BlueRanger

I don't even know where to start with this. This is the epitome of everything wrong with HS Associations. You have people like this dude who think they're God's gift to baseball with the "I haven't worn a pullover in 10 years and you're a loser if you do" attitude. Then these tools work with new guys and run them out of town with the overbearing "my way or beat it" crap to make sure nobody touches their precious varsity schedules. So, descend from your throne oh wise one and maybe you'll see that we need new umpires focused on the game in inclement weather, not figuring out how they're going to get their money back because you're the fifth guy in a row they've worked with who's more worried about gates being shut and doing a TSA inspection for jewelry, than making an effort to work with them on areas of weakness and protect them from the jackals.

@grayhawk's videos are great quality plays to analyze Strong Beach has some of the best umpiring content I've ever seen anywhere. Period. That was almost a spiritual experience seeing things so well and succinctly explained. I hope my videos can hold a candle to that!

You gonna drop the link or keep me hangin'?

Even if you get to a season, watch how many games get canned cuz of Papa COVID. I may not do HS ball this year, since dues are stupidly expensive enough as it is...

(To avoid derailing @BT_Blue's topic) I am in the process of creating an umpire-focused youtube channel and am soliciting content and format suggestions. My primary areas of concern at the moment are: - Audience - should this be focused on a specific set of umpires, like those new to umpiring, or go for a generalist approach? - Length - how long of a video would you actually watch? I'm not intending to go past 15min under normal circumstances - Content Areas - I'm thinking focusing on New To Umpiring, Frequently Made Mistakes, and some gear reviews to start out. Any suggestions are welcomed and requested!

Umpire Youtube is largely a desolate wasteland of "HURR DURR BAD UMPIRE RUINED JOHNNYS FUTURE MUST SEE!!!", beaten-to-death clips we've all seen a bazillion times, and a couple actually good videos. The TSE, UEFL, and UTU channels are by far the best. It's also important to note that most of the places you could actually get the combination of resources and quality instruction from will never EVER put it out there for free and will make you throw down your money to come their camps and clinics and whatnot.

I primarily work my one true love: baseball, but I do some basketball for the HS chapter (mainly MS and a bit of sub-varsity) during the winters. I took this season off and am glad I did since I would have lost money with all the cancelled games around here.

Sold last week

https://www.smitteez.com/index.php/categories/monthly-sale-items - $15 Adams shirts - some discounted jacket sizes

https://stripesplus.com/ BOGO 40% off on Smitty, Cliff Keen, and Adams shirts, pants, and jackets and all protective gear. They also have a decent amount of the NB v2 base shoes still in stock at about $65

https://purchaseofficials.com/collections/sale-clearance/products/3n2-reaction-low-umpire-plate-shoe PO really doesn't have much outside of 3n2 plate shoes for $60 in a few common sizes

https://www.ump-attire.com/Black-Friday-Specials/?page=1&perpage=36&cat=0&orderby=price desc&brand=&search= Notable Deals: - $30 Smitty Poly-wools - $25 UL bag set - $35 Majestic Blue shirt - $125 WV Gold CP - $50 Champro Aluminum mask

Stop posting random video clips that everyone and their mother has seen a dozen times with the same ridiculous "tHOuGhTs????" caption. It annoys me as much as people who boast about "not doing it for the money" and then look like total clowns on the field. Before you post a video from YT that has well over hundreds of thousands of views or from FB where the amount of shares is in the thousands, see if its already been posted to every single umpire FB page in the known universe to be beaten to death at least 5 times. It's the officiating equivalent of seeing your grandma posting copy-pasta about the time everyone clapped when a guy punched a clown in a mall and a college kid having an epiphany in a Walmart when you explain communism using white chocolate. Bonus points if it's something where the answer is so obvious you'd have to have literally had a lobotomy to not see an issue. In all seriousness, I enjoy the fact that legit officiating discourse occurs here and that there are serious posts and serious responses. Keep it up folks Edit - This is in no way directed at anyone here, since I just noticed the last post here is a video clip I hadn't actually seen before

- ignore -

I could write a six paragraph rant about how much I despise the ridiculous whining about people only umpiring for money. GTFOH with that garbage. Nobody should care why someone is out there as long as they're making an effort to do it right. The common theme I've seen among those who refuse to shut up about how "they're only here for the kids" and talk poorly about other officials who they think "only do it for the money," is they absolutely suck and think they're Gods gift to baseball. Prove me wrong. You can't.

F3 better be coming out with something mind-blowing, because there is no way a v2 is worth $200. I can get a MAG for another $25 and not have to worry about breaks/bends or the brackets busting my face open. I'm not an F3 hater, but this really rubs me the wrong way without any obvious mitigating factors.

Mags are pending already, if deal falls through you're up next

--- All items sold ---

I have many complaints about how HS umpiring is organized in TX, but the fact that everyone wears black or light blue is not one of them.

Nope, been around awhile. I think Jeff Kellog (?) either wears or used to wear one. Supposedly the double-bar design has made it such that All-Star has never replaced one due to it denting.

I hope to God this finally torpedoes the absolute dumpster fire of a website and software that is Arbiter. It is outclassed and outmatched in literally every way by other softwares (Assignr, RefTown, etc.) that there is ZERO reason to continue giving these dinosaurs money. LET IT DIE!

I think an underrated take on the Cobalt rollout is how it's going to affect Force3. I cant imagine anyone would want to pay an extra $100 for a CP with plates they can't see and what seems like not any meaningful step up in technology. Not to mention the fact that the "soft" Cobalt looks pretty nicely poised to dominate the softball market in the near future.

Nope, I flip gear as my side-side gig lol

I've got a pair of 10.5 wide 3N2 low-cuts, used one or two games, asking $50 + shipping

@SeeingEyeDog Here's an AllStar FM25 with LUC pads on clearance for $45. The frame is better built than the Champro and the pads are FAR superior and still in the same realm of what you're looking for. Throat guard brand is irrelevant, buy the cheapest one in the right length. https://www.cheapbats.com/shop/closeout-all-star-traditional-umpire-face-mask-fm25ump-luc-p-3337-c-193.html -BR