RefBlog

About that time again

Once again, as we enter the holiday season, new entries on here will be few and far-between; since I only have one more day of reffing indoor left, and outdoor doesn't begin until April or May, that leaves fewer still.

So what does that leave us. Well, not much. Do you really want my weight-training stats? I didn't think so. But there is one late-year tradition that will continue: the Ten Best articles of the year. It gives me a chance to go over what I thought and wrote about for the year (and possibly yourself), make a few more comments now that time has passed, and keeping the blog from dying.

If you have any favorites you want to see included, be sure to let me know.

Unless you really want to know how I'm doing on the calf raise (90 pounds). (more)

29 November '06 - 15:33 - - default| Only one comment - § ¶

One down, one to go

I arrived early to unpack the goals (I was able to get some help this week, since the doors that the prima donna pointyball team (which won't get a bowl game, by the way) make us store them behind, outside where it's below freezing, is too small. As I'm unpacking, I run into the coordinator, say hello... and get nothing. Hmmm...

Before the first game begins, I ask if she's seen my email, which I sent four days ago - she says no. I can actually understand this, as she does this part time and is a full-time student. I've seen her reply to emails much quicker in the past, so it makes me wonder if she's waiting to see if I'm having any buyer's remorse with my quitting. I don't. So I let her know verbally, she says OK, and I begin the games.

The games, again, were nothing special or terribly interesting. The second game had a few minor fireworks, but nothing terribly exciting. A loose ball above the penalty area, and the goalkeeper and an attacker both go after it; the attacker tries to poke it forward but ends up poking the keeper instead, blows-up with the whistle and ends up getting a card and nearly a send-off for language - almost a duplication of what happened the last time I refereed the goalkeeper's team last time (and it was, again, the keeper's opposition). Also, like the last time I refereed that keeper's team, I warned one player for getting too involved. I talked to another ref after that game (he was picking up his game cards), and he knew exactly who I was talking about - he's not a hack, but his level of effort far exceeds his skill, and it ends up getting him in trouble, as his opponents pissed off at him. This is what happened today, too; I gave him a warning about something, then he fouled another player a minute later, who nearly lashed into him. I was only a few yards away, immediately blew the whistle, then the guy stepped in and grasped for the guy and I stepped between. I ended up booking the guy who was fouled, mostly because he really over-reacted; I ended up having a couple of words with his teammates saying, saying yes, I know what he does, and I even booked him the last time I had his team. Less than a minute after the restart, bang he commits another foul, and out comes a third card before you can say "persistent infringement." So it looks like the coordinator is going to have to put into practice the other rule she said she would implement, the extra suspension after three yellows.

25 November '06 - 13:04 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Bad habits

I was doing the four games I was scheduled for and was bored out-of-my-mind. It has to stop - I will develop bad habits. And so, it shall. I've sent in an email requesting that I be assigned no further games; assuming there are no snags and I don't back down (which I really doubt), that gives me two more days to work... and then my entries here will become much more scarce!

I want to concentrate on training: I've hired a personal trainer so I can go beyond what I've done the last two winters, which despite effort, didn't advance me anywhere. And doing these games are only distracting me from doing what I want to do, and what I need to do, if I want to get that elusive State badge. The flip side, and probably the sad side, is that I don't want to be doing these games anymore. I think I understand why Sandra Hunt, and soon Brian Hall, did after they hit the age-limit on the FIFA list, why the retired from reffing altogether. It's hard to move down the ladder. OK, so I'm not very high up on the ladder, but the games aren't challenging me, and well, see the first paragraph.

It probably doesn't help that the coordinator keeps instituting these Mickey Mouse rules - god know what she'll do, as I often feel like I'm the voice of sanity. This time it was she wants a player to be fouled for playing on the ground, at any time - regardless if it's actually dangerous or not - regardless if there's another player around them or not. This type of stuff just makes things more difficult for the rest of us during the summer - but I can't make it my job to keep correcting them, especially when they're on a binge. Maybe I'll be back later, I don't know. But I've have another weekday, and half a day on the weekend, which I can devote to training, or my wife, or something else that I can't normally do during the summer because I'm far too busy with the whistle.

I did get one zinger in today, which caused one player to laugh out loud: a player I just fouled complained, as I was setting up a wall, that if the guy screamed (more of a cross between a yelp and a "arrgh" if you ask me), then he should really be hurt - basically implying that he was faking it. I replied: "I've been reffing seven years, I'm pretty cynical when it comes to anything, including screams."

I also had people yet again insist that handling was determined by advantage. I know the coordinator wants to actually call it that way; my guess is that if I stay out of there, she probably will. Ick.

