Umpire's In-Depth Shock FX Helmet Review

As an All-Star/Plus Pos hockey style mask owner, Robert Rachlow agreed to provide us with an in-depth objective review of the Shock FX helmet from Wilson for us.

We set aside 1 helmet for demo purposes and provided him a small time frame to use it. He didn't have an opportunity to use it in a game but I found his review to be genuine and more detailed then I expected.

My favorite part of the 4 page review was:

"My goal was to actually have a pitching machine shoot balls at me while I wore each of the HSMs – I figured what better way to test the shock absorbers than to see if I felt a difference. Well, I wasn’t able to get that done, so I had my son (Freshman in high school) throw a ball at my face (he volunteered way too quickly, if you ask me!).

I hope you appreciate the review as much as I did. You can read it in its entirety here in PDF format.

New Baseball/Softball Customer Choice Products

As you may know, we look at customer sales, returns and comments and select only a few to be considered a "Customer Choice" product.

UMPIRE SHIN GUARDS
Up until now, we had no shin guards listed mainly because historically shin guards have sold in almost equal amounts. However, after looking at this year's sales in conjunction with last year, 2 have clearly risen to the top:

• Wilson A3417 Charcoal Shin Guards
  This has been helped by a more comfortable padding this season
  
  
• Diamond DLGiX3 Shin Guards

OTHER PROTECTIVE

• Diamond DCPiX3 Chest Protector
  Also a favorite of staff here
  
  
• Wilson A3019 with Tan Padding
  Our special order mask added late Fall

MISC

• Wilson 36" A9775 Bag
  A great value at $40
  

That puts us at only 18 products we're ultra-picky about (24 if you include all Dalco shirt colors).

We considered adding Smitty umpire combo pants but know Smitty is using a different manufacturer this year. So we want to make sure customers like these this year as much as they did last.

View All Baseball Customer Choice Products

Female Officials Historically Slighted on Choices

One of the frequent requests we receive are to provide more options for female officials. I sense a great deal of frustration, that I think is justified, from women who do mostly basketball, baseball and softball in not having the same options that men have.

RECENT ADDITIONS
To defend ourselves a little, we are trying. Before 6 months ago, we virtually had no women sizes. In the past 6 months, we've taken a crawl before you run approach by adding:

• 2 Women's Basketball Shirts
• 1 Basketball Pant
• 1 Umpire Base Pant
• An Umpire Pelvic Protector

UNISEX ITEMS
Plus many items are unisex (i.e. gloves, ear warmers, belts, caps and socks). However, the men have and probably always will have many more choices of shirts, pants and shoes.

REASONS ARE ECONOMICAL
Frankly, female officials and umpires make up a small percentage of all officials. As a result, there is honestly less opportunity of achieving a return on any inventory invested. I see that reflected in other officials' sporting goods retailers who after adding items for females now have them on clearance.

WHAT'S NEXT?
We sincerely would like to try to add more products for our female customers over the next year. Items for women our suppliers have that we could most easily purchase are compression shorts, under apparel and one basketball shoe made by New Balance. Other items would require more research and planning to make happen but certainly not out of the question.

YOUR HELP NEEDED
Which of these items, would you be interested in purchasing? What other items would you like to have in a women's size that is not currently available?

Will These Umpire Inventions Ever Make It?

Occasionally and more so lately, I receive calls or e-mails from inventors wanting us to purchase or commit to buying their unique inventions for umpires. Here are two that I found most... trying to think of something to say to keep it positive... oh, how about "unique"?

DIGITAL INDICATOR
When I first received a message about this product, I envisioned the same shape and size as a traditional indicator but buttons instead of wheels and a digital display. I wish I had a picture to show you but the website link I was sent is no longer available. Perhaps the reason is that the inventor sought feedback at umpire.org's discussion board and was absolutely just ripped there.

The best closest visual I can provide is a picture of a barcode scanner. The shape is the same but there are 3 buttons for strikes, balls and outs down the neck of the indicator where you hold it like you would a gun, and the top of the scanner is the flat screen/display.

The biggest problem with this design was that it appears the inventor was not an umpire nor had received any input from any umpires before they actually built a prototype, received a provisional patent and established a relationship with Rawlings to make them.

UMPIRE GLOVE
No, not gloves to keep your hands warm like we have but a glove that will allow you to attach your indicator to the palm with velcro so you don't have to hold it unless you're actually "clicking".

From the e-mail I received from the inventor, they've taken a batting glove, cut off the fingers and taped velcro to the glove. Take a look or go as far as purchasing one here.

Are You Smarter Than a 4th Grader in Economics?

Did you know in some schools they're starting to teach economics in early grades? I don't think I knew what economics was until ECON 101 freshman year of college.

Yesterday, I spoke to 4th graders at Liberty Elementary, just outside of Louisville where my wife teaches and kids go to school, as part of their 4th grade economics unit they've been studying for most of the year.

I hope I didn't plant any seeds of competition 10 or 15 years from now. These 10 year-olds are more business-savvy than you could imagine. They grilled me on ump-attire.com's product selection, pricing strategies, inventory management, advertising and more. I couldn't have expected more difficult questions in a seminar of MBA students. I'm not joking.

2 side notes from my talk worth sharing:

• Kids think referee flags are way cool. And I think that is cool.
  
• When I pulled out a Referee Magazine, one boy proudly exclaimed "My Dad gets that magazine!" (Actually, his Dad is a football official with the Sun Belt conference.) Not only was it neat to have a parent among that group of 68 who is an official, but also how proud the boy was of his father for being one.
  

Meeting with Local Fast Pitch Umpires

I had the privilege of meeting with Louisville area 6th and 7th region fast-pitch softball umpires on Sunday night. We've really enjoyed getting to know many of these guys over the last few years. They really know how to have fun yet be professional and serious about their business at the same time... which is really a reflection of us here at ump-attire.com.

I was very impressed with how Steve Jones, the president, ran the meeting and how knowledgeable and concerned this group was about doing their jobs well and understanding completely changes for 2008.

I really, really (2 reallys, not a typo) appreciate everyone who helped us: Steve and George Pearl for their product testimonials and for setting up and breaking down Terry Herbstreith, Jay Lowe, Mike Burke, David Smith, Bobby Swann and Ed Klers. I know I've missed someone.

Congrats to winners of the door prizes:

• Penny Henley - Diamond Briefcase
• Richard Ramirez - Diamond Cap

The only thing I regret is not taking a group picture. Steve, if you're reading this, take a picture for me during your next meeting to send my way. I know you'll be worried about the camera breaking, which may actually be a valid concern. I said you guys were professional, not pretty.