[Alsfastball] RE: "Operation Dumbo Drop !"

[Al Doran]

From: "Mike Groves" <falcon at fedlock.com>
To: "'Al Doran'" <fastball at pmihrm.com>
Subject: RE: "Operation Dumbo Drop !"
Date: Sat, 28 Aug 2004 09:14:45 -0400


At 01:16 AM 8/28/2004, you wrote:
Dick:

Let's get this out from behind the ISC closed-doors, in front of the people 
who care about this game.  Guess what?  Those people are NOT exclusively 
ISC or ASA officials.  Let's air this out.  I, for one, have no agenda, and 
nothing to hide behind.

So:
1.  Don't tell me how to represent my opinions.

2. "Sarcasm," when utilized (ref: Joe Heller, Medici, Kafka, et. al. ad 
nauseum) is a valid & longstanding method of questioning 
authority.  Particularly, absolute authority.  Typically, absolute 
authority never likes the methodology.
(Point made.)

3. I don't recall a blanket agreement to ANYTHING the Player's Rep 
committee decides to do.  I have a mind, I have my own opinion.  What the 
Player Rep committee "decides" should be (much as many ISC commandments 
from the temple mount are not open to question or input from the members) 
is open to inspection, agreement, disagreement, critical analysis, 
suggestions, additions, inputs, improvements..........if you want kowtows, 
if you want blind obedience, if you want yes-men.........well, you're 
talking to the wrong man.
You are talking to the wrong MAN.

4.  Whiffs of the A......the AS.........the ASA...!............that Ivory 
Tower of don't-you-dare-question-US-mentality, of which you are a 
long-standing fundamentalist, are you not?...........I sense 
ASA-legislate-the-shit-out-of-it-throw-a-dart & see-if-it-sticks-mentality 
on the pitcher-list-concept & ALSO the "from-nowhere" revamped WT pool play 
format.

5.  If you want clones, people who don't Question Authority, people who 
don't seek answers, people who don't delve DEEPLY into what is best for THE 
GAME, people who don't seek to protect & preserve as many people's rights & 
interests as possible in the quest to keep our (struggling) great game 
alive & flourishing.........if you want yes-men, well, Mike Groves cannot 
answer that metronome-like, Stepford-like bell.

I will continue to question new rules that do not canvass the managers / 
sponsors / players who make up the guts of this game, I will continue to 
question hastily-called "votes" and subsequent rulings that influence many 
people (votes that are not all for the good), and I will continue to query 
the power structure of our organization while being part & parcel of same 
(it's also called "constructive criticism" and "strengthening the fabric 
from within".........Dick).

And I will not be lectured by anyone to effectively "stifle" my 
thoughts............especially title-holders within the ISC who have not 
been on the front lines of the expense, the Major circuit, the 
understanding of the ballplayers &  the teams & what makes the game 
work.............in this day & age..............as opposed to thinking that 
the game today is simply the same as it was 20 years ago..........

You can disagree with my thoughts.  Fine.  You can tell me I'm 
wrong.  Fine.  Your opinion holds no more weight than mine.  Why should you 
have more "pull" merely because you you have an antiquated title?  With 
very little hands-on, getting-out-there experience behind that 
title?  Where's the corollation?  I have been in the front lines of Major 
ball for years, i.e., I don't show up once a year & "garner opinions" in 
hotel ballrooms from people who have personal or hidden agendas.

Realize this:  I have tried to explain much of the intrinsic aspects of the 
Major game & its inherent issues to you in this email, and I haven't even 
touched upon 90% of those issues.  To understand those issues, Dick, you'd 
have to actually show up at something beyond the once-a-year hoot & holler 
in August.  If you got out into the hinterlands.........the Amsterdams, the 
Woodstocks, the Orillias, the Eries, the Allentowns, the Madisons, the 
Midlands........well, you might then understand what it REALLY takes for 
players, sponsors, managers, and affiliates to hang on within the game that 
we love.  And if you did all that, pursuant to your position & your "title" 
then you'd PERHAPS be able to legislate effective & intelligent policy.

I believe that it's called "Accountability."  Dick.

Until that concept is your reality, and not just bandied about like some 
television gameshow terminology, spare me the lectures.

I will always proceed with the game's best interests on mind.   Always 
have.  That may mean my opinions clash with yours.  So be it.  Live with 
it.  Get over it.  Move on into the land of the pro-active.

This is not a contest of egos or titles.  Unfortunately, over the years, 
it's obvious that egos & titles have taken precedence over the good of the 
fastball game.

