[mattmets]

As a young guy who is looking to make a career out of this whole umpiring thing, and has tried to absorb as much about every aspect of umpiring as he can, I think I have a little different perspective on this.

Our association works games from Willie Mays up to 18-19 year old ball, where the kids are some guys I played in high school with. A lot of guys I work with say they can't find people who are willing to work some of the "shaving age" ball we have, but I have no problem doing it. As I see it, any chance I get to walk on the field and learn something- whether it's from a partner, a situation with a coach, or something I pick up on myself and tell myself I have to work on.

Having said that, we have a couple of guys who come in every half-inning and always have something to say. I'm not arrogant enough to think I know everything, but I know where I'm supposed to be with R1/R3 on a fly ball with one out. However, if I know I've screwed something up, but I don't know how to fix it, I'm more than willing to go to an older guy and ask about it. Problem is, we also have a lot of guys who don't really like to help younger guys. Fortunately, we have a few older guys who ask all their partners if they noticed anything wrong with the game. Just because an umpire is younger doesn't mean he can't pick up on something the veteran may have been a little lax in.

I guess the point in what I'm saying is that there has to be give and take. When I'm PU, I expect my BU, whether a veteran or a rookie, to let me run my game and step in if I have a problem. Likewise, if I'm BU, I'll let the PU do things his way unless I need to step in. When I'm working with a veteran, I consider him a resource, not my father. I don't expect to be criticized on everything I do wrong. I expect to be told I'm wrong, but I also believe that I should be able to ask follow-up questions and get an explanation as to why what I did was wrong. We have to remember that we're the only ones out there who like us.

If there's a shortage of officials and you want to attract and retain younger guys, you can't alienate them. The younger ducklings need to be able to find their own footing, but you can't have the older, wiser guys not wanting to have anything to do with them.