RefBlog

Just a reminder

Just a reminder that I'll be gone for about a week - I plan on taking notes (how else will I remain sane?), but just sit tight for the time being.

24 June '04 - 09:29 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Reffing when life sucks

My girlfriend, while she knows of the existance of this site, doesn't read it. She deals with enough of my ref stuff in person, that she doesn't need to read what I write about. But she knows it's a release, it's healthy for me, and if other people like it, maybe even learn from it, then that's cool as well. If she read this site, I would write the following words.

I've got a ring in my desk, been there for about a month now (I've been wanting to get one for more than a year), waiting for the "right time." Now, before you jump to conclusions, we have talked, and the "right time" is pretty well defined: once she gets a stable job. She just finished going back to school, and is now looking for work in her chosen field. Unfortunately for her, is traditionally dominated by men, so she keeps getting interviewers who do nothing but stare at her boobs - this is a pretty good indicator that either (1) you're not going to get hired, or (2) even if you are hired, you probably don't want to work there.

To make things worse, yesterday I lost MY job. Yup, my bosses decided to follow White House advice and outsource my department. I went to work yesterday, worked an hour, got called into a meeting, and fired on the spot. So much for nine years of working there, plus voluntary weekends, and saving the company my salary-and-a-half just in hardware costs last year. Lovely stuff. So now we're both out-of-work, and I'm supposed to leave for Regionals today. Hopefully the time eating, sleeping, and breathing soccer will do me some good when I get back to pounding the pavement.

I was also supposed to ref last night. Why not - it's now my sole form of income. Although when I recieved a call from my assignor asking if I could center the second half the double-header, I suggested that it just might not be the best time right now, and if I could do a pair of lines instead. The third referee for the games was only 17, and we were doing adults, and it was decided that we should not throw him to the wolves just yet. So I did the game, which was thankfully quite uneventful, and even cut short.

The pitch was adjacent to a baseball field, which was also being used - both under lights (rather important if you're planning on playing a pair of 90-minute games back-to-back), but when the baseball players left, they turned off all the lights! Considering that we were right next to them, the home team paid for the fields (with the understanding of lights), I found that quite rude. But since we couldn't turn them back on, and couldn't reach anyone from the city, we only had one alternative, play until it was too dark. We got about 20 minutes into the second half when I decided that the next stoppage was going to be the last one - but it took another five minutes before it happened.

So, the game was cut short, I was fired, and my favorite watch died (and it's not the battery) right before Regionals. The last time I had a streak like this, my brother died. (more)

24 June '04 - 09:04 - - default| two comments, already - § ¶

Call it both ways? I just did!

I learned, at least for this game, from one of my recent mistakes and it felt pretty good; not to mention it's given me a few giggles after the game ended. The trick will be if I'm able to stick with it long-term.

Compared to that game I just referenced, there were some major changes. First, the field was much larger; I coulnd't give dimensions, except that there's a feeling (anxiety!) you get when you enclose 22 adolencent boys together on a field that's too small, and this field didn't produce that feeling. Also, although these were still top-division boys, they were two years younger (meaning fourteens, instead of 16s), so are a bit more manageable. So even the game started to get chippy, I'd have more of a cushion to deal with it. But nonetheless, I took the hint and used the opportunity the players provider to deal with it in a more timely manner.

Although these were "just" fourteens, both teams still had a nice contingent of diverse playing styles on each team. Both had some higly skilled players (including one who emulated Damani Ralph in both hair style, work rate, and skill level), some big physical players, and some more diminutive players that stepped up by being fast and never backing away from a challenge. We also had some very good coaches who knew when players were getting too hot under the collar (there was one very nice subtitution of one player from the visiting side that probably saved him a card, because he was jonesing for a persistent infringement booking); the coaches also did a nice job for both teams in discipline - both in the teamwork they displayed, but also when dealing with their opponents or the referees.

