chewing tobacco

[BRUMP]

hey guys hope all is well...school is kicking my ass so i haven't been around here much.....i was thinking back to a game i had last yr and as i was walking onto the field w my partner he took out a tin and packed an entire horseshoe....this was an 8yr old LL game....(he offered me some which i politely declined) do any of you guy chew? and what are some of the regulations on dip for umpires?

[kylehutson]

NFHS 10-1-1 Article 8: "Umpires shall not use tobacco or tobacco-like products on or in the vicinity of the playing field."

[Stan W.]

You cant enforce rules on the field if you are breaking them as well.............the saying "do as I say,  not as I do" is a bad parenting approach and worse umpiring advice.

[Mudisfun]

Here in So Cal where a good majority of all games are played on school owned properties not only are you breaking local association rules, Little League, Pony or other youth sport rules but you most likely are breaking the law. Every school I go to has signs up that they are tobacco free sites etc with verbiage detailing fines and other unpleasant things that will happen to you...

 

If I witnessed this at the LL level on my fields I would be forced to switch role from umpire partner to board member and rectify the situation in the best interest of our league and the kids. If that means dismissing the offending partner under my guise as UIC and covering the game solo then so be it; my interest at that point is to insure the league is not exposed to the possibility of having our charter yanked or having issues with other Government entities in addition to the obvious of keeping our kids from seeing chewing as 'cool'. Might as well start vaping on the way to the field with a rainbow colored electronic cigarette... hey, it technically is not smoking, right? It looks cool right?

 

HS level I am reminding my partner this is a no-no, could be a potential criminal act under the law and could result in additional problems with the association when and if it is reported to the powers that be which most likely will occur right after you make a call one team does not agree with. Since I work HS solo at this point this is not an issue I have had to deal with but my thought is to remind/expect the other official to respect the rules as well as our relationship as people will consider all of his actions and my actions as "our actions" on and off the field. I don't need to have my name associated with someone in a bad light when I have little to nothing to do with his/her actions especially living in the sue me state. 

[NovaScotiaBlue]

Baseball Canada enforces a no tobacco rule for players coaches and umpires. Use is a no no while in uniform.

Failure to comply means an ejection for players and coaches/. For umpires its a suspension

[MikeSafari]

Baseball Canada enforces a no tobacco rule for players coaches and umpires. Use is a no no while in uniform.

Failure to comply means an ejection for players and coaches/. For umpires its a suspension

 

For umpires in Ontario it is the only thing that will instantly revoke any of your certifications. You can never umpire in the province again if you're caught using tobacco products while in uniform.

 

Similarly, if a player is using tobacco in any form, he/she gets ejected and his/her coach is ejected at the same time.

 

If my partner pulled out a tin, I would refuse to work with him, call my assignor, and get someone else there ASAP.

[johnnyg08]

hey guys hope all is well...school is kicking my ass so i haven't been around here much.....i was thinking back to a game i had last yr and as i was walking onto the field w my partner he took out a tin and packed an entire horseshoe....this was an 8yr old LL game....(he offered me some which i politely declined) do any of you guy chew? and what are some of the regulations on dip for umpires?

 

Very, very bad idea.  Don't take the bait.  

[BuckeyeMike]

As a dipper, and a man of the "tin" that you guys describe, i'm a little heartbroken.

 

Am I or am I not, my own man?    Why in the HELL would you refuse to work with me, solely because I dip?   I don't get that.

 

I don't have brown spit, you can't see anything in my teeth, and over the past 4 years, not a single person has even questioned anything.

 

Be discrete.  Be professional.  Don't give these A-holes on here any reason to treat you different.  

[Majordave]

I would refuse to work with your sorry rule and law breaking ass @BuckeyeMike. AND I would report you. It's a no no and a deal breaker. I wouldn't care if you were my blood family or my umpire brother. You'd be done as an umpire. Think about it!

[blue23ll]

If you dip or do chew on a baseball field where the rules prohibit it, you don't belong on that field. Find a place where it's legal if you must use tobacco on the field. It's pretty simple.

[BRUMP]

i guess what most surprised me about this was two fold, if this was an adult league game, i guess it wouldn't have been as big a deal, and the pure amount he put in was shocking...he was nowhere near discrete (hell he had half a freaking tin in his mouth how could he?)

[Magic]

I dipped for 20 years until I quit 4 years ago. Honestly I can say I never dipped in. High School game and never will. I used to dip in Pony games in the 90s. Of course that was well before the rules of no tobacco products on school grounds. I don't notice when anyone else dips. Not my business. If they want to break the rules, that's on them. It is not for me to say anything. But you guys that think Noone notices, trust me, everyone notices. Especially someone who did it as long as I did.

Games Worked Too Damn Many

[alan2703]

I dip and chewed as a player, I still do. I never dip on the field for any school games I even go so far after the game to wait until I am off school property to put one in. Now the adult league I do I might have a little one in the 5th but there are no rules agin  it. As far as the fellow  umpire I would have no trouble telling him to take it out as it is not allowed by rule and as stated how can you enforce rules wen you are breaking them yourself.

[blue23ll]

We had a coach in a Triple Crown game this weekend who had dip in his mouth, we made him get rid of it. 

[James Walker]

I dip and when I started working rec games as a kid I dipped. Just being a knucklehead teenager. Now, as soon as I change at the site, it's out. If I'm working a tournament where we are provided a changing room I may get a small pinch between games but no way is it going to the field with me. We're there to set the example, and that's hard to do if you're breaking the rules too.

[UmpJeff]

I chew. 

 

I DO NOT, however, chew on a baseball diamond where there are rules in place prohibiting its use.  NFHS (HS) and Fed ball...NCAA...etc.  As @Stan W. has stated, you can't enforce the rules on the field if you're breaking them.

 

Having said that, I do chew when I work the Men's Adult Baseball League (MSBL/MABL) in my area.  Their rules prohibit alcohol consumption, use of illegal drugs, and smoking.  Their rules are silent on smokeless tobacco products...at least as far as I have read. 

[jrewell1978]

I dip, just not on the field

I find it unprofessional.