The night my eyes were blessed...a true official's story

[SeeingEyeDog]

So, my association also covers volleyball and so, I've picked that up and I've come to enjoy it very much. The atmosphere at a volleyball match is far less toxic than a baseball game. It uses a much different skill set and challenges one's powers of judgement in ways that are different than baseball. It's a great sport and it's worth trying if you are looking for something new and have the time, etc. It's a slightly stronger financial argument than umpiring in terms of the typical hourly rate compared to baseball. High school volleyball in my market pays $80 - $95 and you might be out in 40 minutes. A typical match is an hour and you might be there as long as 70 or 80 minutes per match.

So, I was working at a private, Christian school and as with most religiously affiliated institutions of learning they have a prayer as part of their pre-game procedures. Amongst the many invocations, prayer requests, etc. was the following, "...and Lord...oh Lord...please bless the eyes of our officials here tonight...please enable them to see every play clearly and true."

I then when out and worked the match and I heard not one disparaging word from a player, coach or spectator...

Fast forward to this morning on the baseball field and...we're back to disparagement on the regular of the umpire. And it was two games featuring 4 different teams and...same level of disparagement in both games. Also, I am still wearing my same prescription glasses which I also had to wear during the volleyball match.

I'm just very confused to know what this all means and how I am supposed to feel so...I'm going to listen to the complete recordings of Emerson, Lake and Palmer and think about things for awhile. By all means, if you have any insights, brothers...spiritual or otherwise, please...do chime in.

~Dawg

[JonnyCat]

42 minutes ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

I'm just very confused to know what this all means and how I am supposed to feel so...I'm going to listen to the complete recordings of Emerson, Lake and Palmer and think about things for awhile. By all means, if you have any insights, brothers...spiritual or otherwise, please...do chime in.

My advice to anyone. Stop working baseball games until the culture changes. As long as we show up and continue accepting the abuse, it will never stop. Hard work, low pay, and a never ending cycle of abuse. Why? I have lots of funner activities to do, and better ways to make money. Nothing we have done has made any significant changes. People talk about how they don't yell at umpires, or they just want you to "get the call right." It's all BS. The only thing that will get their attention now is absence.

So, just stop doing it. I have.

[SeeingEyeDog]

9 minutes ago, JonnyCat said:

My advice to anyone. Stop working baseball games until the culture changes. As long as we show up and continue accepting the abuse, it will never stop. Hard work, low pay, and a never ending cycle of abuse. Why? I have lots of funner activities to do, and better ways to make money. Nothing we have done has made any significant changes. People talk about how they don't yell at umpires, or they just want you to "get the call right." It's all BS. The only thing that will get their attention now is absence.

So, just stop doing it. I have.

Totally and completely logical take here, Cat-man...

For me, I guess I still love it just enough and there's still enough goodness on the baseball field to keep me coming back for more pain.

That being said, if I woke up tomorrow and I had an email or a voice mail from someone who was leading an umpire walkout until the culture improved...I'd jump on that instantly, of course.

~Dawg

[jimurrayalterego]

1 hour ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

Totally and completely logical take here, Cat-man...

For me, I guess I still love it just enough and there's still enough goodness on the baseball field to keep me coming back for more pain.

That being said, if I woke up tomorrow and I had an email or a voice mail from someone who was leading an umpire walkout until the culture improved...I'd jump on that instantly, of course.

~Dawg

 

1 hour ago, JonnyCat said:

My advice to anyone. Stop working baseball games until the culture changes. As long as we show up and continue accepting the abuse, it will never stop. Hard work, low pay, and a never ending cycle of abuse. Why? I have lots of funner activities to do, and better ways to make money. Nothing we have done has made any significant changes. People talk about how they don't yell at umpires, or they just want you to "get the call right." It's all BS. The only thing that will get their attention now is absence.

So, just stop doing it. I have.

Sounds like you are listening to the fence too much. 

[JonnyCat]

1 hour ago, jimurrayalterego said:

 

Sounds like you are listening to the fence too much. 

Sounds like you talk out of your ass a lot. 

[Kevin_K]

I too am a volleyball official and I have found over the years that volleyball has replaced baseball in my hierarchy of sports.

When I first started I did not understand the basics of the game and was simply watching the game from the sideline. I now have a far better understanding of the strategies, the nuances, and the intricacies of the game that has allowed me to become an official who is considered to be a true volleyball official rather than a converted (other sport) official who decide to switch over to volleyball because, as so many people inform me, it's easy.

@SeeingEyeDog is so right in his description of the atmosphere of a volleyball match. It's worth considering that I have never been at a volleyball match where it was raining, it was so cold that I looked like Randy from A Christmas Story, and had participants who barked the entire match about a call/non-call in the very first rally.

