Is the BIG Game worth it

[Tim C]

Pete:

I cannot even recognize the issue that you are speaking of . . .

I want EVERY ONE of our umpires to strive to work the "biggest game." In my opinion any umpire that doesn't want the "Big Game" has started the downward slide to being nothing more than a "Warm Body" to fill assignment holes.

Not only do I want the "Big Game" I want the "BIG CALL".

Example:

Two years ago working a league playoff game we got to that final question:

3 Balls 2 Strikes Bases loaded and 2 out.

I was the base umpire located in "C" and (I thought) I was saying under my breath: "Hit it too me, hit it too me!" I wanted to make the final call (didn't matter "SAFE" or "OUT") just the "Big Call!"

Before F1 could get set to look for a sign F6 behind me called "TIME!"

He came to me laughing and said: "Are you saying 'hit it too me, hit it too me!'"

Sheepishly I nodded "yes" and he laughed:

Looking at me with a smile he said: "I was saying the same thing . . . I want to make the last play of the game."

Pete, I worked major college basketball for 20 years and I am starting my 40th year of baseball. Never once have I considered wanting to take games of lesser importance or level of play.

TussAgee11 wrote:

"As for going down the ladder? Again, it happens. But not as much as it should. Particularly with baseball and basketball, being a varsity official should not be a life time job. Even if you are able to stay in shape, there gets to a point where you have seen too much, dealt with too much, and have lost your ability to view the game completely unbiased (at least in the game management realm)."

This simply proves that children should be seen and not heard.

Regards

[bossman72]

Originally Posted by Tim C

I want EVERY ONE of our umpires to strive to work the "biggest game." In my opinion any umpire that doesn't want the "Big Game" has started the downward slide to being nothing more than a "Warm Body" to fill assignment holes.

Amen Tee! Exactly what my post was getting at. If we only had someone of your wisdom on the east cost... haha

[PeteBooth]

[QUOTE]

Originally Posted by Tim C

Pete:

I cannot even recognize the issue that you are speaking of . . .

Tee what I was trying to get at and perhaps I didn't make my OP clear is this.

You have done the BIG game made the BIG call etc. Also, it depends upon one's area, but are simply tired of dealing with High intense coaches.

In other words most every game has that high intense pressure.

It's not that an umpire is strictly out there for the money etc. but to coin a term "has done their time" and are simply tired of it.

This type of umpire still likes to umpire but simply does not want the aggravation anymore.

I believe this was a topic in one of the referee articles years back when the article was about a decline in Officiating. The article talked about many aspects of officiating and gave I believe the top 5 / 10 reasons for the decline.

Also, for the most part Officiating is not our prime source of income It is a hobby, so IMO you cannot compare one's workplace (trying to get ahead) with officiating. One 's workplace pays the bills whereas Officiating supplements one's income so you can pay for equipment and take a vacation.

Hopefully I clarified things

Pete Booth

[TussAgee11]

T:

What I was referring to was a common problem that I have heard about in both the association I belong to at home and games I umpire while in college.

There are some varsity officials that have lost that game management touch and will hook anybody and everybody, or take alot of crap and do nothing about it. Out of position or refusal of new mechanics is also a problem.

I ask others who have been members for some time and they reply, "He used to be very good." But these people still get the Varsity games alot of the time.

When they got to varsity, maybe they got complacent and didn't keep striving (this part is speculation).

What I said in that first post was not from my mouth, but from others, who are most certainly not children.

Seeya,

Tuss

[D-Man]

Goals. I work toward goals. I focus on short term, attainable and measureable milestones that hopefully will lead to an eventual working vacation in Omaha. Bigger and bigger games are key components toward that end. I need to f-up, get my *** chewed and react in a way that does not retard this process. Once (if) I achieve this goal, if I'm young enough, I will try to retain that level. Otherwise, I'll just try and teach others and supplement my retirement.

D

[dash_riprock]

I just did a junior high girls basketball game for $125.10

It was the biggest game I could get today.

[johnnyg08]

$125.10?? wow, 2 games 20 minute running halves or what?? dang

[Steven Tyler]

Originally Posted by johnnyg08

$125.10?? wow, 2 games 20 minute running halves or what?? dang

His location is Long Island, NY. Half the check was for tolls and the other half was a tank of gas to get there..................

[DG]

[QUOTE=PeteBooth]

You have done the BIG game made the BIG call etc. Also, it depends upon one's area, but are simply tired of dealing with High intense coaches.

In other words most every game has that high intense pressure.

