Umpire rule knowledge is down this year

[Skahtboi]

Originally Posted by vcblue

Sorry guys but Steve is right. I know we are a team on the field and that we support each other and discuss the play after the game to improve ourself and our partners. I just believe we should have a thorough knowledge of the rule when we walk onto the field, and the current method (IMHO) does not provide new umpires the same benefits that were provided to me when I started umpiring ASA. I already had 9 years of umpiring experience before I took a nine year break. when I came back 9 years ago ASA was/is the rule set all local Rec leagues were/are using. The first two years the test was closed book. I missed 20 questions. Then I had to take my test find the right answers and quote the rule. This is what got me in the book. Fast forward to this year... 30 Umpires meet a Denny's. 15 were new and most of them wrote in the answers as they were given.

Time to go bake to closed book test.

Sorry Ron, but I will have take exception to this as well. I have held one of those meetings where everyone gets together to discuss the test for years, and one of my requirements when I send out the email is to bring a completed test with you when you attend. The point is for several of us to get together to discuss, argue and dissect the rules/questions that cause the most problems. Ergo, we all walk away from this meeting with a better understanding of the rules, and hopefully as better umpires. Just like any other tool, open book testing and meetings to discuss the tests can be abused, but when used properly help many of us learn and grow. Largely, this falls first to the individual, to have the integrity to want to grow as an umpire, and next to the administrator of the test or the chair of the meeting. There will always be cheats, and whether you allow open book testing or not is not going to get rid of them.