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Old Mon Aug 01, 2005, 07:15am
His High Holiness His High Holiness is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2001
Posts: 345
Quote:
Originally posted by scottyman51
I have that problem all the time. The other night i had a helmet thrown at me,and the night following that i had 6 parents come over to me after the game screaming at me because their team lost,and somehow that was my fault. Don't worry about the fans,try to zone them out. They are your friends if they win,and your ennomies if they loose. Sad,but true.
This is idiotic on your part to fail to see that what goes on outside the fence has a direct bearing on your safety. Helmets thrown at you, parents screaming in your face after the game; and that is not your problem. The next step is a stabbing or a shooting. At that point will you acknowledge that YOU have a problem that YOU are responsible for dealing with? Your failure to deal with these morons early on leads to problems after the game.

As an NCAA umpire, I have the luxury of ignore stuff in the stands. I have police, game administrators, and all kinds of experienced people to support me. Even the players at this age will jump in the stop the idiots from attacking the umpires. Umpires of games where the participants are under 18 do not have these benefits. Invariably, bad behavior in the stands spills over onto the field or into the parking lot. Your failure to deal with problems is not a a sign of your maturity as an umpire, it is a sign of your ignorance and stupidity.

I have written several articles on this subject and youth baseball. I would not work with a partner who would allow zoo like behavior in the stands. The lions and tigers will come and get you.

It is almost always a bad idea to deal with this issue directly. It IS, however, always a good idea to make sure that someone deals with this and to stop the game until they do.

Peter
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