[gordon30307]

Originally posted by David Emerling

Sure I have!

The difference is that you can be either a horse's a$$ with an indicator or a horse's a$$ without an indicator.

The game participants (and fans) will think you're a complete a$$ when they discover you don't bother trying to keep track with an indicator and are relying only on the infallibility of your memory ... at their expense.

That's the reality of it.

Now, if you're the type that boldly claims, "I don't give a crap what they think!" Fine - fair enough. But it has been my experience that umpires who adopt that as a philosophy usually create more difficulties for themselves than there needs to be. I find polishing my shoes all the time an incredible pain in the a$$, yet I do it. Why?

But then again, if you're a well known, respected, and experienced umpire, you probably have nothing to be concerned about. It will just be a minor bump in the road. A rookie umpire, on the other hand, I don't think will fair as well.

So, I'll keep reiterating what I've said all along. If you're an experienced umpire, do whatever floats your boat. If you're a rookie, I strongly urge you to use an indicator and get good at using it so that it becomes second nature.

Hell, by all means, if your game suffers when you use an indicator - throw the damn thing away!

When an umpire finds using an indicator distracting, to me, that's like a violinist finding their bow distracting while playing in a concert.

David Emerling
Memphis, TN

[Edited by David Emerling on Nov 1st, 2005 at 11:46 AM]

Hi Dave:

Fortunately for me I've never been involved in a game where a controversey has occurred because of a lost count etc. Nor have I ever heard of this happening to any of my peers.
As to what fans think, I know that I generally have a 50% approval rating which I'm quite happy with. Actually I could give a "rats a**" what fans think. I'm not there to please them. Actually if I'm not noticed by anyone (except my fellow officials) I'm quite happy.