Hitting a ball the has already hit the ground...

[UmpJM]

As long as everybody's just havin' a little fun, I though I'd throw my 2 cents in.

In the time I have been a reader of this forum, I have found the young Dr. Byron's behavior to be "above reproach".

Well, except for the time he recently gently "chided" me , of course, when I misspoke (not in a "baseball" sense, but in a "proper logic" sense) in a post on another thread. Now after thinking about it (for an embarrassingly long time, I might add), I realized his point was correct; and, though I tried, I was unable to think of a suitable "comeback". So...

Michael, I'm sure you realize that it is not polite to correct your elders in a public forum. Let's mind our manners.

In terms of the appropriateness of the IP's question on this forum, I am of like mind with those who have expressed opinions that it is somewhat inconsiderate to post a question that could easily be answered by looking at a rulebook or using the "search" feature on the forum. Further, if you do post such a question, you probably shouldn't be surprised (or feel you have been treated unjustly) if you catch a little flak.

In the case of dsimp8, I am personally inclined to cut him (her?) a little slack, because a brief review of his previous posts leads me to believe that he is primarily involved with softball, much of it "slow-pitch". Under some codes governing that game, I believe that a pitch which hits the ground before reaching the plate is considered dead and cannot be batted. (I could, of course, be wrong about that. And NO, I didn't bother to look.) I would be similarly inclined were a cricket umpire to come to this board and ask a question about the hand being part of the bat. From that mind-set/perspective, it would be a perfectly reasonable question, and such a person could diligently research the text of the rules and remain puzzled on the question.

One thing that has surprised me in reading this forum is how thin-skinned and prone to meaningless, endless argument some of the umpires who post in this forum are. I would suggest that such attributes are not the characteristics one would look for in a good umpire/umpire candidate. Perhaps they are exhausted by their efforts in maintaining a perpetual, stoic calm under any and all circumstances in the games they officiate, and they come here to "vent" or "unwind" as a release.

In closing, I see the issue of "Political Correctness" has been raised. I was wondering if any of you had seen the following....

The man in the middle, wearing a fabulous vintage chiffon-lined Dior gold lame gown over a silk Vera Wang empire waisted tulle cocktail dress, accessorized with a 3-foot beaded peaked House of Whoville hat, along with the ruby slippers that Judy Garland wore in The Wizard of Oz, is worried that the Da Vinci Code might make the Roman Catholic Church look foolish.



JM