Thanks for your reply IIM. I know your not an Umpire.
Yes I know all about HOW they pay for it........& indeed how Lancefield Football Netball Club misses out on the revenue.
And I am told the Umpires did in fact have their own alcohol supply, which they bulk purchaced (Unopened) from LFNC & kept on ice in one of their marquees on the day !
I'm not really concerned whether the RDFL and/or Lancefield had given the "all clear".....(excuse the pun!) for the Umpires to erect their marqueeS........ Although I know for a fact that some at Macedon were none too impressed when they discovered they had erected one in prime position on the boundary at Tony Clarke (which they did NOT use !) on Preliminary Final Day.
What I am interested in -
1. Is this "Special Treatment" that is being afforded to the Umpires, appropriate ???
2. Is this the "Thin end of the Wedge", will we now see Umpire Marquees erected at EVERY one of our Finals now ???
3. Can any of the Clubs errect a "Big Top" adjacent to the boundary come Finals time with the Blessing of the League ???
4. Can any or ALL of our Clubs bulk buy booze at our Finals venues then, "ON SELL" it ??? (For Profit $$$)
5. Can any or ALL of our Clubs run their own B.B.Q at our Finals venues ??? (For Profit $$$)
And perhaps, just perhaps the reason WHY we have not heard any rumblings out of Lancefield or infact any other Club is because they may just think that complaining to the League about Umpires which has an Umpire as its HEAD, could well be something of a pointless exercise !
OMNI, I've known you for around 10 years, I would consider myself one of those friends you alluded to in an earlier post and you're a bloke that is obviously very passionate about your footy and aren't scared to air your opinions - Sometimes we agree, sometimes we both leave shaking our heads (T.Waters comes to mind), but I guess that's the beauty of opinions.
This forum has been an interesting read over the last four or so weeks for someone in my position, and despite temptation, I haven't replied to any posts - positive, negative or otherwise. I can attempt to clear up some of the points you have raised above - these are certainly my opinion and not that of the RU as a whole. (and before any one asks, no I will not comment on the grand final game itself or on the selection of umpires)
1. Is this "Special Treatment" that is being afforded to the Umpires, appropriate ???
I think that yes it is. One of the biggest barriers to retention of umpires is the environment we work in, it's a massive discussion point at all the umpires conferences I have been to. Whilst we have control of the environment on Wednesday nights at training (i.e. we can make it a positive & supportive environment), for most of the year we do not have any control of the environment on game day.
The tent on Grand final day is really the one time of the year we can control the environment and we work as hard as possible to make it a positive one for the members. Young umpires can bring their parents along, wives, partners and children are all welcome and it's really the only game of the year umpires can gather in a social manner and watch together.
So being given "special treatment" as you have chosen to describe it, actually helps with our retention (& recruitment) of umpires - for this reason I think it's appropriate.
2. Is this the "Thin end of the Wedge", will we now see Umpire Marquees erected at EVERY one of our Finals now ???
The tent on Grand final Day has been a tradition for most of our 30 year history I believe, so if you're just talking about grand final day then the "thin end of the wedge" has always been there.
If you mean the finals series as a whole, there were tents set up at every final from the second week onwards (this was discussed with and approved by the league). These were for the coaches to sit in and observe the officiating umpires in the finals, without being obstructed or distracted by other non-officiating umpires or the surrounding crowd (i.e. these were not social tents). It also allowed them to discuss the running umpires without the non-officiating umpires hearing. As for the empty tent at Macedon, the coaches were offered a position on the balcony of the club rooms after the tent was erected, this is why it remained empty.
3. Can any of the Clubs errect a "Big Top" adjacent to the boundary come Finals time with the Blessing of the League ???
No idea
4. Can any or ALL of our Clubs bulk buy booze at our Finals venues then, "ON SELL" it ??? (For Profit $$$)
I have never bought a beer in the tent, as I have been doing the main game - so I wouldn't even know if you can buy beer in there, or - if you can, how much one was.
5. Can any or ALL of our Clubs run their own B.B.Q at our Finals venues ??? (For Profit $$$)
I very much doubt the association profited from the tent, it only cost an attending umpire $10 to get in and by the time each umpire has a snag or 2, a burger and a can of soft drink that $10 is very quickly dissolved.
Hope that clears a few things up, certainly not arguing with you, just giving you some of my thoughts.
And also just for the record, I am not returning to umpire next year as I will be spending the year abroad, NOT because of what happened on GF day as has been asked of me by a number of people. I certainly wouldn't allow unfortunate behavior from a very small minority of people to push me away from umpiring.
