LLWS wajke me when its over!

[UmpLarryJohnson]

you cant have it both ways mr Ives...the 'kids playn a game' does NOT square w corporete sponsorship--ESPN---idiotic frosted flakes crap every 45 secs, blubbery 'mom intervs' in the stands, on n on......if LLBB is gonna TAKE the PAYOLA from the corporate/media and make it a SPECTACLE.....


then they GOTTA refine out the 'kiddie sandlot' excuses! STOP the coaches' posturing! STOP the weak umpiring that wouldnt pass mustard at the JayVee level! Saw a game yest where a flyball down the First baseline landded ON the line as was called FOUL...by the RFUmp who was literaly 15 feet away! why do they put 6 Umps on the field if they cant make THIS call?

the booth guys replayed it 4 times and said live, "uuurrr...weeellll, lets remeber theyre volunteers, folks!"


LL WANTS to be paid--televised as if they are BIG TIME...but judged on thier merits as if it is SMALL TIME. Make up your mind!

[Rich Ives]

Originally Posted by UmpLarryJohnson

you cant have it both ways mr Ives...the 'kids playn a game' does NOT square w corporete sponsorship--ESPN---idiotic frosted flakes crap every 45 secs, blubbery 'mom intervs' in the stands, on n on......if LLBB is gonna TAKE the PAYOLA from the corporate/media and make it a SPECTACLE.....


then they GOTTA refine out the 'kiddie sandlot' excuses! STOP the coaches' posturing! STOP the weak umpiring that wouldnt pass mustard at the JayVee level! Saw a game yest where a flyball down the First baseline landded ON the line as was called FOUL...by the RFUmp who was literaly 15 feet away! why do they put 6 Umps on the field if they cant make THIS call?

the booth guys replayed it 4 times and said live, "uuurrr...weeellll, lets remeber theyre volunteers, folks!"


LL WANTS to be paid--televised as if they are BIG TIME...but judged on thier merits as if it is SMALL TIME. Make up your mind!

It's 12 yrar old kids playing. They have neither the physical or mental baseball skills to make it a "pro" game.

The coacing staffs aren't trained coaches. They are volunteer dads doing as best they can.

The umpires have paid their LL dues. They "earned" their way there just as much as the players and coaches.

It's Little League - not the major leagues. Keep it in perspective.

BTW, I've seen MANY blown fair/foul calls by MLB umpires. The call wasn't blown because the umpire was a LL umpire - it was blown because it was blown.

And its muster - not mustard.

[aceholleran]

Originally Posted by Rich Ives

The umpires have paid their LL dues. They "earned" their way there just as much as the players and coaches.

Tell me how officials of this poor quality have "earned" anything. Please.

These are rewards for the Old Uncle Bumpses of the world. Please don't tell me that these umps are handpicked by experts as the best of the best.

I wouldn't let half of these smitties near a 9-year-old game in my neck of the woods, nape of the way.

Harummpf.

Ace

[mbyron]

Yar, you tell 'im, Ace!

[Carbide Keyman]

Originally Posted by aceholleran

Tell me how officials of this poor quality have "earned" anything. Please.

These are rewards for the Old Uncle Bumpses of the world. Please don't tell me that these umps are handpicked by experts as the best of the best.

I wouldn't let half of these smitties near a 9-year-old game in my neck of the woods, nape of the way.

Harummpf.

Ace

But Ace, how do you really feel ????

[Rich Ives]

Originally Posted by aceholleran

Tell me how officials of this poor quality have "earned" anything. Please.

These are rewards for the Old Uncle Bumpses of the world. Please don't tell me that these umps are handpicked by experts as the best of the best.

I wouldn't let half of these smitties near a 9-year-old game in my neck of the woods, nape of the way.

Harummpf.

Ace

Wouldst thou be the same Ace Holleran that posts on the Yahoo LLumires group?

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by aceholleran

Tell me how officials of this poor quality have "earned" anything. Please.

These are rewards for the Old Uncle Bumpses of the world. Please don't tell me that these umps are handpicked by experts as the best of the best.

I wouldn't let half of these smitties near a 9-year-old game in my neck of the woods, nape of the way.

Harummpf.

Ace

"Earn" is a pliable word in the world of LL, Ace.

Teams earn their way to the LLWS by their performance on the field, proving their talent, besting opponents and winning their way.

Some umpires earn their way by their record of volunteering, serving on BOD's, shmoozing regional directors and "getting along" with coaches.

In some enlighted areas, ability and quality of performance are figured in. Last year the overall quality of the umpires at LLWS had improved for the second year in a row. (Indeed, the criticisms on the internet boards that were prevalent years ago nearly disappeared.) That led many to believe that the organization had finally realized that the umpires needed to be as good as the teams.

Alas, the improvement was short-lived, and while there are a few trained excellent umpires in attendance this year, the over all quality level is back to where it was five years ago.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Wow, that Williams kid from Texas can sure pitch!!!

Maybe the Baltimore Orioles should sign him right now.

[SanDiegoSteve]

And just what is up with the Japanese catcher? Every pitch called a ball he is either questioning the umpire or asking for a check swing, even when the batter doesn't even move the bat. He would be rubbing me the wrong way, for sure. I might have a little talk with his coach and interpreter.

[SanDiegoSteve]

One more rant and I'm done:

I am just sick to death of the phony-a$$ Frosted Flakes commercial and the "man's chicken" KFC spot. Could they possibly wear these two commercials out any more???

End of rant.

[UmpLarryJohnson]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

Maybe the Baltimore Orioles should sign him right now.

nah no pt in scarring him for life is there???

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by UmpLarryJohnson

STOP the weak umpiring that wouldnt pass mustard at the JayVee level! Saw a game yest where a flyball down the First baseline landded ON the line as was called FOUL...by the RFUmp who was literaly 15 feet away! why do they put 6 Umps on the field if they cant make THIS call?

the booth guys replayed it 4 times and said live, "uuurrr...weeellll, lets remeber theyre volunteers, folks!" !

To be completely fair the play you just described was very, very close. The umpire was standing right on the line and there was not a single angle that showed a conclusive shot. None of the camera angles were directly on the line and the umpire was about 10 or 15 feet away from the call right on the line. I still have no idea if the call was right. I just know he was in great position to know. And as said earlier, if an umpire cannot get that call right then he has much bigger problems. I just think if we are criticizing an umpire for this, we really should pause for a second and think what we would say if that was us on the field. And when an official is right there to make a call and the video does not confirm the call or show the call was clearly wrong, in my opinion we should give that umpire/official the benefit of the doubt.

Peace