Waco is surveying the ASA Umpires trying to find out
which pants we would prefer to wear in Texas ASA Champion-
ship play. Blue or Gray Also wanting to know which month
we would prefer the ASA State Umpire Schools.

Any of the other states surveying, or just changing the
pants colors???

Oh yea, I got three [3] identical letters. Guess because
this year I worked for three different districts, but I
would have thought since the letter came from Waco, they
would have seen that.

glen



[Edited by whiskers_ump on Dec 20th, 2001 at 05:22 PM]

Hmmm....I have yet to get a letter from anybody. Think maybe I have done something to fall out of favor?

Scott

I got my survey in the mail today. Already filled it out and put it in the mailbox. Scott, with you living waaaayyy up north, it might take another day to get there!

I went for the gray pants. Every place I call in the Dallas metro area uses gray. Local ASA uses gray. High School uses gray. Local college uses gray.

Navy blue looks good but gets dirty too quick. When I have to wear navy blue, I usually go through 3 pair a day. I create more laundry in one day at a tournament than I do the rest of the week.

You can sure tell things are slow. Just look what we are willing to write/read!

Hope everyone has a great holiday.

[Edited by ntxblue on Dec 20th, 2001 at 07:21 PM]

I agree, gray looks better all the way around.
Especially with the red shirt, which some of us
slip in now and then doing FED. [match your
partner] We also use the red in AFA championship
play.

So which tournament is your daughter going to be
in, in Beaumont ntxblue? What month did you choose
for the ASA Umpire schools??

Scott,

I will send you one of my extra surveys. Vote
gray.

Must be on the naughty list
 

I havent recieved a letter yet either, maybe they dont care what we slow-pitch blues think but I will stand by my mailbox waiting. In our chapter we have always wore the navy slacks


Have a great holiday week

Don

Re: Must be on the naughty list
 

Don,
Didn't I read a post where you were coming over to the
fast lane this year and do both slow and fast pitch?

glen

Yes Glen, I do plan on trying that fast-pitch ball starting in the spring that is of Gary and the other guys will put up with me


Don

Don,

You probably won't receive a survey. Being in Plano, you are part of the Dallas Metro which is separate from the State organization. Even though I live in Plano, I officially primary in Allen, which is State District 24. And yes, we fastpitch guys can put up with you coming over into our world. You'll have a lot of fun and probably will be suprised by the quality of play. Look forward to seeing you behind the plate!!!

Glenn,

My daughter said that her 18U club team will be in Beaumont the second week of January. Is that an ASA or AFA?

I went to national school the 1st week of December in Longview. Don was there also. The advanced school in June is the next one I will be going to.

[Edited by ntxblue on Dec 21st, 2001 at 12:39 AM]

Glenn,

As far as what month is good th have the school, there isn't one. January is spent getting ready for FED ball. That takes out February thru May just to cover the games. ASA is already heating up by the time HS is done. August and December are the only months with the least activity. I enjoyed going this December, there wasn't a great turn out, so I got a lot of time from the instructors. So I hope I voted for December!?!

[Edited by ntxblue on Dec 21st, 2001 at 12:41 AM]

Gary,
That is an AFA Qualifier tournament. 3 game guarentee
2 births per age class trying to qualify for 2002 Nats.

What is the name of the team your daughter is with? Is
it Bat Busters?

glen

Glen,

I wish her team was as good as the BatBusters! She's going to play for the Dallas Mustangs in this tournament. Good group of girls that can have really good moments. They won the Dallas Metro 16U A tourney last July.

I'll be looking forward to meeting you.

Sorry about misspelling your name in the previous posts. I have sent several e-mails to Glenn Morrison and the spelling just got stuck!!

Gary,

No problem on the name. Seems to me that the Dallas Mustangs
were in our tournament on the 8 & 9 Dec. also. I had the
Bat Busters in the championship game, which they won in ITB.
Hope to see you the second week of January. The guy from
Beaumont that was in Longview with you and Don was Tim
Butts, right?

glen

Glen, I'm not sure of Tim's last name but he did tell me about the motorcycle accident and he couldn't use his left arm and he seemed to have plenty of $$$'s he got there on Thur when the school didnt start till Sat. and stayed in the hotel's luxery suite for 4 days. There was also a couple other guys there from your area but I am terrible at remembering names but one of the guys was an older man that I believe is UIC in your area said he didnt call anymore but teaches I believe handles scheduling,said he used to also do college ball before he retired. He told me how the state ASA group is run seperate of the Metro group in Texas. Then there was another guy there that I would guess in his 50's that said that he also calls AFA ball

Dont forget to ask Tim about the women of Longview....But before you do make sure you got plenty of time because it will be a long tale....

Don

Well, I'm not from Texas (thank God), but I'm going to throw my $.02 in here anyhow d:-)

I work primarily ASA with a little Fed on the side, so I have worn and observed umpires wearing both colors.

When I participated in Henry Pollard's impromptu survey at the Nat UIC clinic last winter the powder blue over Navy was my first choice, powder blue over heather my second and Navy over heather as my third. If memory serves me correctly, that was the same order of the consensus, but the margin between the top two was minimal.

My beliefs are that the grey are not as forgiving as the Navy, especially if they become damp/wet from rain, dew, sweat, water, or whatever coolant which may have been splattered on your uniform.

Also, I do not know the fabric compilation of your pants, but I have never had a problem keeping mine clean. Dust and loose dirt brush of easily. I have worked 3-day tournaments with just 2 pair of pants and they always look fresh when I step on the field. For the spots on my shins created by those nasty pass balls, a damp cloth easily removes any dirt a bruch will not handle.

