"DON'T BLAME THE BLUE"
By Mick Stokes
In reading John Dermody’s article on amateur baseball, he so kindly took time to get his two-cents worth in on the umpires. Well, here is my take.
As someone who played on an amateur team for 10 years and have umpired in the Hi-10 and Regional tournaments for a few years, I want to ask you one question. Why would anyone want to ump amateur baseball?
I love the game, and recently umped a doubleheader between NYM and the Shockers. Even though it was a hot, muggy day, I left feeling good about umping amateur baseball again. Both teams were good to work for and carried themselves well.
This has not always been the case.
More times then not when I have umped an amateur game you have to deal with players that think they are Major League caliber and treat the umps as dirt. Too many times have I endured games that was nothing but constant complaining from both sides. Not to say that calls don’t get missed, as they do, but move on with it already. I have seen this from players that I played with as well as now umping.
So why should I give up 4-6 hours of my day, depending on travel, to get yelled at for $50. Hell, we make more doing a 7 inning high school game then we do a 9 inning amateur game!!! Most of us do it as we love the game and enjoy it, but some of the attitudes have taken the fun out of the game for some of us wearing the Blue.
I do games every year, and I like to think that I am a pretty good umpire. I miss calls and deserve to hear about them. But how about letting the Umps yell at the players when they boot a ball or make a bonehead play? Doesn’t work that way does it!
I will continue to work games as I enjoy being around the game and when you work well played games that everyone does their job it is a great rewarding experience. Sad to say that this happens far to infrequently.
Let the umps know if you disagree, but don’t go overboard. When the play is over, it is over. Don’t carry your argument with you as it will only lead to problems. Enjoy the fact that we are all involved in this wonderful game and respect everyone. Your teammates, your opponents, the umps and the fans. A lot of young kids who are the future are watching.
Mick Stokes
Umpire
November 8, 2006:
SportsCow.com received the following email from Wayne Petermeier, the head coach of the Browerville high school football team. The email arrived shortly after the Tigers lost in the Section 6A championship game to New York Mills. Even though it was mainly directed at fans of the Tigers, it was so well written and raised so many good points for other teams and communities to consider, that I wanted to share it with you.
Kyle Gylsen
SportsCow.com
The Browerville Tigers season came to an end on Thursday. It was a very good high school football game from both team's standards. It had all the emotions from the highs and lows that go with high school sports and high school athletes. There was a winner and a loser. There were good plays and bad plays. There were good plays called by the coaching staff and bad plays called by the coaching staff. There were good defensive plays and some "not so good" defensive plays. There were passes caught and some passes that just missed. It's a game of inches or in this case a game of about a quarter inch.
There were so many turning points in the game that I have forgotten about half of them already. This brings me to points beyond the game itself.
If any person has been a part of athletics you will understand my feelings. You sometimes hear that when a school needs to cut things, sports is often thought of as a possibility. You often hear, "What good does sports do in the long run of life?" Well, if you happened to be at the Fargodome on Thursday, you may have a different feeling of the importance of team, togetherness and the working of a common goal.
Each and every young man on that field laid absolutely every ounce of energy (physically and mentally) on that field. To see these young men get up play after play totally exhausted made you wonder "why" or "how" they could do it. They trusted the person next to them that they were giving the best possible effort they could. Each and every person on that field never once backed down from adversity or the task at hand.
There's the question of "What does sports teach anyone anyway?"
With the high priced players we see on TV or players in the news about this bad thing or that bad thing happening everyday, we were able to see athletics at its purest and finest form. Kids playing a game because they just love being out there as a part of a team. Not very many, if any, of these kids will ever wear a uniform again. They were in it for all the right reasons. Those reasons are to each his own. They competed to their fullest ability and gave an effort play after play that we as a coaching staff and community can be proud of. A lot of life's lessons are taught on the playing field. How they handle them is what is learned. If this game was any indication of how these young men will turn out in the game of life, I think they proved on this day and this season just how their lives will turn out.
Yes, I know it's just a game. But its more than just a game to the athletes who put so much extra time and effort into something they are doing because they love to do it. I am proud to say I had the honor of coaching this group of young men. To each and every one of you "thanks" for a great season and thanks for keeping the tradition of Tiger football alive and well.
Coach Petermeier