RefBlog

A merry rant of nothing in particular

The other day I was chatting with a guy who didn't know a whole lot about reffing, which meant the subject naturally turned to violence. It really shouldn't - but that's still the primary coverage we get in this country (aside from the occasional box score of a MLS game, if there's room). I probably feed into a bit, with my searches for news specifically about referees. Most of it is "that ref sucked" followed by something to the effect of, "this unbiased reporter" or something worse like a ref being beaten, stabbed, or saying I've had enough crap, gimmie the money.

Every once in a while, there's a positive story, but it usually has one sentance, "And little Jamie is also a certified soccer referee!" Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course, but precious little is actually being done to tell people just what that entails. Having seen the kind of abuse thrown at kids not yet old enough to drive (by people old enough to be their parents and grandparents no less), it's a bigger deal than just one sentence. I know, that's part of the reason I started this site, but it's frustrating.

I've had one semi-positive experience with the media since starting this, with a sports writing for a local (somewhere) paper called "The Sports Lounge" - it started out as the usual bit of ref bashing, but he ended up replying to my email. It was a nice, albeit brief, exchange that ended when I wouldn't provide my name and address for a letter to the editor. I thought about it, but I'm just not ready for that yet. Instead I said that he was free to use any of my previous emails to him, and asked him to take that information and do a follow-up piece - that he could use his position in the media to follow up on the game he ranted about, and maybe see just what happens: that the refs don't just pack up and go home - that a terminated game is far more work than finishing it. It could have been a marvelous piece educating the public on just what it is that we do - but I never received another email after that last request. It seemed, if I wasn't going to be adversarial, it wasn't going to be worth it.

And I wonder why I sometimes get cynical.

For some reason, we also talked about equipment, and more specifically flags. I think it was because of the old tongue-in-cheek saying about linesmen being able to beat themselves out of a situation with their flags. This is, of course, entirely untrue... at least in this country. The flags used in this country are far too wimpy to survive even a mild paddling, let alone a scrum for survival. Flags sold in the US are almost universally made of a poll of very light plastic, are able to swivel so they never get tangled up, and have an equally light material attached as the actual flag. It's not that their cheap, but for some reason the idea comes across that the flags should be very light. The only problem with this, and actually there are two problems, is that they tend to whip around and thrown out of the hand easily during windy days; the other problem is that even the best of these flags can melt. It always kind of bugs me when a center referee hands be a flag that looks like it has an erection - if your flags are crap, ask one of the ARs if they would rather use his set. I don't know how they got into that condition, and probably don't want to. Let's just leave it that it was a very hot day at the tournament and it bent over your spare shoes.

British flags, on the other hand, are big burly things in almost all respects. Some center referees like to hear flags "snap" to get their attention (some absolutely abhor it, too) - but you'll never get it with these flags. Not only are the polls solid wood and heavy, sometimes the flags themselves are perforated to let air through. Most of the British flags I've come across (at the USA Cup) weight more than US flags even if you remove the poll and weight it just with the flag material. These are commonly referred to as "BMX Flags" in the US, because of the handles that resemble (maybe they actually are) bicycle handles from dirt bikes. THESE are the flags you use to beat down unruly spectators with!

I remember at a USA Cup a few years ago, a referee from Montana was asking where to get these English flags. She was from Montana, and it was so windy that these wussy things sold in the US just didn't work. But you can't get them here. I understand there's not much of a market, but when you have the same company (Official Sports) that's based in the US and then a branch on the other side of the pond you think you might be able to do a little cross-selling. But no, if you really desire flags that'll kick the crap out of dissenters, you have to go overseas and spend a boatload on shipping.

31 May '04 - 08:55 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Your respect is just awe inspiring

The State Cup is wrapping up, as the finals for the various age groups are coming around. I had an AR1 (team-side) for a 14 girls final. The game itself was pretty good - the field, although suffering a downpour several hours prior (it rained on and off throughout the game) held up very well.

When you're the team-side AR, you're pretty much at the mercy, verbally at least, of the coach you're in front of (the other coach, if he wants to get at you, has to yell), and while I wouldn't describe this coach as a "doozy" he was mildly disappointing, because good as he is as a coach, he also teaches his kids to "game" the officials, openly insults them and their opponents. Most of it you just tend to expect - every time the ball hits an arm you get the screaming of "Hand ball!" - which would be an incorrect call if it were made; there were a few handling calls, but those were the ones that were deliberately played with the arm, not the deflections that the coach wanted.

The coach also tried to pit myself (because I was there) against the center - of which we easily identified and pretty much ignored (except to calm the coach down from time-to-time).

I guess I don't understand the point of that type of a coaching - maybe that's because I'm not a coach. How is yelling, "He [me] is watching the ball, not offsides - you got to yell it out." The safe thing for me to do, which I did, was ignore it - because he was full of crap, and the player he wanted an offside call on was a step behind the second-to-last defender when the ball was played. It was a good goal, and that team, if they won, "would be a crime to have them go to regionals. No skill." indeed did win. And yes, I think it's possible that the other team heard that.

28 May '04 - 09:24 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

The Epitome of Evil

Why isn't there the outcry about Sao Paulo's remarks like there were about Graham Poll's? What's their stated keys to success? Waste time, embellish fouls, and harass the referee. They may not practice it, Graham, but they sure to preach it.

Disgusting.

