mental mistakes by umpires = ejections

[Sal Giaco]

I am new to this forum but having coaches pick umpires sounds a little scary to me. In my association, we have four evaluations submitted for every conference weekend from:

1. Crew Chief
2. Home School
3. Away School
4. Independent Evaluator

Ofcourse the experience/knowlwdge level of each evaluator (as well as the view point) can vary. However, the Supervisor of Officials considers the source when reading the written reports and between the four of them, can decifer how well the officating was for that particular weekend.

There's no doubt that coaches may have their own motives in mind when selecting umpires (some crew chiefs may also have their own motives in mind when writting evaluations) but the bottom line is the Supervisor of Officials is the one who should ultimately decide what umpires are assisgned to what games.

Part of the problem with coaches/schools deciding umpires is "Black Balling" or "Red Lining". In the past, if a coach had a problem with an umpire, he would not allow that official to work for that school. Thanks to our Supervisor, that practice has been eliminated and schools no longer have that power.

Bottom line, find a honest, fair individual with great people skills to represent your organization and have that person assign umpires, not coaches. Just my opinion