Facebook Input Results in Price Drop of Majestic Therma Base Jackets

We have a few values we seek to always uphold. One is to provide value to our customers and the other is to value our customers' knowledge and input.

These two values came together recently when we recently asked our Facebook fans, nearing 3,500 at writing, to nominate then vote for one product where it was felt our price was too high. This has got to be a first, at least in the officials' retail sporting goods industry.

But I'll just be honest. It's not our strategy to have the lowest prices on every single item. If we did, we'd have to cut our service staff, not answer your calls or emails in a timely manner and cut our inventory levels so low that you may not get your package for a while after you order. Then, we'd call ourselves a discounter. And we're not.

On the other hand, we don't want to price something at a level we think is right only to find in enough customers' eyes it's highly over-priced.

So we thought the nomination and poll on Facebook would not only be fun, but enlightening as well. Out of 44 votes, the response was overwhelming for Majestic Therma Base Jackets. They received 27 votes in all. So if we missed anything price-wise, perhaps this is the one.

Therefore, we are going to trust our customers on this one. The Majestic jackets are being dropped in price from $90 to $80 - although Majestic just raised the price about $8 to our cost on these jackets.

That's right. Majestic raised the cost $8, and I'm listening to my customers by dropping the price $10? One of our Facebook fans commented tongue-in-cheek, "Jim's gone crazy".

Maybe he's right, and the profit numbers indicate we'll have to sell 4 jackets at the new price vs. 3 at the old one to break even. If the customers are right, then perhaps we'll do better than that. I am hopeful this happens, and maybe I'm not so crazy after all.

Help the cause and buy a Majestic Therma Base Jacket today available in various colors and stripe patterns including the exclusive black with white stripes.

Want to join us on Facebook and provide your input to help shape our selection, product features and pricing? Like us and join the craziness at www.ump-attire.com/facebook/

"Stay in the Game" to Receive Proceeds from Football CD Series

Just received an email from Todd Skaggs - wearer of many hats including one as football official, author of Forward Progress and guru behind Profootballreferee.com - that he is donating proceeds to his upcoming CD Interview Series to the Prostate Cancer Foundation through our Stay in the Game Campaign: Officials Against Prostate Cancer.

Thanks Todd.

About the CD Series
As I understand it, from November 25th to December 1st, Todd will host a special 5-part Expert Interview Series on Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Football Officiating - released one per day - leading up to the ACC Mini-Clinic.

The interviews will contain in-depth and insightful secrets of what it takes to get noticed, move up through the ranks and improve your officiating skills. Interviewees will include Doug Rhoads, ACC Coordinator of Football Officiating along with veteran crew members from various positions.

Interviews are for all, not just those attending the clinic. They are free to listen to on the website but the complete set will be on a CD box set for $29.

For more information, and to receive instant updates of the series and have an opportunity to purchase the series, pleas visit profootballreferee.com/accminiclinic.

For more information on Stay in the Game visit www.ump-attire.com/stayinthegame/.

For more information on the Prostate Cancer Foundation, visit www.pcf.org.

First Look at New Balance MU460 Plate Shoes: Look and Feel

The MU460 Umpire Plate Shoes came in today, two weeks earlier than we expected! That doesn't happen very often. I had a chance to put a pair on for the first time and walk around a bit.

Someone said that working at Ump-Attire.com has got to be like Christmas every day. Well, not every day but today, yes, it felt somewhat like that.

Note to Peter Crawford (our New Balance rep): Thanks for playing Santa Claus.

I took three pairs you would most be interested in and compared them on look and feel:

• A new MU460
• An older MU450
• A Reebok RPLO

You'll see some side-by-side comparisons below on look, but I'll share my initial thoughts on feel and comfort.

FEEL/COMFORT
The older MU450s were always harder for my in-between D and EE foot to fit into. They were too tight for me at the instep so I would have needed not just to size up number-wise but in width.

So I was was very excited to feel that with the new MU460s, my foot just easily slid right into it like a Converse hi-top I used to wear in high school. There was no tightness. New Balance promised a larger toe box, and they certainly delivered as the fit is similar to the Reebok plate shoe's fit. We have always recommended that you size up a number or width with the MU450s but with my feet as an example, I don't see the need.

From a comfort perspective, the new MU460s felt most like a real shoe than anything else I've ever tried. They were certainly lighter, 10% than the MU450s.

"Softer" might also be an appropriate conservative explanation of how they felt compared to MU450s. Saying they felt like a pair of comfortable slippers would be overstating it, but I'd put the metaphor somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. It might not be too much of a stretch if you tried on a pair to say "you know, those are the most comfortable plate shoes I've ever tried".

