I'm now in Tel Aviv, sitting in a cafe/restaurant with nice, free wi-fi. After walking around for a couple of hours down Allenby and around the beach, I've decided that I haven't seen the "pretty" part of Tel Aviv yet. I haven't really had time to see much yet -- I've spent most of the day working on my article (to be submitted for publication on Wednesday) at Yossi and Shosi's beautiful, air-conditioned apartment. I didn't go to the beach because a) I didn't have sandals -- walking on that sand would have been suicide, and b) I didn't have a towel.
The rest of the conference in Tsfat was really interesting. We took a walking tour of Tsfat with a guide who, while I'm sure he had our best interests at heart, I'm convinced was making stuff up. He was very friendly and wanted to relate everything remotely international to a member of our very international group. However, he would play songs from an mp3 player through a speaker clipped to his belt, which became problematic as Shabbat approached in that very religious city. He also was telling the group incorrect things about Sephardic Jews and music in the presence of our Sephardic music expert. He also insisted that the epitomy of Ashkenazic music was "If I were a Rich Man." Oy.
The next day, we had a bus tour of the Galilee, highlighting the diverse communities there. We visited a Circassian town, much to the delight of the 2 Russian-Circassian scholars there. It's a fascinating history of a people, expelled from Russia in the 19th century, who have settled in a north-south column through the former Ottoman Empire reaching from Turkey down to Israel. Following that, we visited an Christian-Arab village, hearing "George" play his string instruments and giving us a little tour of the town. We had a great Arabic lunch there, and then headed towards a Druze town where we learned about the basic tenets of the Druze religion and culture.
We then returned to Tsfat and hung around until after Shabbat and had a nice dinner amidst the craziness of post-shabbat traffic and Frummie-ness.
More thoughts on Tsfat:
While a beautiful city in the mountains, I feel like Tsfat has "gone to seed." There's garbage everywhere, and (I'm assuming it's a summer thing), it's dusty and sandy all over the place. The city is getting more and more run down (see my last post about how there's no money). While a home for mystics and the ultra-religious, I can't really see anyone else living there permanently, and I don't think many people want to. It feels like the Haredim are driving everyone else out, and while the town population most likely swells for Shabbat (people go for a "shabbat experience" like the Australian girl who sat next to me on the bus back to Tel Aviv), it appears that the continued deterioration of conditions may keep tourists away in the future, further wrecking the city's economy.
But the Galilee remains my favourite part of Israel. The rugged natural beauty is lovely. I seem to have a thing for mountains. Maybe it's because there aren't any in Toronto.
13 August 2012
10 August 2012
Israel
I'm currently in Israel for about a week and a half, taking advantage of a general lull in life in Berlin, as well as the Symposium of the Music and Minorities Study Group of the International Council for Traditional Music. This year (the symposium is held every other year), the conference is happening in Tzfat, Israel.
I haven't been in Israel in over 9 years, and never on my own as a solo traveler. The first interesting thing I encountered happened before I even left Berlin. At the airport, when I was checking in, I met a very nice young woman who was also traveling (on Pegasus Airlines, a Turkish company) to Tel Aviv via Istanbul. When we got to Istanbul and our 3 hour layover, we also met up with an Israeli (living in Berlin) who was heading home to visit his children. There was already a greater kinship amongst travelers heading to Israel than I have experienced traveling anywhere else.
I think that you'll notice through my discussions of Israel today that it's not going to be the typical "love letter" to the country that many people express after visiting. I'm seeing Israel as a (dis)functional country with inherent problems beyond the much-mentioned problems between Israel and Palestine.
My first reaction to the public Israel was a rest-stop on the highway on the way up to Haifa. The small store and cafe was overrun with religious families stopping along the way. It was hot (working its way up to 40 degrees celsius), and crowded with people ignoring many of the cultural niceties that I'm used to coming from Canada and having lived in Germany.
