UEFL Draft 2012: Announcements: 2012 Appeals Board, Reminders, Crew Chief Deadline Extension

This year, the Umpire Ejection Fantasy League has established an Appeals Board to rule on issues of challenged Qualities of Correctness. Comprised of three rotating voting members including both UEFL Commissioners and a roster of five at-large volunteers, the 2012 pre-season nomination and election process has now concluded and the inaugural UEFL Appeals Board has been established.

During the season, members may challenge rulings of Quality of Correctness, Umpire Classification and other variables as specified by UEFL Rule 6-2. If such a challenge is requested, the Appeals Board shall convene to render a just disposition and may either confirm or uphold, defer or overturn the original ruling. In 2012, all actions taken by the Appeals Board will be clearly documented and recorded on the Appeals Board page located on the UEFL Portal.

The following candidates have been named to the 2012 UEFL Appeals Board as per UEFL Rule 6-4-a:

• tmac (35%), a frequent contributor to the UEFL: "met and umpired with some of the men who are on the major league and minor league fields, [I] look forward to helping people understand plays and positioning and why calls were made."
• Albertaumpire (34%), UEFL rookie: a Level 3 umpire in Canada and 2012 graduate of the Harry Wendelstedt Umpire School.
• BillMueller (31%), UEFL veteran (26th place, UEFL '11): "Former minor league umpire and Jim Evans Academy of Professional Umpiring instructor. Scored 199 correct out of 200 on JEAPU final exam."
• RichMSN (26%), UEFL veteran (8th place, UEFL '11): "Student of the rules -- have copies of Jim Evans Annotated, Jaksa/Roder, Wendelstedt Manual, PBUC Manual, MLB Umpire Manual, Childress's BRD, etc. Familiar with UEFL rules and what goes into QOC decisions."
• yawetag (21%), UEFL veteran (5th place, UEFL '11): "Because of my experience in baseball and UEFL, I feel I am a strong candidate for the Appeals Board."

Congratulations to our 2012 Appeals Board members and thank you to all candidates for tremendous interest in this unique position.

Reminders: The 2012 UEFL Live Secondary Draft occurs Sunday, April 1 at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time. For those participating, it is recommended you access the UEFL website approximately 5-10 minutes prior to draft time for attendance purposes and to familiarize yourself with the Live Draft process. For those who have not yet submitted Primary or Secondary Umpires and will not participate in the Live Draft, you must submit your Primary and/or Secondary Umpires ASAP via e-mail or as a reply to this or any other applicable UEFL post. Failure to submit Primary and/or Secondary Umpire selections prior to the Live Draft (for those not participating in the Live Draft) may result in your being assigned random umpires for the season.

Extension of Crew Chief Deadline: Because the complete MLB Crew list has not yet been released, the deadline for filing your Crew Chief selection has been extended to 10:05 a.m. Pacific Time on April 7, 2012, which is the first pitch of the first game on April 7, the first Saturday of the regular season. With all teams scheduled to have played at least one MLB game by the conclusion of play on April 6, all crew information learned from these games will post to the UEFL Portal's Umpire Roster / Stats page. You may reference this page at any time in selecting your remaining umpire(s).

The injury provision as specified by UEFL Rule 1-5 is not affected by this alteration; John Hirschbeck and Bruce Dreckman have been designated by the UEFL as injured/ill umpires and members that have drafted either person may follow the procedures of UEFL Rule 1-5 to alter their selections. At present, only one UEFL member is affected and may apply Rule 1-5.