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I schedule umps for 2 youth leagues (Bronco and Pony). One of the guys who does games now and then told me, because he lives 30 minutes away, to make sure he is called in plenty of time if any games are cancelled. No problem....or at least I thought.
I was at the park in question doing a doubleheader this evening. Lightening forced us to cancel the first game and because it really looked bad we decided to forgo both games. The other league (Pony) decided to cancel their 8pm game because of the lightening. (At the time it was 6:45pm) Because of this ump's previous request, I immediately called his house. He was playing a softball game so I told his wife of the cancellation. She said she would try to contact him as there was no other way of getting ahold of him.
Later that night he was rather adamant about wanting to get paid for the game. He thinks he should get paid because: #1 He thinks the game should've been played anyway because when he got there the weather was fine. #2 It's not his fault there was no way of getting ahold of him. #3 He thinks someone should've gotten ahold of him sooner.
I feel as though I notified him in plenty of time (1 hour and 15 minutes) and I know not everyone has a cellphone but this man owns his own business. There could have been a multitude of reasons why a game is cancelled. The reason for the game (or games) being cancelled is not the issue at hand. Just east of us there were 2 coaches who were struck by lightening after all players were ordered off the field. They went on the field to see if it was playable (after the rain had stopped) and were both hit. One strike was fatal. So as you can see everyone is a bit cautious around here.
But I digress. This guy is a good ump and I too would want to be called in plenty of time but I personally think he is being unreasonable about this. I would like your opinions about any part of this situation. The president of the league told me that if he thinks he should get paid pay him and never use him again.
How do high schools or any other leagues handle cancellations in your area? Are there any written or unwritten rules about how far in advance one should notify an ump for a cancellation? What timeframe is reasonable in your opinion? Thanks.
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