Upon arriving in Tzfat, I did manage to find my way from the bus station to the main street (Jerusalem St.) and even managed to get an Israeli SIM card for my phone. Walking along the circular street that had most of the city's shops, I was again surrounded by religious families. Tzfat is a "mecca" for the Jewish mystics who follow the Kabbalah, and has become a very important place in Israel for religious Jews to live. Unfortunately, the city itself is very poorly off, due to the fact that many of these Haredim do not work, and thus, do not pay taxes, draining the city of potential revenue.
The drivers here are generally poor and impatient, with traffic snarling the ancient streets. The sounds of Hebrew and English conversations are mingled with car horns as drivers try to get by people who have parked in the most inconvenient places.
In many ways, while the landscape is beautiful in the mountains,* I find myself bristling at the way in which the ultra-orthodox Jews have seemingly overtaken the city. I've heard stories, both in the news and from secular Israelis (some of whom have moved to Berlin), about ultra-orthodox Jews in Jerusalem trying to impose their customs and laws on the entire country.
While I can't speak to Jerusalem, if Tzfat is indicative of the direction the country is going (large ultra-orthodox families who do not work or contribute to the country's economy), not only will secular Jews leave Israel for countries whose politics are more in line with their own, but Israel's economy will collapse under the weight of supporting so many non-working religious Jews. Now, this should be taken with a grain a salt, seeing as that I have pretty much only been in Tzfat so far.
I'll definitely write more than these initial reactions when I return to a more "civilized" city on Sunday!
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* Israel is going through a huge heat wave and is very dry. Almost all the grasses are brown, and as my friend Assaf told me, Israel is usually only green in the winter, unlike the northern countries that I'm used to.
I haven't been in Israel in over 9 years, and never on my own as a solo traveler. The first interesting thing I encountered happened before I even left Berlin. At the airport, when I was checking in, I met a very nice young woman who was also traveling (on Pegasus Airlines, a Turkish company) to Tel Aviv via Istanbul. When we got to Istanbul and our 3 hour layover, we also met up with an Israeli (living in Berlin) who was heading home to visit his children. There was already a greater kinship amongst travelers heading to Israel than I have experienced traveling anywhere else.
I think that you'll notice through my discussions of Israel today that it's not going to be the typical "love letter" to the country that many people express after visiting. I'm seeing Israel as a (dis)functional country with inherent problems beyond the much-mentioned problems between Israel and Palestine.
My first reaction to the public Israel was a rest-stop on the highway on the way up to Haifa. The small store and cafe was overrun with religious families stopping along the way. It was hot (working its way up to 40 degrees celsius), and crowded with people ignoring many of the cultural niceties that I'm used to coming from Canada and having lived in Germany.
Upon arriving in Tzfat, I did manage to find my way from the bus station to the main street (Jerusalem St.) and even managed to get an Israeli SIM card for my phone. Walking along the circular street that had most of the city's shops, I was again surrounded by religious families. Tzfat is a "mecca" for the Jewish mystics who follow the Kabbalah, and has become a very important place in Israel for religious Jews to live. Unfortunately, the city itself is very poorly off, due to the fact that many of these Haredim do not work, and thus, do not pay taxes, draining the city of potential revenue.
The drivers here are generally poor and impatient, with traffic snarling the ancient streets. The sounds of Hebrew and English conversations are mingled with car horns as drivers try to get by people who have parked in the most inconvenient places.
In many ways, while the landscape is beautiful in the mountains,* I find myself bristling at the way in which the ultra-orthodox Jews have seemingly overtaken the city. I've heard stories, both in the news and from secular Israelis (some of whom have moved to Berlin), about ultra-orthodox Jews in Jerusalem trying to impose their customs and laws on the entire country.
While I can't speak to Jerusalem, if Tzfat is indicative of the direction the country is going (large ultra-orthodox families who do not work or contribute to the country's economy), not only will secular Jews leave Israel for countries whose politics are more in line with their own, but Israel's economy will collapse under the weight of supporting so many non-working religious Jews. Now, this should be taken with a grain a salt, seeing as that I have pretty much only been in Tzfat so far.
