Pregame duties question

[NCASAUmp]

My opinion is that you're offering "tips" to one team and not the other. That's not my job as an umpire. I might caution an inexperienced catcher during rec league not to block the plate (without the ball and when there's no play), but that's about the extent of my generosity.

I'm very cautious in what I say to players before, during and after a game to avoid being accused of having bias towards or against a particular team. I think that offering "tips" on what I intend to call might put that in jeopardy, so I just don't do it in tourneys. Paranoid much? Maybe. But that's my version of preventative umpiring: not giving a coach the pleasure of accusing me of bias.