[soonerfan]

jim,

His High Holiness mentioned "moving up" so i did. anyhow, what you witnessed goes on in a lot of places from little league and on up.

i have been a lot of places and heard a lot of stories along the way. i even heard of a HS game where a kid hit a home run and upon crossing the plate the plate ump high fived him. of course, the other coach went ballistic.

i worked an independent league once and my partners were always hanging out with the player and managers at the bars, constantly chattering it up. i saw this as a little familiar and did not want to know them. the first screw up and they are all over you. i didn't talk to anyone and they saw me as a person there to work and work only. if the questioned a call, they treaded lightly because they didn't know me at all. they weren't my "buddy."

point is, whether you partake or stay away from all the fraternizing with coaches makes no difference because it will happen. if it becomes an issue where you work a game with a "coaches buddy" and your partner throws you under the bus to keep his "buddy" happy, then you have a problem. as long as you show up and do your job and that's it, you'll be respected.