It's not that an umpire is strictly out there for the money etc. but to coin a term "has done their time" and are simply tired of it.

This type of umpire still likes to umpire but simply does not want the aggravation anymore.

I believe this was a topic in one of the referee articles years back when the article was about a decline in Officiating. The article talked about many aspects of officiating and gave I believe the top 5 / 10 reasons for the decline.

When I get tired of high intense I will stop doing it, I will not step down to less high, less intense games.

Each to his own though. The world needs some low achievers to balance the scales.

[dash_riprock]

Basic fee $69.50 + 20% for 5 periods x 1.5 for working alone = $125.10

30 miles round trip, no tolls.

And it should be + 25% for the 5th period. I'm getting gypped out of $10.21!

[gordon30307]

There's no better feeling in the world making the "big call in the big game" half the players think you're wrong but you know you're right. You'll never know the feeling until you get the chance. Or should I say take the chance.

[Steven Tyler]

[QUOTE=DG]

Originally Posted by PeteBooth

When I get tired of high intense I will stop doing it, I will not step down to less high, less intense games.

Each to his own though. The world needs some low achievers to balance the scales.

I don't know why an umpire would feel the intensity of a big game. If one is uptight, it can lead to a bad call. Pressure is what comes in a tire.

Even a game between two lesser opponents can be tight and be as an exciting game. A big game can become a clunker and boring as hell.

[HokieUmp]

Originally Posted by DG

When I get tired of high intense I will stop doing it, I will not step down to less high, less intense games.

Each to his own though. The world needs some low achievers to balance the scales.

Okay, let me make sure I'm following this....

When I take HS games from my assignor, and they're between good teams, then that's okay - I'm a high achiever and moving up in the world.

When I take the Pony games my assignor gives me, or LL or rec ball, then suddenly I've become a low achiever that helps make it possible for DG (and whoever else) to be King Of The World, or at least part of the upper half?

What the h---?

I'm new to my association, so I'm still moving on the scale. Although I've worked HS age games overseas, I wasn't a full blown HS guy here, and still am not, according to our level system. I believe that I _will_ move up to that point, and will get promoted to the level that does college, and maybe the Coastal Plains games played here. So, yes, I am looking to move up the scale to better ball, as the gist of many people on here.

But at the same time, I also consider myself to be a "loyal soldier" for my association. I got 65 games last year; only 3 or 4 varisty, something like 16 JV, and 4-5 middle school (middle school? Who knew? That didn't happen when I was a kid). The rest were a combo of LL senior/Pony (various ages), AAU, Showcase, whatever. I did what I was given, again largley thanks to my "newbie" status with my association.

At the same time, when I become as cool as everyone else, and get the HS varsity stuff more often - and the other stuff to which I've alluded - I'd like to think I won't be too good to work other games that my association has contracted for. Sure, those games might be more for the newer guys, and the ones not promoted as high yet, but if my assignor needs someone, and I'm available, I'd like to think he'd give me a call.

Maybe it's just the ball here, and I certainly haven't seen many teams in the area, but the HS games I got last year weren't Yankees/Red Sox. There are good teams here, but I didn't get evenly matched teams for the games I had, I guess. And I've had travel AAU U12 games that were well played and went to the wire, so good ball can be seen many places.

Besides, for the participants in that game, that may be the biggest thing in the world to them - not just at that time, but what they've been living for for the last XX days. Why do people want to look down so much at that?

But as to the OP, sort of: seems to me that the bigger games, and the more important ones, are better behaved. Yeah, there'll be griping and moaning, but the people involved want to STAY involved, and not get turfed out by the umpire. It's the younger games, with less at stake, that seem to get the more bent-out-of-shape guys. That's just my observation.

[Publius]

A few years ago, I had a choice between a 2-man, U18 district semi-final for $50 and a 3-man, U12 "World Series" (with the proliferation of sanctioning bodies, that term is practically meaningless now) game on a 60' diamond for $30. They were both played at the same complex at the same time. I chose the U18.

Did I turn down the BIG game? The assignor acted like I did. I thought the other game was a bigger challenge and more money--easy choice. I also thought it would be nice to let someone who was excited to have it work the U12 game.

Is a game between a bunch of kids just out of elementary school a BIG game just because they slap the misnomer "World Series" on it?

[Tim C]

Define "Big" anyway it fits your schedule.

As ever one knows (ad nauseum) I have never worked a JV game or small diamond game and have no intent of ever doing that.

Do I think ball played by shaving aged players is "bigger" than small diamond ball?

That answer is obvious.

Regards,