Glen,
No, John & I don't work together - different districts, separated by about 220 miles (I know - you Texas folks figger 200 miles is right next door...)

Although I do have a very good idea of where John's town is - It's not that far from where I grew up.

Glen,

I'll echo Steve here. We are roughly 200 miles from each other and while I do know where he is, we do not work together. Maybe someday when I pass through I'll stop by, but I won't be over there any time soon.

I use a light weight Wilson A3008. There are lighter ones, but this works well for me. I only wear six stitch hats, bases and plate, and don't have a problem with them comming off.

I have used a hockey style mask for the last 2 years. I personally wouldn't use anything else. I was the first person to use one in our association and the hat issue never came up. Guess if no one says anything, it must not be a problem.

Steve,

You are right. My first HS tournament is 172 miles from my front
door. I have done it for six years. The school gets all the teams
that were in the State playoffs plus some of the other teams and
has a hell of a tournament. Not a bad deal though. Get travel one
way and they put us in motel and feed one meal per day. It is a 3
day event. Walter Sparks usually drops by.

Welcome to the board B K. http://www.stopstart.freeserve.co.uk/smilie/bigwave.gif

Where you from?

Thanks, I have been an avid reader of the forum for quite some time and thought it might be time to join the fun. I am from Baton Rouge, La.

I call AFA with a group from La.. Gene Loar, Morgan
Maynard, Tory Brown, Butch Herbert and others. Have
you have run into them? http://www.click-smilies.de/sammlung...smiley-079.gif

I could see ASA potentially getting into trouble if they outright BAN umps from wearing the hockey mask...if I was a manufacturer of same I could think about suing..especially if they ever make the full mask mandatory for JO players,as some states are thinking about. There is no way that ASA could justify it on safety or vision grounds..as someone alluded to, all they are waiting for is for a way to make big time $$ off of them-remember how sunglasses used to verboten? NOW ASA is right up there,selling those $98 wonders...give them time and they wil be selling the hockey masks with 'ASA' on them...

Haven't had the pleasure yet.

I don't expect ASA would directly ban them, but they do have the right to expect their umpires to be in uniform, and at the present time, that includes an ASA-logoed hat. They also still regulate mask and pad color, don't they?

Even though I joked about it earlier, I can't imagine they would really require an ASA-logo on such an expensive piece of equipment, but who knows???

how about a 1 stitch cap that might fit under the mask? LOL...seriously,we all know it takes ASA a few years to catch up to new types of gear....but they [and all the state associations too, BTW] WILL have to face the fact that eventually the 'normal' facemask will be rarer,as most CATCHERS go to the hockey mask,thus making the 'regular' mask a bit more expensive..and the hockey masks keep coming down in price,making them more and more attractive to umps at all levels.

In college games and in the state level high school playoff games, I have seen a number of umpires wear the helemt. I've seen two wearing a beanie under it and one guy wear a 4-stitch. The rest went bare-headed and got nailed on their evaluations. College ball, at least the associations I'm in, expects that a 4-stitch or longer will be worn. Pa high school expects that a hat will be worn - and Pa still accepts the beanie as a valid hat.

I'm still using a lightweight version of the "old" style mask. I've stopped using the 4-stitch and been using a 6-stitch for a while. Now I'm beginning to use the 8-stitch. Once I'm used to that, I'll be buying fewer hats each year.

Big Kahuna, do you ever call in Gonzales? I called a tournament for PONY down there last year. The park is excellent and the folks were great! You ever go there?

About 5 years ago, I picked up a Wilson light-weight composite for under $50.

Also, when wearing the mask, I wore an 8-stitch hat and never had a problem removing the mask. It just takes a little practice of a continuous out-and-up motion.

BTW, I don't believe there is any way ASA would ever "ban" particular equipment, but there is no way they can be required to accept particular equipment.