Anybody here going to Marietta Georgia for the 18U Gold Nationals?
Serg

Yes, I will be there. Also, my son is going (he turned 21 today). I can't wait are you flying in? I live in South Georgia and will be staying in the Holiday Inn with you.
Look me up when you get there. My name is Greg. I thought I recognized your name from the list B.Sullivan sent out. Jim Craig is an excellent UIC and the Cobb Co. people really take care of you. I have been to 3 nationals in Cobb and they get better each time.

[Edited by goldcoastump on Aug 4th, 2004 at 03:55 PM]

Congrats on your selection to the 18U Gold Nationals!!

A great tourney to work...got my chance last year when it was on the West Coast.

Hope you get selected to work on Sunday!

Hi Greg. My wife and I will be driving. We should be arriving around 5 or 6 Sunday nite. Look forward to seeing you there.

LT, Thanks. Hope to get selected for Sunday also.

Serg

I just checked the ASA site and it looks like the tournament is the 9-15th. I might have to stop by just to watch a little ball... it is only about a 2-2½ hour drive for me.... and being that I am having withdrawals having only called one double header since the end of high school ball.

I wonder if Elaine will be stopping by. It's her neck of the woods.

Con grads on being selected to Ump the Tournament. Jim Craig is a good teacher. I just wish I was there next weekend to watch.

Have fun and drink alot of water.

Hey all! I hope to get out to the tourney at least 1 day. It is about 55 miles from my house in SE Metro Atlanta out to the site in NW Atlanta Metro.
ATTENTION! When you come in or are driving around, allow for extra drive time as Atlanta traffic is especially bad around the Cobb County area.
I've called 4 ASA Nationals in Cobb, and they treat the umpires like royalty! At the Lost Mountain complex, golf carts take you to and from the fields. Wonderful air conditioned room in GYM, clean bathrooms and showers! Great food, beverages, fruit!
Buy a BIG water bottle and keep it filled. Drown yourself in water before, during, and after games as it will be VERY hot and humid.
I'll try to write down everyone's name, but if I forget, I may just come into the Umpire room and say "Hey, I'm Lady Blue!" and see how many of you say "hey" back. I'm really overweight now with auburn hair and I'm 54. LOOK for me.
I don't know Jim Craig, but I've heard good things about him.
If you meet other Atlanta folks, just tell them I'm your on line umpire buddy! Good Luck and have fun! :>)

Elaine Manross
(worked with Gwinnett Umpires and North Metro Umpires)

Wish I could meet some of you at this tournament in Marietta. We have one from Augusta going to the national in Atlanta, His name is Cameron. He is a good umpire. Take care of him for us, we need him back!! ha ha ha. We start high school fastpitch next week. Please send him back.. ha ha ha

Like LadyBlue said" Drink plenty of water!!!!!!!!!!!"

Need some help from those heading to Marietta.

There is a scandal-rumor among the coaches about an additional team being permitted to partake in the 18U Gold in spite of ASA's 64 team limit. The team seems to be the Miami Valley Express from Region 9.

Of course, the argument is ASA burying their head in the sand while it may actually be an appeasement to avoid legal action which could possibly delay the entire tournament.

I have absolutely no idea what the story is and would appreciate you keeping you ears to the ground for any additional info you can gather.

Thanks,

my guess is that you would be right about the legal action.. That would be the only thing that would make sense

Mike,

The scoop that I heard is that, yes, an additional team was entered in the tournament. That team is the Miami Valley Express. Apparently, they were told by their commissioner and JO commissioner that they were a Region 10 team, therefore, they went to the Region 10 qualifier. Upon arrival, they found out that they were in fact a Region 9 team, and therefore, were not allowed to participate. They couldn't participate in the Region 9 qualifier because it was held about 2 weeks prior. So Ron Radigonda used his "executive director" power and got with the team's lawyers and allowed the Miami Valley Express entry into the Gold nationals, thus, raising the team field to 65, even though ASA code says maximum of 64. Ron must have felt that the team was being penalized for a mistake on the part of ASA.

