Good luck to Coach Johnson and his North Park program. I have had the privilege of knowing Luke since his playing days in the Elmhurst Colt League decades ago when I was umpiring that league. It was an honor to continue my officiating while an umpire at NPU (and to have been the assignor at NPU since his hiring there). I'm going to miss working there and seeing Luke, as I left last August that sewer known as Illinois. To Luke and the others in the CCIW, including to the many fans of the teams in that fine conference, I wish nothing but the best.

Godspeed...

Terry Bevington

Quote from: Gregory Sager on May 12, 2012, 09:12:14 PM

Quote from: Randy Borow on May 12, 2012, 12:00:30 AM

Quote from: Gregory Sager on May 11, 2012, 10:01:06 PM

On Javech's single in the fifth, right before the Sanchez granny, Matt Rice rounded third and was bumped by Wesleyan 3b Kevin Callahan. The ump at third called out, "Interference!", but decided not to award Rice home plate, because he claimed that Rice had not been aggressive in heading home (sort of the opposite of the Coduto play at first a couple of innings previous).

My guess is that the ump called, "Obstruction." Had he called interference, the runner would have been declared out.

You're right. I meant "obstruction". Thanks, and thanks for the follow-up explanation regarding the obstruction rule.

You're quite welcome, and congratulations to North Park on its tourney title. I am sure it's great to be an alumnus now, too. You alumni have every right to be proud. Your head coach did a fantastic job. It has been more than just enjoyable seeing him progress from that 15-year-old Elmhurst Colt League player whom I used to umpire to the successful head coach he is today and has been for the last few years. Of course, it makes me feel a bit old, but when one has been an umpire for 35 years, I guess this is to be expected.

Best wishes to NPU in the Regionals, and may their contests be free from injuries and issues.

Quote from: mr_b on May 12, 2012, 12:03:32 AM

Quote from: Randy Borow on May 12, 2012, 12:00:30 AM

Quote from: Gregory Sager on May 11, 2012, 10:01:06 PM

On Javech's single in the fifth, right before the Sanchez granny, Matt Rice rounded third and was bumped by Wesleyan 3b Kevin Callahan. The ump at third called out, "Interference!", but decided not to award Rice home plate, because he claimed that Rice had not been aggressive in heading home (sort of the opposite of the Coduto play at first a couple of innings previous).

My guess is that the ump called, "Obstruction." Had he called interference, the runner would have been declared out.

Obstruction was indeed the call.  But he did not award the runner the following base... not sure why not.

I wasn't there, so I couldn't substitute my judgment for his, but if he believes the runner would not have advanced to the next base anyway, then he could choose to not award him such advance base. A runner who is obstructed when there is no concurrent play on him (commonly called Type B Obstruction) is not automatically granted his next advance base. We try to take in to account many factors, including, but not limited to, the speed and effort of the runner, where the ball is, etc.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on May 11, 2012, 10:01:06 PM

On Javech's single in the fifth, right before the Sanchez granny, Matt Rice rounded third and was bumped by Wesleyan 3b Kevin Callahan. The ump at third called out, "Interference!", but decided not to award Rice home plate, because he claimed that Rice had not been aggressive in heading home (sort of the opposite of the Coduto play at first a couple of innings previous).

My guess is that the ump called, "Obstruction." Had he called interference, the runner would have been declared out.

Quote from: Viking Blue on May 10, 2012, 11:13:03 PM
Any North Park faithful/former players from back in my time zone or before:

I drove through nasty traffic and ran down Foster from the parking lot at Foster and Kedzie to catch the top of the 9th today at Holmgren (which, by the way, took way longer to complete than I needed to endure).

Just wanted to share how awesome it was to see the CCIW tournament at OUR place.  Some nice upgrades put into place to spruce the joint up.

All North Parkers should be as lucky as I was to experience the strong sense of pride I did in seeing that sight...and get out there to support your Vikings!

I've had the privilege of assigning umpires to work at North Park (I don't assign the conference tournament, however, as that's done in a different manner), and umpire there myself, since Luke Johnson became head coach, and I will be not the first and not the last umpire to compliment your alma mater for its wonderful facility, including providing us with the proper facility in which to change and freshen up. NPU has always taken care of us well. I shared this in an Email to Dr. Jack Surridge last week, thanking him for the many years of service our association has been able to provide and for the support both he and Luke have shown us.

It has been nothing but a pleasure to work at NPU, and I am happy for its players, staff, and alumni that they were fortunate this year to be able to host the tournament. Having had the privilege of working the tournament several years in a row, including as crew chief, I know it's a fun and rewarding event. Lastly, I have also had the privilege of seeing Luke Johnson grow up from a 15-year-old Colt League player, when he played for the Elmhurst team in the long defunct West Suburban Colt League (I was umpiring him way back then) to the successful head coach he has become today.

I often hear from umpires outside of our association how Luke is a not too pleasant head coach, Something with which I do not agree. I see him as a tough but firm head coach who, like the rest of them, wants to win but to do so in a competitive, skillful manner. I admire his accomplishments and respect his achievements.

