[PeteBooth]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Bfair
[B]In Pete Booth's last post in his thread regarding "ejections" he finished by discussing the need for uniformity among officials. Pete indicated lack of uniformity in ejecting while seemingly accepting that there is uniformity in APPLICATION of the rules. I don't necessarily agree.
He also offered a challenge to come up with another thread that could be well discussed.


BFair - just got back from vacation and have been catching-up on all the boards.

I think the main problem at least from my experience is POLITICS. I belong to 2 associations and in each one - the coaches have a say in who umpires their games. With that said - some guys merely "suck-up" to these guys (especially the more prestigious coaches) so they can get the playoff games.

The other factor and again I'm talking about the 2 particular associations I belong to is AVAILABILITY. The good umps are not necessarily the most available.

I think Peter makes the point I was trying to - in that if the game was called by the book in the first place - we all would have an equal chance of moving up - but this is reality here and we know that this is not the truth.

My recommendation is that one day we too (if we stick it out long enough) will be the "Big Doys" so to speak and perhaps then we can change things to better the associations we belong to.

Presently I do not get "to bent out of shape" if the association wants things a certain way - Hey they pay you and in Rome do as the Romans do.

Also, summer ball which is the reason I became certified in the first place is a different ballgame (no pun intended) altogether. There is a different assignor and there is more uniformity among the officials in summer ball.

Also, as Warren points out - the PRO Game is a "horse of a different color". Big business governs this and also the Players have a powerful union behind them. So IMO we really cannot compare the PRO Game to the Amateur Game.

Pete Booth