First half ended 1-1, and I pretty much let them play their game. There were a couple fouls on either end with players placing their forarms too far inside the back during a charge (this has apparently, unconsciously, become one of my "things" this year - where I'm looking for it and calling it very quickly - it seems to be working, though as a couple of those calls has seemingly calmed down most teams), and some assorted other calls

Second half started much the same way - very controlled, very easy to handle, until the home side started running out of gas. When it happens, either the team just shuts down and lets their opponent attack at will, or they start fouling instead of challenging for the ball (which, because they're low of fuel, they're likely to lose). So, with the game 2-1 in favor of the visitors, likely to be 3-1 shortly, and the foul count starting to rise (complete with a couple verbal warnings), I decide it's time to slow down the game a bit. Now when I say slow down the game, I don't mean forcibly slow the pace, but forcibly get the teams to stop - it's a way of letting the adrenaline drop a bit, and allowing rational thought to replace whatever it is in their heads that would lead something nasty. Generally speaking, I take an extra 10-15 seconds on a booking to get everything back into place before getting into position and restarting play; one of the things I wanted to work on this year was to stop going for the "quick-draw" card unless absolutely necessary - to use it when there's a risk of retaliation, but otherwise slow things down and not be as reactionary.

I found the foul I was looking for pretty quickly. Home striker takes the ball down into the corner on the visitors end, but then mis-dribbles the ball, which is easily picked up by a defender. The striker then charges, with a little extra oomph, into the defender. There was no play on the ball, and no desire to get the ball - the idea was to knock down the defender then pick up the ball. It seemed like a good first booking; but the second came not 30 seconds later, soon after the free kick in fact. The kick crosses the field diagonally to the center line, and another player sends a through ball in an attempt to beat the sagging home defense. But the ball was hit either too hard, or the striker too far back, and he was going to lose the race... and he does the same exact thing as his counterpart did for the home team. Except for the geographical location, you could not get any more exact than that. Many times people will get miffed beacuse they see referees card one thing, then they see the exact thing and the ref does nothing - the only thing I can say is that apparently the ref did see something different; but this wasn't the case, and I lept at the chance to card again. I figured it was perfect: I was able to demonstrate that yes, I was serious about enforcing an acceptable level of play, and that it would be enforced for both sides.

But I heard the old standby from the sideline: "Call it both ways ref!" I nearly burst out laughing, "I just did call it both ways! This is for the exact same thing as in the other end!" This was followed by some grumbling by the coach who commented, probably something along the way of, "No it's not" - I doubt that it was an admission of, "Oh, yeah, you're right. Sorry about that." But frankly, this was an abhoration - he might not have even been a coach - he didn't hang out with the others (I think he was a trainer or something), and they were otherwise fine. I was more amused (and still am), than anything.

The best part about it was that it worked - unlike the sixteen boys in the tiny field, the game went back to the way it was, the way I wanted it. Of course, I didn't have to make any "controversial" (even if totally correct and necessary) calls like with the 16s when I had to call back a free kick (and then have them score on the second restart). But even then, I knew I wasn't happy with how I handled things - I was happier about this game.

What I wasn't happy with has been the bane of me this year: fitness. There was many more long-balls played this game, and in the second half, for a good 15 minutes, I wasn't able to get into position the way I wanted. I did catch a second wind for the last fifteen, but it bugs me. Although I know I'm doing much better than in years past, I must be old, because I'm thinking I wasted my youth when I could have gotten in better shape.

22 June '04 - 09:19 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Life with Short Hair

I did something I rarely do anymore, a tournament. For the most part, I really don't like them - most of the refs really don't give a rat's anything, and the organizers push games like a dope dealer does plastic baggies. I know of one club around here that's in mondo-trouble for violating child labor laws, by telling kids they had to work too many games (upwards of five and six full-length games in a day... to twelve and thirteen-year-olds). What's worse, you get a bunch of those refs who really could care less scooping up those games because it means more money. Screw performance when you can collect an extra $20!

Ick.

