Do local soccer leagues really care about appearances?

I ask myself that question a lot. Problem is I never get answered except for what I see in front of me.

A little under 2 years ago, I was asked to head the mentoring of referees. To make them better. I saw it as a challenge as I knew I had a lot of work to do. The first year, I saw vast improvement on dress and appearance. I saw referees, not all, but most referees be on time and dressed appropriately.

Problem is you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make them drink. I lead a bunch of horses, young and old, but they insist on doing what they want, not what is right.

The beginning year two, we didn't even have a clinic and the one local clinic which would have really benefited more then what I brought to the table I will gamble maybe one or two were there. Even with the new material that I had possessed, there was no interest in getting a room. We had a referee coordinator...by name only. Where was he throughout the season? It got so bad on his part that other board members were stepping in to do his job. Pretty sad and not a legacy I would want to leave behind.

What happened during his absence? Very few referees dressed appropriately. If that was the worse issue, it could be cleaned up. However, referees, particularly in the youth, were not putting in the effort. Bad calls happen. It's a fact of the game. However if you are say watching two of the three goals happen and the referee is on the other side of the half-way line, not even running, it's a problem.

Now I am being asked to join a referee committee. From the sounds of things they want to eliminate the referee coordinator position and have others post on the board. I'm not certain how that is going to improve things, but it does beat hammering your own hand, realizing it hurts, but hammering it again, not learning the first lesson.

Here's hoping.

To Replay or not replay?

Okay so some of us are still on the Henry handling the ball kick. Ironically before I thought of how good a replay would do anyone any good or would it open a serious can of worms. I am pointing to the latter here and could not agree more:

http://worldsoccerreader.com/2009/11/handball-havoc/

Is it just me...

...or has a good number of people lost common sense? I was refereeing and watching games and the one game I watched, I noticed not one, not two, but three different occasions where spectators entered the field and cross the front of the goal. One of those knuckleheads was on a cell phone. And they say texting and driving is bad.

On Saturday, I watched as several referees were just inappropriately dressed. What is inappropriately dressed? Two of the 3 referees were wearing the long pants and several were wearing anything but black shoes. If that was the least of our problems, I would be semi-okay with this.

However, I saw very little effort out of these referees. No running after the play. One game 2 of the 3 goals that were scored the referee was in the defensive half, not even trying to run. Unacceptable under any circumstance.

I was surprisely happy that, while he didn't have the right footwear, he was making the best effort which was better then the 98% combined that I observed. I went way out of my way to praise him. Get him a new pair of shoes and he is golden.

The following day I observed a final game. It was good to watch but a lot of critical errors happened in that game and had one team capitalized on it, would have made the game subject to appeal. First this idiot of a photographer was on the goal line taking pictures. By the time anyone notice this, there was a shot on goal...which hit the photographer, on the goal line. What the referee should have done was stopped the match right then and there. Restarted with a dropped ball. What does he do? He lets play continue. As a result, the attacking team almost got a goal, but it didn't happen. Lucky for the referee.

Second match incident, the game goes into overtime. Nobody scores, so when the final whistle is blown, nobody keeps the players off the field and on the field. As a result they don't know who was the 8 that was on the field. Luckily the one team that wasn't guilty won it. The soccer gods really smiled at the referee that day.

Real Salt Lake takes the MLS Cup for the first time

I sat and watched the MLS Cup like I do every year. It was the high priced LA Galaxy vs. the under dogs Real Salt Lake. The Galaxy was a favorite to win it but who could predict what happened?

Javier Morales and David Beckham both went in for the hard challenge and Morales got the bad end of the deal as both knee knocked. As a former player I have had this happened and I promise it doesn't feel good. Luckily I was able to play after 2 minutes. Morales unfortunately could not and felt like pond scum as a result despite the comforts of his coach, Jason Kries. The other downside was he had to put in Clint Mathis. Now Mathis at one time was a player who nobody in the MLS would mind having on the team with his goal scoring talent. Somewhere during the World Cup 2002 his value slipped and I only have seen glimpses of his former self. Only thing he is good for is getting sent off on a second caution for throwing temper tantrums.

Then Dovonan Ricketts gets his hand smashed. They try to keep him in the game, but after the goal against him (which I really don't blame his injury for), Ricketts takes of his glove as if he was saying to Arena, "Hey man, I'm hurt. Please take me out." Luckily Josh Saunders is a very close second string because he really came up big in saves.

