Correction:
 

Those are two additional reasons.

Baseball and the knees
 

Baseball is pretty easy until it isn't. Like working the plate solo for a kids legaue fall ball doubleheader on a damp and raw autumn afternoon in which 55 runs are scored in 11 1/2 innings, many of them on walks despite an ever-expanding strike zone. The kids are small so you're bending that knee over and over, then popping back up.

It's still sore. For much of the basketball season,I was popping two ibuprophen an hour before the game and two at halftime.

I hear more guys are getting into working lacrosse, since the increase in popularity has meant a shortage of officials, so you don't even have to have played the game to get into it

Most of the lacrosse people I've seen locally are clearly just there for the paycheck. And after working football, basketball, and baseball, how much time is there for yet another sport anyway?

:)

I used to umpire baseball, but ridiculously long games where pitchers can't find the strike zone become incredibly boring very quickly. I would much rather ref a blow-out basketball game than work the plate for a blowout baseball game that has more walks and wild pitches than hits.

I just got my grade 8 (USSF soccer) license so I'll let you know how that goes. As someone who has played and coached soccer for a long time I have a feeling that it will be easier than basketball, but I will soon find out.

So this is a vote for baseball (or whatever) on 80-degree days?!

If she played, would it be three additional reasons? :eek:

http://blog.photos2view.com/files/im...ts.preview.jpg

Welcome to the World's largest sport as measured by both participants and spectators. One thing to be aware of, being in adequate physical condition to referee basketball will not be adequate to referee the same level of soccer.

Plus - you have to learn to speak metric! :eek:

I do both football and baseball in addition to basketball. I find that football is just plain easy. Once you learn your responsibilities, you have a very small area to worry about, and if you do manage to miss something, there are 4 other guys out there to help you out.

Baseball I find challenging in that there are plays and rotations that you will see less than once a year. I find that baseball is difficult for me in that I'm very much a repetition learner and there are too many variables that don't happen often. I also find that the game management aspect of baseball is different than basketball. It is more of a chess match and moves a lot slower. I personally don't have nearly the same game awareness in baseball because what matters in the game is sometimes very slow to develop.

I've worked full varsity schedules and playoffs in all three for a few years. Baseball is getting cut back for me this summer and I'm getting out totally soon after that. I need my summers to expand my basketball camp attendance and stay in shape. A little more time on the golf course will be nice too.

+1

And that's more a function of stoopidly trying to play a game on a very large surface with basically one on-field official making all important decisions. That's why soccer is one of the most poorly-officiated sports in the world imo, and also is why it is particularly prone to match-fixing.

T'aint really nuthin' to brag about iow. You can't replace proper field coverage with fitness if it doesn't matter how fit the official is if it's impossible for that official to get into position to see certain things anyway. It's analogous to trying to officiate all NBA basketball games with one official.

And imo there isn't anything dumber than getting rid of an official for international games because of an arbitrary age limit even though that official has now become experienced and battle-hardened.

Note that I'm not knocking soccer; I'm knocking the people that won't let soccer evolve. The major sports here--beisbol, football, basketball and hockey-- have all added to the size of their officiating crews over the years while trying to evolve with the game. Think of going back to do an NFL game with only 3 or 4 officials...shudder.

Hmmm, if the other 4 guys are doing their job though, they should not be able to help you much of the time.

Football is easier than basketball, although the rules are a hell of a lot more complicated. It is more officiating by exception though - most plays are very routine.

I hear HS basketball officials all the time say things like "those old NCAA officials, they should pack it in -- they couldn't even work 2-man if they wanted to" -- well, who cares? Someone very smart decided that it's more important to have 3 officials with experienced eyes on the court than it is to have three gazelles running up and down. And the handful of times each season someone gets injured and they *do* work two shows that those guys can get by that way, in a pinch.

I've had this conversation with British friends who don't understand why I'm not willing to criticize the center referees in soccer and my response is always "if they think one guy on a field that big can be expected to have distance and angle on every crucial call, they're nuts -- soccer teams and fans get what they deserve."

Well, you probably would hear 'and 1' a lot more.