I made an exception for this one, for a couple of reasons. First, it has a very good reputation and I'm familiar with the people who run it. Tournaments rarely run through as expected, but I was reasonally sure they would do what was best, not only for players, but for the referees (and frankly, if a ref isn't well taken care of, it usually reflects in his game, which affects... you guessed it... the players). The second reason is that it was a pretty high-level tournament and I wanted to use it to gear up for Regionals, which is right around the corner. The third reason is that I wanted to get used to running around with short hair.

Yup, it got cut off - almost ten inches of mane was donated. I noticed several things now that I was reffing sans pony tail. The most obvious is that, in a windy day, it doesn't get in your face as easy, but on the other hand, the top of your head burns more easily as well (as does the back of your neck, but being paranoid about it not having seen daylight in five years, it was well lubricated with sun block). I also noticed that, with the hair not being pulled back, sweat tends to collect more on the bangs (well, not really bangs, but for purposes of description, close enough), producting a "stick - stick" noise as they fly into the air and then slap down repeatedly on the forehead. Also, my hair being pretty thick, tends to react much worse in high-humidity sitautions, like those produced from sweatting, and tends to fly in vary more various directions than when my hair was many times longer. It does, on the whole, feel better on hot days, though.

The tournament itself was about what I expected - high level games, although at the U12-16 age range (I don't expect anything higher than a U14 middle at Regionals, if even that). Due to a shortage of refs showing up, I ended up doing centers for every game during the weekend (an oddity forced by necessity, as they normally don't want anyone doing two centers in a row). Overall a very good experience, topped with a playoff game by top-level 13 year-old girls. It was clear that, for the first few minutes, they were not used to the amount of leeway I gave them - I don't mind a good physical game - but they also found out where my limits were, and seemed happy to play out the game at that level. No incidents, except that I ran my butt off on the nice, large field - which was a nice thing.

Later that evening, I had an adult center as well, a division higher than I had ever worked before, but it ended up being less difficult than the 13 girls earlier. The field itself was smaller, it was very choppy, with bits of sod being ripped up from several shots; it really slowed the game down quite a bit, and I don't think I did half the running I did that morning. The game itself was not close - it ended up being 6-1, but I almost blew it big time: there was a quick transition, and although I wasn't in bad position, it wasn't perfect, and the striker tripped over the ball, and I called the foul. Had this been a flat field, the player wouldn't have tripped over the ball, and I wouldn't have misinterpreted the action - but the fact remains that I wasn't back in good position enough to tell the difference. I considered pulling out the red card, for denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity, but after looking at the AR, decided against it; she looked unsure about the situation. I asked her for the placement (PK or free kick), and she said outside the area - the free kick sailed wide and halftime soon followed.

The good thing about this situation is that it provided us with a teachable moment, without risking the outcome of the game (it score was not close, and it was pretty apparent that one side was clearly going to win, short of an instantaneous plague that only affected people who wore purple). The AR told me that the player just tripped over the ball, so I had a chance to go over proceedure, which was to motion the referee over, tell him he screwed up. After all, had the game been close, and they scored, we would have been is a deep, deep hole. Let's face it, even though I want to be in perfect position all the time, it's not always going to happen - and one would hope that the teams respect our ability to put our heads together to reach the correct decision and admit a mistake. Reality probably will say differently, but one can live in hope.

As it turned out, I went out and apoligized to the team I wronged, which was made much easier by it not being a close game and their opponents not scoring, and proceeded to do the rest of the game without incident.

