[BlueLawyer]

But I believe that eventually, probably in my lifetime, there will be a woman on the full-time MLB staff. Ditto for the NFL (even though they aren't full-time, but you get my drift). Not as sure about the NHL, but I don't see why not. Some woman will make it through all the hoops and meet all the "objective" criteria and she will make it. And bully for her.

As with most pioneers, doing something for the first time as a woman/African American/Native American/child/senior citizen/whatever takes a combination of the right person in the right circumstances. Pioneering is hard work. Ria didn't completely break new ground; as pointed out several times on this board, Pam Postema (and to some extent, Bernice Gera before her) did whole lot of that work.

I think there are many people on this board, me included, who have known released umpires and wonder what the hell PBUC was thinking when they released. I don't know Ria so I can't say that for her, but I have known it of other umpires.

The ways of the PBUC are not yours to understand, Grasshopper. They are yours to accept.

I wish Ria the best. If she wants to continue to umpire, I sincerely hope some college association takes a good, hard, serious look at her. I imagine she'd be an asset to most conferences and associations.