Are you f***ing kidding me

[gumpire]

Originally Posted by LIUmp

Not to put you on the spot, but I am sure there is more to this story. Can you elaborate all you know? Have you ever, at any point, had a UIC or your assignor have a conversation with you about your umpiring? If so, what was it concerning?

The TD for this tournament also run a rec league at the same complex and has stated to me on occasion that teams complained (during regular leave play) that I was allowing pitchers to exceed the height limit and asked me to bring it down. This was when the limit was 12' and he suggested I call anything above 10' illegal.

Do you know of the teams/level/association involved? How often have you done their games this past year? Have you had any issues in those games?

I do not know any of the teams for absolute, but we are a pretty small community and I would estimate I know (from league play) at least 1/2 of the players. It is a Co-Ed C/D/E for fun tournament. ASA rules. I have worked other tournaments this year (including a local Co-Ed for fun last weekend, which probably had many of the same teams) as well as Fall season (ended early Oct). No issues.

Have you had issues with partners?

No.

How about a certain level? I know some guys that I've UIC'd for who are good umpires, but who have a quick temper and can not manage coaches or spectators - that is they will argue with all around.

I only work SP "adult" rec league locally. I have been doing that within the same association and the same local rec leagues for 4 years now.

...you have to start digging and finding out the problem so it can be rectified, whatever it may be.

Digging has begun!!!!

On edit: Did you have any harsh words with your UIC or assignor? Did you turn back any games? Did you have limited availability when he needed you and now he's "taking it out on you?" Do you work for a competing organization and there's a conflict of interest?

I was not available to work this summer and communicated that to the assignor early in the year. When I became available at the beginning of August (start of Fall season) I was regularly assigned games and worked all that I was assigned.

[soundedlikeastrike]

"3) If I'd known it was that easy to get rid of them, I'd have told them that I was working every single game ever!!!!"


I gotta ask, is this the problem?

Did/do you have specific issues/problems with certain teams you work in this league?

TD's/Host's or whomever is putting on this tournament, are in it usually for one thing, to make money. At least in my experiences, tournaments are fund raisers.

Let's see, do I lose out on X teams fees (3 teams X 250-350 bucks per) or do I hurt one umpires feelings?
Seems a no brainer to me from the TD's perspective.

Your assigning organization is somewhat in the same boat, they generally get a cut for each assignment, no? Do they lose X amount or do they hurt one guys feelings? Do they back one at the expense of all the others?

I was faced with a similar situation, a local BB Pres. and coach I'd umpired disagreed with my " verbatim, by the book ruling" and stated to my UIC, "we will not play if this guy works." He was an uniformed, unknowlegable, loud mouthed hot head and really had no clue but, he was still the boss, it happens.

My association and fellow umpires backed me all the way, at the risk of losing lot's of money.
And unlike you're scenario it was all up front, communication was candid and open. My association confirmed to the Pres that; "we do the assigning not you." I was assigned the next game "the pres's" and additonal upcoming games as well the following week, this was also communicated to the pres.

I feigned injury and sickness and said "sorry boss I can't cover those games, please find someone else."
They did and all were happy and content including me. I was not willing to jeopordize a good thing for my association just so my feelings would go unhurt, this was a youth league, they had seen enough of this pres's antics already and didn't need any further embarrasing moments via him, and it was a great local training ground for our newbies, noI to mention a cash cow, I know a good thing when I see it..

So give em the benefit of the doubt, but do indeed keep digging and certainly communicate with your assigning body to get the "no stuff" details of the situation.

If it was really the TD's decision then I would be hesitant to hang your assignor just yet. Just a thought, but unless you've signed agreements between your assoc. and the leagues your covering, you're assoc. really has no choice but to swallow some pride and cover the games the way the customer wants it or move on and find something else, not always a viable option these days.

Express your feelings with the assoc. E-board or whatever mechanism is in place, perhaps at one of your all hands meetings? Get this in the open, then attack it as an association in a "consolidated manner." Perhaps an amendment to your by-laws, if a blue gets singled out and banned for no good reason, we'll pay him a stipend anyway, file it under travel, or misc. funds and move on.

Continue to work hard to make teams say; hey, if this guy "isn't" working this tourny, we won't show up."

[IRISHMAFIA]

Any ultimatum by any team should be, "thank you, maybe the next tournament" and move on.