21 June '04 - 14:13 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Coaches and Referees see things differently

Interesting game last night for several different reasons. For the second time in a week, I had to deal with being short a referee, and running the funky Club Line/dual system that I had to deal with last game. At least this time around, I was forewarned by the assignor. I don't normally work with this assignor, even though the games are closer to where I live than my primary youth assignor; there's no particular reason for this - I worked with the other one for the last four years, and I'm happy with the quality of the games I get. But when I have a day off from my primary assignor, and still have the need to work, I call up the other one, ask if there are any free games, and this was the cast last night. I was warned ahead of time that only one AR slot was filled, and that she was working on finding another for the game, but in a worst-case-scenario, she could take one from a game that started an hour before mine, and put him in that game once his first finished - so we'd only need a club line for 20-25 minutes. As far as club line situations goes, it's not too bad - I could inform the coaches ahead of time so there would be no suprises... except that it turned out that both ARs were younger, much younger, than the players they were reffing.

It turned out, this was not a major problem for me. The older of the two was there for the beginning, a good 20 minutes early (very good for that age), after I finished checking in the two teams (who were also in quite early), fixing nets, and explaining the possible situation to both of the coaches. So, I went over, since he had never seen a dual being run before, what our gameplan would be. I actually modified it a bit, given his age, as I scribbled out an approximation of the pitch on a scrap of paper: I had him run a regular line (with adults, I frequently as them to "cheat" out a bit - coming onto the field a bit if necessary, and going past the half-way line, to try to cut down the amount of space between us), but explained that where he would be looking would be expanded to all the way down the line, and further out from where ARs normally look for fouls. I then sketched what a normal diagonal would be, and how I would modifiy that, and the areas that I would best be able to cover, and where I would have issues, followed by that when his younger brother arrived, I'd switch back to that normal diagonal. He got it. All of it. Yes, his mechanics needed some work (at that age, they all do), but he flags fouls, stayed in good position, and was amazingly competent. He did better than most adults do in that situation.

As expected, his younger brother arrived 25 minutes into the game, and took over for the club line, and also did an admirable job. I had to coach them both a bit at half-time about positioning, and holding the flags a bit better, and they held onto that information quite well. Yes, there were a few other things, but I wanted to focus on a few that they could hold on to, rather than a laundry list. Besides, I wanted to infuse them with confidence, because the visiting coach was complaining about their age right in front of them.

I pull up close to the coach, and speak softly, "Coach, between you and me, you may be right. But our alternative is them or none at all. They're doing a good job, but if you want to complain, it's an issue for the assignor, not us." It didn't really work, because then he shifted to what is apparently the biggest problem in girls soccer: pushing. Apparently there's a different standard to fair charging with girls that boys in this area (which is probably why they get killed when an east-coast team visits, because they have no such double-standard). Coaches seem to want any type of fair charge against the girls called as a foul, referees look to see if the charge is going toward the spine - otherwise, if the ball is nearby, it's fair game. But nonetheless, a common "comment" from girls' coaches are, "Watch that pushing, ref!" You just want to reply, "No pushing to watch. I'm watching a fair charge that knocked your girl off the ball, because she thinks this isn't a contact sport." OK, I don't... during the game at least.

But I'm digressing. After leaving the coach, I went back to my pair of young ARs and tried to pump them up a bit. Since they heard the exchange with the coach, I decide I want them to show him, and his players, that they're professional and take things seriously. Normally, you're supposed to check the nets at each half anyway, although it's not terribly common outside the pro ranks; nonetheless, I think it would be a good thing for those playing and watching, and for the kids themselves. If you're unsure what I mean, go attend a professional or high-level amature game, but it's not normally shown on TV, and watch the referee crew before the game or before the second half starts: they all walk up to the center together, shake hands, and then the ARs run out to their respective nets and check them for problems. For the most part, it's cerimonial - the nets should be checks much more thourghly 30 minutes or more before the game starts, but it does imply that the crew is ready to work. And they did, and did well (especially the elder of the two, who exuded confidence). I'm proud of those guys.

20 June '04 - 13:57 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

"It was not even a game of football"

I found this absolutely facinating, beacuse in one form or another, every referee seems to have one (or more) hell game. What's interesting about this article is that it's the first one I've seen where it focuses on how the referee comes back. A very good piece for anyone who's ever had to go through one. I also found this article written after the game (PDF) where one team banned five player and a coach from the team... for life.

