The Legal Wrangling Continues

[TXMike]

As important as the struggle is, I sure hate to see games impacted by it
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/mlb/article/Baseball-series-delayed-by-umpire-dispute-3533677.php

Opening night of the baseball playoffs was postponed for four teams Thursday because of a dispute between two groups of umpires.
 
Two first-round games were postponed because of an injunction filed Thursday afternoon by the San Antonio chapter of the Texas Association of Sports Officials against another group, the Texas Collegiate Umpire Association. The injunction affected the Madison-Judson and Boerne Champion-Hays games.
 
TASO-San Antonio president Bryan Jorgensen did not immediately return calls for comment. TASO vice president Bill Crabtree declined comment.
 
Jeff Hilliard, an umpire with TCUA, had no comment.
 
Hilliard and other umpires in the chapter were members of TASO-San Antonio until this year.
 
North East ISD athletic director Jerry Comalander said the school district, which includes Madison, used TASO-San Antonio umpires during the regular season but decided to use the other group for the playoffs.
 
Boerne ISD athletic director Stan Leech said Boerne High School and Champion have used the TCUA for games all season. He said the Chargers were en route to the stadium when the team was told of the injunction. They postponed the game rather than search for new umpires on short notice.
 
Other schools that use TCUA include Kerrville Tivy, Medina Valley and Smithson Valley.
 
Kerrville Tivy played its game against Clemens on Thursday using TASO umpires.
 
Leech said he has asked the UIL to provide umpires for Champion's best-of-3 series, which will begin at 7:30 p.m. today. Game 2 will be at 2 p.m. Saturday and Game 3, if necessary, 30 minutes after the end of Game 2. All games will be at New Braunfels Canyon.
 
Madison and Judson will play the first game of their series at 7 p.m. today at Judson, with Game 2 at 5 p.m. Saturday at Blossom Athletic Center with Game 3, if necessary, to follow.

[Joe Stack]

What exactly is the struggle? Does baseball not require UIL or TASO officials?

[rsquare]

Here we go...
"Fodder" for the big uil to step in and declare they are the ones who can and has to govern/police officating because of these idotic inane wrangling between officating groups.
You betcha this reaps gloating  from uil lawyers and bum-a crats 

[TXMike]

Update:

Apparentl;y the group (or at least those members of it who were to ump the games) is registered with UIL.  Games are back on.

From SA Express News:

A temporary restraining order filed by one group of local officials against another group of umpires that resulted in two playoff games being postponed Thursday was lifted, allowing the umpires to return to work Friday.
 
The restraining order was filed by the Texas Association of Sports Officials' San Antonio chapter against the Texas Collegiate Umpire Association on Thursday afternoon, claiming the TCUA lacked the accreditation to officiate high school games.
 
Thursday's Madison-Judson and Boerne Champion-Hays games were postponed. A hearing is scheduled for May 14 regarding TASO's injunction.
 
“The rules are pretty particular about who can officiate, and we don't believe they're following the rules,” said Gary Schumann, a lawyer for TASO.
 
TCUA umpires are registered with the University Interscholastic League through the UIL's El Paso chapter.
 
North East, which includes Madison, used TASO umpires throughout the regular season, but switched to TCUA for the playoffs.
 
Champion was one of five area schools that used TCUA umpires all season.
 
“Our guys are all registered with the UIL,” said TCUA lawyer David Angulo. “They want to work.”


Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/mlb/article/Restraining-order-lifted-as-umpires-come-back-3536369.php#ixzz1tyueIJYK

[Arbitrator]

 

So exactly what's the latest "unofficial" word on the status of TASO vs. Timmons, Breithaupt, and UIL State Executive Council? Any inside scoop?   

[TexDoc]

Those of us in TASO may have a beef, but filing a TRO in order to stop playoff games is flat out wrong.  This affects the kids and it is wrong to affect their playoff games.

[Arbitrator]

Those of us in TASO may have a beef, but filing a TRO in order to stop playoff games is flat out wrong.  This affects the kids and it is wrong to affect their playoff games.

 

In total concurence with your sentiments, TexDoc!   

[fencewire]

Isn't baseball where all this crap started in the first place?   

[Arbitrator]

Isn't baseball where all this crap started in the first place?   

 

Totally! And since    Manor Road  couldn't effectively "seal the deal" in taking over baseball, their contingency plan was to go after "their strength" in the arbitrary conscription of TASO's disgruntled basketball folks, garnering roughly about 75% of them; and that was to primarily use as its strategic base in making an attempt of going after all of the other TASO sports, through the  UIL Sports Officials venue. That's where the lawsuit came in!   