If you try it you may like it. And then you might reserve 75% of your available spring days for an inside sport that never gets rained out!. 

[grayhawk]

10 hours ago, JonnyCat said:

My advice to anyone. Stop working baseball games until the culture changes. As long as we show up and continue accepting the abuse, it will never stop. Hard work, low pay, and a never ending cycle of abuse. Why? I have lots of funner activities to do, and better ways to make money. Nothing we have done has made any significant changes. People talk about how they don't yell at umpires, or they just want you to "get the call right." It's all BS. The only thing that will get their attention now is absence.

So, just stop doing it. I have.

It's because we're "soft." Didn't you know that?

[dumbdumb]

from watching sports at the local high school every once in a while and some free reading and listening to moms who use to play make comments, i would say there is much less animosity/adversarialistness/ attitude towards officials in volleyball (and there is only womens volleyball in my area), swimming and even though i have not been in a long time, track & field. and you do not have to worry about getting out so quick in your career with mobility issues or injury issues.

in volleyball, if you can learn what the libero can and cannot do and a few illegal positioning/screens/setups/ by the defense prior to the serve and dont call the ponytail touching the net a net violation, and make sure a backline player stays behind the line if spiking a ball 'above the net', you can go a long way..of course handling the ball violations is another area just like palming in hoops. and yes, there is much more to it than that, but if you learned baseball you can learn the others. i think yawtag on here a while ago went the volleyball route and i would hope is doing well.

in swimming, if you do stroke and turn(legal/illegal for both), and can figure out what a badly performed legal stroke is from a well performed illegal stroke (benefit of doubt goes to the swimmer), you can work a lot there as well, as well as know all the rules and be a starter, making sure your cadence can't be taken advantage of, and checking for leaving to soon (like tag up in baseball and leaning with the body before the foot leaves the blocks does not count as leaving too soon, only when foot is off too soon is there a penalty) on relays (foot off the blocks before swimmer in water touches wall/pad).

and track would seem to be a lot like swimming, but would have its nuances also.

volleyball and swimming are all indoors, no protective clothing needed and of course there are travel ball like teams in each sport. and should you want to try for the most dinero, there are d1,2,3 opportunities for each as well as olympic opportunities in both mens and womens.

ps- good luck with water polo, have never even come close to figuring that one out. where is johnny weissmuller when you need him, but it is an indoor sport, ie no rainouts.

added- gonna need more officials due to growth for high school boys playing teams now.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2025/09/08/is-volleyball-good-for-you/85986035007/?tbref=hp

[jimurrayalterego]

10 hours ago, JonnyCat said:

Sounds like you talk out of your ass a lot. 

In my neck of the woods HS and College pay is not low and while fans can complain as usual we have the ability to stop them. Have you given up all baseball or just the low level leagues where this could happen. Are you going to lead a "strike" of your association members. On the other hand maybe you should advocate for us to physically abuse coaches and fans that abuse us. You seemed to support that with the ump that went off on the coach.

[JonnyCat]

5 hours ago, jimurrayalterego said:

On the other hand maybe you should advocate for us to physically abuse coaches and fans that abuse us. You seemed to support that with the ump that went off on the coach.

See, this is exactly what I'm talking about, you're talking out of your ass again.

Instead of answering the request of the OP, who asked for advice, you chose to take umbrage with another posters answer, and offer an unsolicited snarky comment not germane to the conversation.

And now like clockwork, you respond with these moronic statements. Go F*#K yourself. 

[SeeingEyeDog]

7 hours ago, dumbdumb said:

added- gonna need more officials due to growth for high school boys playing teams now.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2025/09/08/is-volleyball-good-for-you/85986035007/?tbref=hp

Yes! This! I forget to mention...check your markets. In my market this is a VERY, VERY good time to be a vball official as many public schools and private schools are adding boys vball teams. So, effectively in a few years the supply of vball matches will double as will demand for officials and hopefully fees as counties and private schools battle one another for officials' availability.

~Dawg

[The Man in Blue]

21 hours ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

So, my association also covers volleyball and so, I've picked that up and I've come to enjoy it very much. The atmosphere at a volleyball match is far less toxic than a baseball game.

High school volleyball in my market pays $80 - $95 and you might be out in 40 minutes. A typical match is an hour and you might be there as long as 70 or 80 minutes per match.

So, I was working at a private, Christian school and as with most religiously affiliated institutions of learning they have a prayer as part of their pre-game procedures. Amongst the many invocations, prayer requests, etc. was the following, "...and Lord...oh Lord...please bless the eyes of our officials here tonight...please enable them to see every play clearly and true."

