before we start (an equal opportunity post...)

[Emperor Ump]

Originally Posted by MajorDave

...the wife lets me go out and play.

Your wife lets you keep the money

I pretty much get mugged as soon as I walk in the door. Now that my wife has figured out how to use Arbiter she sees how much I'll be making and makes plans for that cash as soon as the game is assigned.

But seriously, I too do it for my love of the game and my passion for umpiring. I wouldn't do it for free, god bless those who do, but I'd never get in a situation where I found myself depending on my umpiring income. Once you depend on it for the money it becomes a job, I already have one of those; this is my hobby. I think of it like fishing or any other hobby while there's some work involved the intrinsic reward is so much greater.