Sure, you can be a dedicated parent with a kid playing and still umpire.
In the context of coach saying, "I used to umpire"...
It is hard to coach a team and also have time for umpiring. :cool:

Standard defensive FP parent response. Where did I suggest anyone not watch their kids play? I love it when people respond to something that was never offered.

See, my point exactly. You can still keep your hand in the officiating side of the game and that means you still are an umpire.

However, to get back to my original statement, I'll stand by the reasons why people who try to justify their rationale by declaring their previous endeavor have left the vocation.

An umpire who coaches and knows what it is like to be an umpire wouldn't make such a declaration.

My $.02 since we got off on this "I used to Umpire" tangent.

It seems to me that when I have gotten this comment it is from someone who maybe did "used to umpire" but never really reached the stage where he actually was an umpire.

What I mean by that is, if I ever found myself in a coaching position and was going out to discuss something with an umpire, although I certainly would use my knowledge of the rules in the discussion, I would have no need to announce my former experience. Maybe I "used to umpire" or even was still an umpire, but because of that, I certainly am aware that at this moment in time, I am NOT an umpire.

A guy who has to announce that he was an umpire is telling me he still has a lot to learn about the game.....

I agree with that. I love in the 5th inning how a coach can tell me which footprint on the field was his players. I want to go hunting with this guy for his tracking skills alone.

Is that like the batter in SP pointing to one of a hundred "dots" on the ground where that last called strike landed? :rolleyes: :D

I love it when people say I'm being defensive when I'm not. :D

Coach: "Well, I used to be an umpire..."

Umpire: "But today you're NOT!"

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Coach: "Well, I used to be an umpire..."

Umpire: "And when you were, how did you handle it when a coach came out to complain about something that had no basis in the rules?"

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I've used them both before. :D

I almost always try to throw into the reply to these jackwagons... "Since you used to umpire, then you know what umpires think about coaches who say they "used to umpire."