Quote:
Originally Posted by AtlUmpSteve
I'll bite.
1) BR has no right to interfere with F3, whether already retired or not. Does it or should it matter if BR knew she was out on IFF; she interfered, period. No jeopardy attached to BR if call is changed or delayed. If the IFF is the correct call, and is made retroactively, anything that isn't caused by jeopardy due to the changed or delayed call is appropriate.
2. My opinion, do the best you can. And you did what the manual tells you to do. If the teams want you to know what play they are calling or who is covering, they need to tell you, because they are intentionally making it as obscure as possible to fool the offense. Or, they can pay for three umpires that can adequately cover their intended obfuscation.
3. Someone needs to be ejected at that point. (As KJ suggests, possibly before the warning, but you chose that manner of handling.) But, your dilemma is who to eject, because you don't actually know who said it. The good news is NCAA 4.4 covers your situation, because the Head Coach is accountable for (among other things) the team's conduct and ALL communication with the umpire no matter what team personnel actually says (or initiates) it. So, my handling would be to 1) call time, 2) go directly to that team's head coach and tell him/her in as calm a manner as possible that he/she is either a) giving up the guilty party, who will be ejected, or b) he/she is ejected as the one person accountable no matter who actually said it. But that's just me.
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Steve, thanks for the feedback.
On 1, the part where we got stuck was that my partner, the only one in position to make a credible call, just froze up during and after the play. When he didn't know whether it was fair or foul, I couldn't help him rule whether the BR was still alive or out. We decided it was better to eat it than tell either coach we didn't know if the ball was fair or foul. (This was EXTENSIVELY postgamed.)
2. That's what I thought, but there are precious few opportunities to suggest to coaches that they pony up for 3 umpires.
3. I forgot to add what I actually did! I will edit the OP. Unfortunately, I made a knee-jerk reaction: called time, and emphatically ejected.....someone. I knew I needed to decide quickly, so I walked the 25 feet to the end of the bench and told the AC whoever said "you sure" was done, and if no one said it, he was done. The junior assistant coach got nominated by the AC. For this team, the HC sits on a bucket at the far end of the dugout and barely interacts with anyone on the field. I certainly wasn't planning on dumping him for this. Maybe I should have taken it up with the head coach, but at least I sorta got it right.
Not another peep about balls and strikes was heard from either team for the rest of the
season. Whatever I did worked.