I'll definitely write more than these initial reactions when I return to a more "civilized" city on Sunday!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Israel is going through a huge heat wave and is very dry. Almost all the grasses are brown, and as my friend Assaf told me, Israel is usually only green in the winter, unlike the northern countries that I'm used to.
6 August 2012
KlezFactor at B-flat
On Saturday night, KlezFactor played our biggest show in Berlin to date, at the B-flat Jazz Club. This is a club that is well known to host both local and international jazz bands in a variety of eclectic styles. The club is also home to a well attended (free) jazz jam on Wednesday nights, hosted by Canadian expatriate, bassist Robin Draganic.
As you may be able to tell from the photos, B-flat is almost antithetical to Berlin bar aesthetics and is a very nice place! It's also a fairly large performance space which allows the band to "rock out" a bit more than in some other venues.
As is par for the course, our musicians are busy people, so we had to bring in a substitute to play bass with us. Fortunately, my old friend, Markus Müller from Nürnberg, was available and came up to Berlin to play with us, with his 5-string fretless electric bass in tow.
People I speak to often are amazed at how little rehearsal the band is able to get away with (without sounding like we haven't rehearsed). Before our concert in Bayreuth, we rehearsed only once with drummer Fin Panter, and for B-flat, we only had about a 1 1/2 hour sound check to all play together. What this proves is that with great musicians who put in some work on their own to learn the music, things become very easy to put together!
One thing that never ceases to amaze me about German audiences is how attentive they are. At B-flat, when the house music was turned off, everyone immediately began to pay attention to the stage as we came up through the audience. While we tuned and prepared to play, there was very little noise from the audience. In Canada, audiences would continue to talk until (and even after) we start to play. This allowed us to start very quietly, with me playing a Nign in the lowest register of the clarinet. Following this tune, in which we built to a crescendo with everyone playing, we played some of our more "jazzy" repertoire - "Negev" and "The Golem of Bathurst Manor" from our first album. We then started to bring the audience along as we introduced more of our raucous and obnoxious ("Raucnoxious?") repertoire.* Fortunately, the audience followed us where we went, and, by the time we finished (nearing 1am), we felt very grateful to have played for such a warm and enthusiastic audience.
And so, we have one more concert booked for Berlin at this time -- A return to Shakespeare and Sons bookstore on September 6th. If you're around, please join us!
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*This included a completely unrehearsed rendition of "Miserlou" that featured Markus Müller's wonderful Yiddish singing, and a very strange, free-ish version of "Fun Tashlich" somewhat akin to our recorded version from The Golem of Bathurst Manor
Photos by Marc Stephan
As you may be able to tell from the photos, B-flat is almost antithetical to Berlin bar aesthetics and is a very nice place! It's also a fairly large performance space which allows the band to "rock out" a bit more than in some other venues.
As is par for the course, our musicians are busy people, so we had to bring in a substitute to play bass with us. Fortunately, my old friend, Markus Müller from Nürnberg, was available and came up to Berlin to play with us, with his 5-string fretless electric bass in tow.
People I speak to often are amazed at how little rehearsal the band is able to get away with (without sounding like we haven't rehearsed). Before our concert in Bayreuth, we rehearsed only once with drummer Fin Panter, and for B-flat, we only had about a 1 1/2 hour sound check to all play together. What this proves is that with great musicians who put in some work on their own to learn the music, things become very easy to put together!
One thing that never ceases to amaze me about German audiences is how attentive they are. At B-flat, when the house music was turned off, everyone immediately began to pay attention to the stage as we came up through the audience. While we tuned and prepared to play, there was very little noise from the audience. In Canada, audiences would continue to talk until (and even after) we start to play. This allowed us to start very quietly, with me playing a Nign in the lowest register of the clarinet. Following this tune, in which we built to a crescendo with everyone playing, we played some of our more "jazzy" repertoire - "Negev" and "The Golem of Bathurst Manor" from our first album. We then started to bring the audience along as we introduced more of our raucous and obnoxious ("Raucnoxious?") repertoire.* Fortunately, the audience followed us where we went, and, by the time we finished (nearing 1am), we felt very grateful to have played for such a warm and enthusiastic audience.
