[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by MikeStrybel

Yes, Jeff, it is. They are unequal - 'complete' was not a word I used.

You are not required to check EVERY football helmet on every player, are you? In baseball, EVERY helmet must be checked by the umpire pre-game. Every bat was to be checked as well.

Every baseball helmet used to have to be checked.

Originally Posted by MikeStrybel

Concussions? Huh? I don't mention them at my plate conferences. If you do, it is unnecessary. It is not relevant to our discussion though.

I did not say anything about mentioning concussions. I said that the rules on what we ask the coaches are the same and that the concussion rules are the same amongst many NF sports.

Originally Posted by MikeStrybel

As for the "Are your players properly and legally equipped?", we were REQUIRED to ask that for many years and still are.

So has every other sport.

Originally Posted by MikeStrybel

Sigh. It is pointless to argue with you. There is a reason why helmets are employed in baseball. Clearly you believe otherwise.

This was my post that I started. No one is arguing with you at all, at least I am not. Just pointing out some facts.

Originally Posted by MikeStrybel

No, Jeff, you are wrong.

We were REQUIRED to see that players were compliant with safety standards. The rule book mandated it and our interpretation meetings stressed the need to do this check. The responsibility was entirely ours.

I am not wrong about anything, you just disagree which is fine with me. And I thought you did not do HS baseball anymore, but somehow you know the role of a HS official and you only do one sport to my knowledge. I find that kind of interesting.

Originally Posted by MikeStrybel

Once a game starts, most coaches are not aware of what players use for equipment. I see every batter when he steps into the box. I can see his helmet, bat and if he is wearing anything illegal. Can't you?

If they are unaware then they are the dumbest coaches I have ever been around if other sports who do not have some of the dealings with their players as other sports and they have no idea what one player uses at one time. At least in baseball there can only be one bat used at a time and you are telling me a coach is clueless to what they use? Really?

Originally Posted by MikeStrybel

I suggest you read up on why we checked bats. Coaches didn't know, care or bother. There are numerous articles online about illegal bats being used this year and what happened.

Again, if they did not know, then coaches in baseball are the dumbest coaches around. Because when in a football game the coaches are asking off the bat if an eye shield can be used and the football team in many cases triples or quadruples the number of kids that play baseball, those are the weakest excuses I have ever heard for passing the buck. We cannot have a coach in football that does not know about the cleats they are using and a baseball coach cannot figure out what bat his player uses on any given time. And he has to worry about one person at a time?

Originally Posted by MikeStrybel

I have had a couple coaches ask me to check bats that were involved in games. One was the -10 I mentioned in an earlier post. Maybe you have heard of Phil Garner, Chris Sabo, Albert Belle, Wilton Guerrero, George Brett, Sammy Sosa or Robin Ventura using illegal bats. I know I have.

You are really comparing the pros to HS programs? Great comparison. Maybe at the pro level they also require the umpires to x-ray every bat too.

Originally Posted by MikeStrybel

No. You simply showed why the new rule will be useless. In football, all you do is ask for a coach to confirm that his players are compliant. You did not physically inspect their equipment, as we were required to do by the rules in baseball. Jeff, you are comparing unequal things.

I never said that we do not check, I said we do not sit around and go look to make sure every helmet has a sticker. And not the baseball rule is in line with other sports that also do not check any equipment. So what is your point? Now what they do in any other sport, baseball has to do.

Originally Posted by MikeStrybel

I could care less about basketball, name dropping or the other non-sequitors you employ. The fact remains that the new rule is useless in its present form. Why ask a coach to confirm player equipment if there is no penalty involved for him/her? Why not simply call the game without the inquiry since they won't have consequences? That is the way we officiate in collegiate and OBR ruled ball. Asking a question of a coach that is unnecessary is pointless.

Well here is the thing. I really do not give a crap what you care about or who I referenced. I referenced the people that create the rules and referenced the philosophy that they employ. And I have been here a lot longer than you and people for years talk about other sports and will continue to do so in these conversations. And they will really do it when rules changes come up because they often reflect other sports (like the concussion rule last year that was changed). And if you think that this rule did not come with others saying "Why does baseball do something that other sports do not have to do?" Then you are not using much common sense. Also college got rid of this rule for the very same reason. It was silly to make umpires check something that the coaches should know more about. Now you can disagree, but the rule was changed for some reason. And if they felt that the umpires were that to be held ultimately responsible then they would keep up this practice. Again, baseball is one of the safer sports as it relates to what bats can or cannot do. The main player that is in any real danger from a bat is the pitcher (which is why all these bat changes were ultimately made to protect). If they really wanted to worry about safety of all the player they could change the ball to the safer kind.

Peace