1.) Your observations on volleyball are generally very accurate.  One theory I've developed is that the game moves much faster, so the time to sit around and find things to bitch and complain about just is not there.

2.) Is that for one match or a JV/V evening?  Our schools are getting back to being all over the map again, with a 3-match set (Fr/JV/V or 6/7/8) going anywhere from $105 to $150.  Arrive at 4:30, start at 5:00, rarely out later than 7:30 for Jr. High, maybe 8:00 for HS.

3.) I actually find that to be offensive and am the type that I would say something. If you want to bless the officials, that is your business, and I can even appreciate that as a person who is somewhere on atheist/agnostic end.  However, singling out our eyes and asking that we see every play clearly and true . . . maybe I'm just a jaded asshole, but that feels backhanded.

[The Man in Blue]

9 hours ago, dumbdumb said:

of course handling the ball violations is another area just like palming in hoops.

 

I don't know anything about basketball, but NFHS reduced the ball handling violations yet again this year.  The setter can have a "clean double contact" now, as long as it is a set and isn't going over the net.

[The Man in Blue]

20 hours ago, JonnyCat said:

My advice to anyone. Stop working baseball games until the culture changes. As long as we show up and continue accepting the abuse, it will never stop. Hard work, low pay, and a never ending cycle of abuse. Why? I have lots of funner activities to do, and better ways to make money. Nothing we have done has made any significant changes. People talk about how they don't yell at umpires, or they just want you to "get the call right." It's all BS. The only thing that will get their attention now is absence.

So, just stop doing it. I have.

I have been wrestling with this since July, but it may be the path I am headed down.  I worked myself into heat exhaustion that took 2-3 days to recover from, and honestly, has left lingering effects.  That is on me.

However, the attitudes over that weekend -- and I acknowledge some could have been my mental state (I was less tolerant, not confrontational, I didn't have the energy) -- compounded it.  I took most of July off and severely cut back on my fall schedule.  Even with my limited schedule, the culture and attitudes just kept making my attitude worse.  It isn't just the fans, coaches, and players.  It is my state association and their push to making recognized assignors a control mechanism (but they are putting no control mechanisms on the assignors).

I didn't dive into it in the thread where we were debating our mental health and how to preserve it, but I am considering hanging it up.  In the years that I have burnt myself out, I have had the thought of taking a season off, but I don't think I have ever seriously considered hanging it up.  Working volleyball in a much more relaxed environment over the winter has helped to bring be back in the spring, so I will hold off on @wolfe_manning my gear and will make a decision in the spring.

To the point of organizing a walk-out, that is really where my interests have been leaning.  Not on organizing a walk out, but in organizing an association that is actually doing things to improve the working environment.  My biggest hold-back is that I know my area is full of Ol' Smitties who will gladly ignore any effort of others if they can get an extra $10 for working solo or the choice assignments from their buddy, the assignor.  It's one major reason we are not getting new officials -- there is no support system.

@jimurrayalterego makes a valid, albeit possibly poorly approached point . . . If you can control the games you do, control them.  We don't all have that luxury though.  Moving up to college games is not an option for everybody.  In my area, there just are not many schools around here (my son typically drives 1-2 hours for his games), so work prevents many umpires from being able to do that.  My summer ball games, I don' work anything within 90 minutes of my house and only work for a few select assignors who are not in my school ball area.  In those cases where we don't have as many options or as much control, we need to take care of ourselves (and those around us if we can).

We have a new facility opening here in the spring, and I am not terribly excited because of the culture here.  I suspect it will be more of the same.  I hope I am wrong.

[jimurrayalterego]

3 hours ago, JonnyCat said:

See, this is exactly what I'm talking about, you're talking out of your ass again.

Instead of answering the request of the OP, who asked for advice, you chose to take umbrage with another posters answer, and offer an unsolicited snarky comment not germane to the conversation.

And now like clockwork, you respond with these moronic statements. Go F*#K yourself. 

And now I really am sensing some pent up whatever. But as I'm not insecure, I treat this as coming from the fence.

[JonnyCat]

2 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

I have been wrestling with this since July, but it may be the path I am headed down. 

I've recently made the decision to hang it up, but I too will not be Wolfemaning my gear just yet. 

There are many reasons for me retiring from umpiring, health, age, other interests, etc. Yes the abuse is on the list, too, but it's just one of many. I really just lost the passion for it and due to health reasons, I haven't umpired that much the last 2 seasons. I just don't want to spend the time and energy to get myself back to the level I want to be at. I really feel I just kind of out grew it. It was a great run, but I always told myself that I wasn't going to ump much past age 60. At 62, my priorities have changed. I want to spend more time with family, work on and play with my Jeeps, play more softball with my sons, visit the grand-kids more often. (They live out of state)

2 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

If you can control the games you do, control them. 