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With some good news fromt the MLS, the the league is making an effort to educate the fans on some of the more subltle portions of the Law. MLS runs all the official team websites, and this article is linked to all of them. This one's about that famous call: "He got the ball, ref!" Nice article with some nice names to back it up. Of course, there's also my humble contribution, too.

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People who dislike laws explicitly protecting referees rightly say that the abuse is covered under existing statutes. I don't disagree, but it doesn't seem to be stopping things, either. Delaware is the latest to enact a "Protect the Refs" law in the hopes that making things explicit makes the offense less common. If it works, then I hope it spreads.

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The headscarf issue in Victoria, Australia has been settled for future matches, although legal action regarding the postponed game may still be forthcoming. The player with the headscarf said she was ordered to remove it; the referee said that his interpretation of the rules said it needed to be the same color as her uniform. But all now agree that there's no inherent danger in the clothing.

26 May '04 - 08:49 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Practical examples of why we look like geeks

I've had more than one person remark that referees tend to look like geeks. Not (necessairly) because of the uniform, but because of the two watches we wear and stash of stuff we stuff in our pockets. Just myself, here's my list:

Two watches, one on each arm
Right front jersey pocket: data wallet with cards, mechanical pencil (pencils don't break and leak on your jersey)
Left front jersey pocket: flipping coin and another mechanical pencil
Right front shorts pocket: two whistles (when none in use)
Left front shorts pocket: spare, or "quick draw", yellow card
Left rear shorts pocket: spare red card
right rear shorts pocket: beeper flag receiver (if used) or empty.

If I'm an AR, one or both rear shorts pockets are in use holding team passes.

In one game, I had a pair of practical examples of why we include so much redundant equipment on our person. It was a humid day on a 13-girls game, and in the second half, I noticed that my left-hand watch had stopped. Apparently I had bumped the stop button and not realized it, and so went by my backup watch until a decent stoppage where I could reset my primary to being in rough synchronization. Later in the game, I noticed that my whistle was, well, underperforming. It was becoming less-and-less useful as the game went on - I mean normally Fox 40s, when used properly, are loud - very loud - but I was blowing harder and getting quieter results. Something was definately wrong with the whistle, but it's a solid piece of plastic with no pea to get stuck. Ahh, or should I say, eww - it's full of mouth gunk. I guess it was rather humid after all. So, down goes the Fox 40, in goes the Balilla (a rather sharp pea'd whistle I like as a backup, especially if the popular Fox 40 is being used on an adjacent field), and on goes the game... and a mental note to dunk the Fox 40 in very hot soapy water. Did I mention: eww?

Actually, that was the game for odd occurances, although fortuantely not on the field (odd occurances are usually not a pleasant suprise for a referee) - I ran into a person I grew up with as a kid. I've lived here several times before (I'm a corporate brat, which is similar to an Army Brat, except that suburbs are used instead of bases and camps), and hadn't really bothered to look him up (he was an OK kid... until Middle School where be became a jerk). I've got his card and all.... but honestly, I don't think I want to go there.

25 May '04 - 08:33 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

First U19 center... ever

About the only way you could describe the weather yesterday was cold and rainy. Oh, wait... and windy. Cold, rainy, windy (and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope) with a very soft pitch (but fortunately no standing water - thank goodness for tiled fields) led me to wear by cleats for the second time in as many weeks - which is odd for me because I would much rather wear flats when I'm in the middle, and only wore by studs once all of last year. Most refs look at me funny when I say that, but it's true, it's what I'm comfortable with, so as long as the traction is good, it's what I go with.

Of course, yesterday traction was anything but good, any there was little doubt in my mind what shoe bucket I'd dip into.

This was my first U19 center ever. I've had a few lines in the last few years, but this was my first time ever going into the middle with this age group. They're big, they're physical (they have an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope - dow! Stop that! That's silly!) and they tend to be rather vocal as well. But my assignor is... well, have I said that I've appreciated her selections of games for myself and, in this case, my ARs? She picked good ones. One was pretty new but had a good eye and was confident, the other was a kid but is an excellent referee - far better than I - who will be able to go as far as he wants in this meager-paid avocation.

The game itself went fine; the field was much smaller than what I've had lately at the State Cup, so even though these guys ran faster, harder... well, no, faster and harder - it seemed I was able to keep up with them without any of the issues I've had of late. I'm still working on running wider, and am getter better and not getting caught up with play when it comes to a quick change of possession, but I'm still far from perfect. I had one foul that I blew just outside of the penalty area, but found out from the near-side AR (the new one) at halftime that he was in. Myself, I'm unsure if it was actually inside the penalty area - the fouled player certainly fell into it, but I thought the point-of-contact was just outside - so I showed him the very subtle signal (probably the most subtle you'll never see) that lets the center know your opinion - it also lets him accept or reject without giving the AR a lot of grief. Maybe I was thinking I would waive it off because he was new - maybe because I had one AR a few years ago signal a PK that way, but in retrospect he was off and I accepted it (I had a neutral third party on-line with the top of the PA inform me so). Nonetheless, it was awfully close, and the AR didn't have a problem with my positioning of the free kick, and neither did any of the players.

But otherwise (and not even otherwise - because there were no problems) the game went fine - much less trouble than I'd expect on a U19 (and probably a lot less trouble than I'll get on any other U19!) - nice to start off with a "win" in this age group.

