bad mechanic advice from assignor
 

after typing this out, it turned out to be rather long, heres the cliffs notes version. i moved, started doing NSA (had done ASA), the assignor (who is also the HNIC) wants me to do some flat out bad mechanics, do i bring up the issue and risk pissing him off or say nothing and comply with his demands bc i need the $$ right now?

heres the deal, ive umped ASA (both SP and FP) for a few years and recently moved. in my new location, ASA only does FP and NSA does the SP leagues. one of the other ASA umps gives me a name to contact for NSA, this person turned out to be the assignor for the entire city.

i meet this guy, he gives me my uni and a copy of the local league rules, no NSA rulebook... im not sure if its bc i joined during the middle of the softball year (which runs feb-nov) but i did join at the start of a new session. rumor has it he normally only gets new umps at the start of the year.

on my 3rd night umping for NSA he shows up to evaluate. right away hes like why are you just saying ball (on the non strike pitches), you are to never say ball, only say inside, or outside.... and point with your left hand to the pitches location. next hes asked me why the f*ck i was in foul territory down the 3B line after the ball was hit. i said thats the ASA mechanic for that situation, he replies with something like this aint ASA and you are going to do things my way, you are to never be in foul territory.

now this last one is the one that really got me. its 1st and 2nd, a base hit to LF, i move to the left of the pitching rubber since there was no chance to get the runner scoring and IMO the most likely throw, given the runners, was to get the runner going 1st to 3rd. the throw ended up being cut off by the SS, i see this, and turn my head to make sure the runner touched home. after the inning the assignor essentially yelled at me for taking my eye off the ball. i told him i was making sure the runner touched... he said i dont care if the runner touches home or not, thats not where the ball is. i responded, ive seen runners miss home when theres no play, what if the other team appealed, do you really want me to tell them i wasnt watching home? he said yes, tell them you were watching the other runners, they will understand.

now heres my dilemma, i found an NSA ump mechanic pdf online, and of course the assignor is 100% wrong on the first 2 things ive shared, i didnt bother looking up the last one bc theres no way the ump manual is going to say dont watch the runners touch the bases. do i call up the city UIC, whom ive never met before, and hope he doesnt have the assignors back and i end up getting "black balled", do i say nothing and just do the games (i need the $$ a lot for the next 6 months), do i bring up the mechanic rule book to the assignor?

any advice would be appreciated

thanks

Two things....

1. NEVER..EVER say HNIC..it makes you look like a racist jackass.... I dont care WHAT color you are... it's unacceptable language.

2. Quit working for this guy....

3. SEE NUMBER 1....

Maybe he meant Hockey Night in Canada?

Actually, I had to think about it for a while. Damn, you're right. I totally missed it.

I agree with Mr. Darrell here. Not cool, jr. Not cool at all.

As for your assignor, well... Is there nowhere else you can call?

Even though I basically agree with both and also do not care about NSA, you seem to be stuck with " when in Rome, do ... ". :eek: Maybe a new emperor will ascend. :)

In one-ump, you will not see everything. And most players will recognize that with multiple runners.


[tease]Of course, if in foul ground holding, you can see the runner touch HP w/o turning around. ;) [/tease]

Isn't that every night?


Me too - still ?? Is that a southern thing? :confused:

It means "head [n-bomb] in charge." :eek:

Just when you think we're making progress in the world...

To be honest when I saw the letter "N" I thought of any of the following nouns that would have been appropriate:

1) numbskull

2) numb nuts (I guess that should have been a double N, but still my favorite, :D.)

3) nim com poop

4) nit wit

MTD, Sr.

thanks for all the replies

just to clarify, my only contact with anyone affiliated with NSA has been this assignor, i have no clue who the UIC is (its not the assignor) and would have to look it up. but my concern is, since the assignor appears to be such a bigwig, that the UIC will simply defer to the assignor and then ill be screwed.

what i think im going to do is send an anonymous email to the UIC simply asking whats the proper mechanic for calling balls and strikes just to see what he says, and then proceed accordingly

believe me, if there was another organization or assignor to work with, i would, but the fact of the matter is my recent move put me in the hole and i need the extra $200/week for the near future.

i believe cornel west first coined the phrase but it was also very prominent in the movie lean on me.

i used to live in NY and it was a common term used by everyone to describe if someone was the sole person in charge, as in someone has the 'its my way or the highway' approach to leadership.