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Opps... Francesco Totti was trying to use Euro 2004 to overcome a reputation from the last World Cup, where he was sent off again't Korea, was busted for spitting on an opponent and suspended for three games. Well, I guess that whole misunderstood reputation thing is all cleared up.

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In a "Man bites Dog" story, a coach is claiming that a referee verbally abused him and wants, get this, a life ban. Hmm, if it went the other way, we would be talking about what? A one match wrist slap?

20 June '04 - 05:49 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

I hate mating rabbits!

My girlfriend has been working a local renaissance festival, and spends most of the day in front of a camp fire, uttering "I hate white rabbits" in some mythical, and usually unsuccessful, attempt to get the smoke to stop following her. I was thinking, what could I do to ensure that I get a full referee crew, and am not stuck doing duals? Maybe yell out, "I hate mating rabbits" or something. Because I hate hate hate running a dual.

Technically, of course, I didn't run a dual. Duals are outlawed by FIFA and the USSF. We picked a club line from the home club (one of their own players who was injured), so we could have a legal game. However, club lines are only allowed to call balls out of play - no fouls, no offside, not even who gets the throw. Some countries apparently do it differently and club lines can do all of that - but in this country, there's either not enough knowledge for the layperson to do so, or not enough trust. Maybe both, I don't know. But since the club line is essentially devoid of all powers, how do the remaining referees (still a center and Assistant), run the match? If you want to be equitable, it's run pretty much like a Dual from high school or college.

I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it again, because it's painfully obvious (more)

18 June '04 - 08:14 - - default| two comments, already - § ¶

Was it cardable?

I recieved some compliments on my positioning the other night, but it has to be said that, when 90% of the game is on one half of the field, positioning is easy. It was an adult men's game, and for the most part, there wasn't any major issues: a very obvious PK call, a handful of little fouls, and one pulled-back advantage that might have been card-worthy.

But I'm unsure if it was card-worthy, not because of the foul itself, but because my attention was split, and I'm unsure if I could have done better. The team that was getting pounded on started on a good run counter-attack into their offensive third, and the ball-handler got a hard foul from a sliding tackle, but the ball continued to another player also speeding toward the goal. I call out, "Play on!" and give out the Advantage signal, to just notice that the far-side assistant has poped up his flag to indicate offside; I immediately blow my whistle can retract the advantage in favor of the free-kick at the spot of the foul.

THe fouled player wanted a card, but I honestly was split between what looked like a very good advantage call (if he wasn't offside) and the foul itself. I think I should have spent an extra second watching the foul before deciding to play on, which may have satisified the player; actually, telling him the truth, that while I caught the foul but became too preoccupied with the continuation of the play to analyze the foul, seemed to satiate him. To be true, I'm unsure if I would have carded, anyway - it was ceratinly against the tenor of the game to that point, or after - but it was something I didn't pay enough attention to.

17 June '04 - 09:19 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Sometimes the game slaps you around a little

A frequent criticism of referees is that we're too arrogant. I've never quite understood the criticism; or maybe I should say it's a misinterpretation of what we need to do to do our job, because I've found that the game has a way of slapping you around from time-to-time, and enforece the humility that comes with serving the game.

So far this year, things have been pretty good. I've recieved some nice reports from those in charge of the referee association, coaches, other refs. But every game is different, every game carries risks, and if you don't respect it, the game will stop slapping you around and start hitting with a closed fist. Fortunately for me, yesterday was just a light wake-up pat.

Actually, I was pretty awake for the game, but I made some mistakes that are ticking me off. They weren't bad ones, but there mistakes I know I could have, I should have avoided.