---

Addendum to the "Year in Shoes" entry: the new flats are too small I have two sets of Puma shoes, but apparently they're making them all smaller this year. I'm going to try some running stores and see if they have some black running shoes around (last time no luck, but what the heck - I'll have more time to look now).

23 November '06 - 10:10 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Some referee news of note, and they're mostly violent

I haven't done this in many many months - links to interesting referee news of note. But we'll start with a few normal articles before the gore-fest.

"Hanging up those refereeing boots?" is a nice simple column about what it's like to be a referee. OK, not as mean as when I say it, but it's probably better PR than this blog for recruiting new officials.

This one's not a whole lot different, with a couple of exceptions, and one thing I found amusing: it's not in the first person, it's a little darker, and while it's an article about referees and the shortage of them, it includes information not on how to be a referee, but how to register your kid to play. What's missing here?

This made me laugh: Thierry Henry complaining that soccer referees can't be spoken to. I can't say a whole lot for Henry, but I've found that referees do a crapload of talking during a game - but all too often it's the players who refuse to listen, or refuse to have a dignified end to the conversation. Civil communication is a two-way street, and I don't see the players willing to drive it.

From the, "When it happens to me, I'm quitting" files:
another referee was attacked in September - normally a split lip isn't a problem with your job, but it is when you're a professional musician. The person who assaulted him, Arnulfo Ibarra, is due back in court on December 11.

In Sydney, "'It was sheer, unadulterated savagery'" as players and spectators broke out into a brawl, and one team started trying to rip the doors off the locked referee's locker room. God knows what would have happened if they didn't have that - I've called the police twice (and had them show up at a third) in my refereeing career. A parent allegedly stomped on a 16-year-old's head during the melee. One of the teams has been banned from playing.

The local Hispanic league around here has an unruly reputation, but I'm not aware of anyone being chanced down by a man with a machete. Unfortunately, I do know that they've been chased out before (one reason I don't work those games). No word on if the attacker, Samuel Lopez, was arrested or not.

On one hand, you could, just call this another article about the growing referee shortage. On the other hand, keep in mind that this article is in England, what many consider soccer nirvana, and games are getting canceled because of lack of referees - and most games only use one (something for those in the US to think about, who are used to U8's have three-man crews).

Of course, we have more than our share of problems with referee abuse here here, and if my experiences say anything, the attackers probably don't even know the basics of the game. Oregon is including security escorts from high school games - I wish my state would follow suit (but that would be expecting our high school league to give a rats ass about the referees).

One thing that's nice, is seeing the paper stick up for the referee, instead of using the easy outs, like saying the referee was "controversial" or made "dubious calls" - the referee did his job, nothing less, nothing more. But they also point out that, had the NFHS not had it's ridiculous flaccid red (aka the "soft red" where a player with two cautions can be subbed out), the situation might have been avoided. The game was bad, too: the state championship game, terminated with 12 minutes left, with an attacked referee, and a player on the ground intentionally stomped on, breaking both the tibia and fibia, sending them through the player's skin. The team, and possibly the entire school, faces suspension from the state high school league. A very thoughtful letter can be read here.

A coach in Johnson County, Kansas threatened a 14-year-old referee and grabbed him after the game and faces suspension by the league and legal action. According to the coach's wife, it's "being blown out of proportion." According to the ref's father: "Let me walk up and grab one of her kids and see if she thinks it's a big deal or not."

Here's a helpful hint for when you know a soccer program's gone bad: when the program has just been suspended, and the school board members' cars have been vandalized, you have a team that actually needs to be suspended. You see, there IS something about the suburbs and high school soccer.

And what better way to end the bloodshed that we've been reading about with an article that both makes light of the situation, yet re-emphasized how serious the situation really is. Read this article and send this man your kudos. Here are the first three paragraphs:

Wanted: Local sporting leagues seeking scapegoats officials. Needed for all age groups. Officials those blind guys who totally jobbed us must have experience and a working knowledge of the sport. Must also be willing to be called every name under the sun, blamed for each loss and generally treated as if you were less than human work nights.

Officials will help derail the college and professional careers of precious young athletes foster a positive environment for competition among players and drunk, angry and/or overzealous moms, dads and assorted other family members spectators.

Hey, don't you want to sign up?

(more)

18 November '06 - 21:08 - - default| two comments, already - § ¶

You won't take my bet?

The wrong game got a card tonight - at least if you looked at the matchups. It basically came down to a few people just staying within the margin for not getting booked, and another player getting a little over-excited.

