Giving Back Playoff Games

[tcasterlin]

I know this could be construed as heretical, but I've given back my state playoff games this year.  Our area has been so short of umpires that I've worked 6 days a week for the entirety of the high school season, and frankly, I'm mentally and physically spent.  I'm flattered and humbled that enough coaches thought highly of my work to ask, between the regular season workload and the abhorrent behavior of players, coaches (not all), and parents I simply need to call it a season and get some rest.  Anyone else feeling this vibe or is it just me?

[Velho]

@tcasterlin Congratulations on being selected. You do what's best for you. Nothing to feel bad about in doing that. Again, congrats on a great season.

[tcasterlin]

@VelhoThanks, Brother!

[SeeingEyeDog]

@tcasterlin, obviously we all want to do our best to avoid turnbacks. My best practice has always been to turn the game back immediately when I know I can't work it. Easier said than done...there are a million scenarios that could cause a turnback. The game needs us all at our very best no matter what level we work. If you need a break...you need a break and you should take a break.

~Dawg

[umpstu]

3 hours ago, tcasterlin said:

I know this could be construed as heretical, but I've given back my state playoff games this year.  Our area has been so short of umpires that I've worked 6 days a week for the entirety of the high school season, and frankly, I'm mentally and physically spent.  I'm flattered and humbled that enough coaches thought highly of my work to ask, between the regular season workload and the abhorrent behavior of players, coaches (not all), and parents I simply need to call it a season and get some rest.  Anyone else feeling this vibe or is it just me?

Hope it doesn't keep you from getting good games in the future.  And do the coaches really select playoff umpires?

[kylehutson]

7 hours ago, umpstu said:

And do the coaches really select playoff umpires?

Can't speak for the OP, but in my state, the only criteria for state tourney games is number of coach recommendations.

They tell us in preseason meetings that we need to make correct calls and not worry about what coaches think of us, but then take a look at the incentives.

The umpires who consistently work state tournaments know the assigners, and rarely see a team twice in a season so as to maximize the number of possible recommendations.

Sour grapes? Nah, I didn't want any anyway. 🤣

[Richvee]

I gave back a state semi last year. Albeit for a different reason. We have 4 groups so there’s 8 semis across the state. I live 15 minutes from NY/ Pa in the NW corner of NJ. They gave me a game 15 minutes outside Delaware…. 3 hours away. Literally the opposite corner of the state. They claimed the parings are random and cannot be changed for any reason. Oh well.. then I guess you’ll have to find someone else. Thanks but no thanks. 

[MadMax]

15 minutes ago, Richvee said:

They gave me a game 15 minutes outside Delaware…. 3 hours away. Literally the opposite corner of the state.

Would they have footed the bill for travel & (possible) room? 

If they did/do, perhaps you could treat it as a work vacation, and the change of scenery could benefit from your skills. 

[Richvee]

13 minutes ago, MadMax said:

Would they have footed the bill for travel & (possible) room? 

If they did/do, perhaps you could treat it as a work vacation, and the change of scenery could benefit from your skills. 

Nope. And this was last year, when gas was almost $4.00. I was pretty sure they were going to give me one of the 4 southern games. They like to get you out of your regular season area for a state semi, and I get that. I would have taken a 2 hour drive without question. Plus it was a weekday so I wasn’t even sure I could leave work early enough to even get there. The powers that be “assured me” it wouldn’t affect future assignments….. We’ll see how that works very soon as state assignments should be out in a week or two. 

[JonnyCat]

1 hour ago, Richvee said:

Nope. And this was last year, when gas was almost $4.00.

That was high for your state last year? Here in Kommiefornia I paid $4.65 last week! Ugh!

What is it at now?

[Richvee]

On 5/7/2023 at 12:48 AM, JonnyCat said:

What is it at now?

3.30-ish. No worries though. Both states think they’re gonna to away with gas cars in 10 years. 

[JonnyCat]

13 hours ago, Richvee said:

3.30-ish. No worries though. Both states think they’re gonna to away with gas cars in 10 years. 

Don't forget about big rigs, too! Diesel=bad.

[Richvee]

7 minutes ago, JonnyCat said:

Don't forget about big rigs, too! Diesel=bad.

Right!  Drilling for oil - Bad

mining lithium, cobalt, copper, etc….  No problem. 

[ErichKeane]

Last summer I went and bought an EV truck after the $7/gallon Diesel in Oregon reared its ugly head.  It was pretty painful to do the math and find out I was spending ~$40 in fuel to get to the tourneys.  Feels a little wrong to see 2/3 of one of my game-checks burned on the drive.  I'm just under the 'fuel allowance' payment for our org to those places, which wouldn't have been enough for my pickup anyway.

[Richvee]

11 minutes ago, ErichKeane said:

Last summer I went and bought an EV truck after the $7/gallon Diesel in Oregon reared its ugly head.  It was pretty painful to do the math and find out I was spending ~$40 in fuel to get to the tourneys.  Feels a little wrong to see 2/3 of one of my game-checks burned on the drive.  I'm just under the 'fuel allowance' payment for our org to those places, which wouldn't have been enough for my pickup anyway.