And so, we have one more concert booked for Berlin at this time -- A return to Shakespeare and Sons bookstore on September 6th. If you're around, please join us!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*This included a completely unrehearsed rendition of "Miserlou" that featured Markus Müller's wonderful Yiddish singing, and a very strange, free-ish version of "Fun Tashlich" somewhat akin to our recorded version from The Golem of Bathurst Manor
Photos by Marc Stephan
20 July 2012
KlezFactor Road Trip
Things have been busy in Berlin! Between the editing of my dissertation and the three gigs the band has played thus far, I've been a little to occupied to blog, but it may be late, but here's a new post.
KlezFactor made its European Debut on Thursday June 28th at Berlin's Kaffee Burger club. Unfortunately, Thursday, June 28th was also the day of the semi-final game between Germany and Italy in the 2012 European Championship (or Euro 2012 -- EM 2012 for those of you in Germany). So while our audience was not particularly big, they were enthusiastic!
The most important thing was that the Berlin version of the band, with violinist Dea Szücs, guitarist Florian von Frieling, bassist Alex Bayer and drummer Daniel Prätzlich, has really come together well. These musicians are not only good musicians (important), but generous with their time and creative energies (more important), which allows us to discover something new in the music in every rehearsal and concert. The Kaffee Burger show was very tight musically, and it showcased the band and the unique sound that KlezFactor has always had in a great venue.
Our second concert was for a better audience (i.e., bigger) audience the following Thursday - July 5. We played at a great little English bookstore in Prenzlauer Berg called Shakespeare and Sons. While the venue was small, the crowd was enthusiastic as we played without any extra amplification (beyond small amps for the electric bass and guitar). Again, there was a lot of space for creativity and it felt like the band took another step towards really getting a great sound.
Earlier this week, we traveled to Bayreuth in northern Bavaria. Bayreuth is the place that Richard Wagner chose for his opera house. Wagner was also a notorious anti-semite, so it was with more than a bit of poetic justice that KlezFactor, playing our "Jew-ish" music, performed in the town.
I had been invited to give a guest lecture for the Anthropology Department of Bayreuth University, and the department was more than happy to accept my proposal to bring the band down as well. While the weather attempted to conspire against us (by making our original outdoor performance venue far too waterlogged), we managed to bring in most of the attendees of my lecture to the kneipe (pub).
This was by far the most enthusiastic reception of the band. It could have been the alcohol, it could have been the fact that these anthropologists hadn't heard anything other than Wagner live for a while, but the excitement that the band generated in this performance matches pretty much anything that I've experienced in the years that KlezFactor has been around. It makes me more and more secure in my thoughts that Europe is the right place for KlezFactor... if only it was easier to get paying gigs like this one!
Now the band kind of refits for our August 4th concert at B-flat Jazz Club in Berlin. Our bassist, Alex Bayer, will be away and we will have a special guest, Markus Müller coming from Nuremberg to join us. I'll write more about Markus soon.
KlezFactor made its European Debut on Thursday June 28th at Berlin's Kaffee Burger club. Unfortunately, Thursday, June 28th was also the day of the semi-final game between Germany and Italy in the 2012 European Championship (or Euro 2012 -- EM 2012 for those of you in Germany). So while our audience was not particularly big, they were enthusiastic!
The most important thing was that the Berlin version of the band, with violinist Dea Szücs, guitarist Florian von Frieling, bassist Alex Bayer and drummer Daniel Prätzlich, has really come together well. These musicians are not only good musicians (important), but generous with their time and creative energies (more important), which allows us to discover something new in the music in every rehearsal and concert. The Kaffee Burger show was very tight musically, and it showcased the band and the unique sound that KlezFactor has always had in a great venue.
