I have not had a lot of opportunities to call this Fall because:

Weather, kids activities, work, S@#cer, have limited my umpiring opportunities this Fall............

So........I get a nice tournament assignment for the weekend..........and its raining this evening........sigh

I even get the rare chance <i>(40's & 50's down into the high 30's on Sunday)</i> to pull out my cool weather gear that I may get to wear only 20-30 games per year...............

I hope the rain is not too bad..........but I do see some lightning flashes over the Gulf..............NOT a good sign........

Say a prayer for me...............hoping to get some games in this weekend....................:D

Joel

I may mention you in my prayers, but not for good weather. It is NOVEMBER! This is not the time of year to be playing softball.

Mike..........

We usually don't get into the 50's until this time of year............if ever............

40's in November is rare..........much less the 30's.............

I will agree that kids sports have gone overboard on the seasons.................

Sports Doctors agree that year round sports can cause chronic problems.................

Kids switching from Soccer, to Basketball, to Swimming, to Softball, to Track...........are usually OK...............the major muscle groups exercised are different enough to NOT cause overuse injuries............

BUT........there has been a trend in the last 10 years or so for parents to push their children into a sport that they are most talented in..........and keep them playing year round..............

I have NOT allowed any of mine to play any sport NON-STOP.........there has to be some rest/off time.........

Moving from one sport to another seems to be okay according to the Sports Doctors............but sticking to one sport only is not................

Joel

Joel,

The rain only lasted a short time here in East Texas, so you
should make this one. Good Luck. I have one next week-end,
then again on Dec. 7 & 8 and 14 & 15, then nothing until the
11-12 January. Feb. starts NFHS.

glen

The rain held off and we had a beautiful Saturday.............

Probably low 50's in the a.m. (maybe upper 40's).........



Girls 14U tourney.............

We did have 6 (yes 6) obstruction calls in four games...................I maybe had 6 in all of the games I umpired last year.............

In one of them...........line drive hit to the outfield...........R1 from first comes barreling into 2nd to not only find F4 camped on the bag..........<b>but F6 too</b>.........she put her hands up in a defensive postition while trying to round 2nd.............smallish F4 gets knocked to the ground and there is a close play at third with R1 sliding in safely.................

Defensive coach wants something.............<i>anything</i> for his girl getting knocked down............shheeeeesssshhhhhhhhh

RH Batter gets beaned on the back of the hand while trying to spin away from an inside curve from a lefty pitcher...........I give her first and I have two defensive coaches wanting to inform me that the hands are part of the bat..................shhheeeeshhhhhhhhh #2

I tell partner between half innings that I have only had 2 or 3 swinging HBP in my career............

Next half inning...............Batter swings at an inside pitch that clearly hits her on the back of the hand.........for strike three................talk about coincidence.

Overall...............a wonderful softball weekend................EXCEPT..............

I offered to take the first two plate games and have my partner take the next 2.............BUT.........as luck would have it........she locked her keys/gear/etc. in her car before our last two games.............Sooooooooooo........I did 4 plates in a row..........

Good thing it was nice and cool............grin

But......my hammies are a bit sore.............

Joel

Hey Joel,

What do you say to the crowd if you split your pants up the back in the middle of a game and you don't have a spare pair handy?

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Ready?

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You say, "Sorry folks, but you're going to have to watch the <b>moon http://216.40.249.192/mysmilies/contrib/tweetz/moon.gif over my hammies</b> for the rest of the game."

http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/mica/joker.gif


I know. I know. Sorry, I'll go away now.
http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/aircraft/PlaneF14.gif

SamC

Sam,

After that, you're lucky one of those jets don't crash and burn.

OH PULEEEZE - I just went a day-and-a-half without power (courtesy of a small, but potent ice storm). I know people that still don't have any power. And you're bummed because of a little rain???? :D

Sigh. I wonder if Little League has posted the dates for their rules clinics yet.

-Kono