[jkumpire]

You know what, I would give my left arm to be on TV, and be evaluated as an umpire by millions of people.

Heck, I would love to be evaluated by somebody. I may get that chance this Fall for the first time in years, to be evaluated by guys who know what is going on, as opposed to some clueless HS coach who doesn't even understand baseball, more or less umpiring.

I think it is great to have people discuss even your misses on a forum like this, because there is a ton of pressure to perform, and as a mentor of mine from years ago said: "Umpiring is one job where you have to be perfect the first day and get better after that."

Frankly, one of the problems a lot of umpires I see have is that they do not react well under pressure, or know how to deal with it. Part of it is they don't ever do games that have a lot of pressure in them, and part of it is they never stress themselves to get better. So when they move up a level, or get into a championship game, they don't know how to handle pressure. They freeze, or choke, and then they get discouraged, or quit.

Good sports officials understand pressure, they learn to love it, and live in it. That is when they are at their best. It is also a reason the best umpires get the best games, they not just know rules and mechanics and the unwritten rules, they know how to deal with a situation where there is a lot riding on this game/moment/call.

And watching the guys on TV, even LL guys in Williamsport is great because you can learn how to react in a pressure situation, or at least see guys perform under pressure. Even when MLB guys make mistakes, it is very instructive to see how they handle things, and how they respond. It is a lot better than most umpires, and it is worth seeing.