Pet Peeves..........

[Dakota]

Originally Posted by BlitzkriegBob

You must be watching some NSA tournaments around here. I admit that I enjoy working them, but these are some of the exact same things that kinda tick me off while I'm working them. I do most of them, following the "when in Rome" concept, but I drop them as soon as I'm working something else.

1) NSA plate conferences require attendance by the coaches and the entire teams, since we are to check for uniform compliance by both teams. If either team is not in compliance, then the opposing team gets their choice of home or visitor, rather than doing a double coin flip. Since they are there, we are to remind them that shirts are to be tucked in all the way around, yada yada yada.

2) Yeah, uniform inspections are done, though this is one that I conveniently forget to check during the game. On a few occasions I have had a BU who has called time and run up to remind a batter that her shirt needs to be tucked, since I was negligent in doing so. We don't have to worry about jewelry any more, since NSA discourages wearing it, but does not prohibit it. The passing along of game information to a new pitcher in mid inning I do, but it feels stupid while I'm doing it. Even most of the high school umpires around here do it also, but I don't do it in a high school game. Finally, yes when we call an IP, we are supposed to call a coach from the violating team out to the circle so we can explain what the violation was. I keep mine brief, but a lot of my partners have done the whole pitching clinic thing. This is another one that some of the high school umpires do, but again I don't do this outside of NSA.....

Wow! NSA actually requires the teams to line up for inspection? I can't imagine going through that rigmarole! I hope that whole Mickey Mouse process doesn't migrate my way...