June Bug

Hey-o last week from Wednesday night to Sunday afternoon I experienced what was called Umpire Boot Camp. It was some serious training that I went through to be a better umpire. Because of the training, I'll get a number on my sleeve and a logo on my pocket from the group called CCUA. Those two things will act as notification to the coaches that I'm not just someone that came out to umpire for the money. CCUA actually stands for Colorado Collegiate Umpires Association. I don't have any college games lined up right now, but the top graduate (not me) will be the Umpire in Chief at the Colorado High School All Star game this year and it will be held at Coors Field which is where the Rockies play. I was one of the top graduates that was chosen to work some extra games, just not THE top. Our instructors flew in from Florida, Missouri, Canada, and many just came from Colorado. The lead instructors were Bob Jones and Bill Davis. Bob worked in the MLB for a bit in the late 70's and early 80's. He has also been an umpire in 3 of the College World Series. Bill has also umpired in the College World Series and was also a part of the staff during the Olympic games in Atlanta in 96. The other instructors are a little less stellar, but by no means , came out to teach us about umpiring the little league summer games. It was a good experience for me - now I just need to get some more games.