I thought my hyperbolic statement was an obvious joke. I am totally with you on the difficulty aspect and the time it takes for the game to slow down. You sell athletes who play the sports short, however. We are schooled on the rules when we are provided with proper coaching. I'm reminded of this umpire I had in HS who I knew because my friend's dad schooled with him at umpiring school. When I played, the MLB was going through its steroid era and the offensive numbers being put up were like nothing ever seen. There began a trend with certain types of pitchers, namely Greg Maddux, who could work off the plate with consistency. MLB umpires began giving strikes to pitchers who could regularly paint the black within six or so inches. Some umpires went even further and in recurring cases they would consistently call strikes when the pitch was a foot off the plate. Well, this umpire that I knew, he liked to think he was a MLB umpire. He went to the MLB umpiring academy and everything. He wore really nice gear; he took his profession so very seriously. Yet, the rule book clearly defines what the strike zone is. It's actually not a strike when it's off the black. It's not a strike when it's a foot off the plate. As a player I knew this but this professional umpire I had to play with didn't seem to be aware of it. He didn't seem to be aware at all that a hitter can do very little with a pitch a foot off the plate. He was hot shit though. I'm just glad he knew the rules because he was not an athlete and, therefore , free from bias or ignorance. No, there are umpires and referees who call the game according to their own interpretation or misunderstanding of the rules, as there are referees who do show bias towards or against certain players or teams. In a lot of instances it is just plain ignorance, but truly, when it's so willful and obvious, I do at some level find myself disgusted toward their humanity. Not all of them, of course.
