I umpired softball back in school for a while, and I loved the sense that I was bringing order and structure. If you’ve ever kept a scorecard while watching a game, it’s the same sort of enjoyment, except that you are the scorecard.
I just started umpiring little league (mostly because we are desperately short of umpires) and frankly I don’t see the animosity towards the umpire you are talking about.
I am not a great umpire, my background in umpiring is the weekend umpiring boot camp they give you when you start. I have blown calls (for example I had no idea what a neighborhood play was before I called a player safe at second base and the coach from the running team came to me and said that he thought it was a neighborhood play). Parents are in the stands, not on the sidelines so you hear a lot of “WHAT!!?!?!” “OMG” “REEEAAALLLY?” but no cursing or shouting or yelling. Coaches want to set good example so they are never abusive to me and it is frequently the coach from the team that stands to lose if my call is reversed that convinces me to reverse my call.
I think umpiring baseball might be different than soccer, football or basketball. Or maybe everyone just feels sorry for me.
My son has been a little league umpire for the last two years. He’s too old for little league baseball, isn’t a good enough player to play in higher-level leagues where they don’t have “everybody participates” rules, but loves the game and is thrilled to be involved with it in some form. And he gets paid, to boot.
Interesting - never heard of an n.p. till now. (shows what I know about the game)
So - really? Never any exciting Bautista/Odor action going on, then?
Especially the part I bolded - I’m having one of those reading-this-over-way-too-many-times-now-to-get-it moments, which happen, like, oh, with just about sentence I read.
I officiate high school football.
(Well, I did for a few years before I had to quit. Fucking cancer sucks. I’m going to try to get back in this coming season.)
Anyway…
My father was a football ref, my wife was a basketball ref. Yes, the sense of fair play is strong among all of us. There’s also the sense of being in charge. Not like a power trip, more like being a game show host.
The part that really hooked me is the mental muscles being fully engaged. It’s hard to describe. Watching the game while looking for penalties and to spot the ball and all the things we have to keep track of engages some major visual perception areas. It’s like playing Tetris or sudoku while running around while counting to 11 very quickly and counting to 4 very slowly.
I personally have a need to be really damn good at my job, and officiating is really hard to do well. I like that challenge.
The exercise is good for me, too.
Edit: Oh, and getting yelled at is actually kinda fun.
But did you spot the gorilla walking across the play area?
I keep seeing the title of this thread, and I imagine a conversation between an NFL player and his son and the son admitting this as if he’s gay…
Son: Dad…I just want to let you know. I’m a ref. And I’ve been a ref for a couple years now
Dad: A ref? A REF? No son of mine is going to be a ref! Who did this to you? Was it Dwyane? I knew I shouldn’t have let you be friends with him! His parents don’t even sit midfield!
Son: I’m still me! I still love football! I just love it different than you!
Dad: I have no son!!!
When I was a teenager I umpired kids baseball. I did it because I could make money at the baseball diamond. What’s not to like? Oh sure, there would from time to time be an unruly parent whose kid isn’t getting the calls. Or maybe a coach who disagrees about something. But I think when you’re a kid most folks maybe take it easy on you.
As an adult, I played amateur baseball for a handful of years, which is guys who mostly topped out at college ball with a few former pros mixed in. It was a lot of fun, but I felt for the umpires. One said it was by far the worst league to umpire because “you all think every game is the goddam world series and the pay is shit.”
I think that, for some people, there’s just something pleasing about enforcing rules. I would not have ever expected a ref to enjoy the games like a spectator, for the same reason spectators don’t catch all rule violations. Enjoyment of something other than what you are currently doing will mean you’ll be distracted.
For my son’s youth soccer team, there was a rule that all the dads were required to do a turn at some point (moms weren’t, even though several of them were far better soccer players than any of the guys). For the matches that would actually count toward tournament qualifications and such, all the judging was done by the guys who’d gotten certified (of whom there were surprisingly many), while the rest of us would step in as linesmen for friendly matches.
