Do the participants really care how we are dressed

[harmbu]

It does matter to me as a coach how the umpires are dressed when they arrive. This could partly be because this is something I am a stickler about with my players. I had an umpire last year who had his shirt tail out most of the game and wore his hat backward under his mask. Guess what? He was also one of the worst umpires I have ever had. Shortly after having him, his assigner sent me an email appologizing for his umpire's unprofessionalism. However, clothes to not always make the man. One of the umpires that I frequently see is probably the most sharply dressed in the world. This does not make him a good umpire. He is one of those guys that make you cringe when you see him walk onto the field. Outside of these two examples, pretty much the rest of the umpires I have are both sharply dressed and high quality umpires.