Stance

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by Dave Hensley

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.

I agree that the 80/20 rule is probably in play in more situations than any sinister motive.

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.

So if an umpire isn't getting playoff assignments, it's due to the what the coaches who he has had think about him and not exclusion by the "big dogs." Interesting.