Well, I'm still skating. Like last week, the final day only has five games, so two crews work a pair of games, and one crew works a single, and I was on a crew that worked two. We swapped one of our two inside pack refs, so one game was, maybe, used to get us used to each other before working the championship game of the tournament.

Because the vast majority of referees are based with a particular league, there is the chance that you work your own "home league's" bouts during the tournament, and the mantra is that we are not League XYZ referees, we are WFTDA referees - and we mean it. So as I did equipment checks, I basically ignore comment like, "it's weird having him doing our equipment checks here and not at home". It is what it is, and the skaters have very definitely stated that they think the referees can be neutral in these situations, and at the playoffs, they want the best referees available. Is it harder to remain neutral in these situations, yes - but that's where training comes in, and you just make the call. League names go away in favor of "color number penalty", which is how things are called out here (such as "Blue 42 out of bounds block")

As my stint of doing nothing but outside pack dies down (not done, but I'll be working other positions again shortly), Read More »

Props to Referee Magazine for posting this video, and it caused me to laugh my ass off. Partially because it's funny, partially because it keeps me from getting so depressed in how little respect referees are getting in football any more.

And here's what the referee said, for those who can't watch it:
"I don't think we met before, but I'm the referee on this field, no you. Stick to your job, and I will do mine. If I hear you shouting for anything again, I'm going to be penalizing you. This is not soccer. Is that clear? Back you go and get on with the game."

And this is at the upper levels of the game, where the USSF has said on many occasions that referees must put up with garbage because the it's more entertainment than sport. Which is why abuse is common at every level of the game, from processional down to U-littles.

My laughing at this pretty much proves to me that player and coach behavior in soccer has become a joke. A sad sad joke that people who want to help the game, in a no-glory position, also have to deal with heaps of verbal feces. Soccer players and coaches at all levels should watch this video and feel ashamed. But they won't.

The video is below Read More »

Last weekend, it was explained that being the alternate is "referee limbo" - which is pretty much true. You're assigned to a referee crew, but don't skate. You wear the NSO (non-skating official) uniform but aren't that, either. Essentially you're the liaison between the head referee and the announcers (both in-house and broadcast). So when I got to skate on the first day of this regional playoff, it was a bonus, but today I had to do it again because a member of our crew was injured. If there was a "good" way to get into the skating crew, it was yesterday, because we knew the referee was OK and would have the rest of the tournament to work; and while she'll be OK this time around, too, it does sound like she's done for the rest of the weekend. Don't get me wrong, I like the opportunity, but I had a playoff opportunity last weekend - I don't need another over an injured colleague's boots.

But that is why we're here. The game I did felt good. I do know an issue I need to work on - memory skills. Picking up one penalty (usually a minor) and then BOOM comes a major before I can report it in, and the minor flys away. I'm not the only one having that problem, but there it is. But we did get some good relays in (one of the other refs called a misconduct and then fell over - I picked it up and got it in for him), so a lot of it is still teamwork.

No idea if I skate again tomorrow. They may swap me out for another alternate for all I know. Honestly, I've had two more games than I expected - if they want to share the wealth, I am perfectly OK with that. Read More »

Note: I wrote this piece on December 31st, 2004 and marked it in the blog as "on-hold" - probably so I could re-write and clean it up. Looks like I forgot about it. I actually did think about putting something together with the contents of this blog, although not that seriously - I realize that the length of these entries, with a few exceptions, really don't make for the best of on-paper reading. Still, it might be interesting.

Here's the entry below - unedited (except for spelling). Just because I still think it's cute, even if it's not my current mindset.

