Softball umpires, don't waste your money on Officiating.com membership

[Dakota]

I joined the paid membership area of Officiating.com because I needed/wanted specific information they had on the site. I feel I got my money's worth, so no complaints, but I won't be renewing.

In the last year, there have been pitifully few softball articles and including a retread of an old previously published article.

Heck, they've published more articles on officiating tiddly-winks than they have softball (OK - not true, but almost).

So, unless you find value in the baseball, basketball, lacrosse, ice hockey, volleyball, swimming, track, broomball, curling, hacky-sack, badminton, or ping-pong officiating articles, don't waste your money.

[Edited by Dakota on Jan 6th, 2005 at 07:58 PM]

[theta98]

I wrote for Officiating.com from the summer of 2002 until January of 2004.

My specific role in the beginning was softball, and over the course of my time with the site I eventually began contributing rugby articles as well.

Over that time, I felt that I provided the premium members of this website with valuable information based on my years of experience as a softball umpire and my years of watching other umpires work.

Dakota, you may remember me.........does the name Adam Powell ring a bell?

However, after a series of articles that didn't satisfy the Editor-in-Chief, I was told that Officiating.com and myself needed to part ways.

That was a year ago............Over that time, I've sat on the sidelines and watched the softball content on this website dwindle down to nothing.

I've completed one book and have started on another over that time, so I haven't been completely eeked out of the publishing business, but I just want to say here and now that the biggest reason there is not more substantial softball content is because nobody wants to deal with the Editor-in-Chief.

Merle Butler, a member of the ISF Hall of Fame and one of the most respected softball umpires in the world, had a similar experience, which is why his time with officiating.com was short-lived.

I don't know why the Editor-In-Chief felt the need to criticize me to the point of telling me that the site wanted to part ways with me, but either way, I've moved on.

He also mentioned that people had constantly been criticizing my work and had been sending him letters about it.

I'm still waiting for those letters, by the way.

I remember a time when there was as many as 5-8 steady softball writers here, but I firmly believe that the Editor-In-Chief's attitude and way of belittling his writers ran them all off, myself included.

Nobody wants to work with someone that thinks they're better than them, and that was my experience as a softball writer here.

I agree with Dakota that the softball content on officiating.com stinks these days, and I think that falls largely on the Editor-in-Chief and the way he handles his staff, by trying to intimidate and push them around.


Adam Powell

[Edited by theta98 on Jan 6th, 2005 at 04:27 PM]

[whiskers_ump]

Who is editor-in-chief???Carl

[Steve M]

I had a paid membership a couple of years ago - not for the articles but for some of the other benefits. Last year, I found I got better additional insurance through NFCA, so I joined there. I'll probably join NFCA again this year.

[Dakota]

Carl Childress is the Editor-in-Chief of Officiating.com.

[whiskers_ump]

Enough said.

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally posted by whiskers_ump
Enough said.

Actually, I think this thread is inappropriate on this board. Like the product or not, it still provides one of the purest environments for sports officials to carry on unfettered discussions on a multitude of topics FREE OF CHARGE!

IOW, why would you bite the hand that feeds your? If you are going to bad-mouth a business, do it outside of their house.

I have experienced Carl's disdain for softball even before this site blossomed out of an e-mail list. On that list, Carl often referred to softball umpires as a bunch of fat guys chasing little girls around a ballfield.

Of course, there were only a few who would speak up and it would sometimes get nasty. I've invited Carl to observe some SP tournaments, only to be ignored. I guess you can figure out by now that I don't care much for Carl Childress and his cronies.

Nonetheless, I thank him and his group for allowing us the privilege of accessing this site to enjoy each other's company, knowledge and humor.

[Dakota]

Originally posted by IRISHMAFIA
Actually, I think this thread is inappropriate on this board. Like the product or not, it still provides one of the purest environments for sports officials to carry on unfettered discussions on a multitude of topics FREE OF CHARGE!

IOW, why would you bite the hand that feeds your? If you are going to bad-mouth a business, do it outside of their house.

I don't know Carl from Adam, and I have nothing against him. I have read, and enjoyed, some of his writing. Some of it is helpful, even to softball fat guys, and some of it is very funny. If you browse or post on the baseball board, you'll see that is somewhat sharp personality is not limited to being used on softball people.

My comment was not meant as bad-mouthing; more like a review or a complaint. Referee Magazine (are we allowed to mention them here?) decided a few years ago that softball was not a "major" sport; and Adam says the softball content on the paid part of this board has declined. I don't know about that, since I've only been a member of one year. I'd be happy to renew if there was a regular monthly contributor dealing with softball officiating.

I do very much appreciate this board (now if only they would re-enable search!).

[mcrowder]

Actually, I find referee magazine to be fine for softball - their sections for softball, baseball, basketball, and football seem to be of about equal length.

As to this site, I wonder why the disdain for largeball even matters - Carl is obviously a smallball guy, but the football portion doesn't seem to suffer from that bias ... so I wonder why the softball side would. Odd.

However, due partially to the influence of our softball "big dogs" here on the free side, I get much more enjoyment and enlightenment from this site than from other notable softball sites (even those predominantly devoted to softball). Less trolls (unfortunately not ZERO trolls ... but less) here.

[Dakota]

Originally posted by mcrowder
Actually, I find referee magazine to be fine for softball - their sections for softball, baseball, basketball, and football seem to be of about equal length.

Referee Mag reversed their decision re: softball about a year later (as I recall) - most likely (IMO) due to loss of subscriptions from the softball officials rather than any actual change of heart.

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally posted by Dakota

Referee Mag reversed their decision re: softball about a year later (as I recall) - most likely (IMO) due to loss of subscriptions from the softball officials rather than any actual change of heart.

I was one of those who bailed. I found it interesting that as they were dropping softball, they were almost begging for more articles on other sports. That tells me there was a conscious to drop softball, not a lack of space.

I also dropped NASO. All I ever got from them was a premature bill with no due date and rate increase every year. There is nothing they offered me that I couldn't get through ASA (Bollinger) at the same or better rate. But the main reason I left is because I didn't care for their marketing tactics and failure to respond to complaints.

But, to each their own. I'm sure NASO works well for many folks, just not me.

[SC Ump]

Originally posted by IRISHMAFIA
I was one of those who bailed.

Me, too. When they fought to drop SB, I dropped my NASO / REFEREE membership and wrote them a letter of complaint. They sent me a follow-up then and a second follow-up when they reinstated SB. I have found the the personalized attention I get here on this board is better. I also trust you guys more than them at doing the research and getting it right. (Well, noting some of the threads at 3 and 4 pages, at least we eventually get it right. )

I wonder how much CC had to do with SB being dropped from NASO / Referee. I believe he has influence there. I appreciate CC's knowledge on baseball and still have a Referee article from about 95 where he discussed the balk rule. However, I find it difficult to tolerate some of his attitudes, even to the point that I no longer visit the officiating.com baseball pages.

(Also... a lesson from McGriff's... CC will steal your e-mail address, put it on a spam list and then defend his action as being perfectly ethical. This is why my profile here has my e-mail noted as it is.)

[Dakota]

I didn't intend this to be a bash Carl thread; it was a complaint about the softball content (or lack of) of the paid portion of the board. IOW, it was business, not personal.