My first two games (these are indoor, with shortened-halves - just a reminder) where pretty decent; they had some good players and decent movement. There were two players - both good - one the big strong defender, the other light-footed (and easily knocked down) strikers, who also had a tendancy to dish it out. It was difficult to watch, because the guy fell down so easily (not necessarily on purpose, but he played very very off-balance), and the other guy had an attitude. I have a feeling there are plenty of referees out there that can be cowed, because I find more-and-more players wanting to initiate a staredown. Why refs lose this, I have no idea, because we quite literally (sorry for this) have all the cards. If the player doesn't back down in a second, a couple words indicating a booking is in order is all that's necessary - although I've never had to go that far. I think, at least in this indoor league, where most of the players know me, they know that I'm perfectly happy to let them play at whatever level they want, as long as everyone on the pitch is happy, but if they're not, and I'm not, I will deal with it. As it turned out, early in the second half, the game became well out-of-reach of the defender's team, and the intensity level on both sides dropped dramatically.

The second game was odd, because I very nearly booked a player without calling a single foul on his team for the entire game (I did end up calling one advantage against his team for a pretty minor foul). The old indoor chestnut of slide tackles reared its head again, this guy wanting a call when his mark simply dropped to the ground to get a few more inches of reach from his leg to poke the ball away - something his own team had already done several times earlier in the game. I had another run-in with him in the second half, when he was fouled - he foot was stepped on, and he wanted to make more out of it than it was - it was clearly accidental, but he insisted it was intentional - something really out-of-character, except for this guy who kept yelling, for the entire game. I ended up keeping a very close eye on him throughout the game, as he was for some reason extremely cranky - but again nothing came out of it.

The third game had the card, and it was simply too much energy into a challenge. For some reason when goalkeepers come out of their area with the ball, taking it past half-way, some players just lose their mind, and in this case, the keeper was leveled, and I ended up carding the perp. The game also had it's share of oddness - mostly with the goalkeeper. Once again the tired old argument of, it's a foul if a player gains an advantage from even an inadvertant handball. No. Wrong. How many times do I need to say it? That is wrong wrong wrong! I'm getting sick of having to repeat this every week (and sometimes more than once) - it's time to start bringing out the misconception papers again. But since I didn't have them handy (or ever, once a game is underway), I offered a wager: "I bet you fifty bucks that's it's only 'deliberate.' C'mon, fifty bucks. What? You think that I just might know this better than you?"
Well, of course I do. He wouldn't take me up on the bet.

He also had metal cleats on, which outdoors is unusual but not a problem - it wasn't for this game, but I imagined it might be a problem for the league, so I ran it by the coordinator who said, yes, it's not allowed in indoor; I would think for safety reasons - most of the people in this league don't have the skills, and those puppies can do much worse than molded when they come in contact with people - but it's only because it's not good for the turf, and they'll allowed in outdoors. God knows why. Apparently she's told him for the last two weeks, and he's said he'll have to go out and get a new pair, because that's all he has (again, good god, why?); so when I told him, I got the, "Oh, really? I didn't know."

And you wonder why refs get cynical.

18 November '06 - 16:54 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

The year in shoes

Over the course of 2006, I've ended up completely replacing all three pairs of shoes I use to ref in (I have another pair that I play in, which I've had for years, and with the amount I play, will keep for years longer).

So far, I've quite liked what I've had, and thought, just because it's slow this time of year, that I'd share:

I like wearing turf shoes, especially on the line, but I hate breaking them in; I've gone through four different pairs, and no matter what I've done to break them in ahead of time, I get blisters, and it's just not fun. So I have a tendency to keep my turfs around until they start falling apart - meaning in seven years, I've only had two that I've gotten to the point where I was OK using day-in and day-out (several that I've pitched, donated, or lost - although the lost pair may have been subliminal). But it was time to switch again, and after trying some of my old (but rarely used) turf shoes again, I bought a pair of Lotto Suprema" cleats online instead, and the chance paid off. I've very happy with the boots - they seem to be more comfortable than the old ones.

Flats. I really would like a pair of black running shoes, but I'm just not finding them in my size or comfort level. Most of the time when I wear flats, it's nice weather and I'm in the middle, and since I don't need to make the same time to turns the players do (if I do, I'm too close to play), it's usually fine. But I'm having problems finding good flats or black running shoes - it's not like I'm a difficult fit, I wear a size 9. But at least here I have an excuse - soccer shops here (and we have four that I can think of, off the top of my head) aren't stocking good flats anymore, because the players don't want to spend the money on them. More and more places are dropping the old Astroturf/rug in favor of the next-generation surfaces where you can wear turf shoes or cleats - so even the people who play every day, may only be on a rug one a week, so where would they invest most of their equipment money into? Not flats. But I'm not like that, I was something nice-and-squishy under my foot, while still looking professional, so I'm ordering another set of Puma Kings, which had a re-tooled exterior, but hopefully the same interior. I'll let you know.

