Although it has been a few day lapse in writing, I have been able to take in so much in these last few, very busy days of week 1. My initial assumption of writing every day may have been a little over achieving....weird for me, I know.
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were filled with morning class sessions from 8 - 12:30ish, lunch, and field work from 1:15-6:00 PM. After week one completetion, we have now finished Section 9 and Section 1 in the Baseball Rules Book. We have also gone over all appropriate footwork, mechanics, terminoligy, and signaling for all possible situations with no runners on or a runner on first base. The Jim Evans school focuses on situations- one step at a time- literally. I have quickly learned what an art umpiring is. Each step a professional umpire makes is meaningful. Each step is made at a certain angle on the field, each has a distinct purpose, and each must be done in precision. At school, if your turn is not perfect (no one has yet to perfect any drill), an instructor is right there to tell you what you did wrong and how to fix it next time.
We have now had our first two tests and have begun to recieve homework on a nightly basis. Homework consists of rule interpetations, drawing diagrams of plate and base umpire responsibilities and actions on certain situations. These are called our Positioning Reports.
The last few moments of the day always seem to be the hardest ones to stay focused. In umpiring, this is especially true- it takes a strong amount of focus to have the same intensity in inning 7 as you had in the top of the 1st. Jim Evan's has coined a drill that forces his umpires to focus as the last drill of the day. Jim stands in front of the students in right field and says, "We're not looking for 6 inning umpires!" over the blow horn. The drill goes like this: Every time Jim says "Go", all umpires begin jogging (all are lined up military style of course) until Jim says "Stop", at which point we put our hands on our knees, in position to make a call signal. Each time a call is made (Out of Safe), the next "Stop" is to be the other call. Simple drill, except there are a few wrinkles...If Jim says "Reverse the Call", it means that the next call is to be the opposite of what is next. As you can tell, it is pretty embarassing when we are on an Out call, and someone throws up a big Safe call. Once a mistake is made, all members in that persons group have to start again, and it is marked in their final evaluation. Again, "We're not looking for 6 inning umpires".....After every few calls, he instructs us to all turn a different direction, military style "About Face", "Left Face", etc, to throw further confusion. During the entire drill, the 20 instructors are in the students faces trying to distract them by mocking calls, yelling, saying clever things like, "I'm going to SAFEway after this", or "Let's go to OUTback tonight"......Messed up huh? It is a good feeling to have your group get this drill right to say the least.
I have gained quite a bit of respect for the way Jim runs this school. The night before our first test, I was studying with a few guys in the lobby and Jim (in sweatpants and sandals) came walking to our table, asking if we had any questions on the test or anything he could help us out with. He was going by each student's room that night to see if there was anything he could do to help the students out. It showed quite a bit of character. What is great about this is the way Jim approaches teaching. His style is very down-to-earth. He does not come off as someone who acts better than anyone at all, and has specifically said several times that he is not better than anybody. Jim is an absolute motivational speaker who has carried a winner's attitude with him I'm guessing his entire life. He is someone who I do look up to in the way that he inspires people with simple, positive thoughts. In my first few years of high school and even college, I used to think that I probably shouldn't raise my hand because I thought my ideas were too simple. I have since learned that simple is the best way to relate to people- I see myself hopefully being to help people some day the way motivational speakers do.
As mentioned earlier, there was a Wednesday night Bible Study at the hotel, and what an awesome getaway that is and will be throughout the entire 5 weeks. The current chaplin for the Tampa Bay Rays comes up each Wednesday to hold a study with students at the academy. There were about 6 guys at the study and everyone seemed to open up a bit and explain how God has changed their lives. Talk about a way to feel like you have the world lifted off your shoulders when you're fighting for a job/possible carrer! Everyone walked away with something new (as always) after the study. There were 3 guys who asked to be prayed for- in specific- they are at school, but are not 100% positive if umpiring is the road for them (I was one of them). It was great to hear everyone put their faith in God that he had a plan for all of us.
I am looking forward to the next one on Wednesday night.
Here are a few simple bits of wisdom I learned from the Good Book:
- All who draw the sword will die by the sword
- He is with us always, until the very end of all age
Thanks
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