Quote:
Originally posted by ntxblue
Mike,
You're not going to get blasted by me. I never like to work more than the "two on one off" format. Unfortunately, there were several tournaments going on in the metroplex and it is getting more difficult for people to get out of their "real jobs" to go call softball.
I knew I was in trouble during my last game on Friday night. My indicator kept clearing itself in the middle of an at bat!!! Luckily, I was in the field.
Gary
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Your indicator must need a new battery
I don't know if you have ever seen one of my long-winded diatribes on other boards about tournaments situations, but what you noted above has always been a huge concern to me.
There are a load of softball whores out there whose sole concern is the number of guaranteed games whether your talking about a friendly or a national championship. And, of course, the tournaments must make room for just about anyone who wants to play whether they belong there or not.
I have no problems with game guarantees at the local level. However, during championship play, there are so many teams and only a limited number of fields, umpires and administrators, but the teams, managers and parents don't seem to understand that this isn't a small farm in Iowa where if you schedule games, fields and umpires will just appear.
For years, the umpire has been taken for granted. However, there are fewer and fewer umpires and they do not all have jobs that they can just take time off to work ball games.
Whether they (all inclusive, ASA, U-trip, NSA, AFA, ISA, ISC, USFA, etc, administrators, players, coaches, managers and parents alike) like it or not, an umpire is not a commodity that is manufactured and set on a shelf waiting for distribution to the nearest tournament.
Umpires have become a "resource" in the game of softball and should be treated as such. I have never been to a tournament where there is only so much ice, refreshments, fields, hours in the day to play games. There is only so much maintenance crews, coordinators, TDs, UICs can do with what is available.
Some softball teams and scouts (let's not forget them) act like top-shelf, self-promoting snobs who walk into a posh hotel receiving everything and demanding that much more and whining about how terrible everything was because THEY don't get every little thing THEY deem necessary. And this act plays in every complex and tournament from the local fundraiser to National Tournaments.
Speaking of which, even National Tournaments have lost their prestege because of the BS some of these coaches shovel. I was always under the impression, as a player and umpire, that playing for a National Championship was something you worked hard for and had proven you deserved to be there. Nowadays, just about any team can grab a berth to some of these tournaments and send their team "just for the experience." Forget that they may not even belong in the same state, let alone complex or field as their competition. I can appreciate them wanting their players to experience something special, but what good is experiencing getting your *** handed to you by teams who ask, "why did we have to waste our playing time against a team like that?" Forget they sucked up a field, scorekeeper and umpiring crews.
Last year at a One-pitch tournament sponsored by our local umpire association, we had a player who just started coaching his daughter's travel team. The tournament is in the fall, and basically a fun, open-roster tournament. One team didn't have enough players and opted to forfeit the remainder of their games. The newbie coach comes up to me and asked when the other team was showing up. When informed that they chose to forfeit the game, he asked about the game guarantee. I told him the forfeit was their game and he wanted to know if his team was getting a refund if they didn't get the guaranteed games.
I just walked out of the room, shaking my head. I guess he expected me to put a gun to the heads of the other team and kidnap them until they played the game.
I tell you folks, this is getting out of control and we will end up looking the worse for it. I'm not suggesting anarchy, but at some point, which I believe is already here, the demand is going to outweigh the resource.
JMHO, okay, okay....Just My Not So Humble Opinion