est any of you think I am the perfect partner or the perfect official, think again. My title at my company is “Software Consultant,” but my title in officiating has always been JSPS – just some poor schmuck. When I move to a new area and join a new association, that trait — of necessity — goes with me. I am an experienced umpire and official, but — to a certain degree — I am also willing to get into the trenches and work any game required of me.

I’m not the only schmuck

A few years ago in Tennessee I certainly went above and beyond the call of duty. I agreed to work a middle school basketball quadruple-header with a partner the association supervisor conceded was “a difficult person.” He advised me to make sure we took separate cars, and thankfully, I took him up on that advice.

The games were in a piece of rural Tennessee not easy to find without a keen sense of direction: Go to the end of the world, turn left, go another seven miles, and you’re there.

Continued...