*Please excuse the occational Monty Python references - I have absolutely no idea where they came from (Yes you do. Ow!) (more)

24 May '04 - 08:19 - - default| Only one comment - § ¶

No puns intented

I was put on the line for a 18-boys semifinal, and had a ball - it was a great game, and we were seriously looking at penalty kicks (which would have made it a not-so-great game - but I suppose it has to end somewhere). Fortunately it didn't: ninety-three and-a-half minutes into the game on a left-to-right cross inside the penalty area, the ball was headed into the net, avoiding the possibility of the coin-toss ending another six minutes would have forced us into.

The game was between two traditional powers in the state; one was a "new" team that has come on strong at the upper levels in the last ten years, and the other one that has already made its mark nationally with runs past Regionals and into the National tournament. Styles were also vastly different, with the "new" team emphasizing speed (the back line ran just as hard up the line as back), the other on precision passes and positioning. In the end speed was the victor, even dispite the rules regulating substitutions (only seven subs per half, re-entry allowed only in the next half or overtime) - which makes their victory more impressive.

One of the coaches from the losing squad made a point to grumble at us as he left the field - but it's hard to take seriously when he flew off the handle when the other assistant and I were checking in his team. Yeah, not everyone agreed with the calls, but when so much is at stake, it's very easy to fly off the handle. Apparently this center is often used in these big games, and I know I've heard his name before, although I can't remember where.

Tonight, weather permitting, I watch a professional game, and then head back to the pitch myself for the weekend.

21 May '04 - 14:08 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

"At least the other team has the decency to do it within half-a-second of my whistle"

I had a couple of rough days at work this week - we had a project come due and we spent a lot of overtime getting it done right. When I do my projects, I have it done over a weekend during the winter, so it doesn't interfere with this precious commodity we call summer. What's worse, I was asked to ref in one of the finals at the State Cup, and because of it, I had to turn it down! Damn you, financial constraints!!

So, after a couple of days of stressful work, I returned to the field, where abuse and questions about your sanity are par for the course; which for sick puppies like me means a great stress-reliever. It was another (my second) 17-boys game, and I felt it went pretty well. My fitness level needs to improve, but I knew that already; I'm trying to reverse years of neglect done at the time when my body would have been able to bounce back much faster - now that I'm putting a serious effort to change my physique, my body has decided to play under protest. But positioning was much better - still not where I want (there were a couple of occasions where I really should have gotten closer, and a few where I was too close, but at least with the later, I'm unsure if it was really a positioning mistake or merely one of things that happens on the soccer field.

Unlike the last game, where I issued two cards, I only had one last night - but the teams were less disciplined than the State Cup match. Not just on the field (there was a fair bit of "long ball" - which is why I hedged my positioning a bit), but also in style. A lot of late challenges and the "little extra" when getting beat. For the most part, a couple words of warning slowed things down for a bit, although there were a couple occasions where I was awfully close to pulling out a card for a team infraction of Persistant Infringement. Like last time, it was very much "defense by foul" - athough a few players were more prominent than others. Graham Poll got in trouble recently for saying that EPL teams seem to be practicing diving, and while I wouldn't say that (or even agree with, if someone else said it), the home team all seemed to commit the same types of offenses, in very much the same way; I think it's more of a case of teammates emulating each other (a far cry from "practicing" it!) - it is a team sport, and they spend a lot of time together on the pitch, after all.

The card was for one person who did more than a little extra, and more than a little late - I think he was trying to see how much I'd allow (I do like a good physical game) - after the booking it never got near that level again (although the little ones continued), so I suppose we both were happy: they knew their boundaries, and I sucessfully set them. The only ongoing issue aside from cries of "I didn't touch him!" after the forcible joining of two shin guards (I could have easily burst out laughing, one cry of innocense was so ridiculous - but I was able to supress it into a smile) was of players kicking the ball away after a foul. This is defiantely kids emulating MLS - but most of the time the contact with the ball happened within a fraction of a second after I blew the whistle, and the ball was placed in what would seem a reasonable spot, if I hadn't blown the whistle (none of those boomers outside the field where it's obvious). At half-time, when the senior AR said that the home coach and players were grumbling about it, I expressed suprise, because it hadn't even registered as a possibility - how to do you fairly judge what is muscle memory and what is a deliberate attempt to delay the restart? Timing, mostly - but it was good to know about it, and when the home team decided to do the same thing (except, unlike the visitors, they took holder, about 1.5 seconds before doing it), I was able to turn the tables to the offending player:

"OK, you've made your point. But at least the other team has the decency to do it within half-a-second of my whistle." Cool beans - no more grumbling (at least that I heard or heard about) - hopefully that established what my threshold was for that type of thing. Even if it didn't - it didn't happen, so I'll live with it.

It was a good game - I felt comfortable, had fun, and the game achieved a fair result. One more tonight, too (18 boys line) - whoo hoo!

20 May '04 - 09:01 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

I love these guys!

Heaps of praise should be leveled upon the boys of Mark Morris, who remembered that soccer is supposed to be a game played by civilized people! Up one-nil, and apparently after scoring another, they asked the referees to call-off the goal, as they thought it hadn't cleared the goal line (it careened off the crossbar straight down - depending on where the defense was when the shot was taken, the AR may or may not have been in a great position to judge). They ended up with a tie, 1-1.

My best wishes, guys.

