Partners

[charliej47]

I work for multiple assignors and this year I have shown up for my High School games at least 45 minutes prior to start time for every game. I have been fortunate that all of my games assigned this year were close to the Interstate and I could get to them quickly.

I always carry all of my gear and extra uniforms.

More than once this year my partner has shown up late, as in 5 or 10 minutes of start time. Once it was after the plate meeting (traffic held him up).

I still try to do some type of pre-game conference.

At least once I refused to go onto the field until my partner changed his shirt and I had to let him use one of my spares.

I have had partners that looked like they just came from a drinking binge and acted like it too.

I have reported these occurrences to the assignors along with the specifics.

More and more I am running across people who state they are only there for the money and don’t want to cause any problems and when the games start they constantly only make the ”safe” calls. I have had veteran officials state that they no longer care what they are doing and are only there for the money. This is occurring at top level games as well as the “REC” level.

I primarily do Varsity level with a couple of JV and one or two Freshmen games every year. I never complain about game assignments as I am usually having fun at every game I work.

I am at a loss as to why this is happening.

I have also noticed that as I get older, the average age of those officiating keeps increasing.

[kylejt]

Originally Posted by charliej47

I am at a loss as to why this is happening.

Times are tough, and what was once a fun hobby, has turned into a supplimental paycheck. Plus, umpires are still in demand, so assigners can't be that picky any more.

I go and watch local HS games, and am shocked how bad some of these guys are. Raw rookies working Freshman games solo. Guys that I wouldn't put on a LL minors game. It's a shame, but really, who's availible at 3pm on a Tuesday? The retired and unemployed.

[Kevin Finnerty]

Sure, the demands are tremendous, but at least the pay is low.

[piaa_ump]

Originally Posted by kylejt

I go and watch local HS games, and am shocked how bad some of these guys are. Raw rookies working Freshman games solo. Guys that I wouldn't put on a LL minors game. It's a shame, but really, who's availible at 3pm on a Tuesday? The retired and unemployed.

and there it is...........its not the best umpire........its the most available umpire.......

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by kylejt

I go and watch local HS games, and am shocked how bad some of these guys are. Raw rookies working Freshman games solo. Guys that I wouldn't put on a LL minors game. It's a shame, but really, who's availible at 3pm on a Tuesday? The retired and unemployed.

I've found that the above holds true for basketball also at the NAIA and D3 level for games scheduled at mid-afternoon during the week. There's some officials being assigned to these games simply because of their availability that really don't have the experience/ability yet to handle a solid high school varsity schedule. I've seen officials with only 2-3 years or so of experience working at this level. They can get away with it if they're assigned with solid partners, but if not..... Unfortunately, because they're getting these games, some of them also think they should be getting top-level high school games and can't understand why they're not.

Note that I said "officials" and not "guys". That was done on purpose.

[PeteBooth]

[QUOTE=charliej47;677457]

More and more I am running across people who state they are only there for the money and don’t want to cause any problems and when the games start they constantly only make the ”safe” calls. I have had veteran officials state that they no longer care what they are doing and are only there for the money. This is occurring at top level games as well as the “REC” level

I am NOT condoning the behavior but I UNDERSTAND it. I believe most of these type officials ORIGINALLY started out with good intentions BUT here is what most likely happened.

1. The umpire association got tired of paper-work when you dump some-body meaning they didn't back up their officials. Coaches calling and complaining about a crucial OBS / Interference call and then having to explian themselves. Etc. etc.

2. Tired of the OVERALL BS that comes from TODAYS game.

As mentioned NOT Condoning it but understand it.

I have also noticed that as I get older, the average age of those officiating keeps increasing

HS games start at the 4PM or so hour. Therefore, you have to have a job that allows you to get time off or you are finished at around 1:30 2 ish.

For the most part when you are young and have a family it's difficult to get a job that is conducive for HS ball. What you see today is officials getting HS certified but do not officiate during the HS season. They get certified so they can umpire summer ball where there are many games on the week-ends and under the lights.

Therefore, for the most part there is not too much "young blood" during the HS season.

Pete Booth

[yawetag]

Originally Posted by kylejt

It's a shame, but really, who's availible at 3pm on a Tuesday? The retired and unemployed.

Most of our games start at 4 or 4:15 (very few at 4:30). Last year, I worked until 3, which could get me to game sites around 3:30 -- plenty of time to get ready. This year, I work night shift, so I just have to wake up in time to get there.

If the high schools want better umpires, get lights and start the games around 6pm. They do the same for football and basketball.

[charliej47]

I guess we are fortunate here in SW Ohio as our games start at 4:30 or 5PM during the week.

I usually get off work at 3PM.

I was fortunate this year in that most of my game assignments were close to the Interstate highway system and that allowed me to get to my games about 45 minutes prior to games time every day.

The farthest I had to travel this year was about 25 miles from work and that was over major state highways.

[Rich]

Our games here start at 4:45PM or 5PM. I usually ride with my (regular) partner, so we arrive about 20 minutes or so before game time (we shoot for 30 minutes and usually miss that target by a few minutes). Absent a flat tire, I've never been late for a game.

We have jobs. I'm not showing up an hour beforehand to sit around and watch the teams warm up. I'm dressed and ready to hit the field to check the bats 5 minutes before the plate meeting.

Basketball and football? I'm there an hour or more before. They also play at night, when my work day is over.

[grunewar]

Game last night was scheduled to start at 6:30.....ump was late (we only had one, great (sarc)) and we began at 6:48. Some officials (parents, players) will be late no matter what time the game is supposed to start......

I coached for many yrs. It didn't matter if the game was a Tues night at 5:30 or a Saturday morning at 8:00, the same kids/parents were always late.......

I do agree in some areas it is certainly tough and you get what you can.

I have been one of the fortunate one's to be able to take earlier games for the past few yrs. Unfortunately, times are changing for me at the office and next season should be very interesting.....and not in a good way.

[MD Longhorn]

I've said it before and I'll say it again... and I say it at every meeting I can.

If high schools would learn that a LOT of good officials have day jobs, and they are severely limiting their pool of officials when they schedule their games at 3, then the problem would fix itself. These poor schedulers are stuck assigning whoever they can find when games consistently start that early.

[BaBa Booey]

Umpiring is not easy for everyone. There are those who go to the 5 week schools and by the end of week 5 still don't know what they're doing. And that's after doing nothing but umpiring for 5 weeks. In my local association here, we have about 3-4 techniques and mechanics meetings all year, and generally those get sidetracked into "what do I do if I have a light blue shirt but my partner has a dark blue shirt" conversations. This is not a full-time job for most and the majority of people a) think they are doing a good job when they're not b) don't care c) simply don't have a lot of extra time to go to clinics or really work on their game d) try hard but simply will never get it.

I don't think this is anything new. I think that we see more officials getting better training and so the bad ones stick out more than they used to. But they have always been there and will always be there no matter what time the game starts.