Quote: Originally Posted By plague on 4/10/2010
Quote: Originally posted by grivfmd1 on 4/10/2010
THE issue - at least for those of us in Cooperstown who were directly effected by Smoelheim's appeal to WIS - is not whether he is a "good owner" or a "good commissioner" elsewhere or even in Cooperstown. It was and is on the impact his and WIS's initial response would have on the ability to maintain the integrity of private leagues which would have been (and may still be) disastrous.
I encourage all commissioners (even Smoelheim and Plague) to get their league rules in order, approved by your leagues owners, and published - you WILL need them.
I don't really know about the Cooperstown issue. I was mainly responding to the remark about Smoelheim would be treated like small pox. I just wanted to say he has been a good coach in the worlds I have coached. That does not mean I agree or disagree with whatever situation he is apart of in Cooperstown.
I have mixed feelings on the new policy. As a GM I would want the ability to remove a owner at the end of the season. I consider myself a reasonable commissioner. However there is Commissioners out there that abuse their power and remove owners for reasons that is very unfair to said owner who maybe has invested many seasons into his team. That is the basic reason why Unions and regulations exist. Many in positions of managerial power will abuse their position of power, and I work at a job that has both union and non union employees and non union employees get abused. The managers who abuse their power ruin it for the managers who treat their employees with respect. Anyone that thinks unions are the problem don't realize how abusive management can be to their work force.
I try not to get to political but I can't let this one pass - 40 yrs ago I worked in a factory on the night shift. The factory had 2 types of employees - non union skilled "piece" workers and unionized unskilled hourly workers. The "piece" workers were constantly upset because work would be "lost" in inventory transfer resulting in their having to do multiple unpaid set ups to complete a job. One night I decided to "fix" inventory (I was the shuttle person in inventory). For the next week everything ran smoothly and the "piece" workers were thrilled. The following week I was fired because the union representative during days complained that the "fix" I put in was so efficient it would result in one less worker being needed (to hunt down the missing inventory). A week later I was called by one of the "piece" workers and told everything had returned to the previous mess. The company (in CT) used to employee over 2000 americans. It is now out of business. The company name was sold to an Asian firm and some people think it still exists.
Two wrongs never make a right - employees should not be abused but "feather bedding" and blatant disregard for economic reality by unions have cost more americans jobs than any other factor in the last 60 years.
As to abusive Commishs and league dismissal issues - the focus needs to be on whether it is an abusive request, if it is the commish needs to be removed. Once one of these issues reaches WIS it should be with the clear knowledge that someone is going to be gone when the decision is made. You might be surprised at how quickly abuse disappears when everyone realizes the possible outcomes. What initially occurred in Cooperstown - the owner allowed to stay and the commish still in place - should NEVER happen again.
Finally it was NOT a Cooperstown issue (just happened in Cooperstown) it was and remains a Private World issue