Texas Brouhaha

[SAump]

Yesterday's Headline
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...n.3356204.html

The game fees at the bottom of the page may grab your attention.
Same discussion seen earlier this year on another forum.
The issue doesn't really concern me.

[johnnyg08]

how can paying an umpire by gate earnings dictate what they get paid? i get the "revenue" part...but talk about cutthroat. it makes no sense.

[Texas Aggie]

It makes sense in sports where there is both a ticket price and a crowd -- like football and basketball. The theory is that if you work a game in front of a bigger crowd, not only is it usually a bigger game, but requires more experience and skill (in most cases; there are always exceptions), and you should be paid more than one involving schools with nobody there. I've worked in front of big crowds and in front of nobody (in other sports), and I agree with this theory. The thing is, in baseball, even at what we think of as big time baseball schools in Texas, the crowds are often smaller than those at a freshman basketball game. Thus, the pay scale is flawed.

[johnnyg08]

yeah, in MN, it could be a big time game, but it might be 42 degrees out and windy. biggest game of the year...but no crowd. How would the Tampa Bay Rays umpires feel about that pay scale last year? (I know, MLB, salary, blah, blah) Ump game fares based upon crowd size...I've never heard of anything as crazy as that.

[Kevin Finnerty]

The fact that the major league baseball clubs and the players themselves give virtually nothing back to the game at the lower levels is an abomination. Umpires and coaches alike are not compensated enough to allow them to continue doing it sometimes. Fields are in sub-standard condition, and equipment is often poor to non-existent.

I worked a game at a dilapidated high school field that hasn't seen an improvement in 15 years. Every inch of the place is a s---hole. It is home to a team that wins LA city championships.

On the left field wall are the retired numbers of Jon Garland and Garret Anderson. To date, those two ingrates have been awarded combined career salaries totaling $110 million. There are some instances where a ballplayer comes back and helps the sport, but the percentage is astoundingly low. Garland and Anderson essentially pull in between 100 and 1000 times what they actually earn, but they can't even let their pocket change spill onto the field where they played.

Baseball has squeezed too much out of us for too long. Bud Selig needed to go away before it got this out of whack. If there isn't an awakening, the outcome may be quite sad.

[canadaump6]

Originally Posted by Kevin Finnerty

The fact that the major league baseball clubs and the players themselves give virtually nothing back to the game at the lower levels is an abomination. Umpires and coaches alike are not compensated enough to allow them to continue doing it sometimes. Fields are in sub-standard condition, and equipment is often poor to non-existent.

I worked a game at a dilapidated high school field that hasn't seen an improvement in 15 years. Every inch of the place is a s---hole. It is home to a team that wins LA city championships

Then when a college field is remade with the money of a Major League ballplayer, we find out that he is a steroid-using cheater and scumbag.

[Matt]

Originally Posted by johnnyg08

yeah, in MN, it could be a big time game, but it might be 42 degrees out and windy. biggest game of the year...but no crowd.

It doesn't even have to be bad weather. There are few schools here that draw a significant number of fans.

Strangely enough, the only school I know that has paid admission also has one of the best turnouts.

[tballump]

Why don't you ask some of the D1 Basketball officials for some help.

At least the High School Fees for baseball umpires are close to the fees for other sports.

The D1 basketball officials make $1000 per game. There was an article in the paper about a D1 basketball official who worked 124 games in 07-08 and made $124,000, $200 per day expenses, and flight pay from home & back for every game, so he pockets the return fee home since he goes from one school to the next without going back home. Hell, he could if he wanted, have a friend drive him to another site that is close by and pocket the full fare. These are walk-up plane fares so he probably makes another $80,000 this way for a total $200,000 or more per year. I'm sure the D1 baseball umps would love to come as close to the basketball guys, as the High School Baseball umpires do to their counterparts in other sports. That $200 per game and not pocketing the return flight pay, and only $50 per day expenses, is no where close (and yes, I got that economics lesson the last time I mentioned this) to basketball.