EvilTessmacher

Hmmm... Last I looked, this is not about politics, and it never was from my perspective. It is about feeling safe at a ballfield, and being reasonably sure that one does not get shot at a ballgame by some wacko spectator. If it takes being "flippant" to get people thinking about how serious this is, so be it. And for the record, yes, I was being sarcastic. When a child at school gets hit with a rock, the solution is not to make all the other children have rocks. Individuals in possession of a gun are 4.46 times more likely to be shot in an assault than those not in possession. Among gun assaults where the victim had at least some chance to resist, this adjusted odds ratio increased to 5.45 times more likely. http://tinyurl.com/ar3sgxv This study is particularly disturbing, in that the researchers examined cases where the length of time it took to draw, aim, and fire one's own weapon contributed to the injury and death in some cases, of those who carried firearms. You got one? Great. The length of time it takes to get it out and use it, means that you're almost six times more likely to be already dead or dying. Think it won't happen to you? I'm pretty sure that all the people who ended up being shot thought exactly the same thing. For a group of people who get their knickers in a bunch when someone questions you on a ballfield, some of you sure are quick to attack someone else if they don't agree with you on an internet forum. Even if they bring facts to the table. The bottom line is this: I am not going to knowingly walk into a situation where someone might have a weapon and possibly lacks the mental health not to use it. The mere act of bringing a tool solely designed to kill, to a public gathering is suspect. I've lost a close relative to a wacko that carried a gun into a public event and opened fire. I hope that never happens to any of you. I've said nothing about politics. Political leaning is completely, totally, and in all other ways, irrelevant to this discussion. I absolutely do not want someone from the local PD to have knock on my front door, and tell my wife and daughter that I'm never coming home again. End of discussion.

http://tinyurl.com/lye26j3 Apologies accepted.

Grayhawk is right... there are lots of unstable people out there. The one thing that is keeping me from picking up the mask and coming back to the game, is the wacko nutjobs who insist on open-carrying all over the place. Just recently read a report of some moron with an assault rifle at a LL game in Georgia, taunting the crowd with "I have this, and there's nothing any of you can do about it!" Even the police who were called said they couldn't do a thing about it, not even so much as to ask him to leave. One can never be sure which of those spectators out there are the unstable wacko with the tiny body-parts who overcompensates with his friends Mr. Smith & Mr. Wesson. I have a carry permit. I also know that I am 46% more likely to be assaulted if I have it on me. The stats and facts are clear and undistputable. Furthermore, if its in my car, what good is it going to do me there, when the wacko is already in my face? Anyone want to start a pool on when the first official at a youth sporting event takes a round because of some gun-nut parent?

May be naieve, but has anyone just sat down with the guy, and explained that nobody in the association is happy with his officiating and his personality? Asked him not to come back? All this beating around the bush looks, smells, and feels too much like conspiring behind the guy's back, instead of saying to his face that he has worn out his welcome. Whatever happened to being professional about things?

I didn't have the first problem reading and comprehending the OP. My only comment is that I would have notified someone that they were still on the premises after having been told to leave. I wouldn't have spoken to them or acknowledged them in any way. That's my . The problem I do have here is that many of the comments following were, in my opinion, uncalled for, and some were out of line. I may not have been an Ump for many years now, but we're supposed to be a little more professional than that, aren't we? I have noticed something about a great many amateur sporting officials: Many of them have some serious attitude. I try to remind myself of Lord Acton's dictum and comport myself accordingly. A word to the wise.

Thank you, one and all...

Hi! Longtime lurker who finally decided to bite the bullet and join the forum. I've seen a few things I'd like to ask about, and a few things I have an opinion on, and would like to comment about. So there. About me: More years ago than I care to admit, I was an ump for a now-defunct Little League organization, working games for kids ranging from 9 to 13 or so. As I've said, it was a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, and once one gets to my age, one finds that the memory is the second thing to go. Don't mind me, I'll generally keep lurking, but I may pop up once in a while with a question, observation, or opinion as the case may be.