[WhatWuzThatBlue]

If you are looking for ethical considerations, you won't find in in any religious texts because that is not the ethical conduct to which I am referring. It is the ethical conduct of professionals and all sports officials whether they like it are not are participating in an profession that masquerades as an anvocation. Research the various codes of ethics for officials of organizations such as NASO, NFHS, ABUA, or IAABO; or the ASCE, ASME, NSPE, AMA, ADA, or AVA. I did, can you please tell us what section you are referring to? Where does it say that the umpire is bigger than the game?

The minor league umpires have not had a raise in over ten years. Even my wife understood that what the minor leages wanted the umpires to receive was not very much for the job they do. Would you go out today and umpire a H.S. baseball game for the same game fee that you received ten or fifteen years ago? I seriously doubt it. Try comparing apples to apples; plenty of our members go to work for the same wages they had years ago. LL hasn't raised the rates they pay umpires in...forever. The armed forces are receiving the same pay rate they did ten years ago. Hmmmm...

J. Dallas Shirley, would tell baseketball officials to never say never and never say always. So please do not say that you would never go on strike. There may come a day, and I hope you do not have to face that day, that you just might have to go on strike for some of the same reasons for which today's minor league umpires are stiking and I will bet dollars to donuts that you will be singing a different tune when a scab crosses a picket line to take your job. I loved that movie...Baseketball was terrfic. Those officials looked like they were having fun. Ohhhhhh, you meant another amateur sport...sorry, but my head is still spinning from the gibberish. Your sentence "There may come a day..." made some of Rut's look like Pulitzer stuff.

And the excuse that if the scabs do not umpire the games who will is the reason that we umpires should be supporting the striking umpires rather that experiencing the experience of a lifetime at the expense of the striking umpires. Take a breath and try multiple sentences. Even the IL President said that the games would still be played, no matter where they had to find umpires. The fact that they only had to look in their back yards tells a tale of woe for the AMLU. You keep insisting that these replacements are doing it for the experience of a lifetime. Why do you think they all won the lottery? When the MLB guys walked out, did those replacements work just for the experience or because they were the best available and were asked? The games still counted and a couple of those guys earned spots in the Show. Switch to decaf and stop reading what your union is sending you. Life is too short to think that one side is always correct.