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I've been thinking, none to seriously, about the book that'll eventually come out of this blog (followed by, if I'm lucky, a chorus of "Yeah, right"'s that I'll probably join in on). The book would be called: Shut up and take it, the ref's speaking now - a compendium of the best of RefBlog.com. This would be on the dust jacket:

You've probably never heard of RefBlog, you're probably not a soccer fan, but you should pick up this book. OK, don't buy it, get it from a library; download the book-on-tape it from a peer-to-peer download service (but avoid the bogus one that just has a guy repeating, "Duhhhh, I'm a referee! Duhhhhh..."). You should read this book, because you probably deal with referees, either when you play yourself, or when watching your kids or grandkids. The ones you yell at, the ones silently (or not so silently) curse at. The ones you undoubtedly wonder, sometimes out loud: Read More »

... I revamp the blog. Actually, it's mostly an under-the-hood upgrade. The software I'd been using has been out-of-service for a few years now, and I'd been meaning to upgrade it but never had the necessary time. Well, circumstances have dictated that my wife and I are apart this Christmas, so this is what I did instead. Mostly it was done for security purposes, and because if I upgraded it now, it'll keep future upgrades from being messy(er).

The new look is because I really didn't want to work on transferring the theme from version one of Pivot, to version two of PivotX. However, I do happen to like this theme, it's simplicity and easy way to get at the meat of this blog - meaning it's content. 2012 marks the ninth year I've written on the blog; besides the content, the only left left over from the original incarnation of this blog is the little logo on the left-hand side. It would just seem wrong to have that go away.


This blog is all done on my own time, with my own effort, and with no financial remuneration of any kind. I'm rather proud of it - while it would be awfully easy to stick some ads from Google on here, or ask to be paid for reviews (I know there have been a ton of views on my review of the RefsCall Beeper Flags) - I believe, despite mistakes here and elsewhere, my integrity is intact, and I mean to keep it that way.

This is the third time I've done this, and like last time, while the comments are still at each entry, the list of most recent comments are wiped (which is why you see three test comments on the right hand side, instead of the actual comments pre-upgrade. If you find anything wrong, please enter a comment here and I'll take a look at it. In the next few days, I'll be reviewing all my earlier entries to sort into categories (see the link at the top of the blog), correctly spelling errors (lots of them at first, when browsers didn't have inline spell checks), and updating links that point back to this blog (as old links won't work, as the URL system has been totally revamped). It'll take a while, I've written over 900 entries so far.

And in a few entries I'll be back to articles on soccer again. :) Read More »

As I think I mentioned earlier, I'm actually going to two regionals (or playoffs as they're now officially known) this year; the first I was a skating official, this second an alternate. I really didn't think I'd have anything to write. Really, do you want to hear about how I sat down, watched a game, occasionally walked into the center for an official review or timeout, then told the announcers what it was and the result? I suppose it could be interesting for the first paragraph, but really that's about it. But someone's airline had a different idea: it took this poor guy 28 hours and SEVEN flights to get here from Toronto. He actually got in just before our crews first bout, but by then I was told that I was in. It makes sense in a way, because they don't know what kind of condition he would be in, or warmed up - so they had a drop-dead time and ran with it. Kinda sucks, but I remember dropping a game in my first regional tournament (wow, looking up that old entry really paid off) for someone else who was accidentally shorted - in either case it was no fault of their own. And I knew the guy (I was moved to his crew on the final day of the previous regional playoff); we got on well, and everything seemed cool.

The interesting thing was, I was quite literally the last person picked on the referee crew. I initially had a declination letter, then after someone dropped out was asked if I could be an alternate. I was advised by my league head ref (who had done this before) that even if someone was out on my crew, that the other alternates would probably be put in their place before me. I took the assignment so I'd get my name out, and show that I was willing to do the... unattractive work, and maybe after the assignors knew me would consider me for elsewhere - plus I'd get to watch some very good games and some very good officials. Last week, however, I got noticed. It's really weird being showered with accolades when I feel it's just me working my ass off, doing the outside pack ref equivalent of "running to the corners" (hey look! Soccer content!). I know I've been down on soccer for a little while (not, I might add, without good reason), but I know I wouldn't be doing this without it, and without the lessons it taught me.