My only question (like others) is: Did this team only plan on entering just one qualifier with the hopes that they would get the bid without having to go to another qualifier? My expreience has told me that you enter as many qualifiers as financially possible with the hopes that out of all the qualifiers, you will get a bid somewhere. Oh well. Guess we'll see some after action at the next council meeting in regard to this.
Serg

All you blues going to Marietta, keep me posted on
how the Beaumont Blast team does.

And congrats to the blues going.

Thanks

I heard the same thing Sergio heard about appeasing the Miami team. If I hear anything further I will report unless I am asked not too.

wrt "Apparently, they were told by their commissioner and JO commissioner that they were a Region 10 team"
- umpires on the field have to get it right w/o being able to look it up or make phone calls.

I called up the Lost Mountain Complex yesterday and asked for Sergio---and he came to the phone!!! I am going to try to get out there on Friday. He hadn't met Scott from Tampa, but had discussions with an Atlanta umpire on his crew about me.
(I wonder what the Atlanta ump said, as I helped train him)
LOL

http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/Gif/krusty.gif

Serg is a great ump
 

I have had the opportunity to watch Sergio ump and man is he good.
However, don't follow him down the road, the local cops don't like him.
Actually, he got a ticket while following me to the fields.

It is a good tournament so far,

The first disqualification happened today, Team Florida was protested on player eligibilty and the protest was upheld.

Hmm, interesting things are happening.

Scott

Kinda goofy to get that far and not have your business in order

Darrell,

This happens a lot, from what I understand. Just like teams that don't believe ASA will enforce uniform rules at the national level.

They figure it's just in the book and no one really cares and no one will bother to check since, after all, it is just another tournament. Standard lazy american attitude.

Then when the rules and code are enforced, you hear the poor, poor, pitiful me whining and "how can you do that to the children, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera!

With a hint of irony, the ASA national I just worked told us to be "lenient" on uniforms...tell teams about it for the first few days, then worry about it later. Same was true for pitching rules, etc.

Glad to know that it was "just another tournament."

Ive been lucky... every national Ive been to has been a stickler for the rules as far as teams, and quality performance as far as umpires. if youre gonna have the rules..enforce them

Don't get me wrong, the umpires were excellent...one of the best groups I've ever worked with...but like you said, if you're gonna have the rules, enforce them.

UIC
 

FUBLUE, Both you and I know who your UIC was and YOU cannot be surprised by those suggestions. Sometimes I don't think it's the organization as much as the individuals representing them. You can see it in the way they run the tournament, officials and rules. No guts, no bumps, no tough decisions...no problems. Our National UIC told us to watch uniforms as far as pants, shirts, & hats were concerned and enforce the book. Whewwwww, Thank Goodness !

FU....No surprise on our part.

Actually, the uniforms are not the umpire's call. They are the enforcer, but the TD & ASA Rep make the call on what to enforce, not the UIC.

I have actually had a game stopped and, as the 1st base umpire, I was told to inform F4 to either pull up his non-conforming compression shorts, remove them or provide a substitute.

I think if you are going to enforce something, you enforce them all the way through a tournament. Let them get away with it at any time, and the teams will just throw it back in your face whether referring to uniforms, rules or anything else.

Uniform ???
 

Compression shorts ? We were working something other than ASA ?

No, really, here's another one...

ALL ball and strike calls should be the same volume, no matter where the ball is in relationship to the strike zone. Strike three should differ only by the motion (KO move). Swear to me that is what someone we both know said to do.

Re: Uniform ???
 

Nope, it was ASA Men's A Industrials in Lakeland, FL about 8 years ago.

Well, now that the tourney is over...how was it?

I'm sure there were some "interesting" situations and discussions.

