Quote:
Originally Posted by LMan
When you umpire on national TV with ~ 40k in the stands, the 'let's not pick on the volunteers' mantra is gone. Doesn't matter how many years you've given to LL, at that level you better be able to perform and take criticism in equal measure. Asking batters while on ESPN about which one was last at bat is horse-pucky.
IMO, getting a free pass in LL umpiring dies when the TV cameras switch on, the Frosted Flakes commercials start blaring, and Nomar starts jabbering his nonsense.
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And I agree with this. Should I ever be selected to work WP, I offer no excuses for my work and any mistakes I make. I don't want to be called a "volunteer umpire" as if that makes it OK. My calls and my game management must be as good, IMO, as if I was working any other nationally televised game. LL, however, selects the umpires and their selection process doesn't seem to have changed much in the past 10 years (my involvement with Little League is just over 10 years -- I've umpired a lot longer than that). I don't know why we talk about this every year like we expect it to change.
I worked a championship game at a different Little League World Series on an ESPN network on Saturday afternoon. After the first pitch, it was just another game with the exception of the slightly longer than normal inning breaks.