[quote=PeteBooth;689225]
Quote:
LL has "sold their soul"
LL is about one thing and one thing only - THEIR SHOW. They could care less what goes on during the regular season. They do not care that many LL organizations struggle to get umpires during the regular season because they have plenty come tournament time.
The SHOW is what IMO is keeping LL alive these days. Without the TV exposure, more and more LL organizations would most likely switch programs aka Ripken and the like which have a 50-70 program.
IMO, even a strong advocate of LL baseball should be outraged at what happened at Bristol. No matter how you slice it REPLAY was used to over-turn a call and that is AGAINST the rules. LL does what the heck they want.
Unfortunately it's NOT a kids game anymore when you use Replay etc.
Also, guess what! It's just a matter of time before we see PRO umpires doing the LL Regionals and World Series games.
Pete Booth
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I agree, Pete. LL really put their foot into the $hit bucket this time! The unfortunate thing is that the people who really care, the umpires that are really there for the kids, rarely get noticed at all. Most of the guys and gals that worked LL in my area (and did so for years) have left for local leagues, our HS Association or just don't bother anymore. They all say the same thing.... "It's not the 3 or 4 games on a Saturday or the make up games under the lights, it's the attitude of the parents, the coaches and LL itself.
This action in Bristol, I think will be the last straw for many others (especially here in CT). It's okay by me, our association will take them, train them and put them on the HS fields.