RefBlog

So young, so sophisticated, so cynical

I don't normally deal with teams this young. Part of it is that, outside of the State Cup (which this is) I had been focusing on adult games in order to upgrade - but even when I did youth games, I started out on the U15s and up, because was an adult and apparently had the temperament to deal with them (if not the skill).

This year the State Cup is split into two locations, and the older games are far, far away, and it's just not feasible to do more than a couple; so I've been at the U15 and younger fields which is only 25 minutes away as opposed to two hours and 25 minutes. I know they're short of referees, but I've become old enough and cynical enough to state without regret that it's not my fault if they're short referees; if the two-year turnover rate is 70-80%, and the vast majority say they quit because of abuse, then I am quite happy to tell them where to stick their unfilled games.

Speaking of cynical, one of the teams I had was a U13 boys from the new superclub that formed over the winter. The new club merged the two most successful clubs, and added the local professional team. Aside from maybe the residential private school, there is probably little that, at least on paper, stand in their way. And these kids were good - not just in individual skill, but also in tactics and visual awareness. Most of the time when you have kids that age (and often older), you give them a wide berth because they'll kick it any which way; but they all knew where their other players were, had crisp and accurate passing and unselfish teamwork. I was going to put in something totally tasteless involving rabid US national team fans (which usually means rabid critics about how soccer is played in the US) and... well... something tasteless... but I think you're better off coming up with something from your own imagination to make yourself go, "Ewwww!"

However, with all the other professional-like play, there was also professional like cynical play. Lots of grabbing, subtle bumping, and diving. Diving? At 13? OK, sure - I was a real shit at 13 and diving was the least of my problems. But these were good dives; enough to make me go, "Hmmmm," but not enough for the actual call. You hate to call it looked practiced, but... all I can think of was the diving training commercial that was immediately attributed as being a slight to the Italians.

The thing was, he was good enough to wait until there was contact, so when I did book him in the second half (to much complaining by his coach), it wasn't because there was air (unlike the last time I booked someone for a dive), but because he not only went down far too easily, but also at the wrong angle given the "foul". And while he was the only one booked, other players went down in the first half and it didn't take long for me to think they were strategic moves.

After the game, the coach came over and said all the right words about how he teaches them not to dive, to play well and stuff like that. Well enough to make me doubt myself for a time - but the more I think about it, the more I feel better about the card. I know me; I know how much it takes me to book for simulation and this is only the third, maybe the fourth time I've done it. Further, as a team we talked about him at halftime and his play made all three of us think the same thing: we went down way too easily, way too many times. And let's say the coach is right, that he runs on his toes and tries to emulate the pros a little too much - then he know his next job is to teach him to team him to not go down that easily and get booked for it.

26 June '09 - 22:46 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

First time on grass

I wondered if I'd even be allowed to referee this game. This year the youth soccer association is requiring all referees to go through background checks (that makes three in the last twelve months - if these things count against you like multiple credit checks I'm going to be really really annoyed). Due to my being out-of-town a lot lately, I caught the tail-end of the rectification classes and background check information (which I found out about at the recert class); I had to send a check to the association to pay for it, but the post office didn't pick up the letter from my mail slot so....

Well, they let me referee anyway. It's rather odd to me anyway; referees don't have much, if any, interaction with kids off the field - it's coaches that have more time with players on and off the field. The paranoia in this society sometimes scares me.

The game itself wasn't much to write home about. It's a State Cup match, but it was only a 14-boys game. It looked like it would be a blowout when one team scored twenty seconds into the game, but three minutes later the other side evened up; and it was relatively even the rest of the match. No fouls, nothing particularly exciting on the field - just a pleasant day. And knowing how things will likely turn out as the season (and this tournament) progresses, I'll take a pleasant day.

09 June '09 - 08:24 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

To those who hate my hand-ball calls: REJOICE!

I just finished my annual re-certification class, and while there were no major changes in the Laws of the Game for this upcoming season, there was a major change in one of our favorite bugaboos, the handling call.

For years, probably decades, millions of idiots got the mistaken impression that just because a ball hit the arm it should be called a hand-ball. Those people are still idiots. But a different, still ignorant but slightly more logical group understood that the ball had to be played by a person (instead of just ricocheted), but thought that should that ricochet provide an advantage they should still be called for a foul.

Maybe the USSF saw the wisdom in that second group of people, or maybe they were tired of being badgered by them, but those people can no longer be called ignorant - they're... god help us all... correct. Correct the same way someone guesses the number of jellybeans in a jar - but only after someone adjusts the jar to fit the guess.