My center was the second of two games, at a field I hadn't been at before... and it was a small field, the barest minimum (apparently this is just my week for odd fields). At 100 yards by 50, it was fine for 13 year-olds (but even they said it was small), but add three years to those kids, you end up having a lot more size, a lot more speed, and a heckuva lot more testosterone. I knew once I got out there it was going to be interesting. When you have a field that small, you have several problems you have to deal with right away, and several strikes against you:

First, it's very easy to become too close to play - there's hardly anyplace that isn't too close (more)

16 June '04 - 08:10 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Coach complains about what he wants

Media time again!

I love the coach's comments from this article - a real winner to be sure. Playoff game, very last second of overtime, and one of the toughest calls referees have to make: on a contested loose ball, did the goalkeeper gain possession? Keeper says yes, attacker says no, referee is going to tick someone off regardless. The decision the referee made was no possession, and the attacker scored - end of game, and for one team, end of season. The coach could be gracious and say it was a touch call to make, even if he didn't agree, but no, we get the usual garbage talk: "The referee said Hillary never had possession. But I saw both hands on the ball. I just don't think the refs should decide a game like that with a couple of seconds left. Let the players decide it."

Guess what, moron, that's our job! You could easily have taken it that the ref did let the players decide by not whistling. We make decisions like this all the time, it's just this one happened at the end of the game. Sigh... is there a class where coaches learn to repeat this stuff endlessly?

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In less cynical news, the London (CA) Free Press profiles Canada's referee-in-chief, and what his ideal ref is. Nothing terribly new to us, but maybe to someone who's unfamiliar with that the man-in-the-middle does.

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Add another coach that I like, at least in this respect: a high school district championship where the fans (in the article, they're parents - maybe they're seperate from the other students), get ejected for going after the ref with too much venom. '“This is a gentlemen’s game, played by ladies and gentlemen,” Head Coach Art Iwanicki said. “There’s a rule that you cannot condescend the official. You just can’t do it.”' You are correct sir, and hopefully that referee just proved that learning never ends.

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Note to players: linesmen are now called assistant referees, and the only person who can stop play is the referee itself. So even if the AR pops the flag for offside, keep playing until the referee blows the whistle - or you may get in a situation where the AR corrects himself, and the referee doesn't blow the whistle, and you find yourself scored upon. Kudos to coach Paul Keenan: "The referee got it right. We stopped. The whistle wasn't blown. The referee got it right."

15 June '04 - 09:45 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Annoying fellow fans

Becoming a referee leads to all sorts of odd behavioral changes - some become quite public, like the tanlines on your legs from wearing knee-socks all summer long, and the creation of a closet especially for your ref gear which quickly becomes larger than your regular closet. Some of it manifests to the chagrin of fans nearby when watching soccer games.

I've been a season ticket holder for our local professional team for several more years than I've refereed, and I have no plans on giving it up. I regularly kit myself up in a team paraphernalia and know most of the people who sit by me pretty frequently. But I tend to annoy one person, who sits in front of me, pretty well. It's good natured ribbing by him, mostly in the vein of, "Will you stop being right and just cheer!" The problem is, now that I referee, I see the calls that those in pinstripes are making in a different light - where I should have shouted in frustration, I go anywhere from, "Oh, yeah, we did it," to "good no-call," to "he must have had a different angle." I cheer the good plays and cry in anguish over the bad like any other, but it annoys him that I don't join in on the ref-baiting.

In many ways, it's kind of fun, but it certainly it's intentional. It came strictly because of that different viewpoint that you never get from the stands.

Pick up the whistle with caution - you may become a spoilsport.

14 June '04 - 09:20 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

8 Simple Rules to Using Electronic Flags

If the referral section is anything to judge by, I'm getting more people finding this place because of my review of the RefsCall beeper flags than anything else. Not suprising, really, as they've made the technology more accessible to us plebs in the parks. As I've been using them, I've come up with some thoughts on how they should be used, regardless if you use the RefsCall flags, or the $450 Bip Flags.

First, before anything, read and be familiar with the USSF's position paper on electronic flags. They make very good points, and I plan on repeating some of them here. Keep a copy in your bag in case anyone asks, because using these things are a responsibility, not just a toy.