My main points remain untainted by personal attacks:
1.  The decision for this pitching list was made hastily & without fair 
input & contribution from sponsors, players, managers, et. al. affected by 
same.
2.  The Player Rep "vote" was not inclusive, in fact it was exclusive, 
perhaps not by design, but certainly by effect.  The vote does NOT 
accurately reflect the desires of the ISC membership.
3.  Pitching list concept solves...............nothing!  I am still waiting 
for SOMEONE to explain why the pitching list restriction is a sound concept 
and how said pitching-restriction list will bolster our game in one, three, 
or five year's time.

Suggestion:  tell the world who came up with these ideas, who initiated the 
motions, who seconded the motions, who ACTUALLY VOTED for these motions??

.......................still waiting..........................

Suggestion:  (Question, first: how in THE HELL does the ISC get off pumping 
Kitchener for 200,000 bucks prior to a pitch even being thrown????   Where 
is the shame??  Even self-justification for bloated egos & comped travel 
can only go so far, can it not??  How long do you think host cities will 
put up with this abuse?  How long will the ISC membership teams continue to 
tolerate this wanton waste & abuse of their dollars?))
Back to suggestion:  ashcan the hundreds of ISC Kommish freebie rooms & 
other costly perks for any ISC commissioner not sending a team to the 
WT.  Take that money & spread it amongst the bottom 20 teams in the 
WT.  Make those lard-ass Kommissioners who show up once a year do their 
JOBS.  Or dump them.  They won't be missed, eh?

Suggestion:  Take the 50k the ISC strong-arms from potential WT hosts and 
use that money to seed a fund designed to recruit ESPN2 to show up at the 
WT with a production truck, a producer, 4 cams, and a professional filming 
/ production crew..........and voila!  Exactly how the X-Games, the 
dog-tricks shows, the lumberjack "contests" ........... and putt-putt 
"events" get on the tube (!) - and exactly how those "sports" garner more 
participants who see a pro sport to aim for, and more sponsorship dollars, 
and more player participation..............etc..............

Suggestion:  let Ken Hackmeister, just for once, implement his ideas (his 
imaginative, creative, sport-user-friendly ideas) & watch the game take off.

Of course, you could continue to "stay the course" & ramrod into place 
rules which have little membership support, continue to suck up & pay for 
impotent ISC Kommissars who do nothing to work for the game, continue to 
legislate the crap out of the game without intelligently exploring the 
effects of said legislation....
..........in which case, I'll send flowers when this once-magnificent sport 
topples over from its own slobbering bulk & deadweight.

Regards,

falcon at fedlock.com
Michael Groves

From: Mike Groves
To: ISC Player Reps, ISC Commissioners, ISC Team Managers and Sponsors
Sent: Friday, August 27, 2004 4:12 PM
Subject: "Operation Dumbo Drop !"

What is the significance of the proclamation as noted far, far below by 
Larry Fisher?


Moving along, looking for substance, waiting for Godot (so to speak):


Can anyone cut to the chase??  Can we get some substantive information 
please????


Such as:
1.  Who made the motion to pass the pitching list rule?
2.  Who seconded the motion?
3.  What Player Reps were ACTUALLY IN ATTENDANCE at the vote for pitching list?


4.  Who made the motion to go to the new WT format?
5. Who seconded that motion?
6.  Where in the hell did this back-room deal come from?


7.  How is the OOA fee money allocated?  Are we permitted to see this in 
writing?  Where is all of the money being allocated for pitching 
development actually being spent?


Back to Items 1 - 3:
In the Player Rep "vote" for pitching list I am guessing that perhaps as 
many as (6) Reps did not vote.  Correct me if I'm wrong; I am willing to be 
wrong:
Groves
White
Sorenson
Santos
Beane
Miljavic?


If this is accurate, how could such a vote, with such significance for 
individual players & what they will be able to do / not do in their ball 
careers, even be considered "a majority passing vote??"


If anyone can answer the above questions, please do.  If these questions 
cannot be answered, then the new rule smacks of everything 
ASA-like:  mysterious back-room dealings amongst those who have singular 
agendas, who have not researched the full impact of their actions upon the 
sport, and who don't want to face "outside" critiques.


Finally, this pitching-list rule will not affect the power wallet 
teams.  Simmons has won how many WT's with only 2 chuckers????  And a 
stacked lineup of OOA players????  What possible good does this pitching 
list do ?  What is the stated goal of this list?  How would it affect each 
team in the 2004 WT, for example.  THAT is the depth of research that 
should have gone into this "new ruling."   I would like to know.


Change for the sake of change = Dumbo Drop.


Mike
mailto:falcon at fedlock.com