[x-tremeump]

Originally Posted by NCASAUmp

Just keep an open mind, and be willing to listen to the criticism you will get here. I guarantee you, you will get plenty of it, but it's not meant to tear you down as an umpire, it's meant to build you up.



I agree. When I first came here, there were a couple of posters on here (whose names I won't mention) who, I thought, were trying to tear me down. I kept thinking, "man, who the eff are these guys, and why are they riding me like this? I'm not a bad umpire, I swear!"

Then I really listened to what they had to say, and I learned a whole hell of a lot more than I ever imagined. It raised my game a LOT, and I even had one of my fellow umpires comment to me about it last week. She said that right between 2007 and 2008 (note that I joined in 2007), it was like night and day, like a light bulb had gone off in my head.

So as I always say, "you can't build something up without first tearing it down." I live by those words, and, as an umpire, they have served me well.

Thanks,

Chuck