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1. How long have you been an active participant in softball in this area?
KH: I have been playing softball in this area for 16 years.
2. Who are some of the other teams you have
played for in the past or been a part of?
KH: I most notably played for a team called Skyline Chili of
Price Hill, (formerly called Emergency), then over here I began with the Regulators, and have settled with NKY Extreme
3.
Kevin I was reading the buy/sell section of the Two and Out website and you said you have been playing the game for 16 years.
My friend you look too young to be involved in the game that long. Is that really true. If it is and you are older than 30
years old then my hats off to you my friend you age nicely.
KH: Well thank you, in fact I am a
shade over 30, and I began playing at the old Softball City and Covington league when I was 15 for a team called V.F.W.
Of Park Hills
4. Also in that buy/sell section you also mentioned you played major ball. Who did you play
with?
KH: As I noted above, I played Majors at Rumpke in the infamous Tuesday and Thursday night Leagues for
a team that was originally called Emergency, then became Skyline Chili of Price Hill. Those guys had a lot of fun when
they played, but they were extremely competitiveand man that team could certainly put away the Budweiser
5.
NKY Extreme was originally supposed to play in a qualifier at Rivershore last weekend but backed out. From seeing you guys
play, I have to say that you have some nice talent on that team and with that tournament only having a whopping 5 teams it
would seem that your chances would of been pretty good of getting qualified. But you guys backed out and ended up playing
in a Jacket tournament at Riverstar. One question...Why?
KH: Well Ray, I do not think that was
us playing in a Jacket tourney, we did in fact play at Rivershore in a Sponsorship tourney, we have yet to schedule a qualifier,
but we are coming up to that point in our tourney schedule.
6. Kevin, what do you think of
the composite bats? Do bats like the Ultra 2 hurt the game in your opinion?
KH: You know, I have been
pondering that question for a while, I do not think that they hurt the game per se, but I do believe they hurt the team that
does not have them. For instance, last year we ran into a team that we had beaten soundly the first time we played them. The
second time, they had an Ultra2, this team that normally would not have been hitting the dirt spot. Suddenly, they became
hitting machines, not just with the Home Run, but with lasers to the gaps. We, of course, did not have the Ultra at the time,
and they ended up killing us. I think they are good in a way, but it is really not fair for those who do not have them on
the team.
7. Name some good and not so good thing about todays game of softball.
KH: I think some of the good things would be the fact that softball is like a brotherhood, teams will battle each other week
after week, but then become each others biggest fan during the big games. I think that it is good that softball is not
just a hobby, it has become more of a sport, and is very competitive for all levels. There are 2 things that jump to mind
that I do not like about the game. First, I do not like all the trash talking that teams think that they need to do in order
to play the game. They think that it is some sort of accomplishment to try and rattle the other team. For the most part I
have just tuned this type of action out, and have learned to not let it bother me, but it is very unprofessional, and cannot
be any good for the game itself. Second, I do not like the new rules and complications that governing bodies of softball are
trying to impose. I understand that they notice a dramatic decrease in participation of the game, but I think that they may
be forcing that issues themselves. Why cant we just get back to softball the way it was? You know, when it was simply
Softball?
8. If there were one thing you could change about the game of softball what would it
be?
KH: I may sound like a hypocrite after that last comment, but I do think that maybe the governing bodies
should look at applying this rule: I think that players should be sanctioned by class, and not just the teams. I am sure this
is a very difficult issue, but maybe some sort of card that players carry around that shows their classificationof course
this is not a perfect world, and you asked if there was anything I would change, so there it is.
9. Below
is a list of parks from this area. By using the 1-10 scale give each park a rating and explain the reason of your rating.
Huddy
Park: 4, I think that Donny has done great things with this place, but in my opinion, I just do not like the atmosphere up
there, I do like the infields, and the lights leave something to be desired. The biggest deterrent is the fact that there
are only 3 fields, so your bigger tourneys tend to run way late
Expressway Park: 10, I think that Expressway is
the ultimate complex for players and fans. The park is very people friendly and the owner seems to flood money into the upkeep
and improvements of the fields.
Green Mountain: 1, the only reason this dump gets a 1, instead of a 0, is the fact
that it has many stories of the past. There have been several upper and lower division players that have begun their career
there, so it does have some tradition. I am sure if you ask around, you will find some stories about the original Midnight
Madness tourneys of the past
Kenton Lakes: 2, The fields are OK, and the complex is OK at best. This place could
be much better, but John just does not seem to care about the place, and really has no desire to bring competitive softball
to Kenton Lakes
Rivershore: 10. There are a lot of people that knock the way Doug runs the park, but I think that
they are starting to see that he really has some good ideas. They will also notice some of the improvements that will start
taking place. The Shore is an A1 complex, is has a great design, and great atmosphere. Many people think that Doug has the
financial backing of Jay Conrad, and can just flood the dollars into the park, but that is not the case, with Doug it will
just take a while, but it will come together.
Riverstar: 5. However, I think that this stock is rising. Anything
will be better than The Mullet, and in fact I think that John Miller has some good plans and has started to put some of those
into affect. We will just have to wait and see if he follows through on those. (He needs to get rid of the sand that is down
there, and bring in real dirt J)
Eggelston: 10. This complex was a great place to play before Dave, but since Dave
has taken the reigns, it has skyrocketed to truly being The King of Diamonds. The competition out there is tremendous, and
the complex is awesome. They do need to add a dugout to the one filed that is missing one down the 3rd base line. (Dave may
have already done this, I have not been there in a while), but who can knock the clubhouse? State of the Art is all I can
say, all the way around the complex.