18 May '04 - 08:57 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

U17 at the State Cup

The SYRA (State Youth Referee Administrator) was supposed to be over watching my game - sort of a proving ground to see if I was actually Regionals material - I actually ran into him the night before, and he said he'd be there. My girlfriend and I tried something different with my hair (a last-ditch attempt to keep it, since they don't like men with long hair at Regionals) - a french braid tucked underneath tied up with a strip of leather. No hair on my collar.

But he didn't make it - something must have come up. Too bad - I was really looking forward to the feedback. As it is, I know there are a couple things I wasn't terribly happy with. First and foremost, my positioning in the first half. There were too many times where I got caught up on a possession change. Normally, when it comes to boys/men's games, I don't go as wide as with women - the more direct style of play seems to dictate it (along with the players being in better shape than I - number two on my list) - but it's been drilled in that this is important, so I worked on it, and on several occasions, found myself unable to switch to the other side when necessary, or when trying to do so, getting caught too close to the play. I felt I did a lot better in the second half (including in my running - why, I don't know, but it felt that way), but it was a little frustrating to not be able to do get myself where I wanted to be without getting in the way.

Fortunately, the players didn't mind, and I think my foul recognition was pretty good (the ARs said I didn't miss anything, but that's where that fourth set of eyes comes in so handy - a set not caught up in the game like those of us in stripes. But the reaction of the players seemed to be pretty good - where players thought I missed something, they seemed OK that I was catching most everything else. One team (white) was clearly the more physical, and I was worried they were trying to intimidate the other team - they had a spate of late fouls starting midway through the first half. I gave a couple players verbal warnings, which led to one simple exchange:

Player: "I'm just doing my job."
Me: "If you keep doing that job, I'll have to do mine; and mine can carry extended consequences."

It stopped them for a while, but in the second half, it picked up again, and I had to make an announcement that I didn't want to see any more late challenges. Well, sure enough, less than a minute later, a white player careens into an opponent - not really late, but still a gift, as I book him for persistent infringement.

Player: "I just tripped!"
Me: "Then you can blame your teammates, beacuse I'm not buying it."

It was certainly a foul, but yes, if his teammates hadn't been playing, "Defense by Foul", he wouldn't have been carded. It is a team sport, after all.

Second card was another gift - the near-side AR said that it was good on for a couple of reasons: it was obvious, and it slowed down the tempo a bit, keeping the kids from getting too agressive as the game wore on (score was 1-0, with white behind, about 10-15 minutes left). White was trying to keep up with an opponent down the left touchline, losing, and started grabbing jersey; not yank him to the ground hard, but hard enough to slow him down, and it seemed like a good opportunity.

White Player: "What about his arm?" (motioning with a curved arm - of which there was none, at least at that situation)
Opponent, who came in to take the free kick, starts piping in, and I ignroe the white player to keep the opponent from escalating.
Opponent (to me): "What am I supposed to do when he starts talking about my teammate like that?"
Me: "You be a man, and let me handle it. I know what the difference is between the two and that's why he was booked."

It was a fun game (it ended 1-0, too) - and I think from the man-management, foul and card angles, I handled it well, but I need to do better in the reading of the game and general fitness. The later I already knew about, and am working on (it's just such slow progress!), and the former will come with experience. It felt good, though.

BTW - I've used the RefsCall beeper flags thoughout the tournament, and the reviews are pretty good. Both in the ability to catch "missed" flags, but also for situations where there's not an adequate flag signal (I had an AR beep me to get my attention regarding a bleeding player who didn't want to leave - worked out well). Ideally, we'd never miss flags, but in reality... :) The flags themselves have been getting good reviews, including the use of the overwrap. I'm not modifying my preliminary review yet, because I'd like to see how they hold up over time.

17 May '04 - 10:03 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

The problem with the State Cup

There's a problem with doing the State Cup: you're surrounded by high-level teams, and equally high-level referees. Everybody on every side of you exudes confidence and competence - it's a marvelous marvelous experience. So, it's a bit of a downer when you go back to regular league play, and you run into issue after issue.

I was assigned to a division 3 U15 girls game (the lowest travel-division) - not a lot of skill, usually not a lot of problems, but I looked forward to it to, to get some more practice in positioning, and frankly, these games are just fun to watch because there's no pressure from hyperactive parents or coaches - they're here because they like playing, and have no delusions of scholarships.

1. 5pm: I arrive about an hour early, my usual practice.
   
2. 5:30: home player start wandering in.
   
3. 5:40: First assistant shows up. I go to the home coach, she's waiting for the parent with the passes - OK, not a big deal, as the other team isn't here at all yet. AR1 and I check the field, clearing some of the debris from the just finished track-and-field event; the nets are in good shape, but aren't staked down - a ball could easily pass underneath. There are no restraining arcs at the top of the penalty areas.
   
4. 5:45: Ask coach about stakes - she says she doesn't have any. I recommend she get some, because of the possibility of a bad call, especially if the goal area is full of people.
   
5. 5:50: Two members of the visiting team arrive - still no AR2.
   
6. 5:55: Passes for the home team arrive, but aren't laminated (this is a very hard-and-fast rule for this league) - someone pulls out some clear packing tape and starts covering them. AR1 and I start calling our assignors about our missing assistant - can't get ahold of either.
   
7. 6:00: rest of visiting team shows up (only 9 player total), but no coach.
   
8. 6:10: visiting coach shows up. His passes aren't laminated, either.
   
