My Favorite Photos from NASO Summit

Samuel Dearth, Executive Director of MLB Umpires' Charity Blue for Kids and I at Cleveland-Detroit Game
Samuel and I spent a great deal of time discussing fund raising ideas that we could be a part of to further help this very worthy cause including a potential February umpire clinic in Louisville. Overall, the game was a great outing organized by Referee Magazine and NASO on the party deck of the Indians' Progressive Field.


Photo with Bob Delaney, NBA Referee and Author of Covert: How I Infiltrated the Mob
I was privileged to have adjacent booths with Bob, and we had time to discuss a few things including his recent selling of the movie rights to his new book as well as speculation as to which actor he might like to play him. Bob said he had been second guessed so often in is officiating career that he knows better to be a part of that decision.


Denise Pittuck, Executive Director of Sports Officials of Canada, Admires the 180s Ear Warmers Just Purchased by Canadian Football League Referee Larry Campbell
Larry and the 5 other CFL Officials that made the trip to Cleveland stopped by our booth. None of the guys had ever seen the 180s and thought they were a great alternative to the touk, which I learned is a knitted winter skull cap worn primarily in Canada.


Me, Umpire/Referee Dick Davidson and Samuel at NASO Summit Welcome Reception
We finally have a picture to go with the story of Dick's winning bid for All-Star Tickets from Blue for Kids.

Ohio Officials Meeting Day at NASO Summit in Cleveland

On my first trip to Cleveland, I made it just in time to set up our booth at this annual's National Association of Sports Officials Summit. It required me to leave around 3:30 am to make the rather reasonable 5 hour drive from Louisville.

This marks my second NASO Summit after last year's event in Denver (photos). Whereas last year I brought my wife with me for a few days of sightseeing prior to the Summit, this year I decided to make it more low key with a just-in-time arrival sans my better half.

The NASO Summit, titled this year "Officiating to a Standard" extends 3 days and offers some attendees some great workshops and speakers as well as the opportunity to visit the exhibit hall where we have a booth.

I was a little surprised, but not displeased, that the Midwest location did not draw more competing sporting goods companies. Of course, Honig's is here as is Purchase Officials Supplies... a no-brainer for them as they're only 45 minutes down the road in Akron.

I was excited to see other exhibitors to which we have some affiliation such as Dalco Athletic, one of our suppliers; Blue for Kids, of which we sponsor; and Fox 40 Whistles. It was nice to see Mike Carter the Vice-President of Dalco who I got to meet and talk with extensively during last year's summit. "Good-ole-boys" from Texas and those from Kentucky aren't much different, hence the reason we hit it off so well. It was also nice to finally meet face-to-face and chat with Samuel Dearth, executive director of Blue for Kids. What a super guy who has Blue for Kids doing some great things including a nice display of memorabilia for a silent auction during the event.

The other exhibitors are all over the place in offerings for officials including Refnation, a company that specializes in building websites for officials associations and author Bob Delaney, NBA referee and former police officer who is promoting his new book "Covert, My Years Infiltrating the Mob".

Today was a day where Ohio Officials who were not attending the full Summit would have their regular meetings while at the same time could browse exhibits. This was NASO's attempt to spice up the pot for potential exhibitors. However, The original estimate of 600 officials did not pan out. Only 60 came and out of those we may have had 35 of those enter the exhibit area and stop by our booth, look at the few specialty items I brought, buy our ultimate football and basketball referee shirts and win a chance for a gift certificate by signing up for our e-mail newsletter.

Notable customers who stopped by included Dick Davidson and Mark DeNucci. I met Dick at last year's Summit, and he was involved in what became a nice story pertaining to a recent Blue for Kids auction. Mark and I chatted for a while and posed for this picture.

Jodi Schmidt one of our key contacts with Referee Magazine stopped by as well and could not resist purchasing children referee shirts for her daughters.

One of the highlights of the day was an opportunity to have a show and tell session with Todd Korth, Referee Magazine Associate Editor and Tools Feature Writer. I was impressed with Todd's knowledge of gear and apparel, and he was very attentive while I discussed trends in umpire protection. Todd was equally impressed with the new long sleeve ultimate football referee shirt that he is planning on featuring in next month's issue.

