MLBU - what kind of program would you run

[Publius]

Originally Posted by GarthB

Perhaps this is a cultural difference between our societies, but we value individual initiative over group control.

Garth, YOU value individual initiative over group control. So do I. Our society certainly does not. Individual initiative only gets you in the door as a sports official now. Once you're in the room, group control is the model. You can't even get work now if you aren't part of "the group". The top goal of every association I've ever been in, from NCAA on down, has been not excellence, but uniformity. Guys who are average but conform get more and better games than guys who are good but nonconformist.

If individual initiative were so valued, there would be no "one right way" to reach the top (as in mandatory attendance at pro school for WUA umpires). We'd be graded solely on outcomes, not on methods.

If we as a people valued individual initiative in the USA, the Libertarians would beat the snot out of the Democrats and Republicans in every election.