My brain has been scattered lately, so I’m not sure how fractured today’s column is going to be. Work has just been crazy and I’m fairly certain it has caused me ADHD. Is that something I can take two weeks off for?
Squirrel!
Now, I’ve been on the Internet going on two decades now and I have long since learned to not engage people in arguments – even in this environment. But I had to stoop and get into one on the Twitter the other day when someone sent me a video of a Major League umpire ejecting a manager after about four seconds.
Now, it’s no secret that I have spent the majority of my life as an amateur, high school, and college umpire. I’ve made mistakes. I’ve been angry. And I have had good days, too. So people like to send me examples of when umpires blow calls and get angry. Let’s face it, these folks have been on the road for six months (there are no home games for umpires) and they’ve had the same curmudgeonly a-holes barking at them since February. It’s no wonder every once in a while, there’s a quick hook.
How would you like it if you had to have every spreadsheet you type or every pothole you fill or every grocery item you check-out be criticized by someone about 50 feet away? You wouldn’t. And it wouldn’t take you six months of working every day in 95 degree heat to get tired of it, either.
Another criticism is that umpires don’t have to answer for their mistakes. And it’s true, they don’t have to go before a microphone. But they do have to listen to 40,000 people yell and the manager cuss, and the sports radio folks on the way to the airport, and the newspapers at the airport. My guess is that they have a clue.
Squirrel!
Not even a week after I came very close to calling my son an idiot in this exact space, he was awarded an academic letter for his letter jacket. (Which, by the way, cost the same as a used car.) Still, I stand by my earlier reporting.
Squirrel!
If you haven’t been up to watch the reigning national champion Park Pirates women’s volleyball team yet, then you really need to catch one of their remaining matches. It’s not often you can say you’ve watched champions take the floor.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to argue with more people on the Internet.
(Catch Chris Kamler arguing with people on Twitter as @TheFakeNed. Search for him on Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and YouTube, where you’ll want to search for Rambling Morons)