Fed --vs-- FEDlandia
I make this same post about three times a year:
The National Federation of High Schools has amended rules in a number of areas. The areas that are most obvious include safety, participation, game time, sportsmanship and "dumb umpire rules".
I really think you have to understand the charter of FED to understand what they are trying to accomplish in all sports and other things they control.
High School sports vary greatly around the nation. In some areas high school football is nearly a religion . . . other states picture their type of high school basketball is what Dr. Naismith intented the game to be. There are other areas of the U.S. where high school sports take a back seat to AAU type teams.
So let's look at the basic rules changes in baseball.
PARTICIPATION
The DH and re-entry are based on the need for schools to insure participation for all students that particiapte in all types of after hour activities. I don't know about youse guys but I think it is great to let kids play.
Now there are coaches that know how to use these rules t their advantage. I like that . . . if all coaches spent time learning rules then this would be an equal play not an "advantage" gained by a few.
SPEED UP RULES
There are places in the U.S. that document 7 inning games running 3 hours at average. Rules that are adopted (the infamous "stay in the batters box, kid" rule)are always INTENDED to make a game go more smoothly and hopefully faster. As an umpire -- I have always been for fast games, and fast women.
SAFETY
Before we talk about Patrick's specific play let's just say that the FED believes that the children playing their sports are fine . . . it is just that they all have ATTORNEYS!
Face most of the safety rules in all FED sports have developed AFTER a legal proceeding of an injured player (child).
Even I have been convinced (by Carl) that the big runner/catcher crash at home plate is NOT necessary to the game of baseball as played by non-professional players.
Malicious Contact rules, must slides rules, dekes and fakes all have a basis in the name of safety.
SPORTSMANSHIP
By the nature of FED alone the entire mission statement is to TEACH sportsmanship, fair play and team competetion. That is the mission of the organization.
It may seem silly to some of us that certain rules are developed that seem dumb to an umpire in a cow pasture in Eastern Oregon when the issue was based in East L.A. -- however, the vision of FED is one set of rules for all of school baseball.
DUMB UMPIRE RULES
Sometimes there are rules that in OBR are just too tough for many of the 100,000 baseball umpires that work FED ruled games during a season.
Those who post to site like this ARE NOT the ones that dump the complicated rules . . . all of you by your nature study and understand rules so you "most likely" aren't the ones that screw up Appeal Plays or Batting Out of Order.
Folks, there are 25,000 umpires that are new, careless or just putting in time that screw the game up so badly that we are forced to have rulings (i.e. Appeal Play)that seem over officious to us but are simply but in becasue our brethern couldn't do the job right.
Now for Patrick:
I have read Patrick's posts for about two years. He has always taken a position that "FED is really screwed up!" but placing that aside we need only to look at the example in the book and see WHY to is verbal obstruction:
The ruling falls into TWO catagories: safety and sportsmanship.
The play clearly defines that the second baseman is attempting to fake a runner into not knowing where the ball actually is. It is CONSISTENT with FED logic that this is both unsafe and unsportsmanlike.
If you look at the play from the FED side the ruling is quite clear. There is a defensive player trying to fool an offensive player and it could cause two things to happen:
1) the player, because of indecision, could be injured (i.e. sliding when not necessary, or reversing direction and injuring a body part),
2) on the bigger picture the play supports a VALUE that FED is destine to change. THEY consider it to be unsportsmanlike . . .
I do not ask that any of you agree with FED I just point out that when you select to work under their direction the game is "different" than normal ball played under OBR.
Patrick, you need to accept the rules or not work that type of game. It is very simple.
Sorry for the length of this post. It only comes once a season (or so).
[Edited by Tim C on Feb 20th, 2001 at 09:46 AM]
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