dana

Thank you zm and midtnump. Honig's was closed today, I am heading there tomorrow. According to their catalog, they have the TW and Wilson pads. I have two masks, maybe I'll try both. Dana

Thank you Jeff.

Maybe consider starting your thread outside of the TUS thread. Please excuse my error Johnnyg08.I erroneously thought you were JonnyCat. Thank you and Majordave for your responses and suggestions. Dana

Which thread are you referring to John? YOUR TUS thread or the overall TUS forum? Where would you prefer me to start?

AC I'm not that concerned about heat, I just couldn't see any reason for the difference in color. And thank you Kyle. I'm going to see how they look tomorrow.

Now that I'm back in Sunrise, I'm going to drive over to Honig's tomorrow and get TW pads for my Diamond ix3 mask. I find the black pads more attractive, but have to ask, what is the difference in using tan pads over black pads? Does it relate to heat absorption? Thanks Dana P.S. I DID search, but located nothing about it.

Just got a PM from John and he graciously allowing me to quote from his blog in my posts. I will write a short introductory post later and my Day One maybe tonight or tomorrow.

Okay. Thanks, Johnny and Rich. I will contact JonnyCat and confirm that I may address his blog in my posts and will work from there. Thanks again Dana

The Umpire School by Minor League Baseball says it all, but I must inquire, am I allowed to create a topic in this forum about my experiences at the W school this year? I very much enjoyed JonnyCat's blog about TUS and for those interested, I am able to address many of the similarities and many of the differences between the two programs. I will not be criticizing or praising either program, however, I do feel I am in a unique position to pass on some information and make a factual and timely comparison between the two. Thank you Dana

Johnny I did ask Brent about the books. He said to send an email through the contact area on the website. I'm not really sure about the situation. I asked a number of second year students about the books, and they thought (I cannot confirm this) that the books were only available to students. Good luck

Welcome Trevor/TIny You have made the hardest step in umpiring: to decide to do it. Get out there and work. Congratulations. I just finished the Wendelstedt School and (because of the 3 1/2 weeks of live games we worked and the 100+ students who attended) was able to see and try possibly every piece of equipment that is made for umpires today. I will be posting my thoughts in the equipment forum soon. Again, congratulations and good luck. Dana

I look forward to that opportunity, Sir

Hello Jonny I am currently at the Wendelstedt school and joined this forum earlier today. I wish that I was patient enough (and a good enough typist) to write about my experience at the W school as you have. Our experiences are quite similar and yet very different. I guess both schools have to get the umpires to the same destination, they just take different routes. My brief introduction is on (appropriately) the Introduction page. I look forward to discussing our experiences. Good luck with your last few days. Dana

BTW The W Two Man Mechanics book (affectionally referred to as "The Blue Book") is INCREDIBLE! It is the greatest two man book I've ever seen, but it is also outdated and won't be available until next year. If you can find a copy ANYWHERE grab it. One person in class has an older copy. I borrowed it and copied all 126 pages of every possible scenario that can occur on a field at Kinko's for $17.

2014. The cover is identical to the last one. Many students have the old version, you can't tell them apart. Dana

Can someone spin that picture upright for me? Dana

Hey Johnny, The online store on the website requires our student ID and our password. On the front page that we see after logging in it says "The online store is open for student access only". I will ask Brent tomorrow about this, but I think if you go to the contact page and send them an e mail, you most likely can purchase it that way. Thanks Dana

No, I was not aware of Jonnycat's blog. I just checked it out and I will not be writing anything that detailed----I do not type well. I am heading out to eat a late dinner and I will start reading though it then. Dana

I am currently attending the W Professional Course (2015 class). The updated manuals are available now. (The became available about 2 weeks ago). They are updated through the 2014 season and have almost 200 pages dedicated to the rulebook (surprisingly, the book is EXACTLY what is taught in the classroom) and 100 pages of reference plays. They cost $65 and worth every penny. See my first post in Introductions. Dana

Hello My name is Dana and I am a professional musician (a Broadway show drummer--the guy sitting in the pit--for over 30 years) from Boston and Fort Lauderdale. I am very new to umpiring, I started last March in Broward County (FL) and worked the rest of the summer in Boston. I was very fortunate to be assigned to over 140 games in 5 months and had some fantastic partners who were able to educate me in the basics. I decided to go the the W Professional Course this year and am graduating this coming Tuesday. I am 48 years old and had no illusions about ever making it into the minor leagues. I have been given the names of numerous college assignors, but am choosing to get a year of experience before I pursue that road. I've been visiting this website since last May; I was searching for ways to keep cool on the field and Google brought me here. I've learned a lot from the Forums and thought that I might be able to share my experience at the W school. I keep very, very detailed notes and have the entire classroom curriculum and the entire fieldwork curriculum in two separate notebooks. I also kept notes on the instructors, the schedule and subjects of exams----basically everything that happened over the entire 30 day course. If anyone has any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Thank you for all of the help you've given me. Dana P.S. Yes, it's worth it. Every penny.