[RPatrino]

I would have to agree. At the Varsity level the veteran coach's know how to deal with umpires. I never assume that they will "NEVER" argue with me, particularly if I don't hustle or show them that I am working hard. I believe that if you do your best and give 110% you should have few problems. I have had coach's ask me about plays and rulings, they might have disagreed, but they accept my decisions and moved on. We have ex major league and high level college players coaching in our area, and that makes a difference.

Now, in sub varsity and youth ball I have found that the level of composure and behavior deteriorates as you move down. I attribute that to lack of experience and motivation, where the youth ball coach tends to want to live vicariously through their kids and they try to emulate the things they see on TV.

I had that in a Pony level game this weekend, where the coach wanted to try to extend his "authority" to include the umpire crew. We went into "red aXX" mode in a quick hurry and he figured it out very quickly. Some are quick learner's, and the slower ones learn from the parking lot. Its sort of like Darwinism.

Bob P.