Considering Giving it all up

[mcrowder]

I debated myself as to whether to post this or not...

Recent events during ASA softball clinics, games, etc, have left me extremely disenchanted with umpiring softball any longer. First let me say that I am in this for the girls and for the love of the game. Not the power, and not the money (the money is nice, but it's just an extra - not my motivation).

Here's what gets me.

I also officiate football. Here in Texas, football officials are required to complete (successfully) a closed-book exam to prove they actually understand the rules. Officials are also required to go to weekly meetings throughout the season. We have between 300 and 500 people at these meetings, which feature large group sessions (occasionally, an NFL or NCAA ref will address us, occasionally it's to discuss an overall issue - often we watch film, decide what we'd call, and discuss), as well as small group sessions where officials can hone their skills in specific areas. Specific attention is paid to newer officials as well.

However, in softball, any old yahoo (or young yahoo for that matter) who is willing to spend 4 hours in a meeting being given the answers to a test can officiate. Many "experienced" officials have no more rules knowledge than my 6-year old son. I've determined that the worst thing I can hear from a new partner is, "I've been doing this for 25 years" - those guys are INVARIABLY the dumbasses or the OOO's.

In the past 3 weeks, I've come across an umpire who's been doing this for 25 years (who is also IN CHARGE of umpires in his area) who, while coaching, practically ripped my head off for not calling an opposing player out for BOO, twice in the same inning, when he brought the matter to our attention A) after the BOO batter had advanced from 1st to 3rd on 2 passed balls, and B) after the BOO batter had stolen 2nd on a strike. (Worse, my partner, an umpire for 10 years, was ready to ring up an out until I stopped him.) I came across an umpire who's been working for 20 years that had never heard of obstruction (he thought the only obstruction was when a runner tries to break up a double play). I watched as a 10-year umpire called a batter out for failing to immediately run on a D3K, saying, "No - any hesitation and she's out".

2 years ago, I worked with the 25-year official who called Verbal Fan interference, and loudly called me a "F#&$#ing Idiot" for thinking that the batter can attempt to reach first on a 3rd strike that bounced, but was fielded cleanly by the catcher.

Last year it was the woman ("I've been doing this forever")who called an out and ejected a runner at 2nd during a tournament (I was watching, waiting to do the next game), when said runner failed to slide at second as the throw CAME INTO THIRD BASE!

Let's not even discuss the Dixie clinic I went to where the TRAINER told us that if the pitch bounced before it reached home plate, it was an illegal pitch, and all runners advance. Same guy recommended ejecting for first offense on catchers that obstruct at the plate (even without maliciousness or intent) if they cause a collision.

Where is the training? Why the horribly lax certification? I don't believe these guys are intentionally unknowing on the rules... it's the Softball Organizations that do not FORCE officials to know the rules.

I work at this craft, and I take it seriously. It is 100% disheartening to constantly run into this sort of nonsense. I don't consider myself an OOO --- but I DO consider myself a "rules-guy", and am constantly baffled by the lackadaisical rules knowledge out there by supposedly experienced folks.

Judging from the posts on these boards ... you all are seeing these guys out there too.

Why the lack of caring by our softball organizations to make sure we ALL have a solid understanding of the rules?

[MA Softball Ump]

Originally posted by mcrowder
I debated myself as to whether to post this or not...

... those guys are INVARIABLY ...the OOO's.
... I don't consider myself an OOO ---

What is an "OOO?"

[Chess Ref]

I did basketball this year and am now doing softball,1st year in both sports. I ,too, am kinda taken aback by the shortcomings I see. I believe the quality of officials depends on each persons ability to self motivate. I am very self motivated when something interests me, such as officiating. I think it is human nature to do as little as possible to get the job done. I know in other areas of my life, yardwork, i could care less and my backyard is indicative of that attitude.
I come to the forums, go to watch more experienced officials, read the rule books, ask questions, etc, etc and quite frankly it shows.
for alot of people I think it is all about the money and it shows there also. My wife laughs that they send me checks each month cause I would do it for gas money.
I heard a cliche about doing 10% better than everyone else and you will be a superstar and in officiating I believe it rings real true.
After one year of basketball officicating I can go into a gym,, watch 10 refs BEFORE the game starts and point out which ones are the rec refs and which ones put the effort into learning POE, new Interps. etc. I am not quite there in Softball but I can smell a lazy umpire a mile away already.
Hope my post makes some sense.