The USSF also expanded the arm in "an unnatural position" portion to cover making the body look big, cutting off passing lanes and avenues for the ball to travel - in other words, a crap load of grey area that made the handling call so interesting, but also a major pain in the ass to call to the layman's satisfaction. Overall, it's hard to find too many negatives about it, although I have to wonder if trying to play for a handling call will become a major tactic again. (more)

12 May '09 - 16:10 - - default| Only one comment - § ¶

Online testing

It sounds like it's a national thing, but maybe not - but this year we took our USSF re-cert tests online. It was timed, so you couldn't hunt online for every single answer (like the high school exam), and was pretty straight forward. This won't be an exciting entry, but I thought I'd list off the pros and cons of the online versus the paper method.

Pros:
• It leaves the re-cert class an actual class. This may shorten the class or allow more for more material. Either is a plus.
• No mucking around waiting for your test to be graded and picking up your patch.
• (Presumably) much easier for the USSF and the state organization to keep track of referees.
• Can take test at the best time for you (unlike a few years ago for me, when it was a couple days after a family member's funeral).

Cons:
• I know people who could work from home, but do so in an office. While taking my test I had to deal with telling others to leave me alone so I could take the test, including a cat that enjoys biting my arm then running away. God help me if I had kids.
• The test infrastructure was poorly designed. In the USSF test, after you answered a question, you were stuck with that answer forever. So if you had an, "Aw, crap!" moment, you were SOL. I've taken some online tests before, and most of them have a pretty standard format. There's an additional checkbox to "mark" an item you want to review before finishing the test, and a final review, where you can go back to any question you wish, before making the final submission of your test (assuming you had time left). In other words, those other online tests try to make their programs similar to taking a paper exam - the USSF one does not.

If you go by pure verbiage, it's the last con that bugs me most (and you'd be correct). The good news is that the 7/8 test is not difficult and you should be able to pass it easily without having those paper-like features. But what about the State exam? What about those who don't test well (and I know people who are brilliant until they have the word "grade" hanging over their head)? What about those who tend to whip though tests as quickly as possible, then take the remaining time to make sure they didn't miss an important word or screw up in some other way (which is me, by the way)? (more)

08 May '09 - 15:29 - - default| Only one comment - § ¶

Five Best of the First Five Years: I don't know a ref who likes this venue (2003)

The more I think about this piece, the more I think about "mind over matter". If you ref, like when you're carrying a full soup bowl, that you think you're going to have trouble, will you? Or are you merely carrying realistic expectations based on not only your own, but others experiences? This is also a great one on the differences of the indoor game versus outdoor; and when the indoor game is done at any old place, as long as people are willing to pay .

I don't know a ref who likes this venue

I woke up this morning to my cell phone going off; I lifted my head slightly, then looked at my cat, curled up next to me with a look in her eye that said the same thing that was going through my head: "Who the hell was calling me on Sunday morning?" And, proving that people choose pets after their own behavior, and what is different begins to merge, we both dropped our heads back to the bed with "Who the hell cares" as the final thought before falling back asleep.

Then the phone rang again.

Usually a second phone call means something is important, so I got out of bed and answered the phone - a number I didn't recognize on the caller ID. It was Michael, who's filling in for the regular soccer coordinator who's out-of-town. "Can you ref this morning? Please say you can. Please say you can."

The fog starts to lift with the thought of soccer. "Ummm, yeah, I think so. I don't think I have anything going on. What time?"

"10:30."

I look at the clock on the microwave, which reads 10:45, meaning it was in reality an hour earlier (and a constant reminder that it's the last clock in my possession that hasn't been updated). I also take a look out the window; snow. At least a good four inches of snow had fallen, and it was still going pretty well. "There's no way I'm going to make 10:30, no matter where it is. I just got up, I hadn't had breakfast," and what I didn't say is that I know the reason why you're hunting for a referee; people around the state may like to see themselves as the next best thing to mountain men, with their SUVs, but the reality is that they're little different than Tennesseans when it comes to the first snowfall of the year (sorry, Tennesseans, one of my boyhood hobbies was watching people going into a panic whenever there was even a hint of snowfall... in Tennessee).

"That's OK, you can start there late."

"No, there's no way I'm going to get there anywhere near for a 10:30; I can start at 11:30."

"OK, I'll find someone for that first one. The games run until 2:30 at the Y, you can park indoors - just sign in at the desk."

Waitamoment... 2:30? Doesn't the MLS Cup start at 2:30? I know I committed to a starting time, but did I for an ending time? No? YES! "I've going to be out by 1:30, I promised to be with my girlfriend before 2:30." Do I feel bad? Nope - I'm bailing them out, and we were planning on watching the MLS Cup together.

"I can work with that. Thanks, man!"

And then it hit me. One little letter pretty much ensured that I had a better than 50/50 chance of having a not-very-fun time. It was the letter "Y".

