Originally Posted by AtlUmpSteve
If it were only that simple. And only that honest and honorable. And not picking and choosing a rule to selectively ignore.
For every umpire out there that will refuse to ask for help in an obvious "help" setting such as you describe, there is an equal (or higher) number of coaches that simply want to be able to challenge every judgment made, right or wrong, that doesn't go FOR their team. And the same number that will go ballistic if an umpire does get help and the reversal goes against their team, even if the reversal is clear and obvious to everyone else on the field.
There are umpires out there, just like coaches, that think they can overrule their fellow umpire. And any and every time that happens, the game goes to hell, sooner or later, as one umpire wants to substitute his judgment for the other umpire's judgment. Soon, every judgment call is being questioned; and we are no longer playing softball, the issue becomes which coach can push the envelope further.
You are correct when you say the game is not about the umpires, the coaches, or the parents. But is also isn't about the kids, either; that is simply the most often repeated mantra of those that cannot or will not think beyond that, and want things their way. The integrity of the game itself is the most important concern all should have; you can still teach quality life lessons to those kids when human error happens.
Teach them that human beings make mistakes; teach them that they need to have the internal strength and fortitude to overcome human mistakes, rather than blame others. Teach them that life isn't always fair, and that the outcome of any part of their life, just like a game, can often be subject to things they don't like or agree with, and simply cannot control. Teach them that a softball game (ANY GAME) isn't life or death; teach them that losing a game may not be as much fun as winning, but it is still just a game.
It may not be who you are; I don't know you. But I do know, in my 44th year in this game, that too many coaches and parents seem more focused on the outcome of a game, and their ability to CONTROL, rather than the life lessons that the game represents. And when the game has no integrity because the parties think there are no rules, manners, respect, or proper protocol, then it has nothing for "the kids". That's a mantra, not an ethic.
As I suggested in an earlier reply, I would be more open to revisiting umpire judgment when the coaches agree to replay their decision with the umpires when they make a stupid coaching mistake.
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Thu Mar 16, 2017, 07:16pm
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