How about this one!

[SJA]

Our Fall Ball LL was host this weekend 24 games ranging from Minors to SR BB & SB. I was responsible for scheduling the umps, which I did. The woman in charge of the FB Schedule, tells me yesterday that SHE is re-arranging / assigning the umpires . . . needless to say, this isn't going to  happen. She tells some of the umps today that they are to go here or there for their games. They came to me and told me this and I said NOT. Well, her and I really got into it. . . . end of matter . . . Umps 1, FB Scheduler 0. Can't wit till the next Board Meeting . . . It'll be a hot time in the Conga that night!

 

HA! :-)

[VAUmp]

Why did she want to rearrange the assignments?

[SJA]

Because SHE THOUGHT SHE was in charge of all of it.  . . . "Power trip"

 

:-(

[kylejt]

Interesting. You'd think the league Prez would have solved this issue in a heartbeat, and saved all the bickering.

[SJA]

Sad part was, only one Board Member was present . . . and he was running the concession stand. Prez and VP were nowhere to be found the entire weekend. Our UIC stopped in briefly on Sat & Sun and then left. Talked to him this morning and he informed me that he is done with LL. . . . I informed him that "they" need to find his replacement . . . and it won't be me.

 

:-)

[MadMax]

<whine> But @SJA, she knows how to use FaceBook! There's this cool app, called a scheduler, that she (alone) knows how to use for her Real Housewives get-togethers, so that makes her qualified to arrange where evvvvvvvvvvverybody goes and when. <whine>

Have I run across people like this? Oh yeah, you betcha (now I sound like a Minnesotan). Best story on that was a charity auction event I was doing the IT setup work for. This lady had volunteered to do the inputting and management of all the data the auction would rely on – the item #'s, locations, bidders, bids, etc. – but only had working knowledge of one database application, and it happened to be the one from her workplace. We had tossed around the idea of using teenagers and paying them with food (want some pizza? Get typing!) and using any of several database apps I had lying around, modified and tweaked to suit, but because this lady had _volunteered_ her time and her workplace database app, my employer was so (x9, the number of letters in volunteer) appreciative and elated to have her and said the words that sealed my doom, without asking me first...

"Whatever you need, Max will get you set up, and make it work."

Worst... Night... Ever. I'll spare you the long story, but the punch line is that it was a logistical nightmare, and on several occasions, other staffers and I wanted to can her and just use Microsoft Excel and post-it notes (wince). But, because she was a volunteer, and had the title of "Coordinator", we couldn't yell at her, couldn't ignore her, etc.

[Stan W.]

 The woman in charge of the FB Schedule, tells me yesterday that SHE is re-arranging / assigning the umpires . . . needless to say, this isn't going to  happen. She tells some of the umps today that they are to go here or there for their games. They came to me and told me this and I said NOT.

 

 

 

Good Job.........only the assignor changes assignments.........only ethical way....because we know that some TD's we have met in the past would never rearrange umpires to gain any advantage right?....

[SJA]

HA!, of course not!

 

;-)

[basejester]

I think FB in the original post is Fall Ball rather than Facebook.  I'm not sure if that's how you read it.

[SJA]

Sorry for the confusion anyone, it is "Fall Ball"

 

:-)

[MadMax]

Oh...

 

Well crap, I read that wrong. Pardon me.

 

...

 

...

 

FaceBook is still garbage.

[mjr_2013]

If the umps will only listen to you, there doesn't seem to be much of a problem honestly.

[SJA]

Some of them are "new" and were caught in the middle and really didn't know who was in "charge" of them. . . . no question in their minds now.

 

:-)

[MadMax]

"Fear the Gear"

[SJA]

An Umpire’s sole purpose in life is to crush dreams, listen to the lamentations of the parents, the cries and gnashing of the teeth of the young and old players, coaches, and managers and to get a look from the cute mom in the stands because you didn’t call their kid out on strikes . . . oh, . . . and free hotdogs after the game of course . . . could there be anything more exhilarating?

;-)

[kylejt]

A few years back, I was burned out of being the UIC, and wanted a break. The BoD didn't want to lose me, and asked what was burdening me most. "Scheduling, of course". They said fine, we'll take that off your plate.

 

But after thinking about it a bit, how on Earth can someone with no knowledge of skill levels, personalities, "who gets along with who", history,  and all the other intangibles have any clue on scheduling? So, I got my son to do it one year, then passed it down to our senior Junior umpires. They all did a great job, BTW.

