I had a long discussion with another umpire who is at that next level today about this scenario. He had an interesting take on it. He said "Hey, if the guy is crazy enough to step into your discussion, let him have it. Peel away and go to your position".

There was a little more to it than that, but that was the essense of the talk. Pete, he also more or less affirmed what you were saying about how you just have to sort of "take it" sometimes.

Personally, I don't think at the college level that anybody "needs" protection from a partner. If an umpire has made it to that level, they have usually shown the ability to handle coaches fairly well eh?