Our second concert was for a better audience (i.e., bigger) audience the following Thursday - July 5. We played at a great little English bookstore in Prenzlauer Berg called Shakespeare and Sons. While the venue was small, the crowd was enthusiastic as we played without any extra amplification (beyond small amps for the electric bass and guitar). Again, there was a lot of space for creativity and it felt like the band took another step towards really getting a great sound.
Earlier this week, we traveled to Bayreuth in northern Bavaria. Bayreuth is the place that Richard Wagner chose for his opera house. Wagner was also a notorious anti-semite, so it was with more than a bit of poetic justice that KlezFactor, playing our "Jew-ish" music, performed in the town.
I had been invited to give a guest lecture for the Anthropology Department of Bayreuth University, and the department was more than happy to accept my proposal to bring the band down as well. While the weather attempted to conspire against us (by making our original outdoor performance venue far too waterlogged), we managed to bring in most of the attendees of my lecture to the kneipe (pub).
This was by far the most enthusiastic reception of the band. It could have been the alcohol, it could have been the fact that these anthropologists hadn't heard anything other than Wagner live for a while, but the excitement that the band generated in this performance matches pretty much anything that I've experienced in the years that KlezFactor has been around. It makes me more and more secure in my thoughts that Europe is the right place for KlezFactor... if only it was easier to get paying gigs like this one!
Now the band kind of refits for our August 4th concert at B-flat Jazz Club in Berlin. Our bassist, Alex Bayer, will be away and we will have a special guest, Markus Müller coming from Nuremberg to join us. I'll write more about Markus soon.
14 June 2012
Die Wohnung/The Flat
On Monday night, I saw the Israeli/German documentary co-production, "Die Wohnung" (or in English, "The Flat"). This film was showing in Berlin as part of the Berlin Jewish Film Festival, and has previously screened at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival and has also shown, I believe, at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York (although the producers wonder why the Berlinale, Berlin's top festival, rejected it). It was an interesting test for my language skills, as the narration is in German, most of the dialogue is in Hebrew, and some is in English (with German subtitles).
It is a very interesting film that begins with the filmmaker, Arnon Goldfinger, and his family cleaning out his recently deceased grandmother's apartment in a nice neighbourhood in Tel Aviv. One of the things that become clear early on is that his grandparents, the Tuchlers, despite living for 60-70 years in Israel, were still very much the German Jews that left Berlin in 1936.
The scene was similar to what my own family went through recently, cleaning out my grandfather's house after he passed away. However, my grandfather was in no position to accumulate possessions before coming to Canada the way the Tuchlers were. Goldfinger, his mother, and his cousins went through the grandmother's large collections of shoes, handbags, and gloves,* before getting to the shelves of German books.
Eventually, it was on to the boxes of receipts, letters, and newspaper clippings. It was here that the film becomes more than just a home movie. Discovered amongst the clippings was a news story from a Nazi Propoganda newspaper that discussed a Nazi officer, von Mildenstein, going to Palestine. With von Mildenstein and his wife on their travels were the filmmaker's grandparents.
Goldfinger then delves deeper and deeper into this mystery of how his grandparents's lives could be so entwined with those of a Nazi officer. What he uncovers is not only a riveting story from the past that complicates everything we are told about the Holocaust -- that the Nazis were evil murderers, and the Jews were mild-mannered victims -- but also people's ability to delude themselves into believing what they want to believe, and to avoid asking difficult questions.
It is a powerful film that tries to understand the complexity of human friendships as well as the power of denial and self-delusion.
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* Think classy gloves, not winter gloves.
It is a very interesting film that begins with the filmmaker, Arnon Goldfinger, and his family cleaning out his recently deceased grandmother's apartment in a nice neighbourhood in Tel Aviv. One of the things that become clear early on is that his grandparents, the Tuchlers, despite living for 60-70 years in Israel, were still very much the German Jews that left Berlin in 1936.
