People who "harrass" umpires are ignorant, fools, or just too emotional to control themselves because of personal relationships
with players or teams.
However, that being said, In my opinion the best umpires are those
who do their job(yes it IS a job) and walk off the field and NO ONE remembers them. And I've been around plenty like that. Problems arise when the umpire thinks he is bigger than the game and goes to the extreme to show it. Sort of like Leslie Nielson in "Naked Gun". Umpires are there to call and control the game according to the rules that have been established for that particular league. Nothing more, nothing less.
I agree that no one is perfect, not coaches ,not players, not fans
and not umpires. But amateur players are not being paid--an umpire
IS and is therefore a PROFESSIONAL. To hold a highschool player to the same standards as an umpire who has been through years of training and experience is comparing apples to oranges. No one expects an umpire to be perfect on every call(it's impossible) but
why can't an umpire change his call when he realizes he's made a mistake? They do it in basketball and football. Is it tradition?
Ego? Unwritten law?
I have both coached and umpired and it is a lot harder to umpire a
game than coach one and I have the utmost respect for the profession so my opinions are coming from experience although I am
in no way as qualified as the umpires who frequent this site.
Please don't take this as being controversial it just may be a point of view not previously considered.
Moc1