LLWS umpires need to take a page from NFL refs.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by DeejABlu

Can you show that on the LL site?

Did you miss the part where it's OK to buy the umpires uniforms and gear?

http://www.littleleague.org/umpires/whereareumpires.htm

Keep new umpires’ costs down by supplying some or all the equipment they need. Don’t make them buy a bunch of equipment and uniforms at the beginning of their career.

Provide rule books, patches, equipment, etc., for umpires. Start with a community set of equipment that everyone uses. Then progress to those that return or agree to umpire so many games will get a mask, more games will get a chest protector, etc.

[MrUmpire]

Rich:

Surely you remember the Deej (FitUmp) and his partner Uninterested Ump and their tactics. Reality is futile.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by MrUmpire

Rich:

Surely you remember the Deej (FitUmp) and his partner Uninterested Ump and their tactics. Reality is futile.

Of course. What amuses me is he pulled his quotes from the same page I'm quoting. Not only is he stupid, but he's also completely dishonest, too.

[zm1283]

Originally Posted by aceholleran

Part of the problem here is that many of the Smittys we see on the field run the regional ump clinics. What can anyone learn from them?

A friend of mine went to one, led by a wizened WP bigwig ump. He took the whole weekend to read the rulebook to the class.

And on the "pay" thing, I think each league should arrange for their own umpires, paid or not. For all regional and WS tourneys, I think umps should have all expenses paid, including transportation.

As I've said before, many of these "veterans" wouldn't touch a Babe Ruth game, much less a high school tussle.

The upper echelons need more guys like Fronnie: experienced at various levels, but with a subspecialty in LL--knowledgeable of its vagaries.

I agree with the posters who, in essence, say, "It's on national TV, with the best youth players in the world. Why not have the best umpires?"

Ace
DustVest in storage

No, they are not the best youth players in the world. They are the ones who choose to participate in LL and form all-star teams to qualify for Williamsport. There are countless USSSA, NBC, etc. type teams who are every bit as good as the teams in the LLWS and actually play on a field meant for 13 year-olds. (The size of the field in LL is a joke. When almost every ground ball on the infield is a whacker at first, maybe your bases aren't far enough apart?)

There are 13 year-olds locally playing on high school fields during the summer, and the teams aren't even that good. If they can do it, these "elite" teams in Williamsport can at least play on 70 foot bases and move the mound and fences back more.

I just can't get with LL. The way ESPN covers the LLWS, the cheesiness of the whole thing, the dumb rules, the field (already mentioned), and the umpiring just make the whole thing pretty goofy.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by DeejABlu

Cheesy sells. Cheesy is what you get for LL umps who "volunteer" when they can call almost any other ball and get paid a decent wage.

Some of us see umpiring as more than a job.

Many people volunteer time to, say, build a house for Habitat for Humanity. How many people go up to them and say, "Shame. Builders could be making $30 an hour building this house. Why are you doing it for free?"

Lots of kids can't afford to pay travel-sized registration fees to play baseball. The local Little League is a place to go where all kids are welcome. If you don't want to donate some time to umpire these games, that's fine. I won't hold that against you. But why hold my choice of community service and charity against me? It's my time, not yours.

[asdf]

Originally Posted by RichMSN

Some of us see umpiring as more than a job.

Many people volunteer time to, say, build a house for Habitat for Humanity. How many people go up to them and say, "Shame. Builders could be making $30 an hour building this house. Why are you doing it for free?"

Lots of kids can't afford to pay travel-sized registration fees to play baseball. The local Little League is a place to go where all kids are welcome. If you don't want to donate some time to umpire these games, that's fine. I won't hold that against you. But why hold my choice of community service and charity against me? It's my time, not yours.

Bad analogy. Most HFH volunteers are tied to the corporate world and get paid for the time they miss from work.

In addition, if a HFH volunteer cannot perform a task at hand, they are removed from said task.

Little League wants to look "big time" with their prime-time telecasts and all the "feel" of a big time event. (replay, mic-ed umpires, slo-mo cameras...etc) Having substandard umpires makes them look silly.

But then again, they have no problem with showing the whole world that they are silly.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by asdf

Bad analogy. Most HFH volunteers are tied to the corporate world and get paid for the time they miss from work.

In addition, if a HFH volunteer cannot perform a task at hand, they are removed from said task.

Little League wants to look "big time" with their prime-time telecasts and all the "feel" of a big time event. (replay, mic-ed umpires, slo-mo cameras...etc) Having substandard umpires makes them look silly.

But then again, they have no problem with showing the whole world that they are silly.

I can only control myself and my small sphere of influence. I worked a game on ESPNU (as in U probably don't get it) this past weekend and I'd challenge anyone watching to think we were a bunch of untrained buffoons. Of course, we only had one game televised and it's possible to hide a few guys (and also disappoint a few others who were quite qualified) when you only have one game shown. When all the games are shown, you have to, IMO, tighten the requirements. BUT...

I don't think the problem improves by paying Little League umpires. You still have a selection process where local DAs make recommendations for regionals and regional UICs recommend umpires (or don't recommend umpires) for WS appointments. I know that everyone was "recommended" from my regional and I get the impression very few, if any, are "not recommended".