Assigning conflicts

[dash_riprock]

A question for those who work college and high school baseball.

How does your HS association treat you with respect to college assignments? Every other association I belong to understands that a turnback/decline is perfectly ok if you are working "up" (within reason). Not so with my HS association. They expect 100% loyalty, and turning back or declining a HS game to work a college game is a no-no. One solution is to block certain days from each association to eliminate overlapping assignments, but this will result in reduced availability for both associations.

It would be an easy matter if I received my college schedule before the block-out deadline for the HS schedule but this is never the case. Do you have a similar dilemma in your area? Just curious. Thanks.

[Ozzy]

A question for those who work college and high school baseball.

How does your HS association treat you with respect to college assignments? Every other association I belong to understands that a turnback/decline is perfectly ok if you are working "up" (within reason). Not so with my HS association. They expect 100% loyalty, and turning back or declining a HS game to work a college game is a no-no. One solution is to block certain days from each association to eliminate overlapping assignments, but this will result in reduced availability for both associations.

It would be an easy matter if I received my college schedule before the block-out deadline for the HS schedule but this is never the case. Do you have a similar dilemma in your area? Just curious. Thanks.
Our association here in CT allows any active NCAA umpire to turn back a HS game to cover a NCAA game with no consequences.

[Solsaa]

Same here as with Ozzy. If a game is turned back due to a higher assingment there "should" be no consequences. I understand the headache that could be caused to the HS assigner due to rescheduling but thems the ropes. It has always been been the rule of thumb.

[dash_riprock]

Anyone else want to chime in? I'm considering a proposal to amend my HS association's by-laws and could use all the help I can get. Thanks gentlemen.

[bobjenkins]

Anyone else want to chime in? I'm considering a proposal to amend my HS association's by-laws and could use all the help I can get. Thanks gentlemen.

I see both sides. On some days, the HS schedule is so busy that the assigner needs everyone he can get, and it causes a real headache if someone turns back an assignment. Or, the assigner has Dash assigned to the "big game" and turning it back means extra work to move some other big dog to that game and then assign a rookie to the second (now open) game.

So, I'd like to see something like this:

1) HS assigner gets to choose 25 - 33% of the games that can't be turned back.

2) More than a week in advance, the umpire can turn back any other game for an NCAA game. If that's done, HS assigner gets to add a game to the "can't be turned back" list.

3) Less than a week in advance, games can be turned back only with the consent of the assigner. Assigner then gets to add 2 games to the "list."

[dash_riprock]

Thanks for the response Bob.

The way things are around here now, college/HS umpires will block certain days from each assignor to preclude assignments from both associations on the same day. This results in reduced availability for BOTH associations. Allowing umpires to work up without penalty will undoubtedly result in additional work for the HS assignor because of the increased turnbacks/declines, but there will be a greater number of available umpires to fill those slots.

[mcmahm34]

I don't work any HS but if I did I know the NCAA assignor would laugh then remove the remainder of my schedule I stayed on a HS game instead of his game.

[wayne37]

Anyone else want to chime in? I'm considering a proposal to amend my HS association's by-laws and could use all the help I can get. Thanks gentlemen.

Our HS season is appx 3 months long. We had the ones that didn't go off, and work some form of college ball, bust their ass the the first half off the season. After about half the college season is over, they know the district varsity play begins. Then they come back to work those so to be able to work the playoffs. Then the college assignor is strapped trying to find umpires. One season, I got assigned 6 games in the last 6 weeks of the season. One was rained out, and 2 were a JV doubleheader that was canceled because the two teams involved do good if they can field a varsity, much less a JV late in the season.

When I inquired about this, I was told they had to even all the games out. Well, Hell if you're gone the first half of the season because you want to go off, make more money, come back, and then drink from the gravy bowl, that's bullshit in my book.

That crap gets old fast. I set aside my personnel schedule for three months to devote my full time to my HS association, not to see that the secret good ol' boys society reap the rewards.

Heck, it was said by our assignor at a meeting, that there were some umpires that didn't even take the test worked the playoff. I don't know if he was referring to our association or not.

I finally got tired of putting up with bullshit a couple of years ago over the way we were getting paid mileage. I was driving 80 miles round trip to work the first game of JV/Varsity doubleheader while my partner for the game drove less than 10 miles round trip. Then his personnel "umpire buddy" would show, and work the 2nd game of the doubleheader. He would drive about the same 10 mile round trip distance.

Well the person that drove the most miles split the mileage with his partner. Thus I was doing all the driving, and getting paid the least. In other words, the two of them were getting paid for what I drove, and making more money working the games.

I finally said funk it. I saw a couple of new guys working a Freshman/JV doubleheader last Tuesday. They had little to no clue what they were doing, so perhaps some others felt the sqeeze too, and hung up their mask.

I did run into one the old timers about 6 months ago, and he said they were really hurting for bodies.

My feeling is get on one side of the fence or the other, not straddle it.

[heyblue26]

rewards.

My feeling is get on one side of the fence or the other, not straddle it.

Yea that barbwire fencing is hell

[wayne37]

Yea that barbwire fencing is hell

I would rather straddle barb wire than an electric fence.

[heyblue26]

I would rather straddle barb wire than an electric fence.

Wayne You got that one right that's for sure. It would be a real shocker and no conflict with assignments either.