I've taken a lot of good stuff from this thread, and taken it all into account. However I do think there is some bad mixed in with the good- a couple people claimed that it is not my age and appearance holding me back, it's my lack of skill. The thing that gets me there is that these people have never seen me work. Now I do take some blame for that. A while ago I said I'd get some kind of video up of me calling a ballgame so that I could get some critique, and I have yet to do that, so for now you guys are stuck with assuming whether or not I am in fact decent.
Ozzy, you have been a problem to me even before I started showing signs of a possible attitude problem. I'm not going to sugarcoat here; you have disliked me from the start, and as a result I do not like you either. While I have considered your advice and reminded myself to behave just as Ozzy's perfect child does, I am not impressed with the old "my son is better than you" BS. I tend to very quickly grow tired of parents that go on about their kids, and doing so to belittle me is just not something I am going to put up with.
BoomerSooner, I greatly appreciate the advice you gave me. I read through Matthew 6:25-34. And I'm sure you've heard it a thousand times before, but way to hang in there and get the promotion you deserved!
Jurassic Referee, just realize that this is my place to vent and act spoiled, so that it doesn't carry over into real life. Now I am going to politely ask that you stop lecturing and judging me as you so often like to do. If you can't contribute or gain from this forum, go back to the basketball and football ones as those are the sports you officiate.
t-rex, I am in the Cooperstown Dreams Park picture you posted. I am in the second row. Amongst the people that are sitting, I am on the very far right, but there are some people standing beside me as well. And yes it's not a good picture of me but I'm not photogenic.
Chucktownblue, you mentioned:
Paying your dues means calling lower levels games, going to the dingiest fields and dealing with the worst managers. And doing it professionally and without complaint or whine. That's how you earn higher level games.
I do lower level games when asked by my assignor. Out of about 55 games this year, I've done a couple 7/8 year old house league machine pitch games. Did one early in the year to mentor a younger umpire doing his first ever game; we even had to stand around for 45 minutes because there was a scheduled practice before the "game" that we were never told about. I do these kinds of things without complaint, and my assignor gives me low-level games anytime he is stuck for guys and the higher-level stuff has been taken.
mbcrowder wrote:
And I'll echo what a few others have said... it is an EXTREMELY childish thing to come on a board like this, ask for advice or input, and then blast the advice or input. If you didn't want to know, you surely shouldn't have asked.
I'm trying to be patient here, but I already said that "I took all advice into account,".
Tuss Agee wrote:
I thought my assignors were just assuming I couldn't handle it, even when they never saw me umpire (honestly, I've never had an assignor for big field ball evaluate or observe me
That is a frustration for me as well; I have never had someone do an evaluation of me. All that my umpire in chief and assignor know about my umpiring comes from word of mouth from other umpires, coaches, and when they work games with me.
Garth: University and College baseball are totally different things. University ball is not nearly as competetive, although it is still competetive. I assure you that it wouldn't be that hard to do; that may make me cocky for saying that, but it is the truth.