Part of what magnifies these - or any - missed calls vs misques by the teams is the teams are not expected to be perfect...but the umpires are. Even though everyone knows they are NOT perfect.

JJ

Angry? Me?

That's the best laugh I have had in weeks. Thank you.

And do you actually think that my criticisms of this spate of awful calls shows bias toward any one team? Is that also a joke? Because it should be. I ripped Bucknor for two calls that favored the Angels. I ripped McClelland for two calls, one of which took a run off the board from the Yankees. I ripped Culbreath for missing a strike three call on Posada that triggered that rally. I commended Jerry Layne for a neighborhood call and two tag play calls at the plate that all went for the Yankees. I ripped Cuzzi for a call that went for the Yankees. I ripped Kulpa for a horrendous call at third that went for the Phillies.

Do you honestly think I am biased for any one team in my criticisms of umpires?

I love the game and I love the umpiring profession. I am not biased toward a team in making my judgments nor am I angry in my expressions. Thanks for the guesswork, though; it shows interest.

If you think he made it to MLB because he was "one of the best in the world," or that he still retains his position because he's "one of the best in the world," you're rather naive, with all due respect.

Go ahead, tell him why....go ahead, it's okay.:rolleyes:

Sorry, no can do. I do not wish to be reported to the Obama Administration and hauled away to sensitivity training or re-education camp.

You were on the right track to giving a fair-minded, realistic and truthful answer until you made an absurdly lame joke about the president.

Whereas having black or brown skin used to all but disqualify a man from the higher levels of the umpiring profession, it is now a characteristic that will vault an umpire hundreds of spots higher on the list if he displays even a modicum of aptitude.

There. I have no racial bias or racial superiority problem. But I know the game and the basic workings of the world around me and that's how I think things are.

I happen to completely agree with you, as it is sadly accurate.

Like Jim, If a coach asked me where the pitch was my answer was always "outside the strike zone." However, I would answer the question for a catcher who asked me every now and then. If he asked me too often then I'd quit answering him all together. But, if he was only asking a couple times a game I'd answer him truthfully.

I was always a fan of next to your partners the catchers are your best friends.

I don't think it was lame at all. If it were up to Obama....well, let's not turn this into a political thing. Ump 25 was merely trying to avoid sounding racist, as anytime somebody tells it like it is about affirmative action, they get that label. I've actually heard it on this forum that if you don't like Obama you must be a racist, which is even more absurdly ridiculous than any joke about the man.

This part: "... sensitivity training or re-education camp" is beyond lame. And it is beneath funny. So why make the joke?

Just make the point and avoid sounding racist the best way you can, and if some people react in a juvenile or simplistic way, well, they have to go through life being juvenile or simplistic, so what the hell?

"sensitivity training or re-education camp"

I didn't think it was lame. I liked it.

Telling the truth about Donovan McNabb didn't do Rush any good, so now everyone knows they have to tow the party line. Look how the media has skewered him for telling it like it is.

It wasn't the truth. There's not a clip or a published work by any media entity that bore the message that they were "very desirous for a black quarterback to do well." It was a concoction, and a preposterous one, considering that the ax has always fallen on broadcasters and other high-profile public figures when they make such a racially charged statement.

No, they skewered him for being the racist *** he was/is.

Don't say stupid things like that. Rush is not a racist. He endorses and is friends with people like Allan Keyes, J.C. Watts, Condaleza Rice and many other black people. Saying that the media wanted Donovan McNabb to succeed because he was a black quarterback was 100% correct, and not a bit racist.

See, you say something that is true about a minority group, and you get labeled a racist.