[SJA]

Update:

We had our BOD Meeting last night, and like I said previously, it would be a heated one, but I got my points and concerns across. One of the main complaints brought up by the "Fall Ball Scheduler" was again, that I checked equipment for safety prior to the game and told that WAS NOT the way things were done. Safety checks were ONLY to be done during All Stars and not during regular or FB play.

My statement to her and the BOD was a follows. "I am not aware that safety issues involving liability were EXCLUDED from all but All Stars in Any LL rules nor their Local Rules" . . . THEIR next comment was "we're all volunteers so we don't really have to enforce rules like the "big leagues"

Concluding note: It was also our annual BOD nominations for office. The previous UIC quit last night and I was asked to become the new UIC. (HA! after listening to their BS excuses, that took BALLS!) I turned it down . . . 4 times . . . they had a hard time understanding the word "NO".

The FB Scheduler ran outside, called somebody, and came back into the meeting with a name of someone that would take the UIC. Well, good luck with that in the future.

:-)

[basejester]

We had our BOD Meeting last night, and like I said previously, it would be a heated one, but I got my points and concerns across. One of the main complaints brought up by the "Fall Ball Scheduler" was again, that I checked equipment for safety prior to the game and told that WAS NOT the way things were done. Safety checks were ONLY to be done during All Stars and not during regular or FB play.

My statement to her and the BOD was a follows. "I am not aware that safety issues involving liability were EXCLUDED from all but All Stars in Any LL rules nor their Local Rules" . . . THEIR next comment was "we're all volunteers so we don't have to really have to enforce rules like the "big leagues"

A) Wow.

B) Why do they care?  Just a random pissing match, or did you throw out someone's favorite new bat?

[SJA]

BJ, because they don't have uniformity with umpires enforcing the rules except a few of us.

PS . . . I did forget to mention that I told them the "problem" could be resolved easily . . . I either do my equip / safety checks without a bunch of crap from them or the teams or I don't ump the game.

Simple solution IMO.

:-)

[blue23ll]

I personally don't think I'm going to let equipment checks be the breaking point. We don't even do them in HS anymore and I don't recall doing them in LL either. BUT, there were tons of issues here that would have made it easy for me to walk away from them. What caused me to quit working LL and stop volunteering my time on the board of directors was during my last year as EVP of the League and UIC was when I was told that my problem was that I felt 'umpires were special'. This was during a meeting concerning a problem coach who the rest of the board was not considering disciplining after his ejection. 

[SJA]

To be lax in enforcing safety rules is something most people don't consider important . . . until they're sued and LL tells you "sorry, you didn't comply with the rules"

Word to the wise . . . and if you don't think it could happen to you, think again in this $$$$$$ world.

SJA :-(

[Jimurray]

To be lax in enforcing safety rules is something most people don't consider important . . . until they're sued and LL tells you "sorry, you didn't comply with the rules"Word to the wise . . . and if you don't think it could happen to you, think again in this $$$$$$ world.SJA :-(

The requirement to inspect bats is in the rule book but I don't know if it is rule. "umpires, managers and coaches are instructed to inspect bats ....to determine.... If bats might have been altered."

I don't think there is a required inspection to determine if the bat is proper but we do it in the post season.

[SJA]

JM, I refer to Rule 3.01(a):

3.00 - GAME PRELIMINARIES

3.01 - Before the game begins the umpires shall-

(a) require strict observance of all rules governing team personnel,
implements of play and equipment of players;

 

(e.g. damaged equipment shall be removed.)

 

 I'm CMA no matter what  :-)

[kylejt]

First, there is no requirement to check gear in LL.

 

But, there should be no heartburn about those umpires that do. Unless, of course, you're being the OOO, and tossing out all sorts of gear every game. Is that what's happening?

 

I can't imagine any other setting where I'm volunteering my time, and getting so much drama. Go do something else, or umpire somewhere else. Life's too short to keep beating your head against this one. At some point, this is on you.

[SJA]

Kyle, first off, the word "SHALL" means it WILL BE DONE. Not an option. Secondly, during the entire 2014 season, I only had to remove ONE (1) BAT due to a cracked cap, so don't assume I'm OOO or tell me to go do something else or elsewhere.

 

In todays world it seems that some people find it  problematic to want to do something right.

 

SJA :-(