Rumpke: 7. Back in the day, this was THE place to play; now I think that if
not for a fading Metro, nobody would play there. I really loved going up there and playing twice a week. All the great teams
were there, always crowds of people; it was softball at its finest. I am not sure what happened, I would venture to guess
that Danny Saylor has run it into the ground, although I do not know the whole story. The Metro still has some of the glory,
and is still the best softball event in the area, but that is rapidly slipping away, I hope that they may some day recover,
and become THE place to play once again.
Pastime Park: 6 Pastime seems to be a good place to play, they get a really
competitive tourney draw, but the leagues seem to sag a little, all in all, it is not a bad place to play.
Queen
City: 4 It used to be a rock quarry, and you can tell. I am not really fond of the layout of the fields, and the one
fence is only about 260, (that can really hurt you in a D Tourney)
10. This is a new question that I havent asked
anyone yet. You are the first. In the same vein of the last question I am going to give you a list of names of topics relevant
to softball. You are going to be asked to give one word that best describes them.
NKY Extreme: Improving
Coaching:
Chaos (will not do it again)
Huddy Park: Location
Regulators: Fierce
Home runs: should be allowed in D (I know that
is more than one word, sorry).
Time limits for games: SUCK (there should not be a limit).
KY Blue: Quiet (Havent heard
from these guys in a while).
Rivershore: A1 (People will come around, they will be back)
John Tomlinson: BOMBS (John
is a great guy, and he can hit a ball)
Kevin Henn: AGING (I cannot do a lot of things I used to)
11. This is
a fill in the blank question. The biggest misconception about Kevin Henn is ___________?
KH: Some think I do
not get fired up for games, and thus they think I do not care. That is the furthest thing from the truth. I get kind of quiet
as a way to get into my own zone I have a ton of passion for the game of softball.
12. List your
top 5 in the "d" division.
1) Come Gets Em/ Silverleaf
2) Jeff Wyler
3) Tinas
4) Shakeys
5) Team Extreme
13. Below is a list of positions. Without using any NKY Extreme players, enter the players and
coach that you would put in these slots that in your opinion would best fit. This would be Kevin Henn's All-star team.
KH: Staying on the D Level, it would look something like this:
1B: Tony Wahl (Silverleaf)
2B: Cameron
Jacobs (Team Extreme)
SS: Brian Daniels (Shakeys)/ Cory Miller (Free Agent)
3B: Jeff Ellis (Tinas)/ Todd Houston (Jeff
Wyler)
P: Gary Bockweg (Jeff Wyler)
OF: Greg Laible (Silverleaf)
OF: Chris Malay (Team Extreme)
OF:
Matt Wells (Silverleaf)
OF: Tony Bauereis (NKY Extremesorry I had to do it)
C: Jimmy Gentry (Free Agent)
AH:
John Tomlinson (not here for defense, need his pop)
Coach: Mark Knue (Tinas)
14. Who in your opinion is the
most under rated player in the game?
KH: We have a guy on our team by the name of John Dehart, who is one heck
of a 2nd baseman, he is a wiley veteran, but is very quiet, so nobody even knows who he is, but man, that guy can play!
15.
Kevin, from seeing you play before you used to be one heck of a pitcher. But here in the last couple years you havent pitched
as much. Any reason behind this?
KH: Well, again thank you for the compliment. Pitching is what got me to the
Majors, and really what got me to where I am, I really love to pitch, I am very confident when I am on the mound. The
only problem is that, I could not field the middle as well as I needed to, so I thought maybe I was hurting the team. I may
talk to coach and let him know I would like to go back to the mound, I really would. For right now, I am concentrating on
playing the best 1st base I can, and I will pitch whenever needed, and the coach has used me in those types of situations
on the mound.
16. With so many teams out there with the term "Extreme" in their name. Are you guys
considering changing the name so you do not get mixed up with all of the other Extremes? I know you guys were one of the firsts
to have it.
KH: We have not considered changing our name; it is kind of annoying, but no big deal. When I came
up with that name several years ago, I looked on USSSA website, over the previous 3 years to see if any team had that name.
At the time, there were only 2, a team from California, and a team for Michigan, so I felt it was OK to use that name.
17.
Who would you say is the biggest rival of NKY Extreme?
KH: We kind of have a little rivalry going with the
Saints, although we have not fared well against them lately.
18. Kevin everyone who plays sports at
a high level usually has some type of idol or sports figure they idolize. Do you have one and if so who is he/she?
KH: I have always like John Elway simply because of his persistenceyou have to keep trying, and he did, eventually won 2 super
bowls, and goes down in history as one of the greatest
19. What bat are you currently swinging Kevin?
KH: I have been swinging my Easton Synergy, and the Furybut old faithful is the WS23
20.
For anyone who is reading this and doesnt know anything about Nky Extreme, what would you say to them to convince them that
you guys are a major player in the "D" division?
KH: Individually, at each spot we have great playerspeople
will realize when we begin playing as a team. With all the potential we have at each position, and the amount of young players
that we have, our talent level is off the chart; we just need time to gel together. When that happens, I think we may raise
a few eyebrows!
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