Quote:
Originally posted by cbfoulds
Quote:
Originally posted by GarthB
If I went up, unsolicted, to any umpire in the group that handles D-1, D-iii and JUCO in this area and told him I saw his play better than he did, that would be my last college game.
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Garth, I think you may be missing the valuable part of the current NCAA guidance:
"...if an umpire is 100% sure he has additional information unknown to the umpire making the call ...."
The "2d opinion" is not "additional unknown information...": the ball is on the ground..." - is.
I cannot be "100% sure" I saw the banger any better than my partner did, so I keep my mouth shut unless asked: ditto the swipe tag or the pulled foot just as the ball arrives. I CAN be 100% sure the ball is rolling around in the dirt, or [it's happened...] the kid received the ball 5 feet off the bag. The point is, if the calling umpire is the only guy on the planet who DOESN'T know he kicked the call, MAYBE you should look for a way to communicate that information to him.
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No, I'm not missing the bold type. The upper level umpires I work with understand that just because a second umpire may think he is "100% sure", it doesn't mean he is 100% correct. They understand the umpire making the call also thinks he's 100% sure and, in reality, who's to say which one is really right?
The second umpire is just as likely to be wrong in most cases as is the first umpire. We don't enjoy "who's right" contest on the field. Thus, we continue to provide our additional information when asked for it. While so many cite a new gentler MLB where huddles have replaced common sense many forget the umpires who have provided unsolicited information have just as often been censured as hailed.
As I stated above, I do not know an NCAA umpire who subscribes to the oft referenced "guideline".
[Edited by GarthB on Feb 27th, 2006 at 09:51 PM]