Was I Trigger Happy?

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally Posted by Rich Ives

USSSA has it's own rule book. Why were they using NFHS - or did you just think they were?

In USSSA (OBR) there are no dead ball appeals. I can see why a USSSA coach would be really POed.

Rich:

You make a good point about the difference between OBR and NFHS rules. I am sure that many of the posters in the baseball and softball forums know that I am a regular poster in the basketball forum both here and in the NFHS Officials Basketball Forum and that I have officiated both NFHS and NCAA Men's and Women's basketball for over 30 years and was a USA Basketball Referee (FIBA Rules) for 15 years and a basketball rules interpreter and instructional chairman for far more years than I care to remember, and this is a bone of contention with me when it comes to summer baseball.

Lets face it, the vast majority of baseball umpires who umpire at the amatuer level umpire games that use NFHS Rules or should be using NFHS Rules. And while the internet has made it very easy for all of us to get copies of the OBR as well as casebook plays in OBR, 99.9% of our games involve players who are 18U and really should be playing NFHS during the summer because that is what they will be playing when they are in jr. high school and high schoool. I have downloaded copies of the OBR and NCAA baseball rules every year as a reference and really learn about the OBR/NCAA/NFHS differences from reading threads here on Officiatin.com, but lets face it, my baseball umpiring experience and expertise is in NFHS Rules and that is the rule set that youth baseball leagues really should be using.

When it comes to basketball the AAU, YBOA, AYBTour, NYBA, and etc. get one thing right, they use NFHS rules, the exception being AAU girls which uses NCAA Women's (which really is not a problem because the NFHS and NCAA Men's/Wemen's rules are derived from a common rule set: the National Basketabll Committee of the United States and Canada). It would be ludricous for youth basketball to be using NBA/WNBA rules (even though they are not all that different from NFHS and NCAA than some people would think) for their summer leagues and tournaments.

Just my two cents.

MTD, Sr.