9. 6:20: Home's passes are ready, we check in the team and ask them to change jerseys, as we can now see they are going to conflict with the visitors.
   
10. 6:25: Visitors' passes aren't ready yet. Another call to assignors with no luck.
    
11. 6:27: We recruit a club line as it's painfully obvious we're not getting our third. We go over what we want from him - AR1 and I are going to do a bastardized dual system (technically still a DSC, it's more to do with my positioning), so I can keep track of offside - we've worked together several times, and although we tend to call different style games, it won't be a big deal with the kids we have, and we know what we'll be getting.
    
12. 6:30: Visitors' passes are done - but their roster is from a tournament, and not the league - so we can't use it (another very firm rule, of which the league has apparently done a good job informing the coaches about, because we didn't get any complains about any of this).
    
13. 6:38: New roster is hastily filled out, we check in the players (at last) - and get the home team's captains over to our side, so we can toss the coin immediately afterwards.
    
14. 6:40: kick-off, 40 minutes late. My legs, which were great for a 6pm start, are now stiff as boards. Technically we could have cancelled the game after it was late 15 minutes, but since there was no game after us... why not.

The next day, back to the State Cup, where the differences couldn't be more stark. Every game starts on time, has three amazingly competent referees... and well, I just wish every game could be at that level.

13 May '04 - 08:45 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

"I was telling them, 'Shut up, shut up, shut up!' so I wouldn't get a card for diving."

I went back from the State Cup to a few games back at the unaffiliated league - probably the last I'll be doing for a long while, as the regular youth and adult seasons hit full stride and I'll be far more busy with them.

Like last week, I've been doing the Intermediate-B division - calling it a "milk run" would be insulting, but it's by far the least intensive, both physically and in terms of man management, this league has. The refs who will be doing these games week-in and week-out should do the higher-up games and get used to the players they'll have all summer, not the guy who's just filling in for a couple of weeks.

I did have one problem, though. Me. Last night my girlfriend took me out to a dinner-party for a co-worker who's leaving on missionary work. Only problem was that it was at the "Old Country Buffet", and if you don't mind some food commentary, it's old people food. I don't mean that as insulting, but if you're familiar with the type of foods that were cooked up by the World War II generation, you'll understand. It's World War II-type food, and lots of it. Oh, and now it's all freakin' "Low Carb" - which is exactly what you don't want if you're doing multiple nights running around. There was a movement to switch from this family feed trough to something nicer (and sadly, cheaper) like Noodles & Company, especially since we had two vegetarians who would end up paying $10 for a really lame salad bar - but the people who liked it (ugh) beat us to the punch and got there early, forcing us to spent way too much money for really crappy food.

So my batteries were low - I still managed to get around, but it was a lot harder than it should have been. Gave out my first yellow card of the summer to a goalkeeper who slid for the ball, missed, and took out the attacker instead. I was tempted to just leave it at the penalty kick, but when he kept saying "Bullshit!" - there was enough dissent to tip the scale - I know some refs who would have red carded him right away for that, but I just had a talk with the captain, who took care of the issue (the captain's been around enough that he knows what is and is not allowed there). If I had to write out a report (and there I don't - you just report the names, dates, and colors), it would probably have been Unsporting Behavior, but it would have been just as easy to write it out for Dissent.

The funny bit came in the next game (although it wasn't funny until half), where a defender and attacker were going down the right flank after a ball 20-some yards from goal; they shoulder-charged each other, the striker won, and the defender fell down. The attacker ended up scoring (they won the game 2-0), and there were howls of protest from the goalkeeper and another defender wanting a foul. I said that nope, it was a fair charge and the goal would stand. The funny part came at half-time where the defender who was involved in the incident came over and said that I was correct in my call, that he actually tripped over himself. "That's why I didn't make a fuss over it. I was telling them, 'Shut up, shut up, shut up!' so I wouldn't get a card for diving." After a good laugh, we got back to the second half without a problem.

12 May '04 - 08:55 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

The Team that Cried Wolf

Last year I had a team a couple of times who gave me a hard time - last night I had them again, although after having them those pair of times, plus hearing others who have had them, I couldn't help but just be amused by them. You see, every goal from every game I've reffed them is apparently my, or a member of my team's, fault. I'm not kidding, every goal has brought at least one player from that team grousing to me (or if I'm on the line, the center - although their venom really applies to anyone wearing pinstripes). And of course, it's so bad I can't take them seriously - it's become a joke. Yes, the anger is real enough, as is the test of man mangement, but they let loose so often that their grievances just don't carry any weight.

I refer you once again to the Theory of Referee Capital, which basically states that any given referee has a finite amount of good will toward any given team. The more good will, the more likely the referee will double-check his own thoughts and/or act sympathetically toward a situation where a team protests. The act of protesting, of course, uses some of that good will, thus making the referee less likely to "give them a break" later in the contest. The Theory of Referee Capital also states that this amount of good will also carries over to later games or possibly other referees entirely. I'm absolutely positive that my team's amount of Referee Capital prevented me from getting sent-off this winter.

They guys, when they go to The Bank of RefCap, are overdrawn. So much so that the tellers laugh and giggle when they ask for money.

