Stance

[Dave Hensley]

Originally Posted by GarthB

Paul,

So you're accusing Dave of being involved in cheating, plus some other things you "will not go into."

I'm amazed. I've never known Dave to be anything less than honest, even when we disagree.

Hey guys. I've been absent from this forum for a couple of weeks. As PWL mentioned, I didn't take a high school schedule this year due to a change in my job situation that has me traveling frequently and on short notice. I made the first few meetings of the year, but when it came time to fish or cut bait on committing to my availability to get a schedule, I cut bait.

I think PWL is referring to a perception of "good ol' boy" politics in the association he and I are members of. What I know is that the same handful of veterans have held most of the officer positions for a long time. My opinion is that that is really just a reflection of the 80/20 rule - 20% of the people in any volunteer organization end up doing 80% of the work, rather than any conscious effort on their part to exclude new blood from coming in.

Most playoff assignments are the result of coaches' requests, a practice I find somewhat peculiar but not particularly sinister. It does, though, I think make it tougher for the newer umpires to gain the necessary familiarity to get playoff assignment requests.

As for PWL's speculation that some members are skirting the meeting attendance rules without penalty, I think he's probably right. There are over 100 association members, but rarely are there more than 30-40 at any given meeting. The sign-in sheet is basically on the honor system, so he may be right that some guys are getting ghost-signed in without attending. I have never asked anyone to sign me in, nor have I ever signed in someone else.