Quote:
Originally posted by jicecone
Warren,
If man could live by "Words" alone, you would have already have mastered life.
However, real life just doesn't support your black and white philosophy. It sounds good and may work for you, but most of the time it just isn't practical. In all due respect, good luck.
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I guess you're suggesting that I only TALK a good game. I suspect the problem is in our different social sources of reference. I thought I had made it clear that at lower levels, especially in juniors 14 and under or instructional leagues, I believe there is a valid case not to balk everything. But as Garth correctly points out, in adult leagues, regardless of the level, our job is to call the game by the rules.
I don't know your level or experience, and my guess is that you probably haven't read my bio at Officiating.com either. If you had then you'd know I've had a lot of experience practicing what I preach. I have seldom called games at Under 16's and below, except for Regional, State and National championships. At such times we are expected to call what we see - except for Under 12's where balks of any type are specifically and justifiably excluded.
I don't know what Blaine means by a "House League" either, but my guess is he's talking about some lower level local LL-style competition, or maybe a sort of instructional league. If that's what you're calling then your approach of calling only the obvious balks and warning for the others is probably
exactly what's required.
OTOH, everywhere else umpires cannot afford the luxury of picking and choosing what rules, or parts of rules, they will enforce. To do so is not good for the game or its officials. Why? Because the next week another umpire comes along with a different set of standards. And the week after you'll get an umpire with a third set of standards. Before you know it your association is being reviled as one totally devoid of consistency in enforcement or interpretation. That's BAD for everyone.
You may not agree with my philosophy and that's your right. But to suggest that my approach is impractical just doesn't fit with the facts. I've called 12 Regional and 2 National Championship series, including calling the plate in the Final of the 1998 Commonwealth Cup - the Australian Senior Provincial Championship. I have called the top division of two District Leagues from my 2nd year as an umpire. I have called 5 years of State League at the equivalent standard of AA-AAA Minors in the US. In fact, some of the players I called in State League are now playing professionally in the US, and one is playing Major League for the Mariners. I must have been doing something right in practice to have survived at that level for so long.
There are those on this board who will tell you that I have previously gone to bat to argue that certain types of balk should definitely NOT be called in certain specific circumstances. I've also argued that where rule enforcement and the maintenance of discipline and order compete with each other, the latter is the more important responsibility of the two. So you can see that I'm not entirely inflexible or hide-bound by the rule book in that regard.
All the same, I believe umpires must get shed of any notion that they can do what they like with the rules once they take charge on the diamond. They can't. They have a responsibility to conduct the game
in accordance with the rules AND to maintain discipline and order on the playing field. [OBR 9.01(a)]. If that's too tough of an assignment for an individual to handle then in my view that individual shouldn't be an umpire.
Cheers