The sixth in a series of stories by the staffs of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette focusing on those involved in sports who have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Ray Burwell will remember his 13th season as a softball umpire for all the wrong reasons.
The Pea Ridge resident had reached a career milestone and expected to reap the benefits of his labor this spring. Instead, he and other umpires on all levels will look back at this time as a season that barely started or didn't start at all.
"It was more disappointment," Burwell said. "I've worked pretty hard in my profession, and some goals are really starting to come about because of some of the hard work I have put in. I've had some great mentors and some great friends that have helped me out.
"I hate to say it egotistically, but there were some really cool things that had happened for Ray Burwell, the umpire. And all of that immediately was gone."
Burwell's "cool things" included assignments to work Southland Conference games, the first time he had earned any NCAA Division I conference games and allow him to triple the number of collegiate softball games he worked a year ago.
He began the season with the Alvy Early Memorial Classic in Bentonville, followed by a tournament at the University of the Ozarks. He worked his first Division I tournament during the Adam Brown Memorial Shamrock Classic at the University of Central Arkansas, then he returned to Conway to work his first Southland Conference series March 6-7 when UCA hosted three games against Incarnate Word.
His next assignment was scheduled to be a junior college tournament. Everything changed March 12, when he received the call around 2 p.m. that day that the NCAA had suspended the remainder of the softball season for all divisions.
"When I first got the call, I thought it was a joke," Burwell said. "I said there was just no way. The NCAA is too big to say we're going to shut this down. The secondary thing I thought about was how much did I just lose.
"I figured it up, and I lost about $6,400 that day when the NCAA shut everything down. I started piecing things together, and I have a friend who lives here locally and works the SEC and Big 12 games. He had 10-12 weekends remaining, and I'm thinking he lost $25,000 that day."
It only became worse. The following day, the Arkansas Activities Association announced that the state's high schools would be under an athletic dead period and all sports were suspended.
That dead period eventually wiped out the remainder of the season, and that hit Burwell's pocketbook even harder.
"Because I have worked for so long with the kids around here, there are some seniors that are pretty special to me," Burwell said. "I've seen them grow up, and if they see me somewhere they may run up and give me a big hug. We've had great interaction. On a personal level, it's sad for me because I don't get to see those girls finish out their high school careers.
"The older I get and the more that I do this, the more I try to enjoy the fact these kids are out there playing the game, especially now that my kids are getting older and are not playing softball. I told the coaches around here in our preseason meeting that, for the first time since 2004, I don't have anybody to root for. I was looking forward to cheering for some of these seniors I've seen grow up."
The longer the idleness continues on the softball fields, the more costly it becomes for Burwell, who was the home-plate umpire when Bentonville defeated Bentonville West in the 2018 Class 6A state championship. He figures to lose another $3,500 now that high school softball season is gone.
The Premier Girls Fastpitch, an upper-level tournament organization, was supposed to have a tournament this month in Northwest Arkansas but has suspended all operations through May 31. The USSSA, which runs most local leagues in the area, has halted operations until at least May 1.
Burwell said the losses "took a bite out of the family budget" and left him with plenty of idle time on his hands. He has helped his cause on both of those instances by picking up some extra work with his handyman service, among other things.
"It's been really weird," Burwell said. "For the past 13 years, I work a lot more games than other umpires, and last year I called 38 out of 52 weekends. It's an interesting dynamic because my wife and kids aren't used to seeing me home that much.
"I mowed my yard before anybody else in my neighborhood did, and I don't think that has ever happened. But I was home and said I'm gonna mow my yard. A lot of times I'm pressed to make sure that's going to get done."
TROUBLE AHEAD
Mike Durham was scheduled to serve as a baseball umpire for the first time this season March 16 at Greenwood, but he first had to work his final game as a basketball referee -- the Class 2A state boys championship game between England and Earle.
But when he arrived at Bank OZK Arena in Hot Springs that evening, he knew something was about to take place by the expressions he saw on the faces of AAA Executive Director Lance Taylor and associate executive director Don Brodell. He would get to work his game, the last of four games played March 12, but the remaining eight state championship games were suspended and eventually canceled.
The AAA's announcement for an athletic dead period came the following day.
"I got there around 5 o'clock, right about the time they were having their meeting with the governor," Durham said. "When we walked in, you knew something was up. Then they got word to us that we were it; we were the last game in town.
"It's unbelievable. At that point, you're thinking maybe you'll get a couple of weeks of rest, which is nice. You get out of one sport and you want to rest a little. But when things get delayed and delayed again, and you start thinking about the money. At some point, it does become about the money."
Durham, a Fort Smith native who splits his umpiring work between the River Valley and Northwest Arkansas, had expected to work four games a week for the next 7-8 weeks, and postseason tournaments would have given an additional two weeks to work. If the weather cooperated, he saw himself making about $500 per week, and that didn't include any non-high school tournaments that he would have worked during weekends.
Durham said his umpiring money is used to fund vacations for himself and his wife, and that includes a yearly journey to the Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament in Hoover, Ala.
"That's our anniversary trip," said Durham, who said he usually buys tickets close to the first-base dugout. "Thank goodness we were refunded for this year's tournament."
Another hit came earlier this week when American Legion baseball called off its 2020 summer season, a decision that was later put on hold after the AAA announced all spring sports were canceled. Durham said he wouldn't be surprised if the next athletic event he works won't come until August when high school football is scheduled to start.
In the meantime, the lost funds continued to pile for him as well. He also finds a lot of idle time on his hands except for the time he works his normal job with Grainger Industrial Supply in Fort Smith.
"I started doing the math, and I'm thinking I'm about to lose about $7,000 this spring," Durham said. "Now that summer has been cut out, I may lose close to $8,500.
"Now I'm about to the point where I'm trying to find things to do. There's only so much yard work you can do, so much housework you can do. Me and my wife are getting reacquainted, I guess. My only saving grace right now is I still get to go to work at 7 each morning and stay there until 4:30 or 5 for now."
Sports on 04/19/2020