Umpire's Liability?

[WindyCityBlue]

Okay...okay, I'm not disagreeing with you, but...

The climate may be changing boys and girls. Unless my eyesight deceived me, a court in Great Britain found a rugby official liable for an injury that occurred during one of his contests. I can't recall all of the details, but it ran in the Chicago Sun Times.

Now I realize that our courts have not rendered a guilty verdict at an official, so far. Plenty have settled out of court, no doubt. I do not ascribe to the NASO mentality, but do not wantonly disregard safety rules either. The situation cited does beg for trouble and I would not want to be the one that serves as a precendent setter.

My thoughts...insurance companies love getting your money and hate paying it out. From what I learned, most policies available to officials serve only as supplemental liability and you need to exhaust any other options before they pay. Do your job and make the tough calls. If the safety rule is being cited, adhere to it. (If the teams have to share a mask, so what?) As we have heard, the courts will have to prove you exhibited wanton disregard and failed to execute your duties. Isn't it just easier to remove an illegal bat, helmet or mask? We're going to get yelled at one way or another, let's start early.