Mr. Umpire

[tibear]

I would like to think that after a few years, any competent umpire wouldn't even be questioned about their "conflict of interests".

I've umpired and referreed many games with people I knew and even a family member(son, daughter, nephews and nieces) and have never been called out for favourtism. In fact, I coached many, many years before getting into umpiring and in most games there was at least one or two players that I had coached or I knew families involved and I never had an issue. If your a competent umpire your completely blind to the players involved, they're all uniforms running around on a field.

Sort of like a priest never swears on a Bible because that would mean that there are times that they do lie. By saying an umpire can't officiate a particular game because of the players or teams involved it calls into question the integrity of the umpire not only in that game but every game they work.

Having said that, the only game I wouldn't want to call is one where my wife was pitching. In that case, I think the strike zone would be unbelievably big. Fortunately, she can't stand the sport.