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Originally posted by NDblue
You see, that's where you're wrong. I didn't get lazy. I was getting frustrated at the losing team not having a single decent ball player on the team and still entering the largest weekend SP softball tournament in the world. Waste of $150 and a weekend if you ask me.
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Shouldn't be your problem, and shouldn't get frustrated. If a crappy team enters a tournament like that, then so be it. Maybe they entered so they could play some higher-quality ball, whatever. You're just the guy who got stuck with that game. To compromise the zone and "make up outs" because YOU'RE frustrated is not only wrong, but makes a mockery of the game, and tells me a lot about you as an umpire. You should be out there giving them your best every time, not making yourself look like a fool for changing the zone or making up outs, just so you could feel good about yourself and not be frustrated.
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Mismatched? Is that how you see it? This is a lot worse that just 2 mismatched teams. Have you ever officiated a game that ran almost 2 hours and only went 4 innings? It was brutal to say the least. Is your strike zone perfect for every pitch in every level of slow pitch softball? If so, you must ump some very long games and walk a lot of batters. I'll expand a strike zone to get a batter to swing the bat. SP softball is not a pitchers game and to be honest, called or swinging strike outs should be rare. In my 20 years of playing softball, I can't remember ever swinging and missing a less than 25 MPH pitched ball that's as big as a grapefruit.
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2-hour 4-inning games? Yes, we've all run into one of those. Is my zone perfect? No, probably not... but I remain CONSISTENT throughout the game. I'm not going to change the zone mid-game just because the game is lop-sided, or I feel like it to "get the game over with."
The biggest complaint about umpires is consistency throughout the game. You've proven to me that you're part of the problem, not the solution.