The group I ref for has three venues they work through during the winter. Two are at college campuses; one is in one of those air-pressure domes and uses AstroTurf (and I had worked there for two years), the other uses the nice synthetic turf (AstroPlay, for those keeping score). The third is the venue that every referee I know that works for this group hates: the gymnasium at the city YMCA. The reason for these are very straight forward: it's dangerous, it's small, and it just invites people doing stupid things.

It's dangerous: take a basketball court, add the usual amenities like drinking fountains, brick walls, etc., and make them all playable. Basically, it's your typical dasher-board soccer on a wooden floor with additional objects thrown in to make play more dangerous. Despite telling all the teams that I will call the play tighter around the walls (I do NOT want to call the office and explain why someone's brains are smeared across them), I will inevitably get people pissed off for calling things too tight. Which is ironic, because they're usually the same people who whine about things getting too rough (but only about their own team.... hmmmmm...).

It's small: It's a gym with limited area, so if someone gets pissed, there's no place for them to go and cool off. It's a problem waiting to happen in terms of man management.

It just invites people to do stupid things: Nobody really wants to play there. The other locations fill up quickly, and this one, despite being half the price per team, is the refuge of teams who filled out their paperwork late, so they really want to be doing half-field games, instead of quarter-field games. The other problem is better described with rugby. If you watch Fox Sports World, you've seen a lot of rugby lately, and I was told by someone from a traditional rugby nation that Americans can't play the game - not because they don't have the skills, but they don't understand the moderation necessary to play it safely. In short, pointy-ball has corrupted us; we're used to so much padding that we're expected to go full-bore into our opponents, and if you did that in rugby, you would risk serious injury to yourself and your opponent. What's the saying? "Rugby is the hooligan's sport played by gentlemen." In the soccer-in-a-gym, you cannot play as physical - the environment is too unforgiving - but we're corrupted, thinking everything has to go full bore no matter where, because it's a sign of weakness to not do (especially when one is lacking in the skills to do otherwise). The size and condition are a powder keg, and all you need is one idiot who doesn't understand how to treat that explosive material for the entire game to blow up. And at that location, it does. Regularly. I refuse to ref there on a regular basis (I'm never too asleep to forget that one), and generally dislike subbing there. But I do, because it helps the group out.

I recognize one of the teams in the first game; gee, let's walk into the ammo dump with burning matches, why don't we? The team name is called the Hooligans, and a better name I cannot think. They have one player in particular who whines continually about everything, and it just pisses the other team off - always. For example, during the game, he got a tiny bit of heel on his shin, sends the ball up-court, then starts winging - I even call advantage, and he's still winging. They score a goal because of the advantage call, and he's still winging!

Here's where it all goes to hell. The Winger boards someone in his own penalty area; I come in blaring his whistle, yellow card already out of the quick-draw pocket, and tell him to get off the court (no real rule for that, but since this league is unaffiliated, there's some leeway), and give the penalty kick.

There is a theory in refereeing that you should obey your instincts when it comes to red and yellow cards; that if you don't know it's a red right away, you'll never sell it, because nobody else does, either, but even more-so, it's probably not worthy of a red. This was my idea at the time, so I pulled the yellow (red never really entered my thoughts); in retrospect, this was the start of the game's deterioration, but you can only change your mind before the first restart; not 10 minutes late. Actually, I still don't think it's a red, but pulling a red probably would have done more for game management than just the yellow.

Few minutes later, player from the other team darts into the wall to take the ball away from someone who already had it, and had position. This player basically throws himself in the wall - but other team wants a foul that I am not willing to give; how could I? If there was a foul, it was against their team for pushing, not boarding. This brings words to the referee.

There is a theory in refereeing that the difference between dissent and abusive language is the word "you". Should someone say to the referee, "That sucks", they would receive a yellow card for dissent; should he, however change one word and one letter to "you suck" and you have a red for abuse language toward the referee. Why do I write about this? Someone decided to use the word "You" addressed to me. Just like I didn't even consider red for the boarding, I considered nothing less for this one. Needless, to say, the team was not happy - all the sudden they want a red card for the boarder and it takes a few minutes before things get settled enough to play (although the red carded player came back out after the game to complain some more, including threatening to complain - something in this league I am NOT worried about - I know the people there well enough that I know they will back me).

I know some experienced referees (even some with National badges) would say that in the interests of man management, I should have red carded the boarder; I know others who would be aghast as even the thought of putting man management in front of the laws. But it was a call that's "in the opinion of the referee", and it's up the players to decide on what to do next. I wonder if there are things that I could have done before the game to keep it from escalating. It's hard to say, given the nature of the game a the gymnasium. Indoor games, even when the field is half-field (as opposed to a basketball court) seems to have tensions up several notches from outdoor; perhaps the only way to avoid situations like that, if you're a referee, is to not work there.

04 May '09 - 09:58 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