Make mine pepperoni and onion . . .

[greymule]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,289446,00.html

[BigUmp56]

Originally Posted by greymule

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,289446,00.html

I don't know if I'd like having pizza thrown at me. I do hope that I'll blow a call badly enough they'll start throwing unopened cans of beer at me, well near me anyway.


Tim.

[Forest Ump]

Wow....that's amazing!

If you dig deeper into that story you find that it began with the umpire calling a kid out for sliding head first into first base. Apparently that’s not allowed in LL. He then ejected the kid for throwing his helmet.

I know we are told not to, but I'm thinking of keeping my cell phone in my ball bag next year. It's small enough that it would not take up much room. Just in case it gets out of hand like this one did. I can reach into my bag and call the local police department. I believe my game management skills are good enough to prevent incidents like this, but I still would like to be prepared for the worst.

[JFlores]

I know we are asked to act professional but at what point do we say enough is enough...I mean it doesnt bother me when they boo and say things while im umpiring but after the game to approach me and talk stuff and throw stuff is whole another level..I would probably end up taking my umpiring shirt off and ended up punching a few of these people. Thats just me of coruse.

[waltjp]

The problem with such actions is there are more of them than there are of you. If you've ever seen videos of these types of incidents you'll see that the game official is far outnumbered and often surrounded.

[ozzy6900]

I've read some posts on other boards like, "What do you expect from LL" , "that's why I don't do LL", "well, look at the umpires - they look like $hit so they got what they deserved".

My opinion (and this will be a shocker for those of you who know me) is simple. I don't care if it's a D1 or a LL game, when objects get thrown at players or umpires, the game stops!

In a youth game, if it is possible to get the fans out of there (league officers or Police) then the game may continue with no fans. Otherwise, the game is over! I don't care if it is a regular game or a championship game either. No one gets paid enough to put up with this and a volunteer shouldn't be subjected to this BS!

Fans sometimes suck!

[Delaware Blue]

Never underestimate the stupidity of adults when it comes to youth sports.

Originally Posted by ozzy6900

Fans sometimes suck!

Truer words... My concern is that this type of behavior seems to happen more often than in past years. Maybe we just hear about it more due to the Internet and the fact that local news is now national news. Such incidents seem to be getting more violent or at least more threatening. Getting yelled at is one thing. Having stuff thrown at you or having someone threaten you is something else entirely. What if that slice of pizza was a full soft drink can? Such actions reflect a mob mentality and an increasing lack of civility in our society.

According to the umpires, some of those throwing things at them were members of the league's board. League officials "declined" to be interview by the FOX affiliate. I hope they were too embarrassed to be seen on camera. If they weren't they should have been.

As for how the umpires were dress, it's possible the TV reporter asked them to put on umpire shirts for the interview. If not, what difference does that make? Does that give the fans a right to throw stuff at them because they were wearing blue jeans instead of Gerry Davis pants? This was a game between 11 and 12 year olds kids. Maybe people should pay as much attend to (or get as upset about) the war in Iraq and other things that really matter.

I was very impressed with the two kids - or should I say young men - interviewed in the news story. Their words were well chosen and made a great deal of sense. The truly sad part is they are more mature than the adults in this situation.