Referee Kevin Stott... I wonder how he got this assignment. I do remember him to be 10-15 pounds lighter and able to run really fast. I guess age and comfort has gotten to him. You would think after he was a part of that World Cup SNAFU where 3 cautions was issued to the same player he would have woken up a bit.

He let a lot go. I know I know. They want flow, but Stott in my opinion forgot about 100% safty and 100% misconduct because there was plenty and then plenty enough protests to let you know, "We don't want that much flow!"

Now while I hate to see a championship go to kicks from the mark, I was really shocked Landon Donovan screwed that up big time. I thought of Roberto Baggio in World Cup '94. I'm sure Donovan felt like him at the time.

Beckham...Well while there was improvement in the team, I think he is still pissed they didn't win the MLS cup. I just wonder if he comes back for the another season after his stint with AC Milan.

The Irish were cheated, no doubt..

Yes I am talking about Henry's handling of the ball. He admits his part in the travesty of justice, but none the less, I don't think the protest of the Irish are going to be heard. Why? In the opinion of the referee, the handling of the ball did not happen and as a result, the goal stood the moment the referee restarted the match with a kick off.

Henry says the referee was at fault. To a degree he is correct. The referee missed it and therefore he got away with it. Just like Elizabeth Lambert got away with pulling the hair of an opponent, even though it was caught on camera. However Lambert was disciplined by her own college and rather harshly (as it should be). What punishment is Henry going to be dealt with? We'll just have to wait and see. Though I have one piece of advice for him. You want to admit you cheated, fine, but wait until the dust settles.

New Mexico/BYU massacre. Who is to blame?

Well there is enough blame to go around. Just ask all who was involved.

Elizabeth Lambert: The main character of this story. The first act of violence was to punch her opponent in the back in retaliation to an elbow to her. She should have been sent off for violent conduct. Then there was an over the ball tackle with a scissors kick. Over the ball or scissors? Either one should have warranted a send off. Yet neither did. There were a few other trifling challenges compared to what I just mentioned, but if the first two didn't warrant a send off, the final blow which caught the attention of the nation as a whole was the severe hair pulling to the ground.

Carlee Payne: Let's not forget the spark that started the forest fire. She threw the elbow to Lambert's chest. USSF have been going over in week in review regarding the use of elbows and whether it is used as a tool (yellow card) or a weapon (red card). Looked like a weapon to me. Probably wouldn't be anything to talk about had this not happened.

Kassidy Shumway: And let's not forget her little involvement. Mind you before she got yanked, she had a double fist full of shorts. I don't know about you but either I would be annoyed or excited by such foreplay. Hey, maybe there was more to the hair-pulling then I thought.

Last but not least;
Referee Joe Pimentel and his crew: Where the hell where they? What were they watching? Mr. Pimentel has a reputation for letting things go to the edge, but seems to manage to find a way to pull it back before things get out of hand. Apparently he let this go over. He eventually gave Lambert a caution for something marginal but let's these things go? Where were his assistants. What were their instructions?

Conclusion: Yes Lambert should be punished, but there is enough blame to go around. If Pimentel sent off Payne for the elbow and Lambert for the retaliation, they probably would not talk about this all over the internet and news. She get a few games next season suspension and still would have a soccer career to salvage. But now her career in college is pretty much close to over unless New Mexico decides to show some leniency. But hey, if Pimentel did his job, then New Mexico wouldn't have to do it for him.

Introduction

Welcome to my blog. The purpose for this blog is to speak out in opinions of a certain referee who will remain anonymous. Reason being. He worries about retaliation from others who can hurt his career as a referee. I am high up there, not FIFA, but I do not do youth weekend in and weekend out. Let's just say I am between a 6 and a 3.

I have seen the politics of soccer. I have been a part of politics whether I wanted to or not. When the politics work, it works well for me. And when it is against me, well it really sucks to be me.

Mind you if you are a referee, you may get jaded on what I write. That's fine. But try to keep an open mind when you read this.

The opinions are my opinions alone based on observations and experiences. You may not agree with them and that is what makes America a great place to live. The right to disagree. If you do, please share why. You may have a valid argument I never considered.

Until then, consider this my opening whistle.