[bkbjones]

The typical shortage of umpires across the nation, and likely the world, means we have to look at things like the old Eastwood movie: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. There is a place for the Ugly. There is a place for the Bad. There is a place for the good.

I would hope that other associations would feel free to at least copycat what we do if not more. (This ain't to say Seattle is perfect, but we try our best.) We have "clinics" of some sort at every meeting. Our last one was simply breaking into small groups and discussing 4-5 questions gleaned from the test. There was good give-and-take and discussion. We've used powerpoints, live demos, a little bit of everything. I'm sure most associations do something similar. Unfortunately, too many folks don't glean from what they have heard nuggets they need to make themselves better.