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Originally Posted by DTQ_Blue
Isn’t that what this board is for... To help us become better umpires?
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"What the board is for"?
Not necessarily, but that is what it has become to many and that is usually a good thing.
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Some of you are just too quick to look for something to criticize. I never said a call doesn’t matter, or that anyone should not give it their best effort.
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I am posting this is because I know that one of these days I will have to deal with this issue in a game that really matters
Now, I don't believe I'm the only person who read it in that manner. These were your words and I take them at face value unless you give me reason not to. Bad choice of words or presentation? Okay, no problem.
Then you say:
I may have to make that type of call next year in the regional playoffs, where it can decide which team lives to play another day
Okay, combined with the comment above, this sounds like the same thing. Given you explanation, I'll take it to mean absolutely nothing.
However, it is a frame of mind you need to dismiss. As an umpire, you may be aware of the repercussions of a call, but it isn't something that should be of concern to you. For as much as you know, a banger you made in the 3rd game of the season may have resulted in a loss that kept a team out of the playoffs.
You can think it, just don't express it. You saw the reaction of a non-umpire on the board. If you happed to make a comment like this and you are overheard by anyone other than you partner, it will kill your integrity. Doesn't have to be true or believed, the perception is already there
Don't take this the wrong way, just trying to help. The second-most viable critic of an umpire are other umpires. The MOST viable critic of an umpire is the umpire him/herself.