Rabbit Ears?
 

I'm BU - Coach generally moaning and groaning about the strike zone. I'm ignoring it for the most part since hes just a whiner, I already know he is a whiner, and hes not directing it at anyone.

FTR my PU partner is a damn good and experienced umpire and his zone was just fine.

After a few innings of this hes talking with his coach, hes in 1B dugout and I'm in A - the stuff said obviously loud enough for me to hear went about like this

"Why do we even play this game if they are just going to take this game away from the girls. I cant teach my girls to swing at that"

"They enjoy cheating the girls they laugh about it later" "Oh I know they laugh about it. They love cheating girls. If they knew how hard these girls work they wouldnt cheat them like this."

"Thats probably why they cant keep wives, they cheat little girls and laugh about it".

Thats about the time I'd had it, so I told him that was enough and I wasnt hearing more from them.

Of course I got the drooler water brained coaches answers "What i'm just talking to my asst coach blah blah"

I told he was going to be finishing the conversation in the parking lot, because they were both going and I wasnt going to play his game anymore and that was it.

Other than low key moaning and groaning that was about for him. He didnt go farther.

The jerk then shakes our hand at the end of the game and tells us good game.. :rolleyes:

So I get up to the umpire area and my UIC is there.. and you know what that piece of crap had done?

He had sent a runner to complain to the UIC that I got ticked off when he and his asst coach were having a conversation about their wives.

My partner was probably more livid than i was. I know this team and coach and organzation well and he knew us. I dont like lying dirty snake pieces of crap garbage.. so I know now.. and I dont hold a grudge.. well anyway.

So what do you think? Too much rabbit ears or are there things said in the dugout "between coaches" but obviously meant for you at some point part of the show and addressable?

Or should I have dumped his stupid @ss?

Sounds like you have some passive-aggressive coaches who want to play a game of "oh, we weren't REALLY talking about (or to) you. Honest!"

BS. They were showing you up. They knew you could hear them, and if you could hear it, so could the girls. Pull the head coach aside (and no one else) and tell him to either man up, shut up, or pack up.

Sounds like you handled it.

Coach moaning, groaning, then crossing the line.
You step in and addressed it.
Coach basically cuts it out.

Sounds like a textbook case of good game management.

When they whip out the " I was talking to ____" my standard reply is if I can hear it I will address it.

I've worked hard on game management and the most important lesson I've learned is........

The sooner I deal with it the sooner it stops.

I agree, though that is the #1 thing I'm going to work on this year (I always pick specific things to work on every year/season).

Though I don't think that's something you can ever learn once and be done with. The game is always evolving.

I had the same thing yesterday. The inning after some passive-aggressive comments about my strike zone I pulled him aside and stated, "You are really disrespecting the game, the girls, and the fans with your comments. Close calls are part of the game and you have probably had as many go your way as against you in the course of your coaching career. As far as the strike zone, its fine and you will stop making comments about it whether directly to me or your passive aggressive comments to your pitcher".

I have viewed a lot of 1st year umps this year and the crap they are getting from coaches is unbelievable. I quickly talk to the coach and put a stop to it and then discuss it with the ump after the game.

In the words of Debbie Lauderback, "over recent years, we umpires have allowed coaches to disrespect the game far too much. It is time for this to stop".

Stolen. :)

even a deaf rabbit
 

""They enjoy cheating the girls :( ... They love cheating girls. ... :(

"... they cant keep wives, they cheat little girls ..."." :mad:

"Coach, who is taking over your spot?"

Used this quote on a major slowpitch player once, and boy did he shut up. Matter of fact, it was so quiet the only thing you could hear was my partner's indicator clicking, LOL.

I wouldn't take it as a statement of cheating for or against one team or another, I'd take it as a statement of "taking away from the game." Not much better, but it's less of an attack on the umpires' integrity.

Only problem is... What if they choose Door #1? They're the ones with the bats! :D

When in this situation I've replied - if you weren't speaking directly to me, then you must have been trying to incite the crowd/dugout. Either way it's improper. It's stop or go time.

Consider this line stolen, too!

Bats yes...brains, hmmmmmm.... :D

I use one of two stock responses to "I'm just talking to ...., not you", depending on the level of the game.

If a youth game, I have been known to tell the coach that his explanation meant that I was equally permitted to talk to my partner within the hearing of his parents, and that I was considering telling my partner that I heard he had been having an affair with one of the mothers on his team, and that we should see if we could pick out which one by looking at which player he treated better than the others. For good measure, I might wonder if the stories about the child being included were true.

In a more adult setting, I have been known to say that meant that I could verbalize to my partner what I thought about him and his team, as long as I wasn't talking to him directly, and that would certainly be okay with him, I was sure.

In all cases, I make sure they understand that they were accountable for anything said loud enough to be heard; in a way that absolutely gets their attention.

*on my knees bowing* :D

I agree. Personally...I would've dumped this coach.

brown-noser :eek:

Yes, brown from the kissing the mud :D

Yeah, I could have dumped him. I didnt want to start off the season with having to explain an ejection plus I'm trying to work on that for a few years now. I'm in A - coach in the dugout and suddenly hes gone? I already know the look I would get trying to explain it, hell I kind of got it just explaining away the coaches lie that he was talking about his own wife when I got ticked. He didnt pull any more crap the rest of the game. My partner was aware he was gone if I heard anymore from him and there would have been no hesitation or 2nd warning. I think if he had breathed the wrong way my partner would have tossed him. His ice was very thin from then on.