I have no issue in controlling any games I do, and I can and have chosen to work just about any level I've wanted. But as I get older, I'm just over the BS and drama that these games are treated like life and death to many people. I'm just not interested in putting up with the drama anymore. I'm moving on, and it's not a bad thing. I've had great memories, and made many friends along the way. It's time for a new chapter.

[JonnyCat]

1 hour ago, jimurrayalterego said:

And now I really am sensing some pent up whatever. But as I'm not insecure, I treat this as coming from the fence.

See, you can't even help yourself, you just keep doubling down with your snarky comments.

Make a better argument or more thoughtful dialog if you want to get your point across. But you can't, so you like to throw out statements that do not enhance the conversation, and only detract from it. You've added nothing to this conversation.

What's pent up is my disdain for piece of SH*# keyboard warriors that continue to use sarcastic, accusatory, and inflammatory rhetoric instead of making a better argument or a more persuasive one. I happy to engage in respectful discourse with anyone, but since you're unable to do that, you deserve all the hate you get.

In case you weren't listening, here's some more from the fence, Go F*#K Yourself.

 

[SeeingEyeDog]

37 minutes ago, The Man in Blue said:

1.) Your observations on volleyball are generally very accurate.  One theory I've developed is that the game moves much faster, so the time to sit around and find things to bitch and complain about just is not there.

2.) Is that for one match or a JV/V evening?  Our schools are getting back to being all over the map again, with a 3-match set (Fr/JV/V or 6/7/8) going anywhere from $105 to $150.  Arrive at 4:30, start at 5:00, rarely out later than 7:30 for Jr. High, maybe 8:00 for HS.

3.) I actually find that to be offensive and am the type that I would say something. If you want to bless the officials, that is your business, and I can even appreciate that as a person who is somewhere on atheist/agnostic end.  However, singling out our eyes and asking that we see every play clearly and true . . . maybe I'm just a jaded asshole, but that feels backhanded.

Regarding point 1...one of my vball mentors explained to me that the reason vball referees don't catch as much grief is because you're playing each set to 25 and the final set is played to 15. So, you're looking at 25 - 40 points per set. One missed call, unless it's set point or match point is simply not going to swing a set or the match so, the vball community has mentally "toughed" themselves to calls that don't go their way. I don't know if that's true. I don't know if I agree. I'm just here reporting a perspective from someone who has been doing vball a long time at a high level. As a counter...there are what? 250 pitches/opportunities in a 7 inning baseball game? The calculus there ALSO says one call should not also impact the outcome unless it's a game ender/walk-off, right?

Regarding point 2...That pricing is per match. So, on a Frosh/JV/V triple header we are looking at $85/$85/$95 for a total of $265 for about 4 hours of work, plus drive time. In 4 hours, the best I could do on the baseball side is a Varsity double-header which is extremely rare. And in those 4 hours, I'm looking at $210...in the heat, with the gear on, running around the field or in the cold, trying to stay warm and the rain, etc.

Regarding point 3...I'm not sure I have it as "offensive". Hey...and that's ok. All opinions are valid here. There are no wrong opinions. And I absolutely agree with you that as an official I would appreciate a more broader approach as you suggested, Blue-Man. I'm not a religious person...my pre-game prayer would look like this, "Lord, thank you for this opportunity for these two teams to compete. Please help them play hard, play fair and play safe. Thank you for this school and its facilities. Lord, thank you for these umpires/referees/officials and may you help them to have a good game, too...without them it's a scrimmage. Amen."

Also, thank you for normalizing @wolfe_man-ning it. The world needs more of this. Few will know its meaning. Many will come to ask...

~Dawg

[jimurrayalterego]

2 hours ago, JonnyCat said:

See, you can't even help yourself, you just keep doubling down with your snarky comments.

Make a better argument or more thoughtful dialog if you want to get your point across. But you can't, so you like to throw out statements that do not enhance the conversation, and only detract from it. You've added nothing to this conversation.

What's pent up is my disdain for piece of SH*# keyboard warriors that continue to use sarcastic, accusatory, and inflammatory rhetoric instead of making a better argument or a more persuasive one. I happy to engage in respectful discourse with anyone, but since you're unable to do that, you deserve all the hate you get.

In case you weren't listening, here's some more from the fence, Go F*#K Yourself.