Now that the game is over (all went well), I'll be back in the alternate slot. But I got a game out of it - not bad. In the four regional playoffs, there are three alternate referees each (total of twelve); I'm only the second to get in this year. Not bad. Read More »

Since in many ways this was my first regionals all over again (new sport), I went back and compared the notes I wrote (literally, on an old Apple Newton) and compared them with my experience this last weekend. And there are several similarities and differences:

Similarities:
* Chance to get better games if you perform well
* High pressure, high stakes games
* Some nice comrade with the other officials

But there were some big differences, too. Since it's comparatively a smaller tournament (even with 21 officials per crew, skating and non-skating, it's a far smaller group of zebras with only three crews), there was definitely more referee bonding than what I had with USYSA regionals. We got feedback on EVERY game (apparently I was observed back in 2006, but I never got any direct feedback). Also, the atmosphere was much looser - not surprising given that in many ways the USSF is more concerned with appearance (and there IS history behind it, to be fair) than ability; many of the best refs in roller derby have visible tattoos, colored hair (or patches of it) and piercings - but the one thing I found, on the first time I listened to a referee meeting (a couple years before I started reffing derby myself), was that the officials are just as professional when they do their job as soccer referees are.

One thing I forgot about was how pissed I was on that second day of soccer regionals; there I took a lecture at a referee meeting as, "if you're fat you're worthless". Damn is that not the case with derby. It's strictly, Can you do the job? If so, have at it. It kind of falls back to the previous paragraph about how stuck-up the USSF is about appearance. But it's nice to be judged strictly by performance here. Read More »

I'm actually going to two regional tournaments (officially playoffs) this year; I did last year but didn't write anything because it would have entailed "I kept track of score" and "I wrote down penalties on a small whiteboard" and repeated several times. Chances are I'll be skipping writing about the upcoming playoff/regional because I'm an alternate, and as such won't be doing a lot, except watching a buttload of games during the weekend. I say this, because on the crew I'm on in this second regional playoff, the crew's head referee wants us gunning for the 3rd place game. There's a reason for this: each region (of which London sits in the East, in case you wondered, until there's enough teams in Europe for a full region) sends three teams to the championship tournament, so the first place game in the region only determines seeding in the championships - the loser of the 3rd/4th place game ends their championship dream.

As I mentioned yesterday, one crew only works a single game - that was my crew. But there was some reshuffling, and I was moved to a crew that was working two, including that 3rd/4th place match. It's really weird, because you get pretty close to your crew over those first two days (three if you count the meeting day) - not only did we work four bouts together, but also hung out and went over the other games as a group, and then the same time they hear that they're the one crew that works a single game, you've been moved to one that works two. It's the definition of mixed emotion: I liked these people, but I had to say goodbye; on the other hand, this is my first time skating in a Big 5 tournament (the Big 5 are the four regional playoffs plus championships), and to have that much faith put in me is both scary and invigorating. What kind of makes it worse, is that my first crew worked the very first bout of the day, and was done, and could only watch the other two crews do two more apiece. I know there's a reason for all of this, but it does make me feel kind of sad. Read More »

Wow, this was an interesting day. Some ups and downs, but mostly ups. My crew worked the consolation bracket today, which, while not exactly glory matches, they are extremely important to the teams and demand no less than our best. And good thing, too - because our first match was a doozy. We had 49 majors called in the bout - not trips to the box (where four minors would get you sent there), but majors - from what I gather (I hadn't thought of it before), a typical bout has something like the low to middle 20s. I don't think I've called as many penalties as I did from the outside as I did in just that one game.

We had one really bad fuck-up, though, and I contributed to it. No team is supposed to have all their blockers sent to the penalty box (one must always be on the track), and I sent the last one out. While I feel bad, I don't feel like I completely screwed up, because I did see another blocker from that team on the track, but apparently she was on her way off the track for a major call as well. In other words, it was really bad timing, and aside from not hearing the major call (this venue can get very loud, even with a small number of fans), I did right; if you can't hear the major call, you can't hear the major call - not much can be done at that point. What really turned bad was that another referee ended the jam after that happened (other refs who saw the second blocker going off were beckoning her to return to the track) - and that didn't need to have happened. It sucks, but we're all human, and mistakes happen, especially when you have odd circumstances. I don't mean to brush this all off, because I'm not, but when you have another game in four hours, you need to put it behind you and move on.

