If you want to do some little league this summer, let me know. A little more laid back than HS.
Softball is much easier than baseball as well. I can do games solo for 10 year olds and be done in 70 minutes.
Friday OT #1 - Stacks On Stacks
- Thread starter Angie
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If you want to do some little league this summer, let me know. A little more laid back than HS.
Softball is much easier than baseball as well. I can do games solo for 10 year olds and be done in 70 minutes.
The explaining is huge. The worst officials I've ever encountered just call something and when you ask why, they ignore you or just say that is the call. I'm saying this from a coach side. Best to not interact with the crowd period.
Best are always ones that take control, are confident no matter what with their call, and then explain when there might be a question.
There's a balance to it. If you try to explain too much, they just argue more sometimes. Worse with baseball and arguing balls and strikes. Of course the pitch looks great to you from the dugout, but it was 4 inches off the plate.
There have been times with young teams and bad pitchers that I've told both coaches, if they can hit it, they should swing at it, because we aren't walking everyone today.
I'm at a point where I only umpire at a few places and I've been there long enough that they know me, and most of the parents usually say how glad they are that they have me doing their games instead of some other guy. My reputation usually precedes me even in tournaments and I don't get a lot of flack.
I've thought about doing this so many times and this is always what holds me back. Why spend your summer evenings getting yelled at by some lady with the 'Kate Gosselin hair do' because her son can't throw strikes but she thinks he's the next Nolan Ryan.
I'm with you. This will be year, I think, 13 for me. I know I'm at a point where I handle situations pretty well, the problem at the high school level for me has become parents that are nowhere near the plate that want to yell and scream about balls and strikes and coaches and administrators that allow it to happen.
I've done more and more slow pitch the last couple years because I can make about the same money with far less complaining and more consistent scheduling. I'm also kind of sick of getting crappy postseason assignments as I watch older guys that I KNOW that I'm better than getting regional finals and the state tournament when I'm lucky if I get a 2A semifinal most years.
I know that in Northeast Iowa, we're going to lose lots of HS softball and baseball this summer because there just aren't enough umpires. Young guys are quitting after a year or two. The crisis in baseball/softball and basketball is totally legit.
I'm one of those young guys. I did it throughout college and then a little bit last year when I could. This summer I could maybe make it work with my job but with coaching tennis now, it's probably a little too much time off. I feel bad cause baseball was my favorite sport in high school and I'd hate to see the decline cause of not enough umpires. I wonder what the state is going to do to fix it
How come nobody admits they’re a ****** ump? I’d have mad respect if you actually posted that you’re in year 9 and you don’t really pay close attention but make calls based on if you like the player or not.
I guess still being involved in my parent's cattle operation counts even though I make little income off it most years. The nice part though is I can write off mileage when I go home and certain expenses on my taxes that can be considered a farm expense since I have to report any income I get from the cattle I still own. I kind of get the best of both worlds that I don't have to do all the day to day stuff there but still go home to help with things that require extra help so I still get my "farming kick" in that way without having to do daily chores and maintenance things I'd have to deal with if I was doing that full time.
This is not my thing, it's PapaLew's. He picks up stuff from the side of the road, or dumpster diving, or at the semester end piles around Ames. He refurbishes, or simply cleans, and then sells them at the 141 Garage Sale every August. It gives him stuff to tinker with, then he hauls it down to Woodward, and makes a fair amount on the stuff while spending time with his mom & sisters who live there and provide a place for his display.
Agreed, I was more thinking along the lines of youth sports that you mentioned you typically officiate. Strike zone is the strike zone and is hard to tell from the dugout. To me baseball and softball are a little less questionable. Get into wrestling when you have a lot of official subjectiveness involved and your head can spin.
I have a couple kids in HS and for my daughter who plays basketball, I've gotten to the point where I almost prefer to sit in the opposing crowd. There is one family that has no idea what the rules of basketball are but yell things non stop. I got dirty looks from them a couple games ago when my frustration with their bellyaching boiled over. They started complaining about a foul called on a blocked shot. I responded to my friend next to me loud enough for the whole crew to hear that it was an obvious foul because I could hear the slap all the way up here where I'm sitting. It quieted down after that for about two minutes.
I'm the world's smallest bookie. I have one client. Make around $1k a year, have had one losing year in eight. It's good entertainment.
I used to design them in a previous lifetime. Kinda out of date with the new materials and not sure I'd do it anymore. Would help a friend build one, do still like doing that, but not design for money anymore. Don't need the liability worries.
Used to carpenter for an architect friend on his home project. And by carpenter I mean everything imaginable on residential from sheet rocking to framing to decks to block work to neoprene flat roofs. I think the only thing I never did on a house was shingle. Just kept track of hours which I used later to barter for design of my house addition.
I like to think I'm not ******, but I have bad days too. Some days I'm just not seeing the strike zone well and I make bad calls that throw off the whole game. Luckily I'm usually on one of my "home fields" and I don't catch too much crap.
Here are some bad umpire stories for ya though. I've gone into tournaments with guys who've said with a straight face, "I'm going to throw at least one coach out today". For 10U softball, and they are serious, and they did it. They went into the day basically wanting to pick a fight. The first coach that argued a call they went off on, the coach clapped back, and they ran em. The parents in the stands were just, "What the **** just happened?"
I've also worked with guys who were just plain bad. I'd be in the field and I know they were blowing half the strike calls. I just kept my mouth shut, even when coaches were asking me what heck was that guy on.
Plain bad sucks to deal with. Officiating with people you've never officiated with sucks as well. I could tell a buddy that he blew a call and it wasn't a big deal. If you tell a stranger they blew it they get all pissed off.
I officiated on the side in college and right out of college but haven't for a few years. Basketball especially was an easy way to get a little exercise and not have to work very hard for good money. Slow pitch is like stealing money, especially if the teams are bringing booze out to you.
It was the best side hustle in college. I worked with my dad a lot back then. We'd do weekend tournaments and do a ton of games. Then my dad would give me his share of the weekend as well and ask me not to spend it all on beer.
I did soccer reffing a little in HS (club games) and enjoyed it other than the assignor being a ****. I have debated getting back into either soccer or basketball/football. My hold ups are being young with a young family and reluctant to dedicate a too much time to it (part of it may be from a bad experience from the soccer assignor who would get mad when you wanted to drop a game that he assigned two months ago because you had something come up) and the game times. I really hate to see any youth sport have to cancel games because they can't find refs but come on guys we have lives/families too and full time jobs. I can't/am not interested in leaving work early 2-3 days a week to go do middle school games that you insist on starting at 3:30 or whatever.
Booster club tournaments were AWESOME. $40-50 per game and you could basically stand on the baseline while your partner stood on the opposite baseline because the courts are short for 10-12 games. $500 that day just to stand around. When they came around towards the end and asked who was willing to stay to ref the semis and finals your feet screamed absolutely not but the wallet said what the hell.
My brother gets a NFL Confidence pool going every year. $102.00 investment for the whole 17 game regular season. $4.00/wk went for weekly payouts and the other $2.00/wk were for season end winners. We were invited to one in the beginning, and I came up with a system. That year we took 1st and 2nd for the season and made a great return on our investment. Every year since we've placed in the top 5 payoff spots for the season and have always at least gotten our money back.
