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Thanks for posting tips on how to get the most out of professional umpire schooling. While I was thinking of going in winter semester of 2009, I might end up going once I have finished (school.) One part of me wants to not interrupt school, the other part really wants to get down there and learn things sooner as opposed to later.
So a few questions. How often is it that an umpire will go to school more than once? What is the cameraderie like? Do guys tend to be supportive, or are there bitter rivalries? I find it amazing that anybody would consider going to the hotel bar knowing that Jim Evans would be there. How could anyone think sitting in on him and the veteran instructors and listening to their war stories would be a good idea? Wouldn't that just bug them? There must be umpires who are the laughingstock of the class because of their unprofessionalism. How much down time can one expect to get?
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first, if you have started post-high school education and you are going to umpire school looking for a job finish your education first. only 1% of guys that start in profrssional ball make it to the show, so you need something to fall back on.
there are always a few guys in each calss that have attended before. i was one of them. there are many reasons why they come back. i got hurt my first year and missed to much time to be considered for a spot to PBUC. other guys may be slower to pick things up but feel that they had come on strong at the end of the session and think they may be able to get a job if they attend again. others are simply dillusional. whatever the case may be, if you are a second year student, you are expected to be head and shoulders above the rest. day one of training for everyone else is day one of week 6 for the second year student.
the camaraderie is what you make it. i made life-long friends at umpire school, both as a student and as an instructor...and both professional umpires and guys that didn;t make it. my roommate my second year was 50+, was married, had a family, and was just there to better himself as an umpire. i have remained in contact with him. his family has come to visit me on the road, he sends care packages, and things like that. if you want to make friends, you can make ones that will last forever. everybody that attends the school shares the common bond of the love of umpiring.
as far as being supportive or seeking out rivialries is concerned, it is, again, what you make it. there is evidence of both every year. jimmy repeatedly uses the analogy of trying to climb up a ladder. the guys that climb at a slow, steady pace make it to the top quicker than the guys that take time to try and kick the people behind them down off of the ladder.
i, too, find it amazing the number of guys that sit in the bar at the hotel every year. while i'm sure it makes for great story time with jim, you aren;t there for story time, you're there to get a job. if, however, you aren't there to get a job, the yarns he spins during these sessions would likely be of interest. veteran instructors do not hang out in the hotel bar. in fact, it's often tough to find the instructors at night if you don't know exactly wjere to look. if you did happen to know where to look, you are probably doing the wrong thing.
there usually are a couple of "that guys" each year. don't be "that guy." sometimes they know who they are, and other times they are so oblivious to the fact that it's even more amusing.
the down time issue is another "what you make of it" type of thing. class starts promptly at 8am. if you arrive at 8, you are late. you have an hour at lunch, and then class gets out between 5 and 6. dinner is served at the hotel from 6-7:30. the video review room is open from 7-9 or 7-10. you don't have to use the review room if you don't want. there is no structure to the evenings. once you leave the complex, you are on your own until 8am the next day. you usually will have some homework to do, and there is always studying to keep you occupied, but there is time at night to do other things if that is what you want to do.
Mon Dec 31, 2007, 12:31am
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