LT

I went out to the Gold on Friday afternoon about 2:30 and stayed until about 9:45. I had the pleasure of watching some great ball and also Sergio and Scott. They are GREAT umpires and very nice fellows.
However, (and I may get in hot water for this) there were some 'home town' umpires that no business calling a Gold.
One of them is an umpire that when calling HS ball at DD's HS was so AWFUL that folks had to peel me off the fence! http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/mic...ingsoldier.gif Another has no business even calling above a 12U A National, much less a Gold. Oh well, politics still abound profusely. http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/Gif/beaker.gif
I did sign up for next year with our Atlanta UIC to help our Metro numbers whether I call or not.
I had a great time meeting and greeting and watching some great games. One of which was Georgia Elite which was in the top 5! I watched them beat OC Batbusters (Haning) Saturday night in a Kodak moment ITB in the 8th.
Also saw Jack Mowatt from D.C. who I almost didn't recogize as he's put on many pounds since I saw him last.
All the umpires I spoke with from out of Atlanta really enjoyed the excellent treatment by the hosting park; said it was the best they'd ever had! (I knew it already, lol after doing many tournaments & Nationals at Lost Mountain)
I'm anxious to hear comments from Sergio and Scott.
So, what are you waiting on fellows??

Elaine, I don't understand why you would come on this forum and throw down on your so-called fellow umpires. I was an umpire at the Gold and "yes" there were a few guys who were not that strong, but it's not good to be running folks down when we as umpires are our only friends. Over-all everybody did a pretty good job. By the way, congrad's to Serg for making it to Sunday.

[Edited by goldcoastump on Aug 16th, 2004 at 09:08 AM]

Well, my wife and I just got back to Tidewater VA this morning at around 3AM. We were planning on leaving Marietta around 7 or 8 in the morning yesterday (Sunday), but I was totally surprised at Saturday nite's umpires party when I was selected as one of nine umpires to work on Sunday. I had the pleasure and honor of working the loser's bracket final.

As for our hosts, what can I say. Even though this is only my second nationals, I have never been treated as good as the Cobb County people treated us. They made sure we were very well fed, and taken care of, both on and off the fields. My hats off to not only Cobb County Parks and Recreation people, but to the local umpires who were on hand to help in taking care of us. Outstanding job!

I was also very excited in meeting other great umpires! I learned alot this past week. The great thing is the friendships that were built. Everybody there was more than happy to help everybody else.

Finally, it was truly a great pleasure to work with our Tournament UIC, Jim Craig and Assistant UIC, Carl Monroe. They are truly outstanding people. I sure would hate to have being in Jim's shoes, as he had to cut the list of umpires from 48 great umpires to 24 for Saturday, and then to 9 for the finals on Sunday.

Again, thank you guys in Cobb County, fellow tournament umpires, and you guys here on this board. There were some situations that came up that I remembered from this board, and boy did a smile come to my face when I said, "I've got this one."

Oh yeah, almost forgot. I did enjoy meeting fellow "online blues" there, like Elaine (LadyBlue), Scott, "bagman" and others.

OK Scott, your turn!
Serg

Have no problem...
 

Goldcoastump, I have to support "Elaine, Lady Blue" here on the comments she made. Elaine made no mention by name of the umpires she felt did not belong at the "Gold" level. We all know that politics unfortunetly are very much part of the real umpiring world and if you don't believe they are I have to think that your head is in the sand. See no evil, hear no evil, say no evil ???. Sometimes it's only our friends who can say the things needed to other friends before they step back and take a look at themselves ? It's very discouraging also when I have friends and fellow umpires go to Nationals deserving very much so to work Sunday's and don't get the chance because of the "home town" umpires.

I don't believe any "hometown umps" made it to Sunday. Only two women umpires in the tournament and they made it to the Semi and Final Game. This is what seems unfair to me. Though that is not to say that both of these ladies were not outstanding umpires, they were, but it is discouraging when this happens in every female FP tournament I go to. I would like to add here that both of these ladies were great umpires and I don't mean anything personal toward them. Sergio made it to the losers bracket final and he deserved it (Congrad's). I had the pleasure of working with him the first day.

