Quote:
Originally Posted by UmpJM (nee CoachJM)
Mike,
The thing that "cracks me up" about the FHSAA definition is that, while what they describe I would certainly consider "unsportsmanlike", MY threshold for "unsportsmanlike" is WAY below "hateful and malicious".
Heck, I've dumped a kid for "drawing a line" on me, though I considered it neither hateful nor malicious - just inappropriately disrespectful.
Plus, how the hell do I know what one or another HS principal deems an "unacceptable act"? Does it vary from a fundamentalist Christian school, to a parochial school, to a public school?
Profanity (G*d d@mn!) gets the hook, but obscenity (F#ck y*u!) and vulgarity (You're bull$hit!) don't?!?!?
I know, I'm just having a little fun with what they wrote. While I believe it "well intentioned", I am singularly unimpressed.
It's really what the UMPIRE judges an unacceptable act, informed by the criteria defined in the FED book.
JM
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I agree with most of what you wrote. I still think it is a valuable tool for new umpires though. Some here seem to have forgotten what it is like for rookies to confront a new play or behavior. For those new umpires, such definitions are as useful as the ubiquitous, 'make final decision on points not covered by the rules.'
The NCAA has similar guidelines but games governed by OBR are a puddle for many rookies because they lack such definitions. Experience usually gets you through the mire but the guidelines cited are helpful not perfect. According to Jim Evans and J/R, few things about our rule book are.
The supplements issued each year by the Fed and NCAA are often ignored by those who profess to 'know enough to get the job done' but forget that the purpose is provide clarity. The FHSAA tried. Maybe they didn't achieve what some of us would like but it must be good enough since they kept it verbatim for the next year.
As an aside, the Sox-Yankees game saw Ozzie look like a clown again. Tichenor rung up Konerko on a knee high strike. He nailed the call. Ozzie came out to chew on him and wound up looking ridiculous for arguing balls and strikes. If Tichenor had been back in Trips that 'conversation' would not have happened like it did. A lot of rookies watch things like that and believe they should emaluate them.