So we did, and early on in the second game I took a really bad fall; I was chasing down a player who didn't hear my major whistle and call, when I got pushed (legally - and unintentionally) by another player further outside, and got tripped by a spectator's foot. Because of the direction I was skating, the direction of the push, and the location of the trip, I ended up falling nearly flat on my back. For a very brief moment I had to decide if I was done, or if I could get up. Although in pain, I knew I was OK and it would shake off in a couple of jams. But owwie. Actually, for a change, I'm rather glad this was on sport-court - it's a little more forgiving than concrete for these types of falls.

I'm told by a colleague who knows the high muckety-mucks in charge that he's heard nothing but good things about me - and this was after the first game today. So, so far so good. Tomorrow, the last day of the playoffs, there are only five games scheduled, and there are three referee crews. So one of us will only work one game tomorrow. While I'd still like to work two (I'm learning a lot from reffing at this high a level, and working with these caliber refs), I'd be OK with one. It's been a good tournament - and while I'm vain and would like a perfect one, I'm pretty happy so far. I'm working my ass off, not only because it looks good, but because it's how I want to referee (same reason I won't ref more than two soccer games a day), and be able to work the best games I can. I'm not sure what that level is yet, but when I reach that plateau, I'll at least be happy that it's not by lack of effort. Read More »

For the tournament I'm doing Outside Pack Reffing. There's a minor problem with roller derby - it's not that outside pack reffing isn't important; it's just that it could be said that the other positions are just "more equal" than OPR - honestly, it's much like Assistant Referees in soccer; when you have good OPRs things can go absolutely awesome, and the inside refs appreciate the heck out of them and it can turn a well-reffed bout into an awesomely reffed-bout. But on the other hand, if you have a bunch of "eh"-type refs on the outside, but good refs inside, you can get through OK and the fans may not even notice it - but flip it around and you could easily have a disaster. So, outside is usually where new and unproven people get placed. It's also, if you do it right, a crapton of skating - a lot of stop, reverse, quick-turn and sprint. Since you're on the outside, you have to cover more distance than the players, too.

The tournament is on sport court; and I've found that leagues that play on sport court love it, and hate skating on concrete; and likewise leagues that skate on concrete hate sport court and would rather be on the immovable stuff. I fit in the later; I find that sport court has a tendency to pull on my ligaments (specifically my ankles), and it's slow and mushy (although, to be fair, it's slow and mushy for everyone, so it's not like you're moving comparatively slower than anyone else). After skating on it, when I go back to my home practice and game-night facility, everything feels so... much... faster.

Both games we had were pretty good, and I felt pretty good, both individually, and as a crew. I have to admit, that I wasn't happy to be dinged in the postmortem of the first bout (between the fourth and fifth seeds), for being slightly behind the pack - I actually though I was doing very good; although I also know that I don't do a lot of outside pack, and the ding was for only slightly. And I was told that the ding got crossed out when I lapped the other outside pack refs (there are three of us in a bout) chasing down a skater that committed a major penalty - the kind of canceled themselves out, or maybe put me slightly ahead, because I was told I wasn't seen as behind the rest of the time. In some ways, it kind of bugs me - because I want to know where and why I was "behind", since I thought I was where I should have been the whole time, and really didn't make any conscious adjustments (the lapping of refs was me doing my job, not putting in special effort to show off).

We didn't get the postmortem on the second bout (between the first seed and the ninth) - we're supposed to get some notes on that tomorrow morning, but we got kudos at half time from the tournament head ref specifically aimed at us OPRs. Read More »