I left work a bit early to beat traffic and construction, and get to the field well ahead of anybody - which is not a bad thing, because I find that the field is triple-booked. First it's a girl's team who booked it for practice. Coach says it's not a problem, and they'll go to field four instead. Then it's a U18 boys game - this is going to be harder to move (and actually, I'm not prodding them to move - I just made them aware of my own schedule, for when the other teams show up), and I phone the assignor - we find out that the game's been moved... to field four. Dow!

So, the smattering of players who have shown up and I tromp on over, and I have a couple words with the afforementioned girls coach, who is still very amiable, and finds another field for his team (he says that the city, which it schedules fields, doesn't post the schedules, so this is a very common problem). (more)

11 May '04 - 09:25 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

More news of interest

Actually, not referee related… although if it becomes popular it might be. The Times is reporting that a pair of films, The Football Factory, brought to you by the same people who produce the Grand Theft Auto series of computer games and The Yank - whose working title was "Hooligans. Both, as you might imagine, bring up worries about lauding and promoting the art of hellraising in soccer. While on this side of the pond, we may not have to deal with the direct consequences of the movie, undoubtedly we'll hear about it, making it that much harder for the game to be accepted here.

10 May '04 - 14:22 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

OK, now some of the details

Thanks, SAN for the compliment. I doubt I'm on the fast track; there actually is a fast track for referees, for those who the higher-ups think can make it to a National badge or better. I have no such illusions (after all, I still have a problem with the 12-minute run), but I'll try to enjoy the compliment of being asked to go and use the privilege as best I can. Until I actually get the info on what I need to do/know before I go, I'll stay skeptical in order to best protect my ego.

I did two games on Friday - the first was a line for a pair of premier-level 13-girls, the second was the center. I would say nothing was out-of-the-ordinary on either of them. The first game ended in a scoreless tie, and the second ended 1-0 off a break-away goal in the first minute of stoppage (out of two for the second half). I didn't know if the game would end tied or not, but you could tell if one side was going to score, who it would be, as in the last five minutes they had found several openings in the defense, which had been camped out within five yards of the center line all evening - they just ran out of juice to properly defend from that spot. Apparently what he (the State Youth Referee Administrator or SYRA) liked about my performance was my positioning - specifically my going to either touch, and standing off the field of play, when needed. I hope so - he wanted me to do more of that last year at the State Cup, and I spent much of the year trying to do just that! He said he didn't have time to get a grip on my foul recognition, and let's face it, there wasn't enough going on to test my game management skills - I was just happy to put some time in the middle and get my ref-legs back. Although it's not confirmed yet, apparently I've got a 17-boys center sometime this week - always a great test of man-management!

Yesterday I had a pair of lines; I wasn't supposed to - things were re-arranged to fill some games where the scheduled refs didn't show, so I ended up going off the two I was scheduled to do these earlier, since I was already there. 16-boys and 18-boys. I've learned a last year from the State Cup, and have already learned so this time - and the center for that 18 boys was absolutely masterful: he ran like a gazelle, talked to the players well, joking with them - it was a thing of beauty. How can I explain just how well? There are times, if you do your job well, where players will come up after the game (or at another date) and thank you for carding them ("I was way out of line and that card kept me from doing something really stupid") - this guy, if it came to it, would have had players thanking him for cards they received during the game. As it was, he only needed to card one person - a gift (after the game, he said it wasn't a gift, it was a "blessing") five minutes into the game, where the keeper and a striker charged out for a loose ball 25 yards from the goal line - the striker was late and laid a mighty whack upon the keeper. He got booked, and the entire tenor of the game changed from chippy to... well, not subdued, but where they just played the game and forgot about getting at the other team. Beautiful.

09 May '04 - 15:28 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Not bad for a first Center

I wanted to title this "HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!" but at least one other site links the titles, and I thought better. But those words are passing my lips pretty frequently right now. I just finished my first center of the year, at the State Cup, and then received an invitation to the Regional Tournament.

My gast has been totally flabbered. I never even considered it - that's where the real up-and-comings, States and Nationals go. Not me.

It's not a done deal. They already sent out their invitations, although I was told they're planning on reshuffling, and even though they really liked my center today, I have a more games at the tournament where I could royally screw up.

More later. (more)

07 May '04 - 22:36 - - default| Only one comment - § ¶

Where the referee newswatch never stops

Some more interesting stuff off the internet this morning:

OK, not this morning, but I can't do this every day: The referee who who had the problem with the headscarf last week had agreed to remove himself from reffing until its resolved. However, some more news has come out about it: apparently the problem was not the headscarf itself, but the color of the headscarf. FIFA wants to have uniforms look, well, uniform - so if they wear sliding pants or under-shirts they want it to all be uniform. In the youth ranks, we really don't care - perhaps that's a bigger deal in that league, and the color of the headscarf (does it, in terms of the religion, matter? Is it like the vestments some Christian priets wear where it changes color for different reasons?) may have been approaced from the same place as different colored sliding pants. On one hand, you still want to say he should have let her play with just a question asking her to match the next game; on the other, maybe the league comes down really hard on non-uniform colors (there are leagues that do - and not just int he professional ranks). Perhaps he already asked her in a previous game. Who knows. My original commentary is here.

Not really referee content, as much as "What the hell?!" content, but apparently the penalty for bringing in a deadly weapon with the intention of injuring, possibly killing, another is only a one year suspension. Percy Matlatse was allegedly called a racial slur, which the referee didn't hear (this is not uncommon - most people are smart enough, if they're going to try to verbally piss someone off, to do with so only the receipient can hear it), "I ran off the field to go and fetch my knife out of my bag and tried to stab this player". Yes, that's a quote. Maybe I'm nuts or something, but I'd think a years suspension should be handed out for just bringing the deadly weapon to a game, not for attempting to stab someone.