16 November '06 - 00:00 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Prima Donnas!

Every once in a while I've referred to the football team that the unaffiliated league I'm in rents space from. Because they're division 1A, they have this sense of entitlement, no matter how much they suck. This time, they've moved all the soccer goals to outside of the building (have I mentioned that we're now below freezing every-other-day?), because they've tripped over them.

Now, on the surface of that, it sounds reasonable. But let's give you a few more details: the goals are stored flat, against a wall seven yards from the pointy-ball sideline, behind a tarp that hangs from the ceiling. If they're tripping over this, then no wonder they almost lost to a division 2 team.

The games were... OK. Mostly the same for what the league has been of, at least of late. I had one game where I had marked two players for getting a Persistent Infringement card on their next foul, both of which never game; one of them was a woman who had a mouth on her, and I knew that if I popped her for PI, she would likely say something nasty that would earn her either a second yellow, or a direct trip to my back pocket. She had come in late twice in a few minutes and came inches away from a dissent card - somehow I channeled Morton Downey Jr. and told her to "Zip it" which apparently worked.

Things will be slowing down here, now that I'm only reffing two nights a week (and let's be honest - that I bought an iPod Shuffle to help me keep my mind off the boredom as I run in the gym isn't something that's terribly interesting, is it?), but that happens every winter.

14 November '06 - 16:06 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Finally... some of what I'm used to

It took a while, but I finally had a bit of the type of play I'm used to seeing in this indoor league - wild and out-of-control, followed by some real stupid things said afterward. Both of these teams have played in this league for a long time, which is why I don't think they've adjusted yet - but bad news for me is that I think the rules are going to stick.

It started in the first couple minutes, the 2nd minute, actually. A loose ball between attacker and goalkeeper, keeper dives in and then gives the attacker a shove because he thought the attacker should have let up (quick answer: no - it's a loose ball, sliding restrictions aside, which didn't apply anyway, it's anyone's ball). Bang - quick yellow card and the keeper's out for the half. A few minutes later, the same attacker gets into it with another player, causing me to yell at him, telling him he's on "thin ice", and if he laid a hand on the person he was getting into things with, he'd be off, too.

The next card came about ten minutes later, on a different striker (but teammate of the same attacker I talked about above) came in far too hard into a defender, sending the guy flying; the other team wanted red, I went yellow. I could have gone with a send-off, but I thought it was just shy of excessive force, but it became moot because he starting flinging f-bombs about the call as he walked off. In this league, I don't take that crap, and if I can hear it 15 feet away while the guy is walking away, then yes, it deserves another card, and I went to the back pocket.

One of the things I really dislike about this league is that players sent-off do not have to leave the building. I've done indoor kids games where they make them leave to the lockers or the lobby; outdoors in USSF play they can stay with the bench because it's a matter of liability - but these are adults. If they do something that warrants an ejection, they should leave the building rather than cause additional problem - because more often than not, they well. I've gotten into trouble with this league before, because I will order a player to leave the building, and hold-off from playing until they go, but it comes down to two things: order and safety. A player being a jerk, after he's sent off, won't accumulate additional punishment (I know, I've seen them get away with it), and all that does is create more problems on the field, often with players going further out-of-control and injuring themselves, or going after me. In this case, after he started acting up, all I had to do what threaten the action, and he behaved. Barring that draconian carding policy, just docking teams points and making sent-off players leave the building would probably help things dramatically - it's not like there aren't a ton of coffee shops nearby if they don't have a car. A player who's been ejected should no longer be my problem, but unfortunately it often is.

I had a third card in the second half, back on the goalkeeper's team - a good hockey hip-check, but it's out-of-bounds for soccer.

I have a feeling it's the last of this type of excitement I'll see this winter.

13 November '06 - 10:15 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Oh, yeah. That's why I don't like high school: The coaches.

I'm going to be blunt about it. I was not happy with my game - I don't know if it was butterflys, brain fart, or if I just blew it, but I was not happy with my performance, even though the correct call was made in the end.

Here's the situation: I'm on the line in the state tournament quarterfinal, and the ball quickly moves into my half; two strikers race into the six, onside, when a shot is taken from somewhere well outside of the penalty area. Given where the imaginary offside line is, and where the shot is taken, I'm focused in front of me, not back at the shot. But the shot is deflected or something, and then headed back toward goal, where those players are now, because of the new play (the header, for those keeping score) offside; one of them receives the ball and squishes it inside the near post past the keeper.

