Bullfrogs and cats

nce again, Mr. Gallant and I start at the same beginning but take a different route to the end. We both agree that there's greater value in getting the proper angle on a play, adding a little distance, expeditiously adding good timing, and then living with the call. Were he and I to work a game together, that'd be the way we'd work.

Before the game we'd agree that asking for help can get an umpire into deeper trouble in all but a precious few situations. Offering help when it's not requested is also dangerous. Sometimes two brains are not better than one because when you end up with a situation in which an umpire has two brains, one is gonna be lost and the other is gonna be out looking for it.

Blaine takes the low road, and I take the high road. He's got several examples from various sports to prove how frustrating taped instant replays can get. He must have been rooting for USC, too. (Sore loser? "The eyes of Texas are upon you!") The instant replay official at the Rose Bowl was Mr. Dick Honig from the west coast, surely a dependable official. If you think that Mr. Honig was trying to herd cats when he reviewed the play, you've got a right to your opinion. But I'm not going to second guess Dick.

I don't think hockey, rugby, soccer, tennis, volleyball, football, etc, are anything like baseball. Officiating in sports in which action ceases with a whistle is blatantly different from baseball, in which several plays bunch up on each other faster than lighting a match to gasoline.

Continued...