Balk or not?

[grogdog]

The mound had the "normal" hole in front of the rubber. I watched 6 games and nobody else was standing in front of the rubber so I'd expect everyone to stand "on" the rubber and not a foot closer to the plate. There were 2 umps, sorry, I should have specified that.
As for talking to the umpire. I asked him about what rules we are following 1/2 hr prior to the game, away from the field during a general conversation. And I think an umpire would or should know what rules they are following, don't you? As for talking during the game, he walked over to us several times during timeouts or between innings. I was not barking at him during the game because I do know better. The coach should have brought it up.