Tenn Vols vs USA HP Umpire
 

I'm not sure who this umpire was but he made his verbal call and signal at the same time standing. It looked sharp! It was a breath of fresh air to see a softball umpire actually look good and not the typical robotic thing crammed down our throat. His hammer was not text book NCAA or ASA. Man this guy looked good!

I know this year NCAA allowed umps to use various stances and have already seen a D1 guy doing the scissor stance. Now this guy.

Hopefully ASA follows NCAA's lead and opens up a little.

It is an atrocious mechanic, especially on TV, ..

Pitch..
silence (cant hear the umpire, all I can hear is friggin dugout chanting)
more silence
more silence (me yelling at tv: hey wtf was the call blue?)
stands up, hammer (oh it was a strike! about #$%'n time)

ASA's mechanic isn't *too* bad if your timing's right. In SP, a split second after that ball hits the ground or glove, I'm calling ball or strike. Less than a second later, I'm standing straight up, giving the signal with a decent amount of energy.

I did the same thing!!!! he called it like it was baseball(no offense to baseball but softball is different) He saw the pitch came up singnal and call at the same time. Rediculous!!!! ps he looked like crap behind the plate... uniform ZONE, and everything else.

I dont think I was clear homey. I like HIS style.. I think the style where you wait 2.5 mins after the pitch to bring up the hammer is horrible especially on TV.

Tell me again why you are involved with ASA since you despise just about everything they do with which you don't agree?

I thought this umpire wasn't bad. Thought some of his calls were rushed and even the players seemed to give an occasional smirk. He wasn't very consistent on his "ball" calls. A couple sounded as if he was guessing. I doubt he was, but perception is reality, especially on TV ;)

I liked his left-handed punch on a 3rd strike.

BTW, if you are watching it on TV, who the hell cares how quick you get the call? The people who need to know the call have it.

I dont know, why are you in America since you cant stand so many of the things going on?

Obviously, like ASA, its the best gig in town. Always room for ASA to improve though. We just gotta wait for the old guard to move on I suppose .. or in lieu of that, the slightest possibility that they bend a little.

NCAA is blazing a trail. NFHS too.. time for the old guard @ ASA to wake up. It takes people talking to get that done

I think your impression of ASA mechanics is the same as that which you demonstrate concerning slow pitch. Little knowledge, plenty of ignorance. I don't think that is necessarily true, but certainly the way you present yourself, IMO.

I've never been to or operated an ASA school where the umpires were not told that they were expected to develop their own style off the basics.

What is the problem with an association wanting their umpires to be relatively uniform in their mechanics? If the NCAA or NFHS had to train as many umpires as ASA does from scratch, it might be a completely different story.

I don't think you give the ASA staff enough credit.

NCAA's "trailblazing" is very similar to that of ASA. They are trying their best to codify and then make uniform the mechanics of all of their umpires. You just happened to see an umpire who recieved a regional assignment in spite of this.

Go to an ASA National. You will see umpires who do not use "book" mechanics.

Personally, I like the look of uniform mechanics. You always know what to look for and what to expect from one umpire to the next. Communication between umpires, as well as coaches and players, is so much easier when you know what to expect. Also, that kind of solidarity helps to give a crewness to the umpiring staff. I think the ones who gripe about the uniform mechanics are the ones who are resistant to change or are too lazy to change. I have noticed that most of them seem to be transfers from the baseball world. :D

I only got to see portions of the first two innings but was surprised to see the PU's mechanics. My first reaction was that he was a baseball umpire. But I got to thinking, why would a high profile televised exhibition game not be able to find and use a softball ump? So presumably he was a softball ump who seems to have adopted baseball mechanics. Or perhaps he is also a baseball ump who does softball games. Either way, his mechanics were a bit of a surprise.

I guess I was enjoying the game and players too much to pick on the umpire or to think that TV is the essence like the NFL. :rolleyes:

You watched that entire game and didnt notice the PU's great mechanics?

:confused: It was only THIS year NCAA allowed various stances from the PU in the Umpire Manual.

Actually, the only thing I talk about is Beer League SP... of which, what I say is exactly how it is here. I'm sure in DE its much different. :rolleyes:

Your straw man means nothing. They are most certainly not talking about allowing "un-uniform" mechanics. What are you trying to pull?

Very similar when you contend allowing every different kind of black shoe, no matter how absurd the shoe is, is "uniform" but allowing NB450's is not "uniform".

In some ways, .. I agree.

Training SHOULD be uniform. Of course it should be. It even is uniform at Professional Umpire School.....

Evaluation should be based on a performance standard.. not particular robotic repetition of trainee level mechanics.

Thats simply my opinion. You should not be so afraid that others express opinion in opposition to present ASA policy such that you start flailing, grasping, sniveling, and calling names.

Stating facts of life. We teach the umpires the starting point and they take it from there.

Unifom in color, or "shade" for those who believe white and black are not colors. The book states "Black shoes and belt". White, silver or any other color are not black. Cannot be much simpler than that.

You are correct and that is exactly how I have seen, received and completed them.

You would be surprised how often I do not agree with ASA. But just because I see something different doesn't mean I just jump on the band wagon. I'm willing to try anything. I have experimented with alternative mechanics in some tournaments and I've taken heat for that, also.

However, whether you like it or not, ASA has done a helluva job training umpires by the masses including a fair amount if not most of those now working NCAA ball. When dealing with that many people, there is only so much you can do which is why we keep to the basics.

Some of those umpires stick with the basics and I don't see a problem with that even though you believe them to be robotic and part of the "old guard" troops.

I don't believe NCAA Collegiate Softball equates ....10 and under...mens slow pitch...seniors softball...double bases...masters...co-ed softball...with their "starting points" or their "basics."