Still wouldn't use that phrase if I were you. Just because you grew up in an area where the term wasn't applied towards blacks doesn't mean that it doesn't still disparage them.

Ever see Clerks 2? A particular scene with Wanda Sykes comes to mind.

HMFIC works for me.

You know what? Whatever you use it can be whatever you want and it really doesn't make a difference what you think it is because it is nothing by a waste of time and gray matter.

Get beyond the BS and stop worrying about something over which you have no control and move on with the thread.

BTW, Dave, when I was in boot camp there was a guy from your part of NC that clearly stated he couldn't wait to get home and get some cock. Guess how that was received by his fellow sailors?

"Why go all the way back to NC when there's plenty of it right here?" :D

Sorry... You did say they were sailors...

Yes, sir and you haven't seen more than 40 people take one step back in such a sychronized manner in you life.

Funny...

You know I'm just messin', Mike. :D

What a nightmare. Too bad that you are in a position where you "have to" umpire for this guy. I am registered with NSA, but I don't really have to be. One of their commissioners is a buddy of mine and he practically begs me to work a couple of tournaments for him each year. This year I worked two for him, both of which just happened to be on weekends where ASA didn't have anything going on.

NSA does publish an umpire manual and none of the stuff this guy is telling you is in there.

- Their manual instructs umpire to say only "Ball" or "Strike" when calling pitches. It specifically says NOT to point, gesture, comment on or embellish pitch locations with hand gestures.

- Their manual describes the plate umpire going toward third in foul territory, then cutting into the infield to make a call there, almost verbatim word-for-word the same as ASA describes it.

(And, if this (N)imrod told you a plate umpire should NEVER be in foul ground...where exactly does he think your starting position should be? In front of home plate?)

- There are many references in their manual to the plate umpire watching a runner touch the plate, including in the exact same scenario you described (runners starting on first and second).

If this guy was there to evaluate you, he should have been watching and saving his critiques and comments for a private conversation with you after the game. What's with interjecting himself and yelling at you during the game? Sounds like the guy is a real tool.

I can't even imagine what my response might be if an evaluator approached me during a game and asked me "why the "F" I was was doing something, or started yelling at me about my mechanics. Well, I can imagine...and it wouldn't be pretty!

If I was in your shoes, I'd have a big problem. I do not suffer fools gladly! I'm a pretty laid back and easy going guy...until somebody starts shoveling BS in my direction. And this guy shoveled a heap your way.

i should have clarified, he did say after the ball is hit i shouldnt be in foul territory.

before i did my first NSA game, i found the rulebook and manual online, and actually read it....

i talked to my ASA UIC yesterday and asked him about the NSA assignor and he basically shook his head and was like no one really like him. he also mentioned theres another ASA ump who works for NSA, (i believe that ump also does college games) and apparently he gets yelled at frequently by the NSA assignor.

and you are definitely right, the assignor is a real tool. he actually reminds me of peters father from the family guy, kinda looks like him too.

If his F-bomb was loud enough to be heard, I've just sent him to the parking lot. I don't care if he's the assignor, a spectator, a player or a coach. That's one of my lines you will not cross.

You need to make the decision --- and it sounds like you already have. Me? There's no way in F that I'd ever work for this nitwit AND I'd make whatever waves I needed to to make sure whoever he reports to knows what he's telling umpires to do.

However, you've made it quite clear that your current need for the dough outweighs the need to do what you know is right. So nut up, take the cash, and do as Romans do... and then the second you can get out from under, get the heck out of there.

No amount of money is worth selling one's dignity, IMO. It is people like this assignor that cause doubts to be cast upon the profession. I would not abet him in this.

There are many ways to get money, if one needs it so badly. Even in these tough economic times.

Generally I agree. But I've also been in his shoes and understand everyone's situation is unique. It's his call and I don't begrudge him that call - sometimes you HAVE to put your dignity and pride aside ... I just hope it's for as short a time period as possible.

The other option would be to continue to take assignments, and simply do what you KNOW is right until this assignor stops assigning games to you.

Well, how many times is that idiot going to be at your games? Hopefully, a small percentage.

For the ones that he is there, try to throw him a bone on one or two of his ideas, and if he hollers about the other ones, just blow it off and don't take it personal.

I am truly sorry you had this experience.
If you give me a little more information like where you are etc. I can probably help you out diplomatically.
Or send me an email. Would love to be involved.