Sport-Specific Articles
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Tips for Handling Baseball Time Limits
While there are some pace-of-play initiatives introducing a clock to the game of baseball, the traditional game doesn’t worry about a clock the same...
Leaving the Court Has Consequences
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ost everyone knows, in the game of basketball, when the ball touches a boundary line or anything outside the boundary line, it is out...
Formal Check or Not, Illegal Equipment Deserves Attention in NFHS Play
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FHS rule 4-3 requires an illegally equipped player to leave the field and not return until the next legal substitution opportunity. For the first...
Head of the Class
Early in my umpiring career I took a cavalier approach to the rules. I got by because I had played the game and knew...
Use Your Head With Doubleheaders
By Jon Bible
Doubleheaders (DH) can be the bane of an umpire’s existence. At the most basic level, a DH just means two games instead of one, whether of...
Ditch the Dinosaur Mechanics
The semifinal game was sold out. Although the visitors were seeded lower, their playoff performance made them the favorite. The home team held its...
Dig Deep to Evaluate Your Game
I teach entry-level classes and frequently get situations about how the referee messed up and the player got a card for doing nothing. Let’s...
Safe or Out, There Is No Tie
Fans, players and coaches are often heard yelling from the stands, “Tie goes to the runner!” However, no rule in baseball or softball has that phrase. A few...
Touch and Go
According to the website deepenglish.com, the handshake dates back to knights in Medieval Europe. Mistrustful fellows, they would shake the hand of those they...
Crew Glue
When any game assignment arrives, all sorts of questions usually race through an official’s mind. First, who’s playing? Great teams? A rivalry game? If...
They’re Counting On it
One of the most important jobs for softball umpires is game management. And one of the most overlooked aspects of game management is giving...
Hip, Hip No Way: Yankees vs. Dodgers 1978 World Series
Reggie Jackson earned the nickname Mr. October because of his bat. But a baserunning play swung the 1978 World Series in favor of Jackson’s...
11 Hacks for Onfield Umpires
With a new baseball season rolling along, here are a few tips and hacks involving plate work that can help you out as an...
Softball Crew Chief Responsibilities and How to Prepare
If you are reading this and you are not a crew chief but have that as one of your goals, congratulations. You are taking...
Match Scoring is One of Your Most Important Tasks
Hey, referees. Remember years ago, when you used to show up at a match, went about your pre-match duties and focused on your responsibilities...
Dead or Live?
Imagine that you’re working the plate in a two-umpire system. There’s a runner on second with one out. The batter hits a towering fly...
The Foundation of a Two-Person Crew
Interested in working a fast paced game where things are happening quickly, requiring you to stay completely focused? Then let’s partner together as a two-person crew for a...
7 Reasons Why Communication With Your Partner Pays Off
The words “requires excellent communication skills” are part of virtually every job description in today’s market, to the point where they’ve become meaningless jargon....
Collision Course
So you think baseball is not a contact sport?
Look at the photo that accompanies this article, captured during the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Division...
Leap Into the New Year
At its recent annual council meeting in Oklahoma City, USA Softball voted to adopt several new rule changes for the 2022 season. The most...
When Not To Be Subtle As the Second Referee
Communication between first and second referees is essential in communicating decisions to players, coaches, assistant officials and spectators. Precisely executed, established signals indicate the referees are competent and in control of...
Infield Flies not on the fly
One of the more difficult situations in softball are those involving the infield fly rule. While all the codes agree on when the rule...
Supplemental Signals
On a force play when the ball initially beat the runner, but the fielder had leaped or pulled his foot off the base to...
Active ‘C’ Creates a Successful Crew
The center official on a three-person crew is the straw that stirs the drink. When “C” is active, things go more smoothly and games are apt to be...