Here's where I screwed up: I ran upfield, instead of staying at my position perfectly still. I can blame it on any number of things, but it comes down to this: I've been reffing seven years now, and when the ball went into the net, I bit on it and blew my mechanics.

Here's how the correct call was still made: the center referee came to me right after the goal - never signaling said goal - and I had come to my senses. I asked the first question, "Who headed that ball before it came to the goal-scorer?" The answer was blue, and I apologized, and said I should have signaled offside (or at least stayed still). But because we hadn't restarted yet, we were able to take the ball back and restart correctly. In other words - I was able to correct myself in the proper way, even if I bungled the mechanics.

This, of course, really pissed off the team that was right behind me for the entire game. A team that was pissed off to begin with (so much that the league sent an official specifically to keep an eye on them), because even though they were ranked higher, the game was playing at their opponents' home stadium, and the other quarterfinal games were being played at neutral sites. This is not my problem. Nor is the fact that the teams didn't shake hands before the game (his team deliberately avoided it), which is required, nor after the game, and after the game laid into me, specifically saying that he had a tape showing they were onside (And how often have we heard that one? Remember last year's MLS playoffs, where the AR was attacked for making what was shown to be a definitively correct call - the TV camera was even at the correct angle!).

My reaction? So what. If you don't like the way I officiate, there's plenty of open spaces (I actually said this sentence). And it's true, in both senses. I had the best call I could at the time, and that's what I have to stand by; and I'm cynical enough because of the number of asshole high school coaches out there not to trust him just on general principle and because of my mechanic screw-up. And if I'm wrong, and they were onside - again, so what? I still made the best decision I could at the time, and there's no more I can do than that. End-of-story.

This makes me, of course, the bad guy. And once again, the high school association, which said they'd have someone for us after the game, came up empty, so we had to endure his, and his players, shit. Once again, the constant mantra of the NFHS comes up bone dry, and I'm reminded as to why I didn't referee them at all last year.

Listen up people: those who complain about officiating and do nothing about it, deserve what they get.

(more)

09 November '06 - 10:21 - - default| two comments, already - § ¶

Oh my god, I actually ran

I finally had a game I really had to work at. I ran, sprinted, backpedaled and was forced to stay alert by the game, rather than by mentally prodding myself. The game itself was pretty clean, just intense. There was one card, given to a guy who barked at another just as he was about to shoot, to distract him from that shot - easy card in my book (no pun intended), but it really sucked for that guy, because it was in the last four minutes of the half, which meant he was out for the game. Probably what's worse, is that the coordinator seems pretty adamant about the policy, and it's definitely going to make it through this session.

The other games were, unfortunately, pretty predictably tame. There was one guy who tried to argue that handling no longer uses the word "deliberate" in its definition, and is any contact. "Check you book ref, check your book" and "they change the rules every year." Not by that much, they don't! But, just because I know he won't do it, I have, and once again I'm right. The foul is "handles the ball deliberately (except for the goalkeeper within his own penalty area)." One of these days I'm going to start betting these guys real money on these - maybe then they'll bother to understand the game they're playing.

One good thing (beyond my own ego) I saw on the FIFA.com display of the Laws, hopefully we'll see it in our next physical copy of the Laws, was some downright helpful pictures in IFAB Decision 6 regarding Law 12 (in other words, pictures of how far a shirt must be removed before the player earns a yellow card). (more)

06 November '06 - 08:29 - - default| three comments, already - § ¶

Official Sports has finally listened!

I wish this was true - oh how I wish this was true.

(note: I didn't create it - I just get a kick out of it)

(further note: If you're not seeing it - look to the right) (more)

03 November '06 - 16:05 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

You know it's boring when...

I finally had a half-way interesting game. It twelve games to get there, but there was finally a game with some spunk in it - including a little argumentativeness from a player (which is why I do these leagues). Up to that point, the most interesting thing was a player who looked almost, but not quite, like Colin Mochrie. Are you getting what I'm saying here?

Don't get me wrong, if they were all pains-in-the-ass, I wouldn't do this league either, but the difficult games used to be in the range of every 4-5 games; and this game didn't even meet that standard - it was just one player who thought two wildly disparate plays were the same thing, when it was obvious to a dead baboon it was not. I'm still not running around like I've done in the past (although I did quite a bit more in the final game of the night), and I've noticed something else that's missing from my repertoire this winter: my voice. I hadn't had to do any verbal commands or warnings so far this winter; no "carefull!"s, no "straight up!"s, no taking a player aside for a moment to cool him down.

If this keeps up, I won't be testing my man-management skills, I'll be degrading them.

02 November '06 - 10:53 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