Disclaimer: my brother is an alma mater of Wesleyan and played for Dennis Martel when Dennis was coaching basketball way back then. I am not a graduate of the CCIW.

To those who are alumni of the other schools in the CCIW, allow me to simply but honestly say that the CCIW is one of the nation's premier D3 conferences, IMHO, one in which I and many of my peers have long enjoyed working.

Gee, thanks, Bill. Should I point my finger at you and emphatically yell that I never took steroids?   

Anyway, I don't know how this all started, or what prompted IWUSports to think I was posting here anonymously, especially since I'm here now under my real name, but to anyone who even begins to understand my situation, I am grateful. I never wish what I've gone through (and still am going through) upon anyone. It's not easy, and when you add to that cancer; my brother (an IWU alumnus, BTW) suddenly and unexpectedly losing his $100K/year job while he has a mortgage, wife and two kids; and the likelihood that after this school year I'll lose mine, well, it wears on you. It's even made me reconsider whether I'll continue to umpire, because that is difficult to do when one cannot keep his mind clear of other things.

Regards...

Quote from: IWUSports on December 28, 2010, 01:05:46 AM

Quote from: ChiSoxMan on December 28, 2010, 01:00:55 AM
Sorry, but my name is Rick. I am not Randy Borow.

Nice try.  Kind of funny you always talk about umpiring?  And that we have a few emails proving that your email is registered to Randy Borow.

Imagine my surprise, and anger, when I come back last weekend from visiting my brother and his family for the holidays and I receive an Email urging me to come to this site and see what has happened here.

I don't know who ChiSoxMan is, IWUSports, but I can assure you that he/she is not me. I just registered on this board, under my real name, solely to come here and refute your ridiculous allegations. I don't intend to post on this board as a participant except to address this issue raised by you in this thread.

I have never nor presently do not have an Email address as specified by ChiSoxMan in his profile. My Comcast Email address is my name at the Comcast domain. I use that one for professional communications involving legal things, like my teaching job, my insurance policies, my banks, etc. My primary Email address is a Hotmail one and is the one listed on my account here under my presently-registered user name of Randy Borow. Just about everyone in the baseball world knows this Email; consequently, I have no reason to hide it (on the Internet or elsewhere) or deny it.

I also don't know who you are, IWUSports, nor am I asking for such information. You say you know me. If that is, in fact true, then you must also know the serious Identity theft and Internet fraud issues with which I have been dealing for over 3 years. Among this has been Email hacking, Email spoofing, and I.P. spoofing, all of which I was woefully ignorant until it happened to me. (I confess that I am from a generation that did not have to deal with this and that wasn't part of all this technology.) These issues have become so serious that not only are my local police involved, but the USPS Postal Inspectors Office and the FBI are as well. Furthermore, much to my financial dismay, I was forced to retain an attorney, from a rather formidable law firm, who has been aiding me in the investigatory aspect of things. In fact, I may ask my attorney to contact you as a result of what has transpired here in this thread lately. I'll leave it to him to decide whether we shall contact the authorities as well.

Because of the crap that has been occurring over the years, crap that has ensnared not just me but a couple friends and family members, all of whom have had their credit compromised and letters falsely attributed to them, I have been very careful when it comes to anything I do on the Internet. I post on an officiating forum and am known there. I do not post on general baseball boards like this one because, quite frankly, as an umpire, I am not concerned with what is discussed here.

I have attempted to guard even more carefully my reputation as an assigner and longtime college baseball umpire strictly because of all the attempts to smear it via the Internet. To date, neither the authorities nor I have been successful in determining who is behind all of this. Does that mean ChiSoxMan is doing this to smear me? I don't know. I'd prefer not to accuse him or anyone else here of that, because I do not wish to damage someone else's reputation through accusations or allegations. All I know is that those postings under that screen name did NOT come from me. For one thing, some of them were made at a day and time when I was in the classroom doing my teaching duties. It would have been impossible for me to have even posted from any computer at school, because our district blocks all forums and bulletin boards, along with proxies or anonymizers designed to get around said blocks. Therefore, there was no way I could have made such postings.

I post this here and now, sir, to dispute your allegations that you made in your posts above. You are correct that I am an umpire and should not have the opinions posted here. Those are not my posts, and I hold no opinions about what has happened to Spiro Lempesis at Concordia. That doesn't concern me. In fact, I have had several umpires whom I assign contact me in the last few months about that situation, probably because he was the General Manager of a summer collegiate league that I assign or because I work in that conference. To each person who contacted me about Spiro, I politely explained that I will not comment on it. It's none of my business; it doesn't concern me.

Similarly, I don't have any opinions on any coaches mentioned in this thread or those whom I have ever seen on a ball field. I umpire in many conferences across all three divisions of NCAA Baseball. I respect what each coach in all of those conferences does. Even a coach with whom I may have had an argument or whom I may have ejected holds my respect. My job demands professionalism; I desire and intend to exhibit it.

It saddens me that my name has once again become involved in something like this, and it saddens me that you automatically accuse me of something in which I am not involved.

If you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact me at my Email address publicly viewable in my profile. THAT is authentic and is mine.