No such thing as travel/ fuel allowance in NJ high school ball. 

[ErichKeane]

2 minutes ago, Richvee said:

No such thing as travel/ fuel allowance in NJ high school ball. 

I think the tourney organization does it for the weekends, since needing 3-400 games covered requires getting umps from outside the area!  I'm on the outskirts of the outskirts of our metro area, but only ~50 miles away from most of the locations.

Either way, switching from my F250 to an EV F150 made my travel go from ~$30-$40 for the day, to $4-$5.

[BLWizzRanger]

53 minutes ago, Richvee said:

Right!  Drilling for oil - Bad

mining lithium, cobalt, copper, coal in other countries….  No problem. 

FIFY

[BLWizzRanger]

39 minutes ago, ErichKeane said:

Either way, switching from my F250 to an EV F150 made my travel go from ~$30-$40 for the day, to $4-$5.

{biting tongue hard.  trying not to be unsportsmanlike}

If you figure in paying a premium for the EV and then 10 yrs down the road, having to replace the batteries, not including the cost to taxpayers to dispose of the batteries, did you really only pay $4-$5?  I guess it just depends what column and row you want to see the cost of owning and using an EV in. 

Not on my soapbox here or being personal.  If anyone wants to drive an EV, go for it.  But lets not be blind to the associated costs of such (which are more expensive than fossil fuels).  Sorry ErichKeane for being an ass here.

[ErichKeane]

17 minutes ago, BLWizzRanger said:

{biting tongue hard.  trying not to be unsportsmanlike}

If you figure in paying a premium for the EV and then 10 yrs down the road, having to replace the batteries, not including the cost to taxpayers to dispose of the batteries, did you really only pay $4-$5?  I guess it just depends what column and row you want to see the cost of owning and using an EV in. 

Not on my soapbox here or being personal.  If anyone wants to drive an EV, go for it.  But lets not be blind to the associated costs of such (which are more expensive than fossil fuels).  Sorry ErichKeane for being an ass here.

Not being an ass, definitely a part of the discussion you have to have with yourself when buying an EV.  I definitely did my research on those.  The other concern is of course range, but I find that if you do the math for yourself, you can make sure you get the right decision.

The cost premium over a comparable F150 was actually only ~10k, and gone from ~25c/mile (closer to 18 with a modern F150) to ~5c/mile, so payback period on that is 100k miles or so.  On the other hand, that 10k ALSO bought me, "never having to pump gas again", and "can fill the truck up while I sleep", and "never doing an oil change again"(which was COSTLY on my F250, oil alone to do it myself was ~$80). 

Battery life on EVs (based on similar tech ) is actually really quite good.  The ~2012 Teslas with the same battery tech are still ~70% life 11 years later, and up over 150k miles.  Many of the battery technologies are becoming financially reasonable to recycle, and are useful for re-use in things where power-density is less important, like a 'power wall', or whole-home-backup.  Lithium batteries don't just 'die', they just reduce in performance until 0, which can take a VERY long time.  BUT, if my truck battery gets to ~50%, I can use the battery as a home-generator-replacement, and have it power my house for a day or two.

As far as replacement costs, much of the estimates you see people making are based on OEM replacements, which are always excessive.  Heck, my neighbor's RAM put a rod through the block, and the dealer quoted him $30k to replace it, and we all know you can replace an engine for much less than that.

As evidence, there is a guy on my local Facebook marketplace that is buying up 'dead' prius' and rebuilding the batteries.  I noticed what he was doing at one point and bought him a beer.  Apparently the older Prius' are basically 'free' (sub 1k!) when their battery gets too low, and the dealer is telling people $10k to replace.  You can replace individual dead 'cells' of the battery for ~$250/each, so he gets the cars back on the road for sub-1k each.  Then, he can sell them with a reconditioned battery for 5-6k!

A lot of words here to say: Yep, there is a lot of thought that goes into making the decision to switch to an EV.  I'm under no illusion that I'm "Captain Planet" for buying it, but it makes sense financially, and for me.  My wife got an EV ~18 months before me (she drives a LOT taking my kid back and forth to autism treatment every day), and I was shocked/amazed at how they compare to gas engine cars.

[umpstu]

32 minutes ago, ErichKeane said:

Not being an ass, definitely a part of the discussion you have to have with yourself when buying an EV.  I definitely did my research on those.  The other concern is of course range, but I find that if you do the math for yourself, you can make sure you get the right decision.

The cost premium over a comparable F150 was actually only ~10k, and gone from ~25c/mile (closer to 18 with a modern F150) to ~5c/mile, so payback period on that is 100k miles or so.  On the other hand, that 10k ALSO bought me, "never having to pump gas again", and "can fill the truck up while I sleep", and "never doing an oil change again"(which was COSTLY on my F250, oil alone to do it myself was ~$80). 