It could easily have become one of my rants against coaches, but being gracious after the game is better than not at all. Tie game in the final minute of play, ball goes into the net and the offside flag is up. The center referee goes to talk with the assistant and decides that the goal stands. Players had to be restrained, coaches go ballistic; stuff that's becoming sadly more and more common... as the referees did exactly what they were supposed to do. Why would the center waive off the offside? The most common reason is a difference in opinion on who played the ball last; playing the ball does not equal richochet or even mis-playing it. The center and AR stopped the game and went over the situation, which allows them to compare notes that mere flag and whistle can't allow. And yes, the center referee can override an offside flag, and should, if the circumstances merit. What kept me from going into rant mode? Waccamaw coach Ben Schoen apolized to the refs after the game.

Nick Bowton doesn't do North Carolina a lot of favors on the literary scene, nor does his editor - maybe it was just his spell checker, an editor would have cleaned up the grammer a bit. I know you could easily reply that I should talk, but I don't know what scares me more: that someone with such poor writing skills could get paid for it (I don't, which is why I can talk), or that people actually read his drivel. The column was a rant against some referees who suspended a game for 22 minutes due to abuse from the fans. He's pissed - I say bravo! Thick skin should not be a prequisite for being a referee - it should be skill and dedication - thicker skin should come later as one becomes more confident in one's skill and ability, but it's dweebs like this make thick skin the first skill we have to learn, and thus create the vicious circle as what would otherwise been good refs quit because of the crap we take. As the National Federation likes to intone (and this was a high school game), high school soccer is supposed to be a learning experience - and if the participants (and that includes the fans) in the leaning experience behave badly, they get to learn about consequences; in this case, the game gets suspended until people behave like they're supposed to at a school event. Nick, maybe you should look at your own cretinous behavior before criticising the referees on their laudable actions.

07 May '04 - 09:19 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Second AR Outing: Much better

Had my second stint as an AR last night, and it felt much better than the first one. The league and level were the same, but we also had pre-game issues again. This time, it was a double-booking of the field... well, maybe. I went to the field straight from work, so arrived pretty early, and ran into a girls U17 coach who said that they had the field at our game-time, and that this has been an ongoing issue. I said I'd let someone from the home team know and let them work it out. They did, and it was game on.

The field was a lot nicer than the last one we had - I wonder if the quality of the field could seriously affect the demeanor of a team. Last game, any ball played on the ground skipped and wobbled over the, and let's be nice here, really crappy surface; this field is well kept up year-round (I did some games there during the fall and it was as good a condition then as it was yesterday). But myself, after having had a game to get the rust out, I felt much more comfortable on the line, no brain farts (I even had a similar potential offside situation, but didn't get caught flat footed - yea!), I kept up with play reasonably well, and was able to deal with the harsh angles much better than in the first game.

In years past a local youth club used to have a pre-season tourament, for the express purpose of getting the kinks out. They'd play a number of games at half-length to give the kids some actual playing time against opponents; it also gave us refs a chance to work out the kinks as well (and sadly, the coaches time to warm up their voices, and cause the younger kids to quit early, as what happened in my very first time reffing outdoors), instead of being thrust into a league game (one that I had only done one at that high a level before). But I think the contraction of fields this year really but the kibosh to that, and so raw I went. C'est la vie - at least I got the rust out on a blowout.

This game was actually much closer: 1-0 at half, 1-1 quickly into the second half, and 2-1 at the 89th minute. Only issue was a supposed hand-ball in a wall off a free kick. It was about 25 yards from the goal line, in the middle of the field - I had people trying to get a jump from just above the six-yard box (and conversely, people trying to get them into an offisde trap from there), the center dropped his attention from the wall to some other players, thunk went the ball, up went the screams of protest. We were honest, we said where we were looking, and after a few minutes (and a few jokes at our expense - I played into it a bit to calm them down), they agreed, "Hey, at least they're honest about it." They were happier after the 89th minute when they came out ahead.

06 May '04 - 08:40 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Referee NewsWatch

They're not perfect, but I've now seen two articles from the UK where a match went to hell, and nobody blamed the referee. Officials (for the teams, not the referees) noted that the first half was fine, and so was the start of the second, but as things turned ugly, it's clear that the fans, yes, kids take after their parents.

Some interesting quotes:

'Then apparently a woman supporting the Blacon side walked on to the pitch and started spitting at a Rhyl player.

'Then a Rhyl player was sent off and as he walked past a dug-out he swung on the supports and kicked the plastic roof to bits. I was nearly hit by flying debris.'

...

'The perspex cover of our dug-out was kicked to pieces by a Rhyl player. We are thinking of pressing for a criminal damage case to be brought against him.

'It will cost almost £200 to repair the dug out. The dressing room door was also kicked, but fortunately there was no damage.

But still, it could be worse. It could be Africa, and if you read their newspapers and do a little thinking, you'll quickly realize that they're caught in a ugly circle when it comes to referees. On one hand, there is a seemingly endless supply of vitriol aimed toward the officials - how they're incompetent, ruining the games, and just generally suck. On the other hand You get just as many stories like this one, where a referee, in this case a fourth official, is attacked. Last week, a visiting coach was kidnapped (sadly the article is no longer available), which would have me thinking twice before doing anything at even a moderate level on that continent. Of course, I sometimes have that feeling about this continent, too - but usually it's just the crap being beaten out of you here.

