Chin music of a different sort

[Publius]

Ayers takes a punch pretty well

Anybody think U1 (in deep B) could have been a little more active between the shove and the punch? Of course, this was a 3-man crew on a play that started with R2 only, so he may have been more focused on the B/R.

[RPatrino]

I don't know about how active we want to be in a fight situation. I am more inclined to let the coaching staffs take care of breaking things up, and as the PU I would quickly determine if any of my crew were down, then round them up and head for higher ground. We would then get out the line up cards and start figuring out who is still invited to the party going forward.

If there was any way to prevent this altercation, and I'm not sure there was, that is where we need to be very proactive.

[john5396]

Here's the part that really bothers me:

“It’s pretty surprising -- pretty entertaining,” said George Whitson, a fan of the Hornets.

I don't see anything the umpires could have done, this escalated so fast.

[JRutledge]

I do not see how in this video anything could be prevented unless something else had taken place. We had two players that overreacted to a situation and you had a spark around gasoline. Maybe you could have had one of the BUs approach the players after the tag, but that probably would not have mattered. I like how once they stuff hit the fan, they bailed and let the teams separate everyone.

Peace

[Forest Ump]

I read that three were ejected, one Sacramento player and two Riverside players. It obvious who the first Riverside player was but not easy to tell from the video who the 2nd one is. I'm pretty sure they ejected the Sac catcher. He came in and jumped on top of the melee and started punching. All of the players ejected received a four game suspension.

The one umpire who tried to break it up found himself in a mess real quick. That's why they teach us to stand back and take names. No sense in getting hurt.

[jicecone]

I don't care if there were 100 U's on that field. They are NOT paid to break up fights by Boneheads. The officials actions are no justification for idiots, to act as clueless goons. Especially at this level of play.

[RPatrino]

Originally Posted by jicecone

I don't care if there were 100 U's on that field. They are NOT paid to break up fights by Boneheads. The officials actions are no justification for idiots, to act as clueless goons. Especially at this level of play.

I agree!! We shouldn't be involved in fights at any level of play. The participants don't see us during fights, they just want to get at someone to hit. It would be very easy for one of us to get pushed down and trampled in the scrum. That is no way to end a season!

[briancurtin]

Originally Posted by RPatrino

It would be very easy for one of us to get pushed down and trampled in the scrum. That is no way to end a season!

That happened in the Big10 tournament last year, Indiana v Purdue.

[rbmartin]

1) Step back
2) Pull out your pen & note pad
3) Start writing down player numbers who you will eject or name in the game report.

[bob jenkins]

Good reason for even BUs to carry pen and paper.

You can also use it to make notes about an EJ shortly after it happens.

Or, just add to your grocery list.

[Ump29]

Fully agree with all. We are told that this is not a hockey game and we are not linesmen. Stand back and take notes.

[Publius]

I thought U1 might have made a better effort to head off a punch being thrown. After the shove, he didn't take so much as a step toward the combatants to get between them and maybe keep it from escalating. We aren't hired to break up fights, but we ARE supposed to prevent them if we can. Rut is probably right that he wasn't going to get there in time, but at least a token effort ought to have been made. Sometimes guys are hoping for an excuse NOT to fight, as in "Yeah, if the ump hadn't jumped in, I'd have kicked his a$$!"

U1 was wise to stay out after the punch flew and the takedown occurred. U3 jumped into the melee while fists were still flying. Not something I would do or recommend.

PU behaved exactly as I hope I would. He approached the pile seemingly with the intent of limiting the number of participants. When multiple bodies closed in around him and he felt someone's (the guy in the green sweatshirt) hand on him, he backed the hell out. Then, when the initial adrenaline rush ebbed and players were just milling rather than escalating, he moved back between the teams and got them headed back to the benches.

The PU did a superb job handling this with the proper combination of authority and self-preservation.