Partner and Coach discussing a call

[NCASAUmp]

If you dive in there too soon, you insert yourself into a situation you may not want to be in. What if your partner blew the call? Even if your partner is right, now you have a coach asking you the same 50 things he's asked your partner.

If your partner doesn't have the fortitude to address the situation (for example, if your partner is a rookie), then s/he needs to be the one pulling you into the conversation. If you butt in there, you may be moving the game along (which it should be moving along), but you're taking away your partner's authority.

Your partner dug his own grave on this one. He should have stopped the coach after the first minute, gotten into his next position, and signaled to you that he was ready.

As far as the HP umpire being UIC, well... That's just plain silly.

[BretMan]

You're going to stand there for TEN MINUTES and watch this go on? Now THAT is just plain silly!

What if he wants to stand there and talk for 15 minutes? A half hour? At what point is stepping in "undermining his authority"?

If he has allowed this farce to go on for ten minutes, he himself has undermined his own "authority" long before that point.

Waiting a couple of minutes is not "diving in too soon".

Straight from the book- Section 2: Pre-Equisites For Good Umpiring: 8) Game Management: Keep the game moving.

If my partner will not- within reason, and ten minutes is not within reason- then I will.

What if my partner did blow the call? That doesn't give the coach free reign to stand on his soapbox for ten minutes. Note that in my post I said that, after waiting a few minutes, I would ask what is the hold-up, then IF THERE IS NO FURTHER NEED FOR ME TO INTERJET (ie: the coach is just arguing some invalid point), I get him off the field and on with the game.

If, on the other hand, there might be some legitimate problem with the call, my partner and I will discuss it- alone, away from the coach. We'll hash it out just like you're supposed to, and then the game will proceed.

And it won't take us any ten minutes.

[NCASAUmp]

First, I'm not saying that you should never butt in. What I'm saying is do not be too quick to butt in. 10 minutes is, of course, too long, and I stated that in my original reply. My statements were meant to be food for thought anytime you feel like your partner is in trouble, and you feel compelled to jump to the rescue. While you may be moving the game along, you've now taken your partner down a notch, which could undermine him the next time he calls a game for either of those teams.

And if a partner of mine undermines my authority, I'd be certain to have a little chat with him after the game's over. And by "chat," I mean "reaming."

[DaveASA/FED]

sounds like someone has an inferiority complex I look at this in another way, I am not going over there to undermind anyone, I am going over there to remind them there is a time limit, and we need to start playing again. Sometimes people get started in a discussion, coach might even be civil but asking too many questions for that place and time, the what ifs etc. and an umpire can get sucked into trying to explain things and lose track of time. There are also umpires who like to stand there toe to toe and argue that coach back into their dugout no matter how long it takes (sounds like this ump fit into this catagory) and there is no time for that in any game, let alone one with a time limit. It is not fair to the players to have their playing time taken away from them. You are a team out there and nothing like working like one, keeping your partner on track to get this game moving.