[tcannizzo]

Let's face it. There isn't exactly a waiting list to become a softball umpire. Therefore we lower our standards. If you leave, that will increase the shortage of quality umpires and create a bigger problem for the sport. Which, in turn, would cause others to get their fill eventually too.

Softball umpires need to do a better job of marketing, recruiting, and yes training too. But instead of dropping out, why not recruit a few good prospects? Young people don't realize what a great opportunity they have to earn more on the field than they do frying chicken and flipping burgers. 2 of my teenagers are now eager to learn the rules and get started.

What if every good umpire got just one more good umpire to join the ranks? As the numbers increase, so does the opportunity to be selective based on skills and overall desire.

I don't want to hijack this thread, but I am appalled by the attitudes of many umpires who are knowlegeable and seasoned veterans who can't wait to get the game over and off the field. They ***** about the weather, the coaches, the players and any number of things that are just negative as hell. Well, in my opinion, these are B-players that eventually need to be weeded out. As I revealed in an earlier thread, I am a 15-year coach who has come over to the "dark side". I am very disillusioned with a lot of what I have mentioned. But I love the game, I love umpiring, I love learning, and I love doing it right. I have attended the National Umpire School, our Regional Clinic, our Association Clinic as well as a Developmental Clinic that was held. The number of A-players is definitley too low. So, in a lot of cases I am learning what not to do from other umpire's mistakes. OK I am off my soap box.

[Chess Ref]

After that speech i would be willing to go and impale myself on an illegal bat for you dude.. The motivating coach within came out om that one . LOL

[tzme415]

I know that I got out of umpiring for a while and now I'm going back to it. I love the game and just couldn't stay away anymore. I'm hoping next year to maybe pick up Fast Pitch, came from a state with almost no fast pitch. I'm getting a late start this year and the rules have changed in the past six years. That is the fun of umpiring though, knowing the rules and applying them correctly and quickly. If we could recruit more young umpires and train them properly, eventually those who were not so good would either not get any good games, get better so as not to get shown up, or quit. At least thats my opinion.

[BretMan]

mcrowder,

I've seen the same thing in my area. Becoming certified for FED baseball was like a freakin' boot camp! My local association goes to extremes to provide training, testing and evaluation.

Last month, I got my ASA certification- or, more accurrately, became registered by ASA. As IrishMike has pointed out before, ASA does not certify umpires. Rather, it registers them.

To become an ASA umpire all I had to do was show up for 3 out of 4 rules meetings, pay an ASA registration fee and pay the local association fee. No tests were required. I could be the biggest yahoo in the state, but I'd be registered just the same.

Aside from classes and training, I've spent countless hours studying on my own, in hopes of polishing my own game-calling skills. When I run into these misinformed "experts" you describe, or see other umpires with sloppy mechanics or poor rule knowledge, here's how it affects me:

IT MAKES ME WANT TO TRY EVEN HARDER TO DO IT THE RIGHT WAY!

[Edited by BretMan on Apr 7th, 2005 at 02:05 PM]

[Gozer]

I've ran across that in Kansas. I have worked a total of 4 games so far and two of them by-myself.... Fast Pitch. And one of them I was the UIC with another rookie. Me myself being a rookie found this kinda frightining. Anyway my story now. Runners on first and third. The runner on first steals second but not before a pitch comes in and is tagged by the elbo of the fielder. I saw this clear as day, my partener had the angle and saw this clear as day, and you guessd it, OOOOOOUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTTT!!!!!. If anything I thought the fielder was in the way a bit much and had some obstruction. Oh well my partner was quasi-on-top of it so I backed him up. Thank god he at-least moved to get in position and sold his call.

Dunno what the world is comming to,

Kenny

[mcrowder]

Rookies or newer guys not knowing EVERYthing doesn't bother me much, as long as they are eager to learn and receptive to both negative and positive feedback.

