Fair or Good?

[WhatWuzThatBlue]

Thank you Garth, we've both said this multiple times now. An umpire will not be considered good if he does not umpire fairly. Some umpires believe that we can ignore some things in the name of fairness. Others believe that we can't. This is not an invitation to bicker about the expected call, it is simply an observation.

Joe West showed us that in order to be fair you have to call them correctly. A third base umpire in the CSF/ASU Regional did the same. That said, I know plenty of fair umpires (guys that call them in accordance with the rules and to the best of their ability) that will never make the leap to the next level because they simply aren't good enough.

I can teach umpires to be fair and I can hope that they become good. It is much more difficult the other way around. I know that sounds silly, but we have prisons full of those that are great crime planners but lousy at the execution of the act.

Carl, if those coaches think you are the fairest umpire in that part of the state, then you should be happy. You are enough of a wordsmith to know that it was a compliment and not an indictment of others. As others have suggested, take it for what it is worth.

[Edited by WhatWuzThatBlue on Dec 27th, 2005 at 01:52 AM]