[harmbu]

All good points. I am an assistant coach and I feel that the job I do is also important to the game.

I know that I am there to assist the head coach. That is what I do. My two points were that sometimes as an assistant coach I do something that causes an umpire to say "thanks Coach."

I agree 100% that assistant coaches are not there to chirp at the umpire. That is why I never do so. In fact, the only time that I even ask a question of an umpire is if my head coach has specifically asked me to do so. My question always begins with, "Coach wanted me to ask...."

My analogy may have been stupid, but the point I was trying to make was that a game can be effectively played without a base umpire as well as without an assistant coach. I obviously wasn't clear about what I meant. I do agree that one umpire is no more important than the other. One thing that drives me nuts is to hear someone say, "the home plate umpire should overrule him. He is in charge."

I guess where my frustration comes from is that there are a lot of good assistant coaches out there who do their jobs and are professional. I don't like being lumped in with the ASSistant coaches any more than the many, many great umpires like being lumped in with the few boneheads that have no idea what is going on. I have actually been an umpire in the past and I always stick up for them when I hear players or parents complaining about them.

If you were to ever call one of our games, you would definitely not go away with a bad impression of me. I only speak when spoken to and I am ALWAYS professional and cordial even if I don't agree with a call. I am sure I would be equally impressed with your skills as an umpire.

Thanks