GarthB wroteSDS posted: "Of course, there are associations with Blue in the title, like your group, the Fox Valley Blues, and the group I was with last year, the San Diego Blues." (post 86)
PWL got the name right, the tense wrong.
Let me clear this up here. For the first 20 seasons of my umpiring life, I belonged to a fine, outstanding organization known as the San Diego County Baseball Umpires Association. It is an historic, famed group, which has produced quite a few major league umpires from its ranks.
Last season, I worked for a rag-tag group of smitties known as the San Diego Blues. I did this so I could work my little nephew's Minors games (I got to do one, total). This association is a badly run, unorganized group, with a dictatorial, draconian owner, president, chief of everything person. 90% of these umpires couldn't umpire JV Tiddlywinks on a good day.
This season, I'm not a member of any group, but when I refer to "my association," I mean the SDCBUA, which I will always consider myself associated with.
I posted the long list of umpire insults as a fun thing, not as any serious statement. I just thought everyone would enjoy reading it.