FYI, on the National front, popular opinion seems to believe ASA will support 2 uniforms: powder blue over Navy for day games and Navy over heather for night games.

JMHO,

Mike

<b>Mike said:"Well, I'm not from Texas (thank God)..."

</b> Say podner, them's fighting words! ;)

Mike,
We are sorry you did not have that honor. [being born in
Texas] However, we do value your opinion. I personally
use the Sears Flex Pants, non pleated. Normally 36.00 per,
however, you can catch the 19.99 Sale two to three times
a year. Gray for NFHS and the Blue for ASA. Most ASA I
have worked is with the blue slacks, powder blue pullover.
Some tournament UIC's allow the gray with powder blue. Have
never used the dark blue in ASA. Use the dark blue in LL
FED, AFA with the gray slacks.

glen

I am with Mike on this one......

I like the Navy slacks with the powder blue shirt best. The grey slacks in the heat can show sweat more clearly where the Navy polyesters brush off very nice. Also, for some reason the Navy seems to hold creases better than the grey....

Joel

I guess that I am the one lone soldier who actually prefers the navy shirt on grey slacks. I think that it makes for a very neat appearance, even in the sloppiest of umps.

But for ASA use, I have become accustomed to the powder blue on navy, and it is hard to adjust to anything else. In an odd way, I sort of miss the old Elbecos!

Merry Christmas folks!

Scott

As for the creases, Joel, I will have to disagree with you on this. My greys are the Fechheimer Plate/Field pants, and they have held the creases better than anything I have ever used in the past. In fact, when it comes time to replace the the navies, if in fact I will ever have to considering looming changes, I will probably buy some of the Fechheimer's then.

Scott,

For years, many umpires complained about the "heat effect" of wearing dark pants on the hot summer days as the reason ASA should go grey. Well, now that ASA has gone grey, some people now want to change to a dark blue shirt for one reason and one reason only, it looks good.

Well, I cannot argue the fact that it looks good, but I don't believe that is a good enough reason to change it. If I'm going to work a bundle of games, I'd rather be comfortable and as cool as possible. I, too, miss the button-up Elbeco shirts as unlike the new pullovers, they let the air flow, whereas, I find the new pullovers somewhat stuffy.

While looking the part of an umpire is important when walking onto the field, it doesn't make the umpire good. Heat can be a distraction to an umpire and can cut into his/her skills on the field.

I'd rather be a good umpire in the field who looks decent than an umpire who is decent on the field, but looks good.

Mike

Mike:
I hear your words and agree with them to some extent. I agree that I was much more comfortable in the button down Elbeco's vs. the pullover in the heat of the day. However, I have found that the dark micromesh is just as comfortable as the powder blue micromesh. Now I know that the laws of physics tell us that dark reflects less heat than lighter colors, thereby causing the wearing to feel much less comfortable. That is fine in theory. However, as you stated, the micromesh shirts have a "stuffiness" to them anyway. Two years ago I umped a Dixie National Tournament here in Texas, with quite the sweltering heat levels as you may imagine. The uniform of choice was the navy micromesh over grey slacks, and I was no less comfortable here in this unforgiving Texas heat than if I had been wearing the powder blue micromesh. Somehow, the fabric/knit styles tend to preempt the color theory of heat displacement in the case of the micromeshes. Just my humble opinion and observation.

Scott

Scott,

I'm was just noting the "arguments" which were previously made for the pants based on the color of material.

I agree that the fabric and the weave of the dark blue shirt is much better than that of the powder blue. In OKC, I said that someone should look into producing a light blue shirt with the fabric and weave of the dark blue shirt. I just got a bunch of strange looks. The discussion there comes down to which compilation would absorb the sweat better which presently would be the powder blue shirt. My argument is that I would rather avoid the sweat than worry about where it is going d:-)

Mike

By the way since I never got that survey (It must have been one of those state instead of metro things) somebody put a check by the navy blue shorts with the baby blue shirt for me. Ooops I guess that only a slow-pitch thing for leagues. I cant believe you guys down in south Texas cant wear shorts for slow-pitch I love em and cant see anything wrong with em when its 100+% days here. NSA and SPA both allowed shorts in their tournaments that they had here in slow pitch

Oh yeah, and for Mike it was a beautiful day here in Dallas about 60% and sunny. How was it up there in the Northeast.. (just kidding)it great to be a Texan and hope you come down in September for the National ASA men's D slow-pitch we are hosting here in Plano Tx


Don

[Edited by oppool on Dec 28th, 2001 at 05:49 PM]

Don,

It's not just the slow pitch guys that wear those navy blue shorts. Last summer my daughter's team played at the Putnam City, OK tournament. ALL of the blue wore the shorts. Any color of undershirt was acceptable (red, yellow, navy) and very few ASA logo shirts were worn. Most didn't wear chest protectors and only a few wore shin guards. But they did use the mask.

Of course, they called like they looked - ridiculous! Only kidding...some were very good, but we got tired of explaining the rules to them!! Isolated incidents.

Sorry to disappoint you Don, but it has been about the same up here as it was down there until last Sunday. Personally, I'm a bit irate. I like the snow. I pray for snow. The more, the better. I do not have a problem getting around in the snow and actually enjoy the workout I get shoveling my driveway.

I wear shorts all the time. All the SP State tournaments permit the umpires to were shorts as long as they match with their partner. HOWEVER, shorts for FP are not only forbidden, but look ridiculous.

Mike