I just want Minor League umpires to be respected. They tell us we're apprentices, but we feel like kids. A nine-year apprenticeship? Usually apprentices make at least 50 percent of their masters. We're not even making close to that if you look at the numbers.

They put a lot of pressure on us and our kids didn't react well. They're fast and they're a good team. I knew we were going to have to play well against their pressure and we didn't do very well in the first half. We didn't have some kids execute the game plan the way we wanted.

I thought this would be a tough year for us. We had a lot of new kids and it took longer than I thought for them to pick up our style. But we came together at the right time. Last year, I was more nervous because it was our first time. This year, I was more nervous that we would make the right plays.

It's been a grind. We're trying to work on things, and it's especially important for us because we've got kids who haven't played much together. But we're definitely getting some things accomplished.

Things went right for us tonight. The kids did a nice job on Senior Night.

The trends are not exactly what we would like, but I think the reports of print's death are greatly exaggerated,