To me the Reebok RPLOs are more comfortable than the older MU450s. Some will say the Reeboks still are the most comfortable to them than the new MU460s. I'll let you be the judge, but an obvious difference was that the New Balance felt, appropriately so, more "balanced". In other words, it didn't feel heavy anywhere on the shoe whereas the Reebok can best be described in my opinion as a little front heavy.

The official feature from New Balance regarding comfort is as follows:

ABZORB® - a blend of Dupont™ Engage® and Isoprene rubber - in heel and forefoot provides superior shock absorption and cushioning throughout the game.

As a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll refrain from typing that many and let you see the differences visually. (BTW - Please do not start calling in asking where you can get umpire pants made of blue jean material. They are not yet available.)

LOOK

The MU460s have 40% more coverage than the MU450s. You'll want to, of course, pull your pants over your tongue, but I wanted you to see the differences old and new there.

The MU460s have a darker look with perhaps a little more shine than the RPLOs (flash went off so maybe less shine than appears) with a more seamless look with the toe and plate cap. With pants in proper position, those concerned with white on your shoes need not be as concerned as the white MLB logo will be covered.

Side shot with RPLOs. Some have been concerned with the N placement in the back of the shoe. It's barely noticeable with pants on. Note: Always wear pants when umpiring.

Small white logo on back of MU460s compared to style number and "New Balance" on MU450s

MLB logo vs larger Reebok logo

To learn more about this plate shoe (also available with white "N"), view the New Balance umpire shoes category page.

What did I miss? Give me your thoughts.

Take a Tour of the Vero Beach Sports Village (Home of The Umpire School)

Professional Umpire School or Resort for Umpires?

Take this virtual tour with me and find out for yourself just what The (New) Umpire School is at the Vero Beach Sports Village (VBSV).

Justin Klemm, executive director, invited me down to tour the facilities on October 15th in Vero Beach, Florida. We had just inked a deal that would make us Official Supplier so I obviously wanted to take a look around.

A very early 5:20 am flight from Louisville via Charlotte to Orlando and an hour and half plus drive later had me meeting Justin as I pulled in right at noon.

I would spend a little over 4 hours that day with Justin and PBUC staff on what was a beautiful, sunny day in the mid-80s - a welcome break from what had been a cold and rainy week back home.

An Overview
So what is the Vero Beach Sports Village? I had never heard of it until this year, perhaps just as you hadn't. VBSV is the former spring training home of the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers affectionately known as Dodgertown. Now sound familiar?

The Dodgers made their exodus in 2008 to Glendale, Arizona but left behind not only the facilities including Holman Stadium but also much of the character including lamp posts with tops shaped and stitched like baseballs and street names such as as Sandy Koufax Lane and Pee Wee Reese Boulevard.

Now operated by Minor League Baseball, the VBSV is first-class all the way. It exists mostly to provide unique facilities for college and high school baseball teams for their spring training.

The Chinese National Baseball Team, I just missed after they had their training there. Yes, I thought it was interesting, too, that the Chinese train in Florida.

The Umpire School
Of course, now not only for teams and players, VSBV is for umpires at all levels to train and stay via The Umpire School for 4-weeks out of the year, where members of the Professional Baseball Umpires Corp (PBUC) will host and make up lead staff.

Picture this. You are a student who will attend your first session January 8th - February 5th, 2012. You'll find what I did which is a training venue that is all-inclusive. There is no need to leave the 67-acre campus during your stay. To say "I was impressed" with the facilities would be an understatement.

In the morning, you'll be make a short walk out of your villa, one of the same ones that Dodger players stayed in, into the dining room that is in the main conference center where you'll meet Mary and the other ladies who shared they judge how they do by the weight you put on during your stay.

It is buffet-style, but you may want to take it easy.

You'll then walk down the hall to your morning instruction, back to lunch, possibly stopping by to say "hello" to me or another one of our staff at our on-site store, then onto the fields conveniently just out the back door.

How does all that sound so far?

There is also access to support needs such as laundry and wi-fi access plus recreational activities including a weight and exercise room to burn a few of those calories, a full-size pool, tennis and basketball courts and a stadium club lounge with full service bar and game room.

So all in all, you can train here to become a better umpire at your level or the next one, provided by those who recruit, evaluate and train minor league baseball umpires by day; you'll find lodging and camaraderie with other umpires who share your passion by night; and full entree breakfast, lunch and dinner throughout your stay.

So you tell me. Is The Umpire School a professional umpire school or a resort for umpires?

Find Out More
See more photos from my tour on our Facebook fan page (supplemented with a few supplied by VSBV) here and The Umpire School's official 4-minute video (below) for an even closer view.

The Umpire School - Therightcall.net
Vero Beach Sports Village - Vbsportsvillage.com