[sunfudblu]

David,

That is the best response I have ever read from you on this board.

After 8 years of umpiring I have chosen to give it up......my only reason for umpiring in the first place was because it would force me to fine tune my knowledge of the rules and I felt that umpiring would help me become a better coach, when my kids were old enough to play. Well, they're old enough now and on the top of my list as a coach is to teach the kids not only to have respect for the game but also respect for the umpires as well.

IMHO, I think every coach should be REQUIRED to umpire at least 5 high school games (at all levels) so they can see what it's like to make an instant decision on a close play, be the scape goat when a team loses, make a mistake, etc.