The scene was similar to what my own family went through recently, cleaning out my grandfather's house after he passed away. However, my grandfather was in no position to accumulate possessions before coming to Canada the way the Tuchlers were. Goldfinger, his mother, and his cousins went through the grandmother's large collections of shoes, handbags, and gloves,* before getting to the shelves of German books.
Eventually, it was on to the boxes of receipts, letters, and newspaper clippings. It was here that the film becomes more than just a home movie. Discovered amongst the clippings was a news story from a Nazi Propoganda newspaper that discussed a Nazi officer, von Mildenstein, going to Palestine. With von Mildenstein and his wife on their travels were the filmmaker's grandparents.
Goldfinger then delves deeper and deeper into this mystery of how his grandparents's lives could be so entwined with those of a Nazi officer. What he uncovers is not only a riveting story from the past that complicates everything we are told about the Holocaust -- that the Nazis were evil murderers, and the Jews were mild-mannered victims -- but also people's ability to delude themselves into believing what they want to believe, and to avoid asking difficult questions.
It is a powerful film that tries to understand the complexity of human friendships as well as the power of denial and self-delusion.
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* Think classy gloves, not winter gloves.
13 June 2012
And now, Klezmer (sort of)
As many of you devoted readers know, the title of this blog is "Adventures in Klezmer." Many of you have also put up with my general rants about baseball, traveling, and whatever else popped into my head that I thought was blog-worthy.
Well, this summer, I have a few concerts booked here in Germany and the Klezmer (sort of) will begin!
Since I've returned to Berlin, in addition to finding a room to live in, looking for some work, getting set up in Germany again, I've also begun rehearsals for the aformentioned upcoming gigs.
It has been interesting, as, for musical reasons, I've replaced three of the five band members in Euro KlezFactor. It's never an easy process to replace somewhere, but for the first time since I've begun rehearsing my music in Germany, I feel like my musical vision is finally being realized.
It's a hard thing to put into words. While the previous musicians were good, with the current group, things are easier. They just understand where the music is going more naturally, which allows me to be freer in my own playing. Another benefit is that the musicians are bringing more of themselves into the music, which takes it into different directions that it has been in before. What this does is makes the songs (some of which I've been playing for 8 years) feel and sound new again, which also adds vitality to my own playing.
We have several concerts coming up, beginning with one on June 28th at Kaffee Burger in Berlin. In my eyes, this is the perfect venue to unveil the German version of KlezFactor. It's part of a Yiddish music series called KB im KB (Klezmer Bund im Kaffee Burger). The series, founded by accordionist Franka Lampe and singer/instrumentalist/songwriter Daniel Kahn, has been running monthly at Kaffee Burger since January. Some great artists (including both Franka and Daniel, and Vancouver's Geoff Berner) have played the series and from what I've been able to tell, they've been well attended. The bar itself is also more of a rock bar, so KlezFactor's more heavy influences overpower the venue. We'll unleash the full electric power (the "Kleztricity" if you will)* of KlezFactor on the unsuspecting masses.**
Also, Friday brings another klezmer jam session at Cafe Oberwasser. Should be great fun amidst all the soccer (football) that's going on around here!
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* No, I didn't make "Kleztricity" up right now. It's the title of one of our tunes from our first album, The Golem of Bathurst Manor (available on iTunes and CD Baby)
** We hope there are masses.
Well, this summer, I have a few concerts booked here in Germany and the Klezmer (sort of) will begin!
Since I've returned to Berlin, in addition to finding a room to live in, looking for some work, getting set up in Germany again, I've also begun rehearsals for the aformentioned upcoming gigs.
It has been interesting, as, for musical reasons, I've replaced three of the five band members in Euro KlezFactor. It's never an easy process to replace somewhere, but for the first time since I've begun rehearsing my music in Germany, I feel like my musical vision is finally being realized.
