Give the customer what he wants

hen I umpire, I try to give the clients what they want, not what I think they should have. Likewise, as a writer, it may be distressing for me to learn that all the reader wants to learn is how to manipulate umpires; but since I am being paid and the reader is the one doing the paying, I’ll give ‘em what they ask for.

I can rationalize all of this by presupposing that umpires are learning how to be on guard against manipulation. But based on the response to my previous work, it is the coaches who are doing most of the reading. I trust that a few umpires are reading this series and are honest enough to admit that some of these tricks have been pulled on them.

Continued...