How about an opinion:

[johnnyg08]

I'm torn on this one too. Whenever I receive poor feedback on an umpire is was about a judgment call that didn't go their way, some player blows a gasket, gets ejected and that team never wants to see him again, because he's terrible.

I think it's good politics to solicit coach/manager opinions, ultimately in my eyes, it really doesn't count for much.

If an umpire ends of getting a really easy game, he might not be the greatest umpire, but since it was an easy game, he is seen as a "great umpire"

I have leagues that request to see certain umpires and other leagues that don't want him doing their games. That does not make sense in my eyes. The lack of consistency on his performance makes it tough to pull a guy from the schedule. However, when multiple leagues request to not see a particular umpire, then I feel like I need to get out there and do an observation.

I got in hot water last year when I assigned a guy to work a playoff game that they specifically requested to not have, I sent him out there anyway, because based upon my evaluations, their feedback did not justify pulling him off of the playoff assignment.

Great post Tim...this will be a good thread.