It's a hard thing to put into words. While the previous musicians were good, with the current group, things are easier. They just understand where the music is going more naturally, which allows me to be freer in my own playing. Another benefit is that the musicians are bringing more of themselves into the music, which takes it into different directions that it has been in before. What this does is makes the songs (some of which I've been playing for 8 years) feel and sound new again, which also adds vitality to my own playing.
We have several concerts coming up, beginning with one on June 28th at Kaffee Burger in Berlin. In my eyes, this is the perfect venue to unveil the German version of KlezFactor. It's part of a Yiddish music series called KB im KB (Klezmer Bund im Kaffee Burger). The series, founded by accordionist Franka Lampe and singer/instrumentalist/songwriter Daniel Kahn, has been running monthly at Kaffee Burger since January. Some great artists (including both Franka and Daniel, and Vancouver's Geoff Berner) have played the series and from what I've been able to tell, they've been well attended. The bar itself is also more of a rock bar, so KlezFactor's more heavy influences overpower the venue. We'll unleash the full electric power (the "Kleztricity" if you will)* of KlezFactor on the unsuspecting masses.**
Also, Friday brings another klezmer jam session at Cafe Oberwasser. Should be great fun amidst all the soccer (football) that's going on around here!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* No, I didn't make "Kleztricity" up right now. It's the title of one of our tunes from our first album, The Golem of Bathurst Manor (available on iTunes and CD Baby)
** We hope there are masses.
16 May 2012
The Umpire and Mr. Lawrie
For those of you who aren't baseball fans, you may not need to read any further. It's been a while since I've blogged, mainly because I've been back in Toronto for the past few weeks and nothing much has happened.
And then last night, in the bottom of the 9th inning of the Toronto Blue Jays baseball game, the proverbial shit hit the fan. I'm always particularly attuned to "umpire incidents" in baseball because of the 15 years that I've spent as an umpire myself. I've worked some of the highest levels of fast-pitch softball in Canada (and one tournament in the US), and have seen the elite of the sport duke it out.
I am also no stranger to conflict on the ball diamond. I have ejected players and coaches, been threatened, and I've even been spit on.* However, I would genuinely have to say that despite the levels of intensity** that can be reached in games that I've officiated (a Canadian Championship, and several high-profile international club-team tournaments, as well as countless Ontario provincial championships, National qualifiers and league championships), I'm always astounded with umpires who carry grudges or make calls just to show up a player.
Which brings me to the "Brett Lawrie Incident."*** Toronto third-baseman and BC native, Brett Lawrie, a young (22) firebrand of a ball player if I've ever seen one, basically went ballistic, and threw his batting helmet in the direction of the umpire (Bill Miller) who had just called him out on a third strike that appeared to be high. You can read about the incident yourself here: CLICK ME!
What bothers me, in addition to Lawrie's childish behaviour, is the umpire. If you watch video of the incident, you will notice that Lawrie is ejected practically immediately after turning around following the umpire's 3rd strike call.
What this tells me is that the umpire DELIBERATELY was going to call any borderline pitch, and then eject Lawrie the second he made the slightest complaint/protest. Why? Probably because he didn't like the way Lawrie started running down to first base before he had made the call the VERY outside pitch that ended up being strike two. Miller's thought process was probably along the lines of "That rookie son of a bitch. Who does he think he is trotting down to first base^ before I make the call. I'll show him." Then, he proceeded to call the next pitch, borderline at very best (according to pitch data), but was actually very high on a batter like Lawrie, who is not over tall, and who crouches down when he hits, strike three. This smacks of blatant predetermination by the umpire, and then a quick trigger.
Umpires, when they know they've made a mistake and blown a call, will generally look for ways to keep from ejecting players for their own errors. This was the opposite. A deliberate call to make the rookie^^ look bad. This brings the level of officiating down, and causes players, fans and media to doubt the integrity of the umpires.
Overall, Major League Baseball umpires have a sparkling reputation of being impervious to bribery, unlike some sports *cough* soccer *cough*. Their integrity has been unimpeachable, and they are well paid in order to make sure that they are not vulnerable to being paid off. However, petty grievances and "look at me" tactics are beneath Major League umpires.
