I appreciate the humour, but do you realise how hard it is for an Aussie to decipher this kind of hillbilly talk? Â*
Although there is no such system of "black balling" or "black listing" down here, I can understand the frustration. A couple of points:
1. The scorer is NOT entitled to be on the playing field and should have been sent packing with a "flea in the ear", post haste.
2. The manager should have been told flat that the scorer is NOT authorised to enter the playing field, much less to argue about judgement calls.
Sounds like "ol' Jeb" might be a ways better off away from that ground, but if I was his assignor I'd be sending him back in a 3-man crew with two of my toughest harda$$ officials. This manager AND his scorer need sorting out badly. The real problem comes if the umpire association is relying on a "contract" from this coach's team/league. I don't know how you sort that out in your system over there. Over here the league, and its member clubs, are PROHIBITED BY RULE from interfering in the selection of umpires. We've even had the pleasure of telling the League President that his "suggestions" for our District League Grand Final crew would be totally disregarded.
The fact is that coaches, managers, league presidents, etc., seldom have ANY IDEA what makes a really good umpire. They will often make judgements about an individual umpire's competence without ever having any clue themselves about mechanics, rules, interpretations, or anything else of relevence - and that includes game management. Our answer is to keep them away from interfering in assignments. If that is not possible then it is up to your assignor to eductate them as much as he can before eventually surrendering to their capricious whims over personality conflicts and the like.
I once worked for an assignor who would put the ball back into the complainant's court, saying something like "So this guy rubs you the wrong way, hmmm? Does he have a good consistent zone? Does he get the calls right most of the time? Would you rather have that or would you prefer I assign someone who is real easy to get along with but can't make consistently correct calls?"
Your assignor is the one who is in a position to influence, guide, or correct these people. All he needs is a little gumption! Now THAT'S a word I'm sure ol' Jeb has used more than once! Â*
Cheers,
Warren Willson