Finally, a little more on the pedestrian side, your typical American coach complaining about refereeing - you know, for someone who says he's not one to complain about referees, he certainly does it a lot. A couple pointers for Timpview coach Mike Anderson:

• You may not have seent he handling that led the penalty kick, but the referee was. And if you're eyes have a zoom function, get off the sideline and into a ref kit, pronto - we need you! (rolls eyes)
  
• Regarding the referee being "card happy" for issuing six cards: cards are issued when needed, when a line is crossed. Don't want cards, don't cross the line. For that matter, six cards is not a lot for a high school boys game - maybe the upper level, but certainly not unprecidented, and in many cases, expected (there's a general consensus that there's a lower threshhold for cards in high school than USSF club games) End of story. Well, no, not quite: stop your whining your gormless twit!
  

There, now I feel better.

05 May '04 - 08:29 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Believe it or not, it actually is addressed

They're not the only players who have thought about it, but they're the only ones I know who have tried it. Washington High School, in Pamlico North Carolina decided to see if they could carry the ball with their shirts. If you're unsure of just what I'm talking about, try this: untuck your shirt, hold the bottom edges out away from your body, place ball in outstretched shirt.

Cute, huh? (No, really - I'm not being flippant here. Seriously!) From the article: "We thought about it, and joked about it. We wondered what could be called. We didn't think it could be a hand ball or a high kick. We decided we would try it, so we practiced it on the sideline (tonight), and we did it. We got called right away, but it was the most fun."

The article makes it quite clear that the players just wanted to see if they could get away with it, to see if it was legal, and waited for a good time (meaning one where giving up a free kick wouldn't hurt them). They found out that it wasn't - even if 3/4 of the fields the high school team plays on have pointy-ball lines.

Maybe it happens more often than I know of, but I recall this type of scenario coming up several times in my USSF recertification classes - in these type of situations, the shirt becomes an extension of the hands/arms, and thus the call would be handling. Now, I have no idea if this calls holds true in high school, which tends to want to describe every little situation (but of course neglects too many, because until you script the game, you cannot cover every game situation). But I've found that, even though the National Federation of High Schools eschew the USSF and FIFA, they tend to stick with their rulings when their own "Rules Book" comes up short on the situation.

04 May '04 - 09:39 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

First AR outing of the summer

I split my day up a bit yesterday - first doing more of the single-man unaffiliated games I did yesterday, and I have to say I felt much more comfortable with my positioning and pace than I did on Saturday - much better. I also had, in the evening, my first game with a full crew, myself being AR1, which is the assistant referee on the bench side - although it didn't matter because both teams were playing short.

Game started out quite interesting - being first game of the season, a couple players, who didn't have passes, tried to pawn themselves off other people.... badly. By the book, we should have siezed their passes, but the center (far more experienced than I, and far better in the middle than I could have, too) just went to the team manager gave the passes back, saying the two non-lookalikes cound't play and asking them to "just be honest with me". There's a reason he was centering, and I was not, because I would have gone "by the book" (as people with less experience are want to do) and may have caused a bigger deal than was necessary - but this guy was known, respected, and the team owned up. Very nice.

As for my own performance, like Saturday being in the middle, it was a bit shaky. I think my positioning was good, and I kept up with play well, but there were a few times I made poor visual judgements that I don't think I would have at the end of last year. One involved a player in an offside position and a long ball I was sure was going to him - but it didn't. Instead it went about 20 yards inside to another player, and I was caught woefully out-of-position, as I had stopped to flag the first player. The second was an near-side offside call (which have always been the hardest for me, since many times it involves having to keep track of items at angles your eyes just cannot see); the team I flagged said the ball had been played by the defense. The player flagged was understanding (although he disagreed), but the player 15 yards upfield was not as much. As the AR, I couldn't have kept track of both the player in the offside position and the player with the ball - my eyes won't split that far apart, so I fell back on the old AR technique that is widely used: you listen for the "thump" of the ball being passed, and if it goes to that offside player, you flag. I may well have been burned by it (although they also disliked some offside calls that deflected off the defense, which isn't the same as playing it), but I'm unsure if I could have done anything better. I think in situations like that, the center would waive down my flag - as he did once where an offside player gave up on a run. So, the only alternative is to assume you did the right thing, and work through the issues with the players.

Not that there needed to be - the final score was (team with 10 players) 8 - (team with 7) 2.

03 May '04 - 08:26 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

First issue on grass: positioning

Finally, after months on nylon, rubber, and assorted other artificial surfaces, I got to go on grass. Sweet, wonderful grass. But the switch to the outdoor game brings with it a few challenges, and for me, it was apparent that issue number one was positioning.

Even though the majority of indoor games I did were half-field, and while I tried to approximate the same positioning that I would have in full-field, it became quite clear that it's just not so. First and foremost was passing lanes - I generally didn't have too much of a problem with passing lanes indoors, but I had way too many balls come too close to me today. Fortunately none of them actually hit me, but it's clearly something that'll I'm going to work on tomorrow as I have a few more games tomorrow (including one three-man crew game, where we might be able to use the toys. (more)

01 May '04 - 18:25 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