N.S.A World Series

[NEohioref]

Is anyone going as a team,umpire, or just see the games? I'll be in Indiana.

[NSABlue]

I worked several NSA nationals and one super world series. I will never go back again. We were treated very poorly and were given rooms in the worst hotels. It really depends on who your UIC is. I had several that would never get their fat a** out of their chair. We were working games in heat in the upper 90's and never saw anyone who would bring cold water. From my experience, we were really taken for granted. Well, you can take for granted that I'll never go again!!

[varefump]

I will echo the comments of NSABlue. I worked the A Nationals in Rock Hill, SC in 2005 and was treated very poorly by the first UIC we had at our complex. The heat index hit 119 on the first or second day and they worked us nearly to death. They scheduled 10 umpires at our 4-field complex so we were usually working three games straight without a break. For $25.00 a game it was not worth it.

When it came to picking the umpires to work the final weekend, I was not chosen. When I asked what the criteria was for continuing on, I was told that the UIC's picked those umpires who has handled controversy well that week. Since I didn't miss a call or have any controversy in the 12 games I worked, I really felt slighted.

I stopped working NSA after that and did not even rejoin this year when the B Nationals are in my back yard in Chesterfield, VA. Every umpire should experience an NSA world series once, just to see how umpires are NOT to be treated.

[CecilOne]

Are "southern" Maryland or Chesterfield, VA areas that have moved out of NSA (to USSSA, PONY, ASA)?

[NSABlue]

Yes, Our Maryland group is now with USSSA.

[Blu_IN]

The 'B' in Indiana is in my backyard. My home is five minutes from the Portage site. My work is 4 minutes from the Hidden Lake site and 7 minutes from the Crown Point site. Its neat finally having one near home, though, I did do Shaumburg back a few years ago and that is only an hour or so away.

Not sure which site you will get, but if you can beg for a location, take Hidden Lake. There is a ton of shade trees on the front fields and if the umpires park in the back, its a nice place to hang out between games. However, if you do get that location, pray you are on the front fields and not the back. The back four fields are a pit. No breeze, no shade.

I have been to more WS than I care to admit, and I do agree with the above posters to some extent. If you get the right site and the right crew to work with, it can be a ton of fun. If you get the wrong site and an bad crew, it can really suck. There are some UIC's that go above and beyond for the umpires, and then there are some that do infact, hide in the shade or air conditioning. I would say that of the years that I attended, its been about a fifty/fifty chance of getting a great crew and location. I can't speak from experience, but I imagine you run into the same thing working other associations.

And of course, the weather makes or breaks some years. It shouldn't be too bad in Indiana, but it can get pretty hot here. However, it won't get nearly as brutual as S.C. and Chatanooga. I am still waiting for our first WS in Minnesota or upper Michigan.

As for my attendance, I am to the point now where I am not going to take off work, just to go work. Seems silly. If I am going to take vacation, I am going to lounge around the house, take a relaxing vacation, or go golfing.

[CecilOne]

Originally Posted by NSABlue

Yes, Our Maryland group is now with USSSA.

Which side of the bay is your "southern Maryland"?

[mccann]

What happened to NEohioref on the NSA Nationals. Did he like what the tournament, or is is going to go back to ASA.

[NEohioref]

I enjoyed myself . And look forward to going back in the future.I have never umpired A.S.A,only Pony. Im not sure how they pick which umpires go yo the N.S.A nationals. But I did hav ethe chance to go and it was an honor to me. What city/site did this clock error occur. And im sorry if you mis understood me we work 2 men per field on rotation plate,base,off or base,off,plate,base. The off man coming in to the plate.

[Indiana_Umpire]

The clock error occured at Michigan City. The coaches tried to bring it to the plate umpires attention, based on what the coaches had for the start time -- when the problem was brought to the PU's attention, there should have been 5 minutes left in the game. However, something went wrong with the clock, and it had stopped. The PU came over to the fence, looked at the clock, shrugged his shoulders and walked back to the plate. After a 10 minute half-inning, the coach again brought it to the crews attention. This time the BU came over, and said that "someone" must have stopped the clock. He said there was nothing that could be done - started the clock - and the game had 20 minutes to go! It was brought to the UIC's attention, which fell on deaf ears, and the game ended up taking well over 2.5 hours. Sad. When walking off the field, a comment was made to the crew -- and the BU replied that it was the coaches fault the clock stopped. When he was challenged, he went and cried to the UIC, and tried to get the folks that questioned him thrown out of the park. I have never, in my 25 years of softball, seen a group of umpires more scared to have someone question them on the game they are hired to umpire. Again, I'm sure there are some good NSA umps, but I have yet to see one. I sure hope you were ata different site.
And let me clarify that the ASA nationals that I have worked have been true 3 man crews on all of the games....We went one on and one off, but all games were umpired by 3 man crews.

[NEohioref]

Well guess what I was in Michigan city. And if this is the same situation I know what went down beacuse the umpires did discuss this. The plate umpire was using the base umps timer, On this timer if you do not turn it off after the alloted time it starts counting up.I know exactly who and what you are talking about. I'm not going to throw the coach or the umpire under the bus. Because im not sure who is truely at fault. And the U.I.C backed his umpires desicion on the time. How could he fairly judge how much time is left.If he would have went with what the coaches said, that would have meant he didnt trust his umpires.J.M.H.O

[Indiana_Umpire]

NEohioref -- Well, at least you are able to proivde more information that the crew on the field did. I don't understand where this could be a "trust" situation. The UIC, Umps, and Coaches could have gotten together and got the RIGHT CALL, instead of worrying about egos and backing up Umps. The crew made a mistake, albeit a honest mistake that could be rectified. If the clock starts to could up after it expires, then couldn't it be said that time had officially expired if it was running up instead of down? (Seems common sense to me.) However, the crew did want to discuss it, was annoyed that it was taken to the UIC, and in the end even more damage was done than the original problem. In this case, the crew made the situation worse. As Umps, aren't we taught not to make things worse than they are? So, in reality, the crew made a mistake, made the mistake worse, and the UIC then helped continue making it worse. I guess it comes back to my original observation that I wasn't very impressed with NSA, it's umpires, it's umpire training, or it's UIC. But, thank you for helping me understand what actually happened. If the crew had taken 2 minutes to listen and talk with the coaches, maybe this whole thing could have been avoided. Thanks!