Quick trigger
 

Before a recent doubleheader, a college coach related to me that during his team's southern trip (mostly a tournament in South Carolina), his team encountered an umpire who immediately ejected any player or coach who said anything whatsoever about a call. No criticism, no questions, no discussion allowed. Do not approach the umpire or you're gone. No explanations given, either. You're gone, coach. Assistant coach asks why the ejection? He's gone, too.

He also said that, without warning, she tossed the opposing coach when she noticed that he was chewing sunflower seeds in the dugout.

I asked the coach whether the umps were actual NCAA umps, and he said he thought they were. Hard to believe, though. If this is true, there is one severely insecure umpire out there.

He also said that she appeared to be under 5 feet tall. I couldn't help thinking that the height and the personality were somehow related.

I will say that it's difficult for female umpires to call in my neck of the woods. There's still a "good ol' boy" attitude around here, and the female umpires, while excellent in their performance, catch a lot of flack for it.

The aforementioned umpire, however, went overboard. Of course, this is assuming that what you heard was true.

I'll admit that when I first started, I had a quick trigger. This was due to my own insecurities as an umpire, and a quarter of the people I tossed during my first few years probably did not deserve it. My fuse has grown much longer with my experience, though there are a few ways to instantly shorten it.

One of our trainers here always says, "I never toss anyone out; they toss themselves out." I agree with that statement, followed with, "I'm just there to make sure they knew it." ;)

Our immediate past association president has a similiar saying: "I've never ejected anyone. They ejected themselves; I just made it official."

:)I've always worked really hard to keep everyone in the game:eek:, but if they insist on leaving then I tell them where to go!:rolleyes:

I've ejected a few, but they really deserved it. The rest ejected themselves and I just made it official.

Yeah, I had one last night who really deserved it. He definitely tossed himself.

Interesting. My "rookie insecurities" actually made me reluctant to eject anyone, and I definitely put up with some stuff that I shouldn't have.

Greymule, how well do you know this coach? I have my doubts about the extremeness of his story. Did you notice that NO ONE deserved to be ejected, as he told it? Not likely.

I wonder if she filled out the required NCAA Incident Reports and sent them to Dee Abrahamson? They'd make interesting reading if the stories are even partially true.
"I noticed the coach in the dugout spitting sunflower seeds disrespectfully and immediately ejected him."

How well do you know this coach?

Just met him that day. Over the past few years, I have done a few doubleheaders involving that team, but this is a new coach and staff. One of his assistant coaches did corroborate what he was saying, though. She also told me that this ump worked every game with the same partner, a woman over 6 feet tall, and that the difference in height created a rather amusing picture, especially when they conferred on something.

I sincerely hope that what I was told was exagerrated. I do think that a real NCAA umpire who behaved as described would not last long.

It also struck me that there may have been some incident in a previous game that made this woman decide to be 100% intolerant that day.

I gotta agree with this. Doing basketball has helped with my game management but in the beginning I did let too much go.

My quick on the trigger story involves basketball. Cranky old frosh girls coach. Had him before and he's loud and like I said CRANKY. Game starts and he's bellowing his usual hot air. A minute into the game I blew my whistle and for some reason, probably tired, Teed him up like a Tiger drive down the fairway. For the rest of that game and the following JV game the only thing I heard from any of the coaches was "Can I please have a Time out ?"

Quick on the trigger :rolleyes: ,yes, but i don't care and I appreciated the peace and quiet that evening.

Coaches frequently push us to find out just how far we'll let them go. Not to go too far down the basketball path, but I'm sure the coach you mentioned was more than happy to take a technical to find out your tipping point.

My philosophy is to nip it in the bud as early as possible. When a coach or player starts getting mouthy either with me or with an opposing team player or coach, I address the problem ASAP. USC will only get worse and worse if we play the "nice guys" (or "nice girls/gals/females?") and turn the other cheek too often.

This is not to say that we need to be OOO. Not at all. Just recognize when a participant is approaching the line, and reminding them that there are repercussions for doing so.

Poor excuse. Every game should be officiated on its own merit.

Bob

Every game should be officiated on its own merit.

I couldn't agree more. I was merely looking for a reason for the ump's behavior, not any kind of justification for it.

True, but if you call a particular team's games over and over again, you build up a history with the team. If the team's coach is one who frequently flips their lid for no good reason, it's tough to fight that urge to pull the trigger sooner.

Yes, each game is a new game, and I do my darnedest to give everyone a fair shake, regardless of the past. However, if I see repeated behavior, then I may not wait as long to dump 'em. Maybe that's what happened? Doubt it, but tossing it out there anyway.