Battery life on EVs (based on similar tech ) is actually really quite good.  The ~2012 Teslas with the same battery tech are still ~70% life 11 years later, and up over 150k miles.  Many of the battery technologies are becoming financially reasonable to recycle, and are useful for re-use in things where power-density is less important, like a 'power wall', or whole-home-backup.  Lithium batteries don't just 'die', they just reduce in performance until 0, which can take a VERY long time.  BUT, if my truck battery gets to ~50%, I can use the battery as a home-generator-replacement, and have it power my house for a day or two.

As far as replacement costs, much of the estimates you see people making are based on OEM replacements, which are always excessive.  Heck, my neighbor's RAM put a rod through the block, and the dealer quoted him $30k to replace it, and we all know you can replace an engine for much less than that.

As evidence, there is a guy on my local Facebook marketplace that is buying up 'dead' prius' and rebuilding the batteries.  I noticed what he was doing at one point and bought him a beer.  Apparently the older Prius' are basically 'free' (sub 1k!) when their battery gets too low, and the dealer is telling people $10k to replace.  You can replace individual dead 'cells' of the battery for ~$250/each, so he gets the cars back on the road for sub-1k each.  Then, he can sell them with a reconditioned battery for 5-6k!

A lot of words here to say: Yep, there is a lot of thought that goes into making the decision to switch to an EV.  I'm under no illusion that I'm "Captain Planet" for buying it, but it makes sense financially, and for me.  My wife got an EV ~18 months before me (she drives a LOT taking my kid back and forth to autism treatment every day), and I was shocked/amazed at how they compare to gas engine cars.

If I were able to get more miles on an EV I would get one in a heartbeat because it does help.  I'm not a bleeding heart lib, but I think everybody should do their part. I also am hesitant as it takes awhile to recharge and if I were to have to drive from SoCal to my home state of Missouri it would be futile. The distance limitations are what cause me to be hesitant.  As it is I drive a Honda Insight to help with both climate and wallet.

 

[ErichKeane]

20 minutes ago, umpstu said:

If I were able to get more miles on an EV I would get one in a heartbeat because it does help.  I'm not a bleeding heart lib, but I think everybody should do their part. I also am hesitant as it takes awhile to recharge and if I were to have to drive from SoCal to my home state of Missouri it would be futile. The distance limitations are what cause me to be hesitant.  As it is I drive a Honda Insight to help with both climate and wallet.

 

Yeah, the one weakness for EVs is that it takes ~45 mins to recharge at a fast charger on the road.  I figured you can do ~600-800 miles in a day MAX, as long as you can find a place with a meal.  Basically: 200 miles (could be longer, my truck gets 300 miles/charge, but you'd probably want to be safe), breakfast/charge, 200 miles, lunch/charge to 80%, 200 miles, dinner/charge, 200 miles, charge at hotel/etc.

BUT that ends up being a long day, with ~3 extra hours that you'd not otherwise need.  BUT, I've done ~500 miles each way in mine and it was great, I drove ~260 miles, had a nice relaxing brunch at a fast-charger, then finished the trip on the fast-charge.

[umpstu]

5 minutes ago, ErichKeane said:

Yeah, the one weakness for EVs is that it takes ~45 mins to recharge at a fast charger on the road.  I figured you can do ~600-800 miles in a day MAX, as long as you can find a place with a meal.  Basically: 200 miles (could be longer, my truck gets 300 miles/charge, but you'd probably want to be safe), breakfast/charge, 200 miles, lunch/charge to 80%, 200 miles, dinner/charge, 200 miles, charge at hotel/etc.

BUT that ends up being a long day, with ~3 extra hours that you'd not otherwise need.  BUT, I've done ~500 miles each way in mine and it was great, I drove ~260 miles, had a nice relaxing brunch at a fast-charger, then finished the trip on the fast-charge.

Does a fast charge charge it fully? My bros is picking up his EV150 Friday. Should probably take this to a pm.??

[ErichKeane]

27 minutes ago, umpstu said:

Does a fast charge charge it fully? My bros is picking up his EV150 Friday. Should probably take this to a pm.??

Fast charge is usually 45 mins to 80%, and about 60 minutes to 90%.  Feel free to reach out via PM if you have more questions!

[834k3r]

4 hours ago, BLWizzRanger said:

{biting tongue hard.  trying not to be unsportsmanlike}

If you figure in paying a premium for the EV and then 10 yrs down the road, having to replace the batteries, not including the cost to taxpayers to dispose of the batteries, did you really only pay $4-$5?  I guess it just depends what column and row you want to see the cost of owning and using an EV in. 

Not on my soapbox here or being personal.  If anyone wants to drive an EV, go for it.  But lets not be blind to the associated costs of such (which are more expensive than fossil fuels).  Sorry ErichKeane for being an ass here.

I saw on social media an invoice from a Chevy dealership that showed the price of a battery pack replacement for a Chevy Volt. $29,842.

[LMSANS]

Do we want to get back to umpire discussion or close the topic?🙂