While Lawrie was a jackass, Miller, hopefully, will not get off scott-free.
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* Many of my fellow "Blue" remember the "Niagara Falls Incident," one of the only real incidents of its kind in Ontario Men's Fast-pitch softball.
** While the amount of money involved in the ball that I have officiated doesn't even come close to matching the Major Leagues, I've seen players and coaches go off on "Lawrie-esque" tantrums before.
*** Word has come down that Lawrie is being suspended for 4 games for his part in the fiasco.
^ If you haven't watched Lawrie play, he is possibly one of the most intense players in the league and doesn't "trot" anywhere. It was more of a full blown sprint.
^^ Yes, I know that Lawrie is technically not a rookie.
And then last night, in the bottom of the 9th inning of the Toronto Blue Jays baseball game, the proverbial shit hit the fan. I'm always particularly attuned to "umpire incidents" in baseball because of the 15 years that I've spent as an umpire myself. I've worked some of the highest levels of fast-pitch softball in Canada (and one tournament in the US), and have seen the elite of the sport duke it out.
I am also no stranger to conflict on the ball diamond. I have ejected players and coaches, been threatened, and I've even been spit on.* However, I would genuinely have to say that despite the levels of intensity** that can be reached in games that I've officiated (a Canadian Championship, and several high-profile international club-team tournaments, as well as countless Ontario provincial championships, National qualifiers and league championships), I'm always astounded with umpires who carry grudges or make calls just to show up a player.
Which brings me to the "Brett Lawrie Incident."*** Toronto third-baseman and BC native, Brett Lawrie, a young (22) firebrand of a ball player if I've ever seen one, basically went ballistic, and threw his batting helmet in the direction of the umpire (Bill Miller) who had just called him out on a third strike that appeared to be high. You can read about the incident yourself here: CLICK ME!
What bothers me, in addition to Lawrie's childish behaviour, is the umpire. If you watch video of the incident, you will notice that Lawrie is ejected practically immediately after turning around following the umpire's 3rd strike call.
What this tells me is that the umpire DELIBERATELY was going to call any borderline pitch, and then eject Lawrie the second he made the slightest complaint/protest. Why? Probably because he didn't like the way Lawrie started running down to first base before he had made the call the VERY outside pitch that ended up being strike two. Miller's thought process was probably along the lines of "That rookie son of a bitch. Who does he think he is trotting down to first base^ before I make the call. I'll show him." Then, he proceeded to call the next pitch, borderline at very best (according to pitch data), but was actually very high on a batter like Lawrie, who is not over tall, and who crouches down when he hits, strike three. This smacks of blatant predetermination by the umpire, and then a quick trigger.
Umpires, when they know they've made a mistake and blown a call, will generally look for ways to keep from ejecting players for their own errors. This was the opposite. A deliberate call to make the rookie^^ look bad. This brings the level of officiating down, and causes players, fans and media to doubt the integrity of the umpires.
Overall, Major League Baseball umpires have a sparkling reputation of being impervious to bribery, unlike some sports *cough* soccer *cough*. Their integrity has been unimpeachable, and they are well paid in order to make sure that they are not vulnerable to being paid off. However, petty grievances and "look at me" tactics are beneath Major League umpires.
While Lawrie was a jackass, Miller, hopefully, will not get off scott-free.
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* Many of my fellow "Blue" remember the "Niagara Falls Incident," one of the only real incidents of its kind in Ontario Men's Fast-pitch softball.
** While the amount of money involved in the ball that I have officiated doesn't even come close to matching the Major Leagues, I've seen players and coaches go off on "Lawrie-esque" tantrums before.
*** Word has come down that Lawrie is being suspended for 4 games for his part in the fiasco.
^ If you haven't watched Lawrie play, he is possibly one of the most intense players in the league and doesn't "trot" anywhere. It was more of a full blown sprint.
^^ Yes, I know that Lawrie is technically not a rookie.
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