If you think that you are not emotionaly or psychologically influenced by taking pay, you are either in denial and/or out of touch with your real feelings.
I see this constantly on this Forum, and with hundreds of umpires I have worked with. I had the same puffy chested stance myself.
Who wants to admit being under the thumb of the Payor? Especially when we are abused, underpaid and at their whim and call? It is degrading, isn't it?
So the answer is often " no one owns me"; ain't the case. No matter what, if you take the pay, you are owned.
For outward appearance, umps talk tall " I won't do this or that", "I call the shots, not those who pay me". BS, puffy chested talk.
Umps are human beings, with egos, most of us have been terribly abused; we need the paycheck and no one stands up for us. What do we have left?
Puffy chested self esteem. What a sad comment that is on our society that we are so undevalued.
