[fitump56]

http://softball.officiating.com/x/article/5641

http://softball.officiating.com/x/article/5642

The most impressive piece in David's article comes in these words (IMO):

"I'm sure I have greatly offended many of you after you read Part I. I confess, some of it was hyperbole. For effect, you know. Even if much of what I said didn't apply to you, deep down in a place that you'd rather not visit, you know that there is more than a shred of truth to what I've described. Softball and baseball umpires often view each other with a degree of mutual disdain, even if it largely goes unsaid, unpublicized."

This forum is chock full of people who havn't the nerve or the cahoonas to speak out like David did. This "three monkeys" attitude (no hear, no see, no speak) seriously debilitates umpiring and rightfully so. Our inability to take on difficult subjects (obesity, influence of pay, or David's soft vs hard "war") and discuss them witout either ad hominem attacks or introducing irrelevant subjects is perfectly exampled here in the last few days.

Congrats, David, well done.