[clearwall]

I'm a member of TASO baseball and this problem has been going on since the beginning of the season. Jeff Hilliard was our former chapter assignor and he was outbid in a fair manner by two of our chapter members. He was upset and since he is also a TCUA umpire, decided he would form his own officiating entity outside of TASO.
The real unethical and slimy thing he did was to compile a fake list of about 200 chapter umpires and approached a number of the districts that we service and told them that TASO San Antonio was folding and that his list filled with a number of our members was going to be the replacement organization. He fooled a number of ADs into thinking that if they didnt use his non-entity that they would have to go with Austin or Brush Country Chapters, therefore driving up their mileage costs.
During our state meeting, we were told by Mike Fitch that any TASO member that worked games that competed with a TASO chapter that the member would no longer be considered in good standing and would be unable to work TASO games, including playoffs.
I have also heard stories(not witnessed personally) that a number of the officials that have been deemed "not in good standing" because of this have taken to attending TASO-officiated games and behaved in a rude and abusive nature toward the umpires at the games.

[Joe Stack]

I still think the biggest problem here is that a collection of officials with different interests (i.e. sports) don't make a cohesive organization. Nobody in any sports cares about the other sports unless they work it. Plus, there seems to be too big a push to blacklist people who are simply looking for better alternatives (may not be the case here -- I'm referring more to what happened in basketball a few years ago). The people I talk to in football still don't have much idea what value TASO has to them. I've seen all this BS play out for more than 20 years and have a better perspective, but I'm still hard pressed to give concrete answers to the value of TASO other than harping on the dangers of UIL. That is NOT a good thing.

The sports have either got to get together and work together or TASO is done. And a news flash: the UIL folks know this and are counting on it. These sorts of stupid disputes just put the ammo in their magazine.

[rsquare]

Totally agree. In essence UIL is moving in a similar direction of most corporate entities in business. The control of market channels starts by ridding competition. You buy up as much of the competition to garner larger chunk of market or you are large enough to drive prices "down" temporarily to "squeeze" the lesser competetion share thereby exhibiting control and capturing market dominance. This has been and is aggressively happening in the business place. UIL can control the officating market by "taking over" - no different than my company or yours. It is inevitable to occur sooner or later unless the "Chinese" decide to get in the officating market

[TexDoc]

This could happen in basketball and baseball and perhaps other sports, but football officials and coaches are much more cohesive.  And we know where UIL gets 90% of their revenue.  It would be extremely difficult for UIL to take over football officiating without a mandate under law.

[Coby]

All it is going to take is 1 year with no TASO and the parental outrage will have the UIL begging for TASO.  Lets go ahead and pull the trigger.  Baseball is using simple supply and demand.  Little league is a major competitor to UIL baseball.  Heaven forbid UIL baseball ever have to pay the market rate for Baseball umpires.

I am sick of the waiting.  Lets crap of get off of the pot.

[Joe Stack]

I disagree with Doc: this COULD happen in football. In many ways, its actually more likely in football -- because of the crew system most large chapters use, if a set of people wanted to break off, had leadership that was tied in pretty well to the UIL brass, the coaches are going to support them -- the coaches want who they want on the field.

The irony is that many that have the ability to do this aren't going to. Some have been with TASO too long while others are quite aware of UIL's control of basketball and how that hasn't worked out as planned. But if someone with some skins on the wall were to get locked out of TASO, it could happen just as easily as it did here.

Remember, baseball was even more hard-core TASO than any other sport, including football. I'm not kidding when I say there are a LOT of football members who don't feel that TASO does all that much for them. Just because the 20+ year officials know the value of TASO doesn't mean those up and coming do.

[Arbitrator]

I disagree with Doc: this COULD happen in football. In many ways, its actually more likely in football -- because of the crew system most large chapters use, if a set of people wanted to break off, had leadership that was tied in pretty well to the UIL brass, the coaches are going to support them -- the coaches want who they want on the field.

The irony is that many that have the ability to do this aren't going to. Some have been with TASO too long while others are quite aware of UIL's control of basketball and how that hasn't worked out as planned. But if someone with some skins on the wall were to get locked out of TASO, it could happen just as easily as it did here.

Remember, baseball was even more hard-core TASO than any other sport, including football. I'm not kidding when I say there are a LOT of football members who don't feel that TASO does all that much for them. Just because the 20+ year officials know the value of TASO doesn't mean those up and coming do.

 

That's still going to be a rather difficult rabbit for    Manor Road  to pull out of their hat, taking into due consideration the existing court order that is in place that indefinitely prohibits their registration activities and intrusion into any of the other sports venues that they are not currently engaged in. Any discernible evidence to that effect that might be presented to the Travis County Civil District Court could very well place the Dancing Monkey behind a "real" set of gray circus bars, along with his  Ringmaster and the named members of its most prestigious Executive Board.

The Court System is meandering rather slowly at present, and until such time that the proceedings actually take off,  Manor Road  has no other option other than to patiently bide its time. As far as their taking the sport of football over,    Manor Road is seemingly tightly handcuffed without the benefit of a key!