I remember back in my younger days when I worked on the "Dark side" I went to do an ASA state tournament, and they actually checked to see if it was a genuine "Elbeco" shirt you wore. It seems that some people (including me) were sold shirts legal for the USPS that looked like the Elbecos, but were not. So they checked collars to make sure you were legit.
A couple of days later a local guy and I were talking about umpiring. He was the Chief umpire at the Pan Am games in 1982 (I think), and he said; "You are never going to be a good umpire until you stop doing SB and work only BB." 1+1=2, and since I was bored stiff by SB, I stopped doing it and never looked back.
It seems that some things never change, now ASA and NCAA SB wants robots with the hammer instead of umpires, and they can make people do anything they want to go up the ladder. I'm glad I got out.
I'm glad I took his advice, but I guess I will never get to do the Pan Am games.... at least until I get my ABUA membership!
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