Dave,

A youth coach placing to much importance on the win?

Although 2-4 are valid, I felt pretty convicted on number one. Caught up in the moment, I made the wrong decision. Fortunately #3 didn't happen. I can deal with #4. I am sure the girls were oblivious to the situation so no #2.

Tom

We've all seen that happen. ;)

That's fair enough. I'd read in your post, "When I am coaching I care about who wins the games," and I took that to mean "win, win, win."

As for being caught up in the moment... even umpires get caught up in the moment. Live and learn, I guess. :)

Anyway, just wanted to toss that out there as a "heads up" for all.

This is an ethics question. My feelings, although not worth anything to anyone but me, are that you are both an ambassador of the game and a role model - for better or worse, accepted or unhappily burdened by either/both.

On soapbox.

I took a class in graduate school on Ethics in Sport a few years back, and the debates on topics were never truly settled (to be expected) over the course of the semester. However, what generally held true, and what was, in my mind, both unfortunate and culturally reflective, was that those who were coaches at some level (and were aspiring to become higher level coaches) and the majority of those who had competed in NCAA Div. IA sports believed that decisions like the one you made are completely acceptable.

I think it boils down to the fact that (for worse) there are two separate camps of the "play/coach the game the right way" ideology, and that type of decision exists in one camp, and is not even an entertainable option in the other.

Off soapbox.

Oh, yeah, it is possible.

But I think the bigger question would be how you would have acted had you been caught? How would others in the league reacted to an umpire who was caught? How would other umpires have reacted?

I think your integrity as an individual, coach or umpire, is more important than the win, anytime.

And what's the requirement of working softball, the inability to get around a 90-foot-field? :D

Do you have anything constructive to add to the topic at hand? Or is the trolling just slow these days?

Just responding to the comments about the baseball board and the "rat" designation. I don't see you scolding THOSE people.

Because I prefer to add something constructive to the conversation, as I'm not compelled to trash someone who asked an honest question.