I'm gonna bring it up at the board meeting that we need to make sure our umpires, especially our new ones, are not taking abuse from this organization. Several of the coaches (btw a few of the coaches some of you know because they post on ezteamz and heybucket but not this one as far as I know) can be a little on the rough side and we need to make sure that the support is there when these coaches are handled.

This is a problem I have with what is going on in Minnesota. Almost ALL of our games are one umpire. When we put a 'green' umpire on the field - by themself - who is going to be there to help them figure out when enough is enough or when and how to 'handle' coaches. Then, when the line has been crossed, how to deal with it and maintain control and composure.

It's not just ejections. IP's, OBS, INT, etc. Calls where they are going to get flack from someone that they don't make because it might be 'easier' to not make them.

It is a big problem here.

My association is discussing to put in a mentoring program next year. A mentor will have at least 5 years and board approved. The mentor will receive 1/3rd of the game fee. The mentor will evaluate and work with the new umpire for at least four games. The mentor will discuss items that need improvement during, in-between and after the final game.

My association has 20 new umpires. We have completed 5 weeks of ball. 4 new umpires have been asked never to come back to certain leagues due to attitude, game management, and skills.

I had a suggestion to start a mentoring program in our local association. It never really got past the association president, even though I did mention it to the UIC. How are you approaching the mentoring program?

If I live :eek:, I will own his home, wife (he can keep the children) and his cajones will be in a jar on the mantel over the fireplace :cool:

Ummm... Yeah, if that ever happens, and I'm ever in Delaware, I'm not eating at your house.

Where's the "vomit" smiley?

Another arrow in the quiver. I'm stealing it too. :cool:

Sometimes you have to remember you are an association. Yes, the President typically does a lot of work behind the Scenes, and should be thanked. However, sometimes they think their word is god and forget that the association has by-laws. Have the player rep (member-at-large) propose it to the group and vote on putting a program together.

Actually, when I meant our local association, I should have mentioned it was a corporation that runs the softball program for the city. The president is the owner of this corporation who has an advisory board, yadda yadda yadda. The umpires do have an advisory board that advises the main advisory board, yadda yadda yadda. You can see where I'm going with this.

It was just this year that our UIC's idea of having just 3 hours of clinic time for veterans with over 3 years of experience as opposed to the full 6 hours that we had been subjected to actually enacted, only because I had emailed the president myself. I went at it not from the perspective as an umpire, but as an educator, and lo and behold, my UIC was practically thanking as if I was the only one who could put the president over the hump on this.

Maybe I need to yak more with the UIC and the president, and get my nose a little brown, and just maybe, just maybe the mentoring thing will fly.

first off, i never really want too bait any coach, that said, i had the plate, high school game, we have R1, going on pitch, F2 throws the ball into center field. R1 thinks about third, F8 throws behind her, bang bang play. BU comes up with a very strong safe, he was in great position, saw it, called it. D coach goes running out, says his peace and heads back to the dugout. i put the ball back in play and this guy keeps going on and on about that play, now i KNOW he is talking too his ***. coach and i also KNOW he wants me too hear it, comes back with the i can talk to my ***. coach however i want. i tell him enough, he mumbles some more, now i warn him, he stops. now the fun part, after the inning i call my partner over, stand on the first base line and in front of his dugout. i tell BU he was in great position, good call, then say, you believe this guy, from 120 feet he can see that play better than you. here he comes, he's ranting about me talking about him, i looked straight at him, said, coach just talking too my partner here, he stops, thinks for a moment, says point made, went quietly back in his hole, and yes, i would have dumped him.

steve

"i tell him enough, he mumbles some more, now i warn him"
To me it sounds like you warned him twice.

Gone. I can't imagine anyone not finding this completely inappropriate and if they didn't, I wouldn't want to work for them.

I agree warn em.. they WILL mumble a final thing, let them have the last word and usually it will stop. You dont need to have the last word, you are the last word.

Agree, which is why I don't give "one more word..." ultimatums. (or is it ultimata? :))

yeah... y'all taught me early... no "one more word" bullchit.

the problem was that the original call was not mine, i did'nt want it too look like my partner needed defending, i knew he could'nt hear him so i needed him to address me, that's why i used the "baiting" word. the first enough was for my partner, still had my mask on, just turned my head and said "that's enough". now once he responded too me, i had him "hooked", it was now up to him what happens next, he NEW he was about to leave, he stopped. like i said, this is the only time i thought someone could say i was baiting a coach, i was curious about what others thought though, i did make the point i was trying to make, and he did figure it out.

steve

its all good... was just picking nits. :)

Obviously, I wasn't there, but I think coach was way out of line with the "wives" comment and would of tossed him. He obviously said it, for you to hear and show you up in front of the crowd. I honestly don't think we pull the trigger quick enough on ejections. I think sooner, quicker ejections is better and results in controlling the game, before it gets out of control. With that said, I have only ejected a small handful of coaches over the past 15+years.