LLWS umpires need to take a page from NFL refs.

[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".