Was I being a B!tch?

canadaump6

No, I don't do high school games. I think it's unfortunate though that you are required to check equipment before a game; they sure don't do that in the major leagues, most likely because it is up to the teams to decide if any of their equipment is old and worn out.

GarthB

canadaump6 wrote
No, I don't do high school games. I think it's unfortunate though that you are required to check equipment before a game; they sure don't do that in the major leagues, most likely because it is up to the teams to decide if any of their equipment is old and worn out.

The major leagues are comprised of adults.

We check helmets for cracks and other weaknesses that render them ineffective and risk injury to players as well as making sure they have proper approval for use.

We check bats for legality as well as safety issues.

I don't believe it is unfortunate that the safety of players is a concern here. Some teams require players to provide their own helmets and bats and are not directly involved in their maintenance. If umpires were not required to check these prior to games, many would never be checked out during an entire season.

Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.

canadaump6 wrote
No, I don't do high school games. I think it's unfortunate though that you are required to check equipment before a game; they sure don't do that in the major leagues, most likely because it is up to the teams to decide if any of their equipment is old and worn out.

CanadaUmp:

It is a requirement because bats and helmets are a safety issue in the NFHS rules. And quite frankly, checking bats and helmets is no different than walking the playing field to check for safety hazzards. Trying to compare MLB to H.S. baseball is like trying to apples to oranges, it cannot be done.

MTD, Sr.

LMan

GarthB wrote
If umpires were not required to check these prior to games, many would never be checked out during an entire season.

Correct. In the past, I have thrown out 3 catcher's HSMs in one game.

PeteBooth

canadaump6 wrote
No, I don't do high school games. I think it's unfortunate though that you are required to check equipment before a game; they sure don't do that in the major leagues, most likely because it is up to the teams to decide if any of their equipment is old and worn out.

As another poster mentioned forget about comparing MLB to what we do.

In a way I happen to agree with you. I fully understand the safety concerns regarding faulty equipment but the onus should be on the coaches. if a player does come to bat with faulty equipment we simply enforce the rule. if it's an illegal bat we toss the bat and record an out.

I do not know what the insurance costs or lawsuit percentages are in Canada, but here in the US most of these safety issues did come about because of insurance / lawsuit issues.

In reality it doesn't take that long to inspect the bats/ hats. The coaches are instructed to have all the bats / hats laid out for us and we inspect them for proper LOGO requirements (ie BESR certified) and also remove any bats/ helmets that are cracked or in the case of metal bats dented.

this 5 minute task (if that long) can save an umpire a possible lawsuit should something happen because someone got injured using faulty equipment.

Pete Booth

Jurassic Referee

PeteBooth wrote
this 5 minute task (if that long) can save an umpire a possible lawsuit should something happen because someone got injured using faulty equipment.

In football, we check the players to ensure that they are wearing the proper pads. In basketball, we check the players to ensure that they are not wearing any unsafe or illegal equipment. It's a safety and liability issue. It also ain't a big deal.

PeteBooth

Hi Jurassic

On a different note

This must be your time of year. A lot of controversy surrounding not only the BIG DANCE but the Conference Championships as well especially the Nevada Coach.

Give it to me straight

Was the Foul Committed by Oden of the Buckeyes against Xavier Flagrant?

Also, would you have suspended the Nevada Coach for at least one game during the March Madness tournament after his attacks on the official working his game.

If these issues were discussed on the basketball Forum please direct me to the appropriate thread(s) and I will check it out

Thanks

Pete Booth

Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.

PeteBooth wrote
Hi Jurassic

On a different note

This must be your time of year. A lot of controversy surrounding not only the BIG DANCE but the Conference Championships as well especially the Nevada Coach.

Give it to me straight

Was the Foul Committed by Oden of the Buckeyes against Xavier Flagrant?

Also, would you have suspended the Nevada Coach for at least one game during the March Madness tournament after his attacks on the official working his game.

If these issues were discussed on the basketball Forum please direct me to the appropriate thread(s) and I will check it out

Thanks

Pete Booth

Pete:

I do not think JR will mind if I jump in here and answer your question concerning the foul by Oden, espcially since I am an Ohio State University fan. No, it was not a flagrant personal foul, BUT it was an intentional personal foul. I was disappointed that the officials only called it a common (a personal foul that is neither flagrant nor intentional nor committed against a player in the act of shooting) foul. It was an ugly looking incident that cast an unfavorable light on OSU sports and in this case could very well affected the outcome of the game.

MTD, Sr.

Jurassic Referee

PeteBooth wrote
1)Was the Foul Committed by Oden of the Buckeyes against Xavier Flagrant?

2) Also, would you have suspended the Nevada Coach for at least one game during the March Madness tournament after his attacks on the official working his game.

1) Pete, as MTD said, the foul wasn't flagrant. Flagrant fouls are usually reserved for fighting, an attempt to injure, or extreme unsporting behavior. They come with an automatic ejection, 2 free throws and the ball out-of-bounds. The foul that Oden committed was an intentional foul imo(and in the opinion of most other officials too). Intentional fouls are usually reserved for a lot of contact without playing the ball, which is what Oden did. The penalty for that is the same as a flagrant foul, but minus the ejection. On the play that you're talking about, the correct call imo would have been an intentional personal foul on Oden, which would have meant 2 shots for Xavier and the ball for a throw-in where the foul was committed. Here's two threads on it.
http://forum.officiating.com/showthread.php?t=32829
http://forum.officiating.com/showthread.php?t=32915

2) The Nevada coach is gonna get something out of it, and he sureasheck deserves it. As you can read from the thread that I'll attach, he was completely out of control. Apparently criminal charges were briefly considered, but the cop got talked out of them. Inexcusable behavior imo. My personal opinion was that more than one game was warranted.
http://forum.officiating.com/showthread.php?t=32644

canadaump6

Now that I think about it, I would almost prefer to have to do equipment checks. That gives me something to do before a game, and if my partner is really late I can simply stall for time abit with a couple extra minutes checking the equipment.

I doubt that an umpire in Baseball Ontario would get in trouble for not checking equipment if someone got hurt. It's not a policy for Minor Ball, but might be for high school.

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