Anyone who has ever officiated a sporting event ant any level will tell you it is not as easy as it looks and you can never make everybody happy all the time.

For 17 years, Joliet’s Marc “Muss”  Musser umpired USSSA softball and while probably not pleasing player and coach along the way, made his job look like a walk in the park before retiring in 2001.  Marc started umpiring in 1984 and attended the USSSA National Umpire Clinics from 1984 through 1990.  In 1985, he joined the Joliet Park District which later became USSSA affiliated.

Marc umpired many state tournaments over his career which included Classes A through E in the Men’s program and Classes B, C, and D in the Women’s in Joliet, Downers Grove and Rockford.  He also did USSSA Divisional Tournaments and a Class A Women’s N.I.T in Rockford.

When asked if there was a memorable game he had umpired, Marc listed a title game in the late 80s early 90s between two rival teams, one from Joliet, the other from Rockford.  As the home plate umpire, this game may have been one of the shortest he was involved in.

“On the first pitch of the game a Joliet player hit a grounder back at the pitcher and was out,” recalled Musser.  “The player returned to the dugout and threw his bat against the fence and was ejected.  With no one to take his place, the game ended in a forfeit with only one pitch being thrown.  Needless to say I heard about this situation in Joliet for years to come”

Over the years, Musser felt the USSSA did things the right way.

“I was always impressed with the way the USSSA (namely in Rockford) ran the program in Illinois, especially Brenda Paulson.,” said Musser.  “I played softball in the early 70’s in another association and was very disappointed in their tournaments.  Always enjoyed coming to Rockford to umpire.”

Along the way Musser got to work with and learn from other umpires who have found their way into the hall of fame.

“I very much enjoyed umpiring with fellow inductee (2006) Irv Porter” Musser said.  “He taught me a lot about the game.  I remember he and I would sometimes call eight to 10 games in a row at tournaments on a weekend.”

In 1991 he was awarded the highest honor for a season when he received the Illinois USSSA Umpire-In-Chief Award.