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Originally Posted by BlueLawyer
Tell me that baseball is not more rules intensive than basketball, and I will disagree respectfully with you.
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Have you ever worked a college basketball game? Have you ever worked a game under NBA rules? If you had you might change your mind. To me it is not about how hard the rules. Learning the rules comes with time and experience on the field and court. It is about the amount of decisions you have to make when you blow the whistle and not blow the whistle. I can eliminate an entire section of the game of baseball or rules by just knowing the situation with how many runners are on base and just following the ball. You cannot do that in a basketball game.
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Originally Posted by BlueLawyer
The fact that baseball has a whole lot of standing around is precisely what makes it so hard to officiate. It's very hard , at least for me, to keep concentration up for 120 minutes of nothing special only to have a game-deciding, n*t cutting call at first in the bottom of the ninth. Have an off game in baseball, and you MIGHT be able to hide it. But if you are having an off game and the one "o-my-deity" call comes to you, you will be exposed.
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Well the fact that I am standing is easy for me. I agree it can be hard to concentrate, but that is not that hard in my opinion. Also in basketball it is not a lot can happen in a very short period of time. You have to be on top of everything where in baseball nothing will be taking place for many minutes. For me working a baseball (especially on the bases) is a piece of cake. Also when I have talked to other officials that work multiple sports, not many put baseball as the hardest sport. I have been working football, basketball and baseball for the same amount of time. Baseball for me is by far the easiest and has been the easiest to move up and achieve in. Out of the 3 I did baseball last and I was surprised how easy it was to do and understand from the very beginning. I just read a couple of books and I had a very good understanding of what I need to do as an umpire. I have since changed some things like plate stances and some philosophies, but these are things that never were extremely difficult to understand and grasp.
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Originally Posted by BlueLawyer
And the point I was making in response to Just, who said it's "not rocket science." He was, in my judgment, disparaging the whole profession. Yes, for me, it's part time, but it is a profession. I don't know if he is a true demigod of baseball umpiring or just has a patholgical animosity toward AMLU. I don't care. They are professional, work hard and deserve better than to be treated the way PBUC is treating them.
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We need to put this in perspective. Umpiring or any officiating is not rocket science. Not everyone can umpire/officiate effectively or very well either. But to make it seem like you need the same level of training to become a teacher or many other professions is not accurate either. Just look at most that decide to work at the pro level. Umpires do not have the same level of education or the same years of training to get to that point. Also that does not mean anyone can role out of bed and umpire at any level by any means. It also does not take a vast education to become a good ball player. It was a lot harder to get my college degree than it ever has been to become a successful umpire or official. All of this is a completely separate issue to what the union is doing and why they are striking. How hard it is to umpire and why the union wants to be paid more are not even in the same ballpark if you ask me. If anything we need to stop comparing our “day jobs” to this situation. They have nothing to do with each other and even the why people decide to umpire pro ball has nothing to do with how they come to a similar conclusion to work in other professions. These comparisons are just silly if you ask me and I can tell you that if you were required to travel at the same rate, most would be compensated enough to cover those expenses. This is an industry issue, not an issue for all unions and all pay scales across the economic board.
Peace