Mandatory slide crap

[bkbjones]

Originally Posted by wadeintothem

I actually had a coach THANK ME in the past few weeks for NOT going into all the "call time out, and we'll talk" bs. I just get it over with short and sweet.. intros ground rules time limit/ spec tourney rules which need to be addressed, you call it.. were off. No monologues or old hat boring BS. If they dont know .. thats their problem. They are still accountable. Talking about it pregame does not increase their responsibility or suddenly make them responsible.

Hear! Hear! For most of our invitationals I don't even go into that much. They are all given a copy of the time limits and run rules. Your lineup coach, that the way you want them, that's official x2; ground rules; hustle on and off and have fun. Does anyone want to be visitors? If not, we flip a coin ONCE (and the winner better choose heads, since no one wanted to be visitors). If NFHS will ask coaches if players are legally equipped. I will ask the coaches if they have any questions, but usually won't ask my partner if he has anything else to add unless I know my partner will answer, "No," with a smile.

Anything else is a freakin waste of time. We have one of the great time wasters up here who talks for 3 minutes about how it is his field and his game and he WILL be respected and this and that. His field -- and by God it is HIS field, just ask him -- is always last to finish each round.

I learned a long time ago that reminding the coaches to get time out and come talk doesn't work...they'll go to the other umpire first half the time. "if we need to get together, we will" is, in my opinion, the first step toward a cop out -- besides, we usually don't say "if it's a judgment call we will not be getting together most of the time."

And now...this post has gone about four times longer than most of my pregames...