[Edited by goldcoastump on Aug 16th, 2004 at 10:52 AM]

From what I understand, half the umpires didn't see Saturday.

I can appreciate what Elaine is stating. I've been to tournaments when you wonder how one of the umpire ever got to that level.

Although they may be friends, when you're on that field, you need an umpire who knows their stuff and not let you hang out to dry. Been there, have had that done to me and the worse part is that when one umpire screws up, it is often the umpire who breaks from the mechanics trying to cover a play that looks bad. And that is not a good thing, expecially at a National.

Mike.. I hear you..I worked a national 3 years ago where neither of the two umpires I was crewed with for 2 days had ever worked 3 man mechanics. I spent the entire time teaching and covering them.., but several mistakes were made. I got an early Sunday game...and they got nothing.

Well...I worked a national 4 years ago where my partners(!) didn't know the three person system. I had the plate every time I worked with the (three times in two days). I ended up getting caught trying to direct traffic and cover for them (Bases loaded, two out, ball hit to outfield and both go out) and had to call a play at second that was the third out and then had to explain to coach that runner wasn't across the plate from my angle when tag-play happened at second). Guess who worked Sunday...yep, both them. Guess who didn't? Yep, me.

GoldCoast,

I only tell the plain truth, and I always have. Umpires are NOT my only friends. I am a former coach & had 2 daughters play from 1980-2003. I've seen more ball, played more ball, coached more ball and umpired all forms of ball probably than you.
I just feel as an umpire and parent that 18U GOLD should have the very best umpires in JO ball, and that wasn't the case. I'm sorry you don't see my point of view. Yes, you and I know who each other are, but you don't KNOW me. http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/mica/chimp.gifOverall, the umpires I saw work did a good job, but I still feel a few shouldn't have been there.
I love this game and always will, I don't like the politics involved and never will. However, it's not my call who umpires a certain tournament or not, but it is my call whether I would want to work with certain blues, and there are some I prefer NOT to go on a field with.
BTW, I'm not throwing down! If I did, you would know it.
http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/mica/rantoff.gif

fublue..my point was that I ONLY got an early sunday game because we were graded poorly as a crew.

Elaine,
I didn't mean any to sound so harse, but some of your comments caught me off guard. I have called with you before and I know you know the game. (Greg Barfield) I just did not see the bad officiating you spoke of, of course I did not do much spectating as we were one on one off all day. Every game I watched I saw someone break coverage at least once, even the best umpires. You develope a kinship with your crewmates and even though I thought 2 or 3 of them should not have called that level ball I still tried to respect them. You are right not everyone is prepared to call that high intensity ball, and it was intense. Every call you make is under pressure, but thats why I love this game.

Again no disrespect,
Greg

I understand that. It's a falacy of getting graded as a crew. It's stupid to grade that way.

Easy does it......
 

Elaine, Chill with the Caps. Your taking these forums/comments far to personal. No one is questioning your experience, your opinions or love of the game. I think that goldcoastump when mentioning "friends" was speaking of when we are on this forum or on the field. Not speaking for goldcoastump but merely giving my view of his comments or at least how I took them. Speaking of politics you made an interesting comment that you dont like them (99% of us don't) but yet though you state " I did sign up for next year with our Atlanta UIC to help our Metro numbers whether I call or not". Isn't this sorta "playing the politics game" ? I smile while I type this because we all get sucked into the "politics" in some small way. While I Type I also want to CONGRADULATE" the Indiana Umpire who worked the Championship game on first base. NICE JOB TONY !!!!

OK, I will stay out of all the "rating of umpires".

I would like to know if any of you attending and taking
part in the tournament got an opportunity to call a game
in which the Beaumont Blast Gold competed and how they
looked.

Thanks.

Sorry Whiskers,

I did not see the Blast Gold. I am not sure but I think that they got knocked out early. In this tournament getting knocked out early is not a bad thing. Just getting there is an accomplishment.