NCAA Test Questions

[Durham]

Originally Posted by UmpJM (nee CoachJM)

Guys,

This is the second year I've taken the NCAA exam. I registered and took it last Sunday & got my score. I was curious about which questions I'd missed. So, today I went and checked the new NCAA test site to see what I'd missed and what the correct answers were.

There are two questions that I can't make sense of the answers on and wondered if any of the NCAA umpires here could shed some light.

Here are the questions.



The NCAA site says "b" is the correct answer and cites 8-5e, 7-11f Penalty in the "explanation" for why "b" is correct.

I had answered "a" based on the following from the Exceptions listed in 7-11-f:



The other one was:



The NCAA test site gives "a" as the correct answer and cites "Appendix E" in the explanation.

Now I had actually read Appendix E. Given what Appendix E actually says, I answered "c". My thinking was that this situation is clearly a "rules misapplication" sitch rather than a "judgement" sitch. The vast majority of Appendix E deals with judgement calls and when it would or would not be appropriate for a calling umpire to get input from other members of the crew or a non-calling umpire to offer unsolicited input to the calling umpire. The only thing I found in Appendix E that touched on the test question was:



And, of course, there is the whole first paragraph which emphasizes "getting the call right":



So, in this case, we've got a blatant rules misapplication which is easily correctable. But, the NCAA answer seems to suggest that even though it is an "error in interpretation" it CANNOT be changed. Presumably, the NCAA feels it is preferable to replay a game under protest than to just get it right at the time???

If any of you NCAA experienced umpires can shed some light, I'd appreciate it.

JM

I missed 4 questions and those were 2 of them, I answered the same as you on both and after reading the explanations given on the test I believe that on the field I could use the rule book to justify the answers that I gave, "Tangle, Untangle in the first, therefore interference if there is intent." In the 2nd it basically said that the umpire has the right to rule on anything not in the rule book, so you couldn't lose a protest doing the right thing. I plan on speaking to a few guys about these and the other 2 I missed, because I want to make sure I do it the right way on the field and the answers given did not clarrify these situations in my mind.

[PeteBooth]

[QUOTE=UmpJM (nee CoachJM);663938]

R1 and R3, one out. R1 breaks early toward second base. The pitcher turns inside and throws to second in one motion. R1 is out on the throw as R1 slows down when he hears U3's call of "balk." U1 comes to U3 and asks, "What was the balk?"

JM, I know this is a test question but I can understand answer a.

Why!

Because U1 has NO business coming to U3 in the first place unless U3 requests his help. If an umpire calls "anything" no other umpire should even get involved UNLESS the manager utters "protest" or the umpire making the call asks for assistance.

Here we had U3 calling balk, therefore, U1 should keep his mouth shut UNLESS as mentioned U3 asks for his assistance.

IMO, that's why A fits.

Pete Booth

[johnnyg08]

As for the balk scenario...this isn't a legal do over. U3 has to eat his call. After reading it again, I didn't do the test, but reading all of the options, I would've put "A." This isn't one that you can really fix. The CCA manual says something about the fact that changing the call would cause more problems so they eat this one.

At least I think it was CCA...but it might have been the NCAA memorandum on Appendix E that was published after an NCAA conference.

[Publius]

Originally Posted by johnnyg08

As for the balk scenario...this isn't a legal do over. U3 has to eat his call. There's an out.

Two outta three ain't bad...unless the part you missed is the third one.

[johnnyg08]

Whoops...reading too many threads...balk. no out.

[dash_riprock]

[QUOTE=PeteBooth;664213]

Originally Posted by UmpJM (nee CoachJM)

JM, I know this is a test question but I can understand answer a.

Why!

Because U1 has NO business coming to U3 in the first place unless U3 requests his help. If an umpire calls "anything" no other umpire should even get involved UNLESS the manager utters "protest" or the umpire making the call asks for assistance.

Here we had U3 calling balk, therefore, U1 should keep his mouth shut UNLESS as mentioned U3 asks for his assistance.

IMO, that's why A fits.

Pete Booth

That's not how the NCAA wants it handled.

[SAump]

Had to be there. The runner is only protected in the vicinity of the batter's box. He is not expected to have eyes in the back of his head or anticipate the catcher's movement from behind. However, it is a totally different matter if the BR is running into the play.

I suspect that interfering with a batted ball is grounds for a DP here. If the catcher is about to make a play and the runner is running into his arm/glove. I would rule interference based on the judgment that the runner is allowed to avoid a fielder making a play on a batted ball.

[SAump]

U1 had no business asking, but U2 had no business calling that a balk. A throw to an unoccupied base w/ R1 leading off 1B is a balk. But the second R1 turned and ran toward the unoccupied base legalized the throw to an unoccupied base for the purpose of making a play. R1 is out. I would not reverse the expected outcome of a properly executed defensive gem unless I was absolutely sure that R1 had successfully stolen 2B. From the OP, in my judgement R1 was a sitting duck and the play shall stand.

Now I would like to know how the guy who incorrectly called a balk is going to enforce the one base awards after being set straight by U1? This would be especially difficult if the pitcher made no motion associated with the delivery of a pitch, ala start and stop.