Hey, thatballzlow! Thanks for the question on this forum. I didn't even know this existed. Interesting website. Someone e-mailed me and told me that our school was on this site, so I thought I'd sign up and respond!
Mr. Umpire, I am with you on the camp games idea. I remember when I went to Harry's school we had all those set up plays where they'd whisper in your ear "Hey, balk during this at-bat"...Trust me, that was the only time I've ever pitched. I didn't hit any of my fellow students, so I guess we all made it through ok. The idea of umpiring the actual games was just to give this a little bit of a twist. You can read all the manuals you want and hear all the "war" stories but it can never substitute for the real thing. And, believe me, I know some of the games aren't exactly going to be Florida State/Miami, but it's still a great chance to give some real feedback to umpires who want a chance to learn.
As for Cocoa getting free umpiring, I figured somebody would make a crack about that eventually. Jeff Biddle and the people at the Expo have been very good to me over the past 15 years, and when we came up with this idea, they were the first (and only) place I considered. If there is no real incentive for them to do this, than what would the point of having it there be, looking at it from their standpoint. That's why I'm putting my name on this post, because I won't hide behind any fake screennames. I stand by my staff and my ideas, and there will be always be doubters.
I know there has been a lot of animosity between former professional umpires and college umpires. Some ex-pros, even guys I know personally, think they're better than college umpires because they worked "in the game"...and I can't blame the college umpires who have run across these people over the years. Mr. Umpire, I can promise you this, no matter what people may think of me personally, I admire any umpire, from T-Ball to MLB, because anyone who has the guts to put the mask on is a friend of mine.
I appreciate the chance to post, and if you want to join, feel free, if you don't, feel just as free. We will succeed and hopefully bridge the gap in attitude that has happened in the past few years.
Thanks for reading,
Bob Bainter
Oceanside Umpire Training School
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