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For me its more of a term to describe behavior rather than name-call. And I think most umpires would say the same. Most of us really don't care enough to sit in the parking lot, locker room, or meetings and name call. Because the guy that would be called a "rat" simply isn't worth the time to discuss him. But if we are talking about a situation that happened, I may say it just to convey that manager's attitude at the time.
Does this really make me a worse umpire?
And as for on-field f-boming in the pro game - its a whole different animal up there. Everyone knows everyone. Its not like a 20 game varsity HS schedule or 10 series NCAA. Your talking night in night out for 5 months. Sometimes you have to act pissed off just to maintain control and integrity. Its no different than a teacher who yells at the students. Are they really pissed? No.
Everyone has their way of doing things, just because someone says something doesn't mean they MUST be a certain way or another. I know guys who do stuff on the field I could NEVER get away with, but they do because its their personality and how they get their respect. I get mine another way. We can all umpire...
So get off the high horse, the oxygen up there must be a bit thin.
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