FED Bat weight

[JRutledge]

Originally posted by badbamaump
Rut,
You've always been a "college umpire"?? But, now this is what confuses me, you brag about your "varsity" schedules. Hmmmmmm, now I may be just a po ole country boy, but in my neck of the woods, "college" outranks "varsity"...maybe not up there.

You say that if I'm asking what conference you're in, I don't know much about college baseball??? HUH?

Down here, Legion baseball pays almost as much as college. To be in the Legion association that I'm in, you must be a real college umpire.... you know, like in a conference.. We don't work by ourselves, sometimes we even work with more than 2 umpires on the field....

Ohhhh I think I got it now Rut, you work college VARSITY.....ahhh or maybe college intermural baseball between all them frat kids and stuff.... Rut that doesn't make you a college umpire....

And as far as being fat....boy, you dam sure don't know me....lol

Will

That is why you are ignit and do not understand how college baseball works. Most umpires that do college, do not just do college only. Even D1 umpires do not just do college (at least in my area and state). If they did, they would hardly work ever. And if you understood anything about college baseball, many college baseball umpires do not work for just conferences. Unless you are doing the Big 10 or the Big 12 which have huge bugets which pay you $300 and up a game you might not travel that far from home. Conferences like the Missouri Valley or the Mid-Con, or other smaller college ball around here, you do not get all those games thru the conference or one person. Bradley and Illinois State are in the MVC and I have known several individuals with all kinds of experience do both those schools (both in the middle of Illinois) and do not work the other schools in the conference. And if you work in the Mid-Con, and you do Western Illinois University, you might not want to go to Buffalo University (in NY state) and do a game. Is there assignors in that conference, yes there is. But the reality is that depending on how spread out a conference is, you will often find that umpires are only doing schools within a certain distance of where they are. Most college games are in the middle of the afternoon on a work week. You are not going to find too many people willing to sacrafice their jobs in order to make a couple hundred dollars.

And about my varsity schedule, there is nothing to brag about. I got a varsity schedule by basically answering what levels I have done ever since I moved up to the Chicago area. I was given the games to fill much needed spaces. But when the phone rings from the assignors that I do baseball for, they only ask me to do varsity games. Now if that is bragging, only people that look at baseball as a big deal like yourself take offense to that. Baseball is not a very popular sport at all among people who desire to officiate. In Illinois we are losing umpires all the time to softball because it is faster and easier to do. And as I have said before, when I do a varsity game, I am usually the senior umpire. I either work with guys that have been doing 15 years or so, or you work with a guy that is in his first or second year. Baseball, Softball, volleyball, Track and Field and Wrestling are all sports that if you decide to do them, you will have to do "varsity" in your first or second year. We do not have the numbers in those sports to warrant to require experience or talent to always do the highest of levels. These sports are not Basketball and Football. And yes I do varsity in those sports, but that is another discussion. Sorry if you precieve that as bragging. I would be bragging if I told you what game, how good the game was, what officials I had work with, what I had to do to get that big game.

I guess for individuals that do Legion ball, doing a varsity game is bragging. And do not let me go there about Legion ball. Because if I tell you how I have done some Legion ball, you might precieve that as bragging too. I have done JV games that were better than many varsity games, so personally who cares what level it is as long as you enjoy it.

Peace

[Edited by JRutledge on May 4th, 2001 at 11:49 AM]