PINK Umpire shirts?!?! YGTBSM!!
 

Nope, I am serious as a heart attack!

My association, Fox Valley Blues, will be providing the umpires for the CABA and USSSA World Series (U9, U11, & U15) being held in the NW suburbs of Chicago next week.

Rather than just collecting our game fees and going home, as a group we've decided (with the tournaments' blessings) to see if we can't accomplish a little good by helping raise awareness - and money - to help fight breast cancer.

Along with our wives, daughters and sisters, we will be promoting awareness of breast cancer early detection and engaging in various fundraising activities.

As part of the fun, during certain games at certain venues, the umpire crews will be wearing PINK umpire shirts.

If you'd like to find out more - heck, maybe even kick in a little coin to support your colleagues in this effort - check out: FVB Umpires.

Who knows, sometime next week you might even see a picture of yours truly working a game in a pink shirt.

Thanks for your support!

JM

(Posted with permission of the owners/moderators.)

What a great cause and gesture by you and your colleagues! The FVB Umpires Association is obviously a tremendously caring organization that cares about people (not the green stuff). Thank you for sharing this with us all. It's very inspirational!

-Josh

Good luck with it, JM. :)

pink...
 

[wringing hands, anticipating YouTube Video....]

What a gesture. Hope you guys raise lots of greenbacks.

Best of luck, JM! By the way, your PM box is full.

I may very well be alone here, But I think this is frankly a Bad Charity to support. Why single out Aform of Cancer? Is Cancer research not good enough? Breast Cancer and the pink Ribbon has become a Plague on society and the biggest money making machine since Starbucks. Slippers for Breast cancer, Shot Glasses for Breast Cancer, I'm surprised I haven't found packs of Smokes that are pink yet. This is a BS charity that is so single minded and all imposing. It is trying to create a monopoly and I think it is Bush.

Sorry, but If you are allowed to post the benifits, expect to here the other side of it. Support Cancer Research, MS, Asthma, Autism what ever, but this focus on one area rather than the entire problem is silly, IMHO.

Thanks and God Bless.

Cancer
 

Why NOT sngle out one form? The more that is known about any one type helps overall knowledge of Cancer - and it's prevention/treatment and possibly cure.

Cancer in general is a cash cow. When you get to specific types, there is usually greater focus, especially when there is much known. And saving lives is what it's all about.

FWIW

Because pink cigarette packs would be for the Lung Cancer charity.:)

Seriously, there are many forms of cancer and disease which have a ribbon color designation, with charities available for donations:

Blue: Colon cancer.

Light Blue: Prostate cancer.

Orange: Leukemia.

Red: Heart disease, supraventicular tachycardia, Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome (WPW), hypertension and Evans Syndrome.

Yellow: Liver and bladder cancer

Green: Kidney disease and kidney cancer

Purple: Pancreatic cancer and cancer survivor official color

White: Bone cancer and diabetes

Black: Melanoma

Brown: Colorectal cancer

Teal: Ovarian, cervical, uterine (all gynecological) cancers

Lime Green: Lymphoma (non-Hodgkins) and Muscular Distrophy

Lavender: All cancers in general and Hodgkins Lymphoma

Orchid: Testicular cancer

Pearl: Lung cancer or lung disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Mesothelioma and Emphysema

Silver: Parkinson's Disease and strokes

Gold: Childhood cancer

I am fully supportive of the Find a Cure program for breast cancer research and proudly display a pink ribbon on the back of my car. If I were in better shape, I would walk in the Susan G. Kohman 3-day. As it is, I couldn't walk in the 3-hour :cool: .

Why is it a "bad" charity to support ? Have there been any allegations of wrongdoing or other bad acts on the part of this foundation ? Is there some nefarious scheme to swindle all those who contribute ?

Is it a "bad" charity, or is it just not your charity of choice ?

I don't think any of these research charities are bad to support. Which ones you support depends on which ones have touched you or someone you know. I'll throw some bucks at a number of these. I'll get involved with ALS. A good friend is involved with an MS charity. Another with one of the cancer groups. And I've got several friends involved with heart groups. While all caners have something in common, each one is just a bit different - it's not (or does not seem to be) the same disease just showing up in different body parts.

edited to add - JM - good for you, knoch 'em "alive".

Really? This is a color, umm, well-chosen.

Don't think that this little irony escaped me for one moment when I first read it!:)

I realize I'm a bit late to the party, but I disagree. "Cancer" is such a varied, vague term. It also represents a behemoth of sorts; too large and overwhelming to thing there's any hope of a cure.

By breaking it down, you offer those with a direct connection an incentive to get involved. By making it look more manageable, people are more likely to pitch in.

Furthermore, many of the cancers are not just distinguished by anatomical location, but by characteristics which require completely different treatment programs and prevention measures.

Some cancers are as different from each other as they are from diabetes or MS.

As promised, PHOTOS!
 

So, just so you can form an objective opinion about th pink umpire shirts, here are a few pictures for you to peruse..

