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Old Sun Sep 05, 2004, 11:14am
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Rich Rich is offline
Get away from me, Steve.
 
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 15,785
Re: Re: Notches on the belt.

Quote:
Originally posted by David Emerling
Quote:
Originally posted by JRutledge
That is the problem with many umpires. You are more concerned with getting rid of problems instead of dealing with those problems. If that is the only way you feel you can control a game, then do that. I just think that is the easy way out and does not advance umpiring. I have made mistakes in games and never had to eject a coach or they never complained. It is the way you carry yourself that also has to do with how a coach responds. Because if you have a certain demeanor, they might not even realize you made the mistake in the first place.

Peace
Exactly!

Some umpires have to eject because they do not have the "tools" (i.e social skills or game managment skills) to manipulate the game toward a peaceful continuation/conclusion.

Manipulation sounds like a harsh word, but there is such a thing as constructive manipulation. A good umpire is a psychiatrist, of sorts. He understands what motivates people and what they *really* want. A crafty umpire can often steer a potentially volatile situation into calm waters without necessarily having to resort to any ejections.

That is not to say that an ejection is not always appropriate. It may be. But some umpires are too quick with the trigger. Ejections are not always in the best interest of the game and they are not necessarily a means to get a game under control.

If an umpire lacks these people skills, he probably *should* eject - because there are few good options left.

David Emerling
Memphis, TN
Some of us would rather not take the effort, Dave. Some of us expect that people will behave appropriately and they can go home if they don't. ESPECIALLY in summer baseball where it isn't the coach's JOB on the line -- those HS/College guys I will give a lot of rope to, but those guys are also the ones who will leave the field when you remind them that you're pretty close to ejecting them.

I've never had a HS or college coach tell me I "suck." I had two summer coaches say that this season (along with one tell me that I was an "idiot"). Why should I even TRY to deal with people like this? Goodbye, wait for your team at the bus or by the cars.

--Rich
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