All in all, this was a day high in quality for networking and customer interaction despite the lack of quantity in numbers.

First Thoughts on New Wilson Titanium Mask

I have shared with several of you over the last few months that Wilson was working on a new umpire mask made of titanium - similar to Nike's titanium mask for catchers - and that it would be available as part of their 2009 selection. I was right about that but wrong that Wilson decided to treat this mask as automobile manufactures treat their cars by having stock of the upcoming year's version in the current year.

As soon as I found they were available, which was 2 weeks ago, we ordered a limited amount and scheduled a photo session (as Wilson's pic in their online catalog is not good nor is it the accurate padding color).

AVAILABLE ONLINE
The titanium umpire mask is now available to view online with some nice zoomed and alternative views.

One of the first things I did when I returned from vacation was to pull one of these from the warehouse to take a look. When I did, I expected to see a ray of light shine onto it from above and perhaps choral music and/or bugles proclaiming its arrival in the background. However, that didn't happen.

Instead, I was honestly a little disappointed. Yes, it's perhaps the best umpire mask on the market when you look at it feature by feature:

LIGHTWEIGHT
It's ultralight weight at 1 lb 3 ounces (1 and 1 without harness) makes it one of the lightest on the market.

SAFETY
It's wrap-around padding inherent on all Wilson umpire masks makes it perhaps one the safest mask on the market excluding a discussion of hockey style helmets.

PADDING
Its doeskin padding against the face will prove both comfortable and cool.

VISIBILITY
It's low-profile offers the best visibility available in a traditional umpire mask by offering around 15% better visibility through the main bars.

MIXED EMOTIONS
So why the disappointment? Perhaps it's mostly not what I had expected. Ever been disappointed by a good movie that you thought was going to be great?

For one, Wilson's '09 catalog shows the padding as all black. I had expected and hoped for the sleek look of the all black against the light gray titanium frame that I was used to seeing with the Nike titanium catcher's mask and that is trendy today. The color combination, though, I can live with that and others will likely prefer the tri-color combination anyway.

But what I have most difficulty living with is that Wilson went with a low profile frame rather than a more traditional curved frame. As a retailer, I had planned to push this mask with veteran umpires who see 80+ MPH fastballs on a regular basis, especially those in the college and MiLB ranks. It will be difficult to do that now as I know those customers prefer the more curved frame as physics dictates they'll allow for better glancing blows than a flatter mask. In the same line of thinking, it doesn't make sense for us to market a $200 mask to umpires who are just starting at a level where frame shape may not be as important.

Hmm. So as a retailer, I'm having trouble with the potential saleability of this umpire mask - especially in any significant numbers - given its price combined with its mix of features and very good available umpire mask alternatives.

BETTER CHOICES
Again, this is still a very good mask. But on the 4 features discussed above, there seem to be good alternatives at much better prices:

LIGHTWEIGHT
The Diamond Featherweight umpire mask is our best selling mask and at 1 pound (without the harness) is lighter than even the new Wilson Titanium. And if you just prefer the Wilson brand, the Chrome Moliben (New View) is indeed heavier but only by one-tenth of a pound. Both masks are under $80.

SAFETY
Because this new titanium mask has nothing like built-in shock absorbers featured on the new Wilson Shock FX umpire helmet, it can't boast that it's any more safer than any other Wilson mask. On the issue of safety, the under $50 Wilson dyna-lite will do for traditional style protection. Now if protection is your main concern and have you had the $200 you were thinking on using for the new titanium mask, I would highly recommend buying the Shock FX titanium helmet instead... much better insurance for your head.

PADDING
And if you want the two-tone padding or all doeskin, there are those as well for under $80.

VISIBILITY
If you've paid attention you now where this is going, and that is the chrome moliben offers the same visibility for again under $80.