First up, me holding a "pre-plate conference" consultation with my crew for a "pink shirt" game.

http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m...nkPrePlate.jpg

Next up, getting ready to call the pitch (by the way, the batting team was a team composed of players from all over the province of Ontario in Canada).

http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m.../PinkPlate.jpg

The other team was from the Chicago White Sox academy, and this photo shows me briefly chatting with Ozzie during a "between innings" change.

http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m...dOzziePink.jpg

Some of my colleagues didn't think a mere pink shirt was enough, so they took it a step further. For example, my partner for the game immediately preceding the pink shirt game can be seen here engaged in his routine pre-game meditation.

http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m...Meditation.jpg

Finally, the "tent" we had set up on the main walkway into the complex where our wives and daughters were selling T-Shirts, bracelets, pink glow sticks, etc. to raise additional donations.

http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m...harityTent.jpg

If you'd like to kick in a buck, 5 bucks, 10 bucks, a game fee, $5,000, whatever, just go the link below:

FVB - Susan G. Komen Fundraiser

The response we've gotten from the fans, coaches, players, and tournament directors has been OVERWHELMINGLY favorable.

Thanks for your support!

JM

Very nice, JM.

Mick,

Why, thank you!

Poosey,

While I don't disagree (in the context of the posted pictures, who could argue with you?), I'd watch it if I were you! ;) She happens to be the wife of my "meditating" partner - who happens to be a great guy who has a great sense of humor, an excellent umpire, and someone you REALLY don't want to mess with! (Trust me.)

JM

JM, nicely done... but I have to ask. Where did you find pink shirts???

walt,

Thanks.

The association "special ordered" them for those who volunteered to wear them. They're not "real" umpire shirts, just regular "polo" shirts with logo, ribbon and umpire number added.

JM

As long as there are golfers and tennis players I guess you'll be able to find pink shirts.

I do think you are working a bit close to the catcher. If he comes up throwing, you might have to call yourself for umpire's interference.

Bobby,

I disagree. The catcher is going to be moving forward, not leaning back into the umpire. I, not one time, ever had to call interference on myself, and I didn't stand way behind the catcher (except when using the GD). The catcher's movements are away from the umpire, and unless the umpire is prematurely making a strike signal, there should be no chance of contact. As long as the umpire stays down and uses proper timing, there shouldn't be any problem.

John, your positioning is just fine.

I resemble that remark. :D

MTD, Sr.

trousers...
 

Are those the charcoal gray from GD?

Either that or slightly underexposed photos.:)

I had one particular tall lanky catcher whom I would have to lean back out of the way whenever he threw to a base. No matter what I tried I couldn't seem to get far back enough from him. The head RAT from his team was always complaining from the bench that it was umpire's interference, even when his arm didn't come close to touching me. Really makes me believe he instructed his catcher to take a step back and hit me, just to make me look bad.

are there other bobby's on here, or was that directed at me? annnnnd, if it was intended for me...wtf are you referring to?

I thought your name was Tom. The Bobby I was taliking to is Canadaump6.

I will stand up for Canadaump6 on this one. It is quite possible that there is a coach out there that would do such a thing. Is it the norm? Hardly. But there are some really bizzaro dads out there that are ruthless and ignorant and I can easily envision some bozo trying this just to get umpire interference calls. I have to take Bob at his word on this one, because I have seen some of these lame individuals in action, doing much worse things. More than a couple of instances would qualify as more than just coincedental.

Just like Barney Fife or Fred Sanford, I'd get out my bud nippers, and NIP IT, NIP IT IN THE BUD!

Gentlemen,

I am blissfully exhausted at the moment. Twenty-two games in 8 days, 6 different venues, 3 different counties, and about 500 miles of driving. (Zero ejections. Dang it!) What a blast! My favorite picture from the tournament:

http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m...hanicSmall.jpg

I was named UIC for the USSSA 15U consolation bracket championship games - double elimination. I had the plate on the 1st game and was U1 on the "if needed" game (it was). Had two whackers at 1B in the top of the 1st, 3 successful pick-offs by a LHP with a VERY good move, and got to "go out" on a HR off the top of the RCF fence that broke a scoreless tie. Oh, and we had a "turtle delay" in the bottom of the 6th. Seven complete in a buck twenty. Perfect end to a wonderful week.

Next Saturday, about 25-30 of us will be donating out time to umpire a 16" charity softball tournament put on by a bunch of area Fire Departments to help out kids who have been injured in fires:

http://iafflocal4092.org/?zone=/unio...urnament202007

We're going to "wrap" our breast cancer fundraising efforts at the association's annual end of summer golf outing and banquet the following Saturday. Some of the guys are talking about auctioning off the pink shirts to raise additional funds for our fundraiser - if anyone's interested, let me know.

If anyone would still like to help out, just go here:

http://home.comcast.net/~fvbcharity/...GKCharity.html

Thanks again to those of you who have already contributed.

John