 

I responded to the OP and you together. Stop listening to the fence. The OP did not even get what the @ManinBlue possibly perceived as a prayer disparaging the VB official and asking for God's help for him. I think my fence comment could be sarcastic. I think I did accuse you of being supportive of an umpire who kicked a coach (deservedly or not) and being unhappy that you did not see the kick land. But I fail to see any inflammatory rhetoric unless you consider me encouraging you to lead an umpire strike inflammatory. 

The OP asked us to respond to this:

"I'm just very confused to know what this all means and how I am supposed to feel so...I'm going to listen to the complete recordings of Emerson, Lake and Palmer and think about things for awhile. By all means, if you have any insights, brothers...spiritual or otherwise, please...do chime in."

I have no clue what Emerson, Lake and Palmer mean.  But I did respond with do not listen to the fence.

[noumpere]

14 hours ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

Yes! This! I forget to mention...check your markets. In my market this is a VERY, VERY good time to be a vball official as many public schools and private schools are adding boys vball teams. So, effectively in a few years the supply of vball matches will double as will demand for officials and hopefully fees as counties and private schools battle one another for officials' availability.

~Dawg

In most markets, girls are in the fall, boys are in the spring.  So, the same number of officials can cover both sports.

 

(It will draw from officials who currently work another spring sport, but it won't be a doubling.)

[BLWizzRanger]

7 hours ago, jimurrayalterego said:

I have no clue what Emerson, Lake and Palmer mean.  But I did respond with do not listen to the fence.

It means he is going to become a hippy and start using alternative, natural medication to determine his next steps.

 

Edited to add: "and there is nothing wrong with that."

[Velho]

If you officiate for the compensation, go where the money is.

If you officiate for love of the sport, go where the best version of that sport is.

If you officiate for the community, go local and/or where you can have the most impact.

If you officiate because you hate golf, go where you'll have the most fun.

If you officiate for a combination of all these, go where you are fairly compensated, for a sport you appreciate, and an environment you enjoy.

Do what in total, is it worth it to you - and only you. Whatever the reasons for liking it or hating it. Whether or not others understand. It's your life, not theirs.

[JonnyCat]

9 hours ago, jimurrayalterego said:

I responded to the OP and you together. Stop listening to the fence.

What does that even mean? No F*#King SH*#, don't listen to the fence. Every umpire has heard that. Add some context to it, engage in some dialog. The OP was asking for some insight, not a snarky short sentence that added nothing to the discussion. I didn't ask for the advice, so help the OP instead of putting others down to make yourself feel better.

 

9 hours ago, jimurrayalterego said:

The OP did not even get what the @ManinBlue possibly perceived as a prayer disparaging the VB official and asking for God's help for him.

Why the F*#K are you even commenting on what the OP did or did not perceive. It's none of your F*#King business how he perceives anything. You don't even know if he read the comment or not, let alone how he interpreted it. How do you know how he took the comment? He'll answer it if he feels like it. Stay in your own lane.

 

9 hours ago, jimurrayalterego said:

I think my fence comment could be sarcastic.

Maybe, but why didn't you expound upon that? Do you really think a short statement like that helps the OP? You just want to be confrontational instead of analyzing the question and formulating a helpful response. Try to be helpful with your response instead of being lazy.

 

9 hours ago, jimurrayalterego said:

I think I did accuse you of being supportive of an umpire who kicked a coach (deservedly or not) and being unhappy that you did not see the kick land.

This is what you're referencing when you insinuated I advocate for violence towards coaches?

Did you forget you responded to my comment in the other thread with humor and I responded back with a laugh emoji?

It was also related to some funny banter with another member who took it as humor, as did you.

And now you want to twist it around to fit your narrative?

As I said before, if you want to challenge someones position or comments, make a better or more persuasive argument.

[love to ump]

Not sure how listening to Emerson Lake and Palmer makes you a hippy?

Not sure why some guys want to use this forum to rehash old gripes, digs , disagreements , insults .etc. etc.

Pretty sure the blessing of the officials "eyes"...could be taken by some as a backhanded insult of their abilities.

Pretty sure that some of the best advice I got from this site, was the "Do not talk/listen to the fence"

Pretty sure there has not been a big change in the culture of "Umpire Abuse" , but hey, I am in the Great White North,

so maybe different here.....read Velho's post again, he said it best....you gotta do what's right for you!

[BLWizzRanger]

1 hour ago, love to ump said:

Not sure how listening to Emerson Lake and Palmer makes you a hippy?

Lighten up, Francis, it was a joke.  Sorry that you were offended of broadly characterizing a band in the 60's and 70's as hippies.  But, since you asked, I got this from Google's Chat AI:

 

I guess I was wrong.  Back to my Tapioca pudding....