scrounge

Well, in fairness, it's not that they wanted a pension, they already had a collectively-bargained pension. The owners wanted to eliminate that already-existing pension and move to a defined contribution 401k. Now, economic and bargaining realities dictated the refs concede some on this point, but if I were them and saw all the money going to the owners and all the money from TV, Sunday Ticket, etc flying around? I don't think I'd be in a hurry to give up anything either.

I had a Gold and now have a System 7, and I would feel just fine with both. If the Gold was long enough to cover all your ribs AND you either tighten it up enough or get an All-Star Delta Flex harness to make sure it doesn't slide down and expose the collar bone, I'd say go with the Gold. I've had shots in the mid-chest area that I heard but barely felt. It's got thicker, softer padding than the System 7 CP, but the midchest area is very well protected. You may feel a bit more (pressure, not pain) on side chest and lower shots but not mid chest due to the large plastic plate. And the S7 does NOT slide down on the collarbone.

Wha? Jennings was never wrestling for the ball, he had it clasped to his chest the entire time. It was the WR Tate who was wrestling. He only had one hand on it when they came down, then barely had a second hand on it but nowhere near anything that I'd remotely call control. The SJ was screened out and late to the scene, so he only got there after considerable wrestling for the ball. Jennings is sitting there on his butt with the ball tightly against his chest, then and only then does Tate roll him over and grab the ball. At no point was Jennings ever reaching or wrestling for the ball - to the contrary, it was Tate trying to gain control, but only after going to ground. That simply isn't simultaneous possession, by either letter or spirit of the rule.

Of course it wasn't the only factor, but it's a perfect binary decision: this singular call will, without a doubt and without any follow-on speculation, decide the winner of the game. There is no time to compensate, there are no mitigating factors, this call - definitively, indisputably, and with finality - decided that game. And it was horribly wrong, in the mechanics and the judgment.

There's no way that anything Tate did before the wrestling on the ground that could be construed as "control" in my opinion. The rule explicitly states that gaining control after the catch is NOT simultaneous possession. The two officials on the spot were not only out of position but also late to the scene, just stood there and watched Tate go from one hand on the ball to two hands barely on the ball while Jennings had it tightly clutched to his chest, then and only then - after some extended wrestling on the ground - making a call. Well, two calls, one guy says TD and the other kills the clock and either was about to signal touchback or was just completely clueless as to what to do. Then, in the face of conflicting calls, the referee doesn't get them together or huddle. IMO, they panicked. Please explain using NFL rules why you think the ruling was ridiculous because from what I've read including parts of the rules (but to be fair I don't work NFL football) the call can be supported. It might be some judgement involved as to who had control when and whether control was maintained but I also havent seen any reply that shows anything different.

Yea, all true, but this is still one of the exceedingly rare cases when the criticism is 100% true. That was an embarrassment and a ridiculous ruling...and I even wanted the Packers to lose! Those refs are so far in above their heads it's ridiculous, they're scared to make a call, they're giving more hometown calls than I've ever seen, it's just chaos. And it's a poor reflection on officials everywhere. I get they're doing the best they can - but they chose to take replacement jobs for a few weeks at a level that they are woefully unqualified for. And this is the result. Yes, the whiners cry wolf hundreds of thousands of times. This time, there really was a wolf.

from the description, these weren't even close calls...good job

Yep, sorry about that egregious omission of the key facts..

There has to be somewhere to file a grievance over the field conditions that I had to endure at a game today, because it's unreasonable to expect a professional performance under such a setup. So the game is a mid/low-level high school fall instructional game, ages 14-16. I'd say about on par with an average JV game. Beautiful weather, 75 and sunny, nice breeze. A few cute moms but nothing like you'd get at a U12 travel tournament. Coaches are fine, don't have anything to say. They were positive and good examples. Well, except for one assistant coach, apparently the wife of the head coach but she definitely knew her stuff. She was a shorter, former cheerleader type, just starting to put on a few pounds but still pretty darned good. She had a very distinctive voice, positioned the infielders very well, and from warmups, had a pretty good arm. For about half the innings in the double header, she coached first base....which comes back to the point of all this. Yoga pants. Yes, she was wearing tight, form-fitting, black yoga pants. Just how am I expected to work when there is nothing to be left to the imagination mere yards away? I could take a line drive to the face and I'd never know it. Don't they have any regards to my safety whatsoever???? Mmm....yoga pants....

I think I'll stick with my All-Star, but this sounds like it has its place. The pricing makes sense now....it won't be a market leader, so might as well squeeze out every last dollar from the small niche that have to have it. Lowering the price prob won't increase sales enough to make up for the lost revenue, or at least that's the thinking.

