Get the calls right? Responsibility?

[Dakota]

This is a very interesting thread. The kind of thread for which I am very grateful to have this forum. We could never have this kind of insider discussion on places like eteamz.

I have a couple of thoughts.

First, I'd like to think my personal integrity would outweigh any consideration of umpire ratings / post season assignments. If I ever find myself making calls in order to brown nose the coach, I'll know it is time to hang up my mask.

Second, during the game my instincts take over. I'll call what I see. That is not to say I will always see things correctly. In WMB's example, I may very well have called the out, but not to make the expected call, but maybe because I wasn't watching quite as closely, or because I rushed my timing, or ... (various other mistakes). IOW, it would not have been because I decided to call against what I saw.

What we really have here is a flaw in the system that uses coaches to rate the performance of umpires. I realize it is cost prohibitive to have umpire evaluators at every varsity game, but the coach's ratings need to have some kind of counterbalance.