Use to hear all sorts of crap from teams and the State Player Rep (ASA) whining about how 'WE', not anyone else, did not run tournaments for SP teams in the area and that is why the teams didn't play ASA. It should be noted that 'WE' have tried, but it seems no matter what weekend is chosen, it just wasn't good enough for them. So, last year at the state meeting I stood up and challenged the State Player Rep to get together with his friends and teams and pick any weekend and we would run a tournament for them, they set any parameters that would not be a safety issue (HR, time limit, etc). The next call I get from him will be the first in more than a year.

Had an associate work a Men's Major or Super Nat for either Bernie P or Dan B and the tournament had to go to a reserve box of softballs and two brands ended up on a field in the same game. My buddy threw in whatever ball came out of his bag, didn't really pay attention to the brand name. Well, at one point the manager of one of the teams started giving my pal a hard time and demanded they be able to hit the ball they want. The umpire told them they were going to hit whatever ball came out of the bag. After a few minutes, the UIC was at the field and asked what the problem was. Before the umpire could say anything, this manager started on him and stated his team wasn't playing with XYZ ball. The UIC told the PU to pull his crew, the game was over. The manager started back-pedaling quickly. The UIC told him he and team could pack their bags, if they weren't going to play, they could go home.

Moral of the story is that dealing and complying with ultimatums usually doesn't end well for anyone and can actually be detrimental to those who think they have helped the situation through accommodation.

[NCASAUmp]

I think the question here should also be: "How do I recover from this?" This incident, while a setback, is the perfect opportunity for you to shine in front of your superiors and in front of the teams.

A great umpire will seize this opportunity to talk with his/her assignor about how to bounce back from this. Talk with your assignor and ask what it is that you can do to improve as an umpire, including your relationship with the teams. Keep it positive, keep it upbeat. Be receptive to whatever s/he has to say, and follow through with whatever s/he tells you. Show that you want to work and what you want to learn.

When you see the teams that may have complained, don't bring it to the game and let them see that it bothered you. Go in there with a great, positive attitude and give the impression that you not only want to be there, but you love being there. If anyone asks you why you weren't at the tournament, just tell them that you were assigned elsewhere that day or were otherwise unavailable.

Each game is a fresh start. Each game is a new opportunity to shine. A great umpire always takes stock of where s/he is as an umpire, and always looks for areas of improvement. Always.

A lesser umpire will tuck his/her tail and blame the world, refusing to see the opportunity presenting itself here. Sure, this latest incident sucks, but press forward and keep doing your best out there. Your superiors will take notice when they see you bounce back.

[jr131981]

Originally Posted by gumpire

The TD for this tournament also run a rec league at the same complex and has stated to me on occasion that teams complained (during regular leave play) that I was allowing pitchers to exceed the height limit and asked me to bring it down. This was when the limit was 12' and he suggested I call anything above 10' illegal.



I do not know any of the teams for absolute, but we are a pretty small community and I would estimate I know (from league play) at least 1/2 of the players. It is a Co-Ed C/D/E for fun tournament. ASA rules. I have worked other tournaments this year (including a local Co-Ed for fun last weekend, which probably had many of the same teams) as well as Fall season (ended early Oct). No issues.



No.



I only work SP "adult" rec league locally. I have been doing that within the same association and the same local rec leagues for 4 years now.



Digging has begun!!!!



I was not available to work this summer and communicated that to the assignor early in the year. When I became available at the beginning of August (start of Fall season) I was regularly assigned games and worked all that I was assigned.

i knew this had to be a SP issue and not FP. from my personal experience as a player, there was this one blue who was just flat out terrible and it become a running joke during league play that teams would use the number of blown calls instead of the runs to determine the winner. and many teams asked/politely demanded that the blue not work tournaments. in your OP you said judgment shouldnt be a determining factor in evaluating umpire performance, but lets be real, if your judgment of whos safe/out catch/no catch is bad, why shouldnt that reflect negatively on your ability.

and just bc teams are rec coed level, doesnt mean the umpires shouldnt be doing their best job. i used to ump this beginner temple league (as in jewish), where there might have been a 3-4 tournament caliber players out of the entire 30 team league. my first game happened to be that of the league commish, afterwards he commented to me that he appreciated my effort even though the caliber of play wasnt good. i told him i put forth the same effort regardless of talent level and they pay me, actually a little more, than the top level leagues, so why should i care how good the players are.

if i were in your shoes, and believed i didnt do anything to warrant the non assignment, i would ask the UIC to be assigned to one of the teams that complained and have the UIC come evaluate that game. if the team is complaining for no reason, the UIC will know, if there is something you need to work on to hopefully alleviate those complaints, the UIC will know that too.