Being in the central time zone, I was getting ready for work when the first plane hit. Of course, at that time it looked like an accident. Being an amateur student of aviation/airline accidents, I was watching the news live when the 2nd plane hit. Obviously, that made it fairly clear that this was no accident. In a daze, I left for work knowing that this was going to be a long day. Cause I was a route planner at United Airlines. The whole morning was pretty much in shock. We didn't know where our planes were or how many were missing. Rumors were flying everywhere. While I was in planning and not operations, who were in total chaos dealing with the worldwide shutdown and grounding of the fleet, we tried to assist and get a feel where planes were landing, especially the international flights. I still remember looking in the reservations/ops system and seeing the cryptic "status unknown" message for UA 175. After about noon, the focus started to turn to 'what do we do'. At first I thought it was completely crass to think about business at a time of war, but in a way it was therapeutic. We had no model - would 20% of traffic disappear? What if it were 50%? How much could go away and have the company - or the industry - survive? How long would it take? What airports should close? What next By late night, I think around 10 or 11 pm, we finally left. The sheriff had the headquarters' building on lockdown, as it would the next couple of days. It was so surreal living in the NW Chicago burbs and being used to the O'Hare flight patterns and looking up and seeing NOTHING. Our house was on the intermediate approach for one runway, it was a routine of life to see planes on approach. Except now there was nothing. No lights in the sky except stars. And the occasional, solitary fast mover - fighter jets on patrol. FQ#$%$ fighter jets flying CAP above an American city.... That day sucked.

Agree completely

yeeks, be careful getting down from that soapbox

Arrange it (beg, bribe, etc) so you only do 2 plates (2nd and 4th games, for example) a day. Drink lots of water and then some. Don't forget to eat - fruit not only will give you energy without being heavy, but has the added benefit of also being water-rich. Bring extra t-shirts and socks and change them regularly. Economize your movement when you can without sacrificing mechanics. Don't skimp on between-game breaks, even if they're rushing you - you need to pace yourself and change at your speed, not rush into your gear. Get to bed early - especially the first night BEFORE it all catches up to you. Have a quart of gatorade at night - you probably won't need it unless you sweated a TON but it won't hurt and might just help (even if only as a placebo).

"Just" is the parents being responsible for their children. Not insured? Can't play, son. And being a slimy lawyer, you know why companies settle this type of lawsuit. Because 1) their insurance covers it and 2) we all know what can happen with a jury when the slimy lawyer wheels the kid into the courtroom. That could cost the company 100s of millions. 100 lawyers on the ocean floor being a good start and all....... OK, I hate to tell you, but you crossed the line. I have just sent a message on my super-secret-slimy-lawyer-decoder ring to all my professional brethern. Next time you, or anyone associated with you, gets injured or arrested, the word has gone out that you're on your own, i.e., "the Dreaded Curse of the Pro Per". My advice (for free, which subjects me to severe discipline by the Brethern, so you know it's gotta be good) is when confronted by the local constabulary, simply plead guilty to everyting they say - you'd obviouly agree they are always fair, just and accurate. Non-responsive

Why? If a kid twists his ankle, the league pays for the visit to urgent care? If a kid breaks a foot sliding into 2nd, the league pays for the ER visit? Where does this end? What is just about that? Will there be any leagues left anywhere if this is the standard?

So.......... .....not that the Umps for MILFs thread hasn't been entertaining, but doesn't simple, basic fairness dictate that there should be a MILFs for Umps thread?

What a jacka@@.... . . . . . . no, I'm not referring to jax :)

The exact same thing happened to me in a JV game earlier this year. Could have sworn the thing bounced and bounded inside the bag. Everyone else knew it was a foul line drive except me. Had that spidey sense that something was wrong but not exactly sure what till after the game.

+1

Well, that's quite a bit of conflating and moving of the goalposts, IMO. Is the relevant question really what should happen to the kid? Regardless of the answer, that's an entirely different question than who is RESPONSIBLE for it. One can easily answer your question by saying he should be taken care of for life. But where does that leave us? Who is obligated to pay for such care? Shouldn't this obligation bear some resemblance to actual fault? Or are we to merely award judgments based on sympathy and subjective determinations of 'deserve'? If the need of the victim is all that matters, then any organization of means - no matter how tangentially related - could be ordered to pay. Again, what relevance does the status or lack thereof of the parent's medical insurance have to the question of the guilt or responsibility of the defendants? Are they less culpable if the parents have adequate coverage? That's the implication of your question. Now if it's determined that the parties are guilty, then and ONLY then does it become relevant, but you've set it up as a causal item. Finally, you've just assumed that the company made an 'unsafe' bat without in any way saying why. Who determined it was 'unsafe'? Was it used improperly? Did it violate governmental or industry standards? I realize these are exactly the questions the jury decides, but the very framing of your argument/questions makes it into "we've got to do something for this poor kid and those people have a lot of money". The question at hand is whether the parties (really, Sports Authority? I guess they shouldn't sell anything that anyone can get hurt with at any time) are responsible or negligent. Otherwise, if it's just all about getting this kid a bunch of money for his care, might as well find Apple or Boeing responsible.

Holy crap, this thing better call balls and strikes for that price. Given the way Evans prices his book, I had a feeling they would be going for a high price/small share strategy, but over a $100 premium vs the industry leader??? Uh....no.

Grey is actually fairly common here in Ohio, though usually - but not exclusively - at lower levels. The only two colors approved for school ball are grey or navy blue. So a lot of newer umps go with grey. Personally, if they perfectly match the pants, I think it looks fine.

Yep, noticed that too....and why does the 1B ump do the 'turn your fist inward and sky point" on out calls? Is that same robotic softball mechanic required on bases as well?

It's a mildly entertaining short story. I'm not sure I believe any of it, but it held enough interest for me to finish the story at least.