This went a long way toward defusing any hostility, since (a) you knew the people making the calls, (b) you had a better appreciation of what went into the job, and © you knew you’d be on the field yourself sooner or later.
This reminds me of a 1950s movie about a man so obsessed with baseball that it was ruining his life. His job, his marriage, everything was in danger because he could not stop himself from ducking out all the time and going to the ballpark. His wife one day said she had the perfect solution to the problem, one that would allow her husband to go watch the games all day, every day with impunity. He thought oh boy, that’s great. How to do that? She said he could go to umpire school and become an ump. This shattered him, because he hated umpires with a passion. But he loved his wife, so he went along with her suggestion, although he tried his best to flunk out of umpire school. Along the way, he learned valuable life lessons on the importance of umpires.
Anyone remember this film?
Sound like this one, Sam: Kill the Umpire - Wikipedia
And that’s the one. Thank you. I haven’t seen it in years but remember it’s very good.
I’m a soccer ref and have done everything up through U19 games. When you are into the flow of the game and you have a good report with the players, there is no better feeling. You have a front row seat to a great game and, hopefully, everyone is having fun. Even if they don’t agree with every call and even if there are some yells coming from various places, it doesn’t matter.
Last year I was refing a U10 match and it started to rain. As the rain started coming down I raised my hands and declared, “Woo hoo! It’s raining!” Many of the players cheered. It was fun. You can’t really have that kind of interaction with the kids, in the middle of play, as a coach or spectator.
For me, it is enjoyment of watching the game from the best vantage point available and being able to talk to the players 1:1 and be able to say, “Wow… that was an awesome pass” or “That was a brilliant header” or “Just a bit unlucky there” instead of being one of dozens of screaming voices from the periphery of the field.
I’ve been an umpire for everything from 10&U to NCAA D1 in addition to MSBL, Men’s Fast Pitch, Men’s Modified Pitch; you get the idea.
For the most part I found it to be an enjoyable way to spend a day out in the sun near a game that you love. I’ve also spent a lot of hours training umpires. A lot of it comes down to game control. The reality is you build up a reputation; especially in youth sports. If a team knows you, and knows you generally umpire a fair game; and are consistent; then you won’t catch too much grief when a call doesn’t go a team’s way. On the other hand sometimes you’re just out there getting handed one bag of shit after another. 
One thing I’ve always taught new umpires is that the amount of shit you get on the field from parents is in inverse proportion to the age of the child. You could have the best umpire in the world out on a 10 & Under game and you’re going to catch a ton of shit. A lot of the crap you can blow off because you either know you’re right in your judgement or you know they’re just spouting stupid rules that don’t exist. i.e. “The hands are part of the bat,” is just one of stupid things you hear.
It was very fulfilling for many years; however the behavior of idiot coaches is ultimately what made me step down. The favored team lost the night before in grand fashion. They were up 7-0 in the last inning; and ended up losing the game when the wheels fell off the bus. Of course it was the umpires’ fault. I wasn’t there for that game. It was a double elimination bracket, and I had them the next night and was behind the plate. I got to witness the same thing happen again. Near the end of the game the team just fell apart. By the end of the game I got so tired of biting my tongue, I just decided I was done with the bullshit. Of course I brought a fresh load of shit on myself when the coach yelled at me “You need to focus! Or Else!” and I snapped back “Or Else, What?” He immediately said I couldn’t talk to him like that, and the ever-popular “I want your supervisor’s name!” I especially love that one because the officiating organization is owned by me and a partner. So I give my business partner’s name; but I handle all umpire complaints for our association anyway; so there’s that. I still own half of the company but I haven’t called a single pitch in 3 years.
Maybe that a-hole coach isn’t around anymore and you can get back into it again because it certainly sounded like you enjoyed it.
Sounds like a good set-up.
I did enjoy it, but I don’t anymore. Everytime I even think about it I feel nothing but relief that it’s all behind me. :rolleyes: