A provincial tournament at that! We had more umps than we needed anyway. I worked 1 Fri, 4 Sat and 3 Sun. I could have squeezed a couple more games in.

That's the problem with using local umpires. I was working a major in OK a few years ago. Par for OK, there were weather issues and I talked the TD & UIC into moving up the winner's final to that night. Not a bad move as we got a real nasty storm that night.

Next morning, the parks folks really did a great job in getting the fields ready. Since I already work my assigned final and wasn't scheduled to work, I didn't want to act presumptuous and bring my equipment to the field.

Local umpire (decent umpire, not exactly great mechanics. Planted his feet behind the catcher in the first inning and barely moved until the 7th) was a no show for the final on Sunday. UIC asked if I had my equipment. $/#@%?*~;! How do you just not show up for a game at a National Championship? He just sauntered up in the middle of the championship final like nothing was wrong. The delinquent umpire's excuse was that the local city parks recording (from Friday afternoon) said all games were cancelled. UIC just laughed and continued to BS with him while watching the game. I certainly hope his faux pas was reflected in the evaluation.

Nepotism, for lack of a better word, is a huge problem at all levels of softball officiating. When ability on the field and professionalism on and off the field are not the most important factors when assiging umpires, the slope becomes very slippery indeed and the game suffers for it.

"Favortism" would be a better word, I think, for what you are talking about. "Nepotism" means patronage or favortism toward family members.

I guess I was using it in a broader sense than the literal. I guess I should have known better. :)

Both concepts mean the same thing in the South. :p

Yeah, there's still a bit of the "good ol' boy" mentality running around. I think I've mentioned this before, but I've heard that there are some UICs who will intentionally give umpires who are not in THEIR circle a lower evaluation, simply to justify not asking them to call the next State, Regional or National. These are, of course, rumors, but I don't think the rumors are that far from the truth.

At the same time, the UICs have the duty to provide good officials for their tourneys, and if you're a UIC and you've had good experiences with a particular set of umpires in the past, wouldn't it make sense to stick with that crew? Sure, it makes it difficult for someone like myself to get my foot in the door, but that's my problem, not the UICs'. Am I deserving? Maybe. But I'll simply wait my turn and not take it personally. In the meantime, I keep working to improve myself on and off the field.

There's something to be said for knowing what to expect when a particular crew arrives.

This brings us back to the original post and my first reply to it. Why are assignors suprised when their officials show up and do what they do?

Well, I'm no assignor, so I can't speak on their behalf, nor can I say anything about Darrell's decision to send that particular umpire. So what I say from here on out is not, in any way, directed towards Darrell. :)

I suspect there may be a lot of assignors who don't fulfill their end of the bargain and evaluate their umpires before they send them off to a tourney. I don't know if it's "mandatory" or simply "encouraged," but I suspect there are some who treat it as the latter. I have seen some umpires sent to tournaments who, in all honesty, should have never arrived at the tourney in the fashion they did - poor mechanics, insufficient understanding of the rules, sloppy uniforms, etc.

There are a lot of fine, up-and-coming umpires who deserve to get their fair shot at a National. However, it is the responsibility of those umpires to work towards bringing themselves up to that caliber, and it's the responsibility of the assignors to make damn sure they do so. If I'm asked to do a tourney and I'm not truly prepared, it is MY fault as well as the fault of my assignor.

I'll admit that prior to my National, I only called one game behind the plate for senior slow pitch. However, I think I worked my butt off to understand the slightly different mechanics of calling a game with two home plates, and I took every opportunity I got to gain more understanding before I ever set foot on the field. I prepared myself as much as I possibly could, and my UIC at the tourney indicated he was quite happy with me.

Same thing applies towards 3-man mechanics. A little more complicated, but doable. Sounds like the umpire mentioned in the OP simply didn't do his homework.