If this forum was an umpire association meeting
 

I have been lurking in this forum for a few years hardly posting at all. Lately as the season has started back, I have attended the dreaded umpire associations for my local high school and college associations. I have never been one to be loud and obnoxious, rather, I sit back and watch the other umpires bicker and swap stories hoping their ego's will grow larger than the one sitting next to them. I often wonder why this is, why these older men, (I am 23) sit in their cliques and try to be rulebook laywers on everything. Does anyone else feel this way when they go to their local association meeting? Also, I was thinking, I wonder who in this forum would be an obnoxious, egotistical, rulebook lawyer, and who would be in the back quietly teaching other umpires true knowledge.

Simple answer - the Internet is an anonymous place, making it simple to hide behind a facade. People will say things in e-mail or an anonymous forum they would never dream of saying face to face.

The HS association I belong to REQUIRES two years of classroom training (which also now includes a lot of mechanics work on the field too!) as well as 3 more years after that of "advanced training". You are not required to attend the advanced training, but the commissioner has made it clear that by not doing so, you will see that reflected in your assignments.

I think this 5 years of training has opened the eyes of some of the old timers in the association, and that they will either work towards improvement, or at least not complain when they are not assigned at the level they think they should be.

This year, our association is making a discernable effort to make the meeting more professional, and thus, possibly shorter, and the material presented more clear!

If anything, that was always my beef before, that the material was not presented very clear, then you get a bunch of people adding their war stories on top of information that is being misinterpreted because of a weak presentation. It add's up to a big ol' mess.

We shall see if this year things improve. So far, the first meeting of the general membership seemed to go well. I will reserve judgement on the advanced training until they can get a few more things ironed out in how they present their agenda.

I've been in those kind of association meetings; nothing gets accomplished.

Thankfully the association that I've been part of the past 10 years doesn't waste a lot of time with "war stories." We're all about trying to teach mechanics and rules and mainly to get the guys in the book and learn for themselves.

I would be the type that sits back and rlistens a lot, but is certain to speak up with I see a misapplication. That's the problem with too many umpires that I've been around - they know "most" of the rules, but are frequent to misapply some that have changed through the years etc.,

Thanks
DAvid

If this forum was an umpire association meeting...

I'd be ready for pizza and beer when it was over!

I posted this last week on another thread, but our association tends to stay on-point and follow a set agenda. The "what-ifs", war stories and third world plays are kept to a bare minimum and saved for after the scheduled topics are covered. And for the pizza and beer session that follows!

I've been in some associations where things quickly degenerate into "I know more than you know", ego-driven drivel. What a waste! With the limited time associations have for training there are much more productive ways to spend the meetings.

Maybe our meetings are not typical of what other areas have. Our normal Monday night routine, weekly from February through March:

Main hall/auditorium: Class one officials, numbering about 200. A set agenda of topics is covered each week. This is presented via Power Point presentation and a projection system set-up on the stage in front of the auditorium.

Gymnasium: Advancement classes for class two umpires wishing to advance to class one status. About 50 participants.

Class room: Classes for beginners seeking to become class two, OHSAA certified umpires (ie: raw meat!). Also has about 50 participants.

Every week we have three separate groups going, with each geared to the needs of the various groups. Our total association membership is about 400, which includes active members as well those that retain "honorary" membership (retirees, college, minor league and even one major league umpire).

I listen first and only when I can add to the conversation/discussion do I verbalize. I learn more that way.