[Kaliix]

It seems to me that "Hector" is trying to play you and the board. If he had three months to bring this up before the scheduled dates and did not request an excusal in advance, then he should not be allowed to umpire in the playoffs.

The fact is that there were two dates. If attending the training was important to him, he almost certainly could have schedules his family meeting for earlier or later in the day. But the excuse for missing the training is secondary. He absolutely should have addressed this before missing the training. If he had, he would have known that he was either, 1)excused or 2)not excused and then he could have made an informed decision as to what he wanted to do.

By requesting a "bye" after the fact puts the board in an akward position which is exacerbated by his heart tugging excuse. Quite honestly, I am having trouble believing it. If they meet every Sunday to commemerate his sisters lose, they have serious issues. That not withstanding, if they do it every week he could have either rescheduled or missed one if the training was that important to him. If they were commemerating the anniversary of her death, he had two different weeks to choose from and one wouldn't have conflicted.

Bottom line is that this should have been addressed prior to the training. Since it wasn't, he did attend, so he doesn't get playoff games. That sends a message to the membership that the training IS in fact mandatory and it should be noted to the membership that these matters need to be addressed BEFORE the fact, not after.

And what is up with the "secret vote"? Debate it and stand up for your beliefs instead of hiding behind a secret ballot. Geez!