What a nightmare!

[GarthB]

Originally posted by mbyron

I'll preface this with saying that, with respect to umpiring, I agree with you, Garth.

But I heard a variant of that expression recently: "anything worth doing is worth doing badly." I'm a bad pianist, but it's worth doing all the same.

I would say that the difference with umpiring is: when you screw up the game (or umpiring) badly enough, it's no longer even baseball. Part of learning a team sport is discipline, which can't be approximated by ignoring the rules.

That's why I agree with Garth's application of his phrase to baseball, even if it lacks application more generally. [/B]

I have a degree in Music, but I, too, am a poor pianist. (My major was percussion and music education) However, when I screw up a 12 bar blues progression, a kid doesn't get sent back to first, called out or ejected.