometime. It’ll definitely get the adrenaline rolling.

So what do we of the Parka-Wearing, Electric Softball Glove Warmer (yes, they’re real) clan do at this time of year? Well, unless you’re part of a college program with great indoor facilities, you go to the batting cages, get your teams together in high school gyms, watch re-runs of the WCWS, surf the web greedily looking for softball news, talk in forums, and – you do one of a couple things, depending on your world location: 1)You play snowshoe softball or 2)You play Indoor (Arena) Softball.

Now probably quite a few folks have heard of Snowshoe Softball, but if you haven’t, here’s the gist of it: the bases are fluorescent so you can find them (most of the time), the ball is usually pink or yellow, there can be 11 fielders (usually co-ed), the foul lines are spray-painted onto the snow in red or some other high visibility color, and of course, everyone wears snowshoes. (If they don’t, they sink down in knee high snow). Snowshoe softball can lend a whole new dimension to the term “dig one out” as literally, a pop fly that falls short in the outfield can bury itself in a drift, and the outfielders must converge and dig down to recover the ball. Uniforms are usually flannel or coveralls and crash-and-burns are frequent as people trip over their own snowshoes. Quick Trivia: did you know the Snowshoe Softball Hall of Fame is located in Priest River, Idaho?

But if snow is not your thing or you’re currently tanning by the pool-side, then the next “hot” thing coming to your town may very well be Arena Softball. It has been played in Roseville, California (See feature story on page 21) for a while now and it seems to be catching on, with leagues forming in Minnesota and Chicago among locations, and possibly in Portland, Oregon as well. The game is often Co-ed Slow Pitch, with a very modified and fast game with 40’ outfields, no fouls (springy nets line the walls), 16 total pitches for the team each inning (vs. getting three outs) and all forward hits are live and in play, even if they carom off the nets. Hitting high-hung banners in the outfield can result in dingers, and you get a half-point for each out your team makes on defense (yes, you can score defensively). Players say it’s a great workout and many players use it to tune-up for the “regular” spring through fall leagues.

I wish there were one in Spokane. I’d definitely give it a try. After all, the Indoor Cup is finished in Europe, I can’t find my snowshoes, and like some of you other snow-and-cold-bound Softball Sisters and Brothers, I have serious “Field Fever.” Besides, I’d love to hear someone say, “C’mon Tiff, go banner.”

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As always, I’d love to hear from you with comments and column ideas. E-mail me at gutallstop@hotmail.com. Keep playing hard -- because like the February ground here in the North – there “Ain’t nothin’ soft” about it.