[Manny A]

I assume you worked the Gold in Clearwater? I did that four years ago. Your observations are spot-on. I, too, rented a car, primarily so I can find a laundromat to do my stuff. We were in a hotel with some of the teams, and there was no way in hell I was going to try and compete with the team moms for the hotel's services.

It also came in handy when my schedule and the provided transportation did not sync. Our last night's games did not start until after midnight due to weather, and I certainly didn't want to wait around for a ride at 1:30 am to get back to the hotel. Also, since Clearwater had three different venues for fields, I really couldn't leave my gear overnight in the umpire trailers because I was not working in the same park every day. So it was convenient to have the rental to carry my stuff back to the hotel each evening.

If memory serves, we did have a few of our umpires participate in evening get-togethers. That was another benefit of my having a rental car, so I can take a couple of umpires with me to grab some dinner. But I think I did that only once or maybe twice during the tournament. Most nights I was doing laundry or getting back to the hotel late because of the weather delays.

The opening ceremony at the Sheraton Sand Key Resort was pretty good. Don't know if they did the same thing for you guys.

As for the umpiring aspect, I don't know why anyone would feel they need to call the game differently unless directed by the TD. There's no reason to not enforce the rules as written. Those girls and their coaches have played plenty of games to get to the National, so they should know what to expect. Yeah, if there is a lax attitude by the TDs when it comes to things like chinstraps on batting helmets, uniform colors, the one-foot-in-the-box rule, or the "take or simulate taking" rule, that needs to be announced to all the umpires before the games begin. I watched a few of the streaming telecasts, and I noticed a bunch of batters walking away from the box between pitches, and many of the pitchers immediately putting their hands together when they stepped on the plate after referring to their arm bands for signals.