Strangest thing an Umpire has said to you?

[CoachJD]

Some of the things I'm reading in this thread make me realize why there are fewer and fewer officials to ump/ref games. I bet any coach who posted some of the rude things they have said about a bad call never once told the ump the opposing coach is right and their player is out on that steal or that 3rd strike blue gave them really was a ball.

That's what you take from this thread? Because what I get out of it is how many umpires are tyrants who are completely uninterested in doing anything but exerting their tiny bit of power over children in the worst way possible. Look at how many here just were totally indifferent to the rules or getting calls right.

That's absolutely not the awesome umps who post here, but that shouldn't be a surprise. Any umpire who cares enough about the kids and the sport to spend time posting on a message board is not going to be a lazy/ill-tempered umpire on the field.

By the way, you have an example in this very thread of a coach who had to correct an umpire even though it went against his team. That does happen.

 

[Shiloh]

I haven't read much of this thread, but my DD used to have a 10U umpire whose full time job was flying broken airplanes back to their home bases for repair. He worked for the FAA and had the best, most fascinating stories. Who knew a 747 could fly with one engine?

Loved talking to that guy! The 10U softball game was the least interesting part of the conversation.

 

[BrianTx01]

Call me crazy but that's a little creepy.
I had an ump last week at a Rec game ask me if he wanted to give my DD a rec strike zone or a travel zone. She's plays travel and the other pitcher is just starting out. I told him to give her a travel zone. He squeezed her a bit
All good. He called the game fair just kept her zone a little tighter.

There is only one strikezone.

 

[Eric F]

I haven't read much of this thread, but my DD used to have a 10U umpire whose full time job was flying broken airplanes back to their home bases for repair. He worked for the FAA and had the best, most fascinating stories. Who knew a 747 could fly with one engine?

Loved talking to that guy! The 10U softball game was the least interesting part of the conversation.

Flying broken airplanes scores pretty high on the nope-o-meter. I hope that guy gets paid a LOT of money for his full time job.

 

[radness]

There is only one strikezone.

There are multiple and MANY strike zones areas.

 

[puds]

For one of my DD 10u rec leagues we had a very elderly umpire who would work games at times during the season. He was well known for some very interesting calls out on the field. Know one made a big deal because he really did care about the kids and he was always fair. Well one game he stops play out of the blue and calls the me and the other coach out to home plate. So both of us come out wondering what is going on now. He turns to us and says very loud so everyone can hear '' WHEEL OF FORTUNE STARTS IN 1 HOUR, AND IF I AM NOT HOME IN TIME THE MISSES GETS UPSET, SO THERE IS GOING TO BE A LOT MORE STRIKES BEING CALLED. It took everything I had in me to not drop tp the ground laughing. True to his word , there was a lot more strikes.

 

[Shiloh]

Flying broken airplanes scores pretty high on the nope-o-meter. I hope that guy gets paid a LOT of money for his full time job.

He said he got priority clearance for every takeoff and landing.
Always a direct route.

And he'd blast music into the passenger cabin just because...

Oh, and he could fly free with his family on any airline anywhere in the US.

 

[radness]

He said he got priority clearance for every takeoff and landing.
Always a direct route.

And he'd blast music into the passenger cabin just because...

Oh, and he could fly free with his family on any airline anywhere in the US.

There is a place where they take expired airplanes and those that need to be repaired up in the high desert in so cal. Adelanto area. Lot of people (probably most) have no idea that that is there. They also work on the Drone planes and experimenting in that area.

One day when I was out in the desert a massive Shadow came over me.
As I looked around me could see it had a shape. Looked up...
there was a drone plane amazingly only about as high as a helicopter would fly with a spotlight on. Could not hear the Drone plane at all! Its exterior looked as though it were like shark skin.

 

[Shiloh]

There is a place where they take expired airplanes and those that need to be repaired up in the high desert in so cal. Adelanto area. Lot of people (probably most) have no idea that that is there. They also work on the Drone planes and experimenting in that area.

One day when I was out in the desert a massive Shadow came over me.
As I looked around me could see it had a shape. Looked up...
there was a drone plane amazingly only about as high as a helicopter would fly with a spotlight on. Could not hear the Drone plane at all! Its exterior looked as though it were like shark skin.

Yeah the airplane graveyards (I believe there are two of them) in the high desert north and east of LA.
Amazes me every time I see them.

Wonder if they give tours.

 

[radness]

Yeah the airplane graveyards (I believe there are two of them) in the high desert north and east of LA.
Amazes me every time I see them.

Wonder if they give tours.

That would be neat!!!

There is another location in the high desert where there is a tank graveyard!!!
Really cool it has a memorial also of the veterans who trained in the Mojave Desert for World War II, and other more recent veterans.

Off road driving tours