It's the know-it-alls that actually know nothing, but refuse to listen or learn (and are further not REQUIRED to learn by our associations) that kill me.

PS - how did a pitch end up at 2nd?

[Gozer]

Mispoke.... Throw after the pitch, catcher fumbled, and the runner tryed to steal.

I love having umpires at my games watching so they can critique me after the game. That is how I leart to "growl" when I call my strikes. So far noboy has criticized my strike zone because when I come up with one I loud and sure, lovly thing selling calls. Just wish I got to work with more veteran referees that knew how to call the game so I could learn.

TC,

Kenny

P.S. a quick question about a pitch. NFHS Rules,
Pitcher is on rubber and brings ball and glove up to the heart (mid chest), i believe this is called adressing home plate. Anyway. She drops the hands and goes back to like a bowling swing then brings the hands back up to that "adressing home plate" position and back down and back then around in "windmill" and releases. Does this count as 2 or 3 times around (there is 3 passes of the hip). If so there is an illegal pitch in there then.

[Edited by Gozer on Apr 7th, 2005 at 02:40 PM]

[jstone999]

I'm a coach who would rather ump. Life's circumstances have just ended up that way.

But as a coach, I can say that the thing I appreciate the most is a good umpire, so that I can concentrate on other things. Here in Germany, not the softball capital of the world, things aren't so great. I have never, NEVER, seen an OBS call. I have asked for it and got it, but the umpires do not look for it and never call it.

The point is, we NEED dedicated umpires who know the rules and call them. If you give up, you are letting everything just go to waste. Maintaining high standards means being frustrated; quitting means letting us down. There are some coaches out there who just want the game to be played right and fair. We are not looking to trick anybody or seeking an extra advantage. We read the message boards not to come up with tricks but to learn the rules as best we can. We want good umpires. We complain about umpires who are idiots (and I've seen a few) but we don't complain about the occasional blown call, because we make mistakes ourselves. (I've umpired several times, and I know how hard it is. And I have experienced the occasion when I say "strike" and afterwards think that the ball was just above the shoulders. I blew it. But hell, it's just one strike, and that's not deciding the game. As a coach, when I'm standing on third and send a girl in to home and she's tagged a yard before the plate, I don't blame the umpire, I blame myself. Performance is not about mistakes, but consistency.)

Anyway, don't give up because those around you are incompetent. Do your best, because you are appreciated by those who love and know the game. Oh sure, I might come to you between innings and say something like, "Could you give the count verbally a bit more often?" And on a banger I might shake my head. But the truth is that I love you if you're good. And I don't appreciate the idiots.

I know this doesn't mean much, coming from a coach. But one should NEVER give up because one thinks "everyone else is incompetent." One should push for more competency.

jeffstone
goettingen

[Dakota]

Gozer,

To avoid hyjacking this thread, I'll answer your pitching Q in a new thread.

[Skahtboi]

Originally posted by tcannizzo
As I revealed in an earlier thread, I am a 15-year coach who has come over to the "dark side"...

Shouldn't that read "come over from the 'dark side?'"

Hang in there mcrowder, Our asso. does not do the training I would like to see. A lot of the time you are left to do it own your own. I study and go the umpire schools and check the web sites out to get other view points and to try to learn. I always try to improve and to help the younger umpires if I can. We have some very good umpires that I love to call with and some that need work. If you make it past the bad times, good times are that much better. Stay with it if you can, good umpires needed in this game.

[SWFLguy]

FHSAA does a pretty good job of testing and a fair
job of training new high school officials. I currently
only umpire high school ball here.
The ASA here is a joke. Register and you get games.
I worked a few games and walked away from it here.
It was not fun.
Back in CNY we had all we could do to put bodies on
the fields for both high school and local rec games.
The better officials were overworked.
I wish there was a magic formula to recruit new
capable officials. Down here we have a small advantage
in getting experienced umpires who have relocated
to SW FL, but with the growth and addition of new
schools it is difficult to keep up with the need.
I'm sticking with the high school games as long as
my legs hold out !!