One of the more memorable books I read growing up was George Orwell's
Animal Farm
where the animals on this abusive Manor Farm revolt and drive the drunken and irresponsible Mr Jones (Magoo/Johnson????) from the farm, renaming it
"Animal Farm". It all started out as a good idea, but the pigs running the farm eventually were corrupted by
absolute power and turned their government back into an abusive dictatorship Manor Farm.
One of the key characters in the book is
Boxer who is a loyal, kind, dedicated, and respectable horse. He is physically the strongest animal on the farm, but impressionable (a major theme in the book), which leaves him stating
"I will work harder" and "
Napoleon (pig leader) is always right"
despite the corruption. Boxer follows blindly and in the end breaks down, is killed, and sold to a glue factory for money used to buy pig leadership liquor. While I always work hard, I will not become the softball version of Boxer character in Animal Farm and follow blindly.
To that end, I received some critical comments to my recent posting
http://softballinsider.blogspot.com/2011/05/ozzie-is-to-twitter-as-ricky-is-to-blog.html whose tone sounded eerily like the Pigs in Animal Farm consumed by their lust for power and control :
Animal Farm Comment #1
"I part ways with Ricky on his recent mean-spirited attack on Mr. Johnson in his blog. Whatever Ricky's personal issues are with Mr. Johnson, he should man up and speak directly to Mr. Johnson. To use the weapon of his blog to publicly humiliate him is a cheap shot that shows the cruel side of personal attacks. Johnson is an easy target because he misses calls, makes bad ones, and some players think he is not a good ump. There are also other umps who do the same things and people who think there are umps worse than Johnson.Using his blog to run a personal vendetta against Johnson and to start a campaign calling for his firing is bullshit. This action deserves no respect nor the dignity of any one's response.I urge Ricky to remove this blog and not to blame anyone else for his own outburst. "
Animal Farm Comment #2
Dude, I don't care about all of that. You were out of line. You should be embarrassed for yourself. Not cool. And blasting him on your blog is weak.
Signed,
Not Mr. Johnson
I appreciate every reader even the Critics. Hey at least someone is reading, Critics are part of the territory and as my favorite musical artist Eminem raps
"Yeah.. Ya Know?.. Critics Man
Critics Never Got Nothin Nice To Say man
You know the one thing I notice about critics man?
Is.. critics never ask me how my day went
Well imma tell em"
SBI Response
- Anything I have ever written in the blog has ALWAYS been directly said to the face of Mr Johnson, League officials, fellow ballplayers. Is anyone out there?
- I love this league and I am calling for his firing not for revenge. I am not Captain Ahab hell bent on the termination of this official for personal gratification. My genuine intentions is for the leagues betterment. The overwhelming majority of players will tell you that he is not qualified. In fact the critic himself affirms this statement by saying "because he misses calls, makes bad ones, and some players think he is not a good ump."
- It's easy to say fire him. You need a replacement/solution. I can provide that to the league in the form of other officials. Just ask.
- Since the inception of this blog I have removed one article and printed two apologies b/c blogs were inappropriate, incorrect, or offended someone who did not deserve it. However, in this instance my belief is so strong and genuinely believe that Johnson has to go that I will not pull this posting. I stand by every word I have said about Mr. Johnson in fact I repeat them "he is incompetent, confrontational, and a cancer/detriment to the league" he must go.
- I am not embarrassed by my behavior b/c he deserved every bit of the tongue lashing I gave him b/c he is confrontational and has no honor. His lying to a league officials is cowardly and unethical.
- Control my outbursts? I haven't been tossed from a game in like 8 years. Next
- Blasting him in my blog was weak? That's funny. Where have you been for the last 4+ years as this issue has been well documented. Again I will refer to another Eminem quote
"Then why the fuck am I yellin at air
I ain’t even talkin to no-one cause aint nobody there
Nobody ‘ll fuckin test me cause these hos wont even dare
I’m wastin punch lines, but I got so many to spare
I just thought of another one that might go here
Naw dont waste it save it psycho yeah"8. Out of line? I'm the one facing the fallout from this but the official is allowed to get off the hook for blatantly antagonizing/confronting me? Where are the standards of professional behavior? The reality is now I will have to be more in-line than ever as I can never say a word during a game again b/c I have to be the better man. I have put myself in this situation where I know the official will always hold it against me, but deep down I know I did the right thing even though the price I pay is steep from a perception is reality point of view.
9. Honestly, I would rather be talking about softball, nerdy stuff like pitch selection, gloves, bats, pitch locations, fundamentals, sports psychology, hitting mechanics, in game adjustments. I get no personal joy form being ejected from a game or calling for someones job. I just want to play, but Mr Johnson ruins that joy the game brings. He's a problem.
10. If we get 1 signature or 1,000 it really doesn't matter from an administrative point of view. What does matter is that when something is grievously wrong you just have to stand up and let "The Man" know how you feel so don't be afraid to casts of vote for Johnson's Firing
b/c you can't let the power driven Animals run the softball farm, I uh mean field.
When placing the bases John taught me to place baby powder around the bases once measured (field without drawn lines) so that when they move you have an indicator to reposition them. This funny little attention to detail is what makes John a good ump. He cares about making a strong impression on the players and the enthusiastic PPWSL players take notice.
isn't perfect, but it's our home and we love it. The insider would like to recognize America
and as a tribute I will replay possibly the best rendition of the National Album ever performed - Whitney Houston 1991 Giant-Bill Superbowl
was given a two game suspension by 
who we all know from my previous posting over the years