Question from a fan

[Rich]

One of the coaches at a school where I work a lot of non-conference games played the town I live in a BV contest last night. Over Christmas (I was working a holiday tourney), he mentioned his next game, looked at me, and said, "Of course I didn't ask you to work that game."

I was a bit disappointed -- not with the snub (I can't work every game *and* I was already booked nonetheless), but with the mindset. The coach is an excellent high school baseball umpire in the area and seems pretty happy with my work (considering he has me back, I'm assuming that's true).

(BTW, I've lived here for 3.5 years and still work non-conference games at the HS, which is about a 2 minute drive from my house. Hiring me doesn't buy a single call -- I still don't care who wins and I don't have any relatives or children working or going to school at the HS. I'm just thrilled that it's close to home and a pretty nice place to work.)