TARGET MARKET
Based on the above, the only 2 target customers I see for this umpire mask are:

• Those who have to have the latest and greatest... and there are plenty of those out there (and by the way, we do love those customers); and
• those who just have to the multiple combination of features found in it that truly are not found elsewhere and at the same time have no problem dropping two Benjamins for it.

ETC
Wilson did not consult with me on the making of this mask, nor did I expect them to. When two current major league umpires have helped them design products in the past, and very good products at that, why would they venture beyond those guys? If they had, I would have strongly encouraged them to stick with the traditional frame shape and asked them to consider all-black leather at the hopes of a slightly lower price point.

Regardless, I do hope to gain further insights about the process of designing this mask during a meeting - that had been previously postponed - with our Wilson rep on Wednesday.

YOUR TURN
In the meantime, I would love your initial thoughts on this umpire mask including whether you agree or disagree with any of my thoughts above. I have been wrong before... and I hope I'm at least a little off here... and very well could be after umpires start providing feedback after its on-field use.

Much to Do on First Day Back from Vacation

I usually work too much on vacation, but this time with things well-in-hand at the office I actually took a decent sized mental break from work... with the exception of spending around an hour or so answering e-mails about every other day.

One of the e-mails I answered was from a customer who had an issue with the foam in his Diamond umpire helmet. He was impressed I had answered his e-mail while on vacation within an hour or two of sending it. In all actuality, he had just caught me at the right time. Regardless, he wrote a nice comment about us on umpire.org that you can read here.

Today is my first day back, and I have more things on my to do list than can humanly be accomplished. Much of what's on mind relates to getting caught up with where we are with new items we've ordered recently as well as how items on closeout are moving. Here's a look at some things I've accomplished today along those lines:

• V-NECK UNDER SHIRT
  Reviewed a sample of a new v-neck under shirt from one of our manufacturers. Looks good. This shirt will be the same as our 1528 loose fit short sleeve shirt but with a v-neck collar instead of crew. Officials who wear v-necks prefer these so their undershirt will not show at the neck. This item has been a gap in our product selection for some time now. Will order.
  
  
• WILSON TITANIUM MASK
  Reviewed the new Wilson umpire masks we just got in stock including one made of titanium. Many people have been interested in these, and I'll share my detailed thoughts here as well as have them available online very soon.
  
  
• NEW ITEM SALES
  Reviewed sales of newly added products within the last month. New items usually take a while to come around, and I've learned to not judge too quickly. Regardless, selling as expected are the new nylon football referee clip, Diamond HOTSPORT compression shirt and the Mueller Groin/Thigh Support.
  
  
• RULEBOOKS AND PLACKETS
  Determined if new football rule books and football position plackets are in and if they have been made available online. They have both just arrived and are available.
  
  
• CLOSEOUT PRICE DROPS
  Reviewed sales of baseball/softball closeout items and subsequently dropped prices below our costs on 2008 rulebooks that have not yet sold out. We certainly can't sell '08 rulebooks in 2009 so hopefully prices as low as $1.25 will help to free up some much needed shelf space. I also lowered the price on Spot-bilt turf referee shoes to $34.95 from $44.95 given that we're down to only a few sizes.
  
  
• PHOTO SHOOT
  Scheduled a photo shoot for items we just received but that are not yet available online which include the Wilson masks discussed above and some other items we'll be announcing very soon.

New Jackets for MLB Umpires and Majestic for '09

I spoke at length to our Majestic rep after their annual sales meeting in June about their product plans for 2009. Everything is staying the same in all sports except for umpire jackets. Those are the ones in navy with red stripe and black with powder stripe. Both will no longer be made by Majestic, thus making room for a new, undisclosed style that the MLB umpires will wear for 2009.

We have had most sizes in stock for most of the year in navy - none in black - and still have some limited sizes.

As far as the new jacket style, Majestic is still weighing a final design. As soon as I know, which likely won't be until early '09, I'll share the new look here. In the meantime, you can get one of the sizes left at a discount, and we'll continue to sell what have been well-received Smitty umpire jackets, which actually come in a greater variety of colors and bottoms... and a better price.