Quote:
Again, I was referring to the umpires forcing themselves into prescribed positions even though it placed the umpire in a poor position.
Point here is you talk about "robotic" with ASA umpires as it is a bad thing. There is nothing in ASA's "robotic" mechanics that points them in the wrong direction. Even the evil ASA instructs their umpires that their directions are merely referenced starting points allowing adjustments and deviations as needed to see the play. It seems from the demonstration I witnessed during the NCAA's, these umpires were intent on following the prescribed mechanic regardless of the play at hand. That is not a good thing, but luckily there was no direct affect on the games.
I don't blame the umpires as they were doing what they were told, I've been in a similar situation. And I don't disagree that the finals were well done and event free. I just think the priorities are a bit askew.
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Mike,
Not trying to be combative, so don't take this as such, but when was the last time you saw an NCAA manual? The NCAA staff no longer have prescribed spots for umpires to go to as Socalumps mentioned earlier. If the umps at the WCWS went to positions, it was they chose to do so based on what they saw developing, not on predetermined spots on the field.
I really think that you should read the new NCAA manual then coment on what you read now, not what was in the manual several years ago.
Thread: ASA Robot