Second, include how to use them in your pre-game (which means you must have a pre-game longer than, "Do your thing" or the infamous, "don't fuck up"). The following points need to be decided upon and emphased in addition to a complete pre-game:

• Use of the button (beeper) is only to be used if absolutely necessary; beep yourself with the ARs around, so they know just how attention getting it is.
  
• Go over examples of good times to beep the center: late offside flags, missed balls into touch, misconduct or injuries behind the referee.
  
• Decide if there are other reasons to beep: substitutions, lightning, etc.
  
• All AR mechanics should be followed as normal! ARs should mirror signals as necessary before reaching for the button.

Third, if you can't do a full pre-game, don't use these flags. So, if a member of your team is late, if there are communication issues, or if you don't think one of the ARs is up to it, don't use them! They're a tool, they're not a requirement, and you should not become dependant on them.

Fourth, get used to these flags and the reciever in lower level games (especially the RefsCall equipment, which is quite large), then once your comfortable with them, bring them up to higher level matches when they'll become more handy. For example, with the RefsCall set, it took a few games just to figure out how I wanted to carry the reciever.

Fifth, if you're in the middle, ref like getting beeped is a failure on your part - because it is. Being beeped means you missed something important. For example, on a recent game (with the flags), I missed an offside call that was flagged two feet from the center line, and was beeped;I should have checked with the AR, but didn't. The beep kept me from looking like a fool, and reminded me of an important duty I neglected. Learn from it - if you get beeped for something, make sure your AR doesn't need to do it again.

Sixth, for goodness sake, don't change your diagnal or pattern of refereeing because of these flags! If these tools are abused, they'll be banned. If you're a lazy schmuck, please don't buy these.

Seventh, use your regular (non-electronic flags) just as often (if not moreso) as your electornic ones, to keep you honest.

Eighth, carry spare batteries with you and test the flags before every game.

Overall, I'm quite happy with these flags, find them great tools, and am happy to have them. But like all tools, the trick is to use them wisely, and only with people you trust. (more)

11 June '04 - 11:58 - - default| Only one comment - § ¶

Bummer

My game tonight just got cancelled. Now what am I to do tonight? Oh yeah, family. :)

10 June '04 - 12:17 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Great way to start: Piss off both coaches

I wonder sometimes, do coaches actually read the league rules? I know far too many don't know the Laws from the gum on their shoes, but what about league rules? I had two games yesterday, a center for the second (a 15 boys game), and started that second game by pissing off both coaches. Why? Because I was following the rules about heat and shortening the game appropriately.

The rules are pretty simple: if the heat index is 90 degrees or over, you shorted the game by five minutes each half, and have a two minute, running time, water break. If the heat index is 100 degrees or over, you shorten by ten minutes and the water break. If the heat index is 105 degrees or over, you don't play. This is not rocket science, folks.

But let's go back in history to see why I take this so seriously (beyond the fact that we're dealing with kids, and massive, really massive lawsuits should I not do this and someone goes down from the heat): last year in State Cup play, I had a kid go down from dehydration, and we did not hit that 90 degree threshhold. We had a fourty-minute delay (which I'm sure endeared me to the assignor) followed by a trip in an ambulance for the kid. I talked to him five minutes prior, and asked if he was OK when he was slow to get up after some contact (I don't recall if it was a foul or not). Yes, the coach could be criticized for not taking him out at all during the game, but I should take just as much, since I was on the field with him, not recognizing the situation, either.

So that's why I take it so seriously - I've seen it on my field, I do not want it to happen again. (more)

10 June '04 - 08:28 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

A fair assessment

Yes, it does happen on occasion - a referee gets injured and the fourth official steps in. I was originally scheduled, and very happy I was for it (or should I say shocked and appaled - I don't know, but I enjoyed it anyway), a line on the 19-boys state cup final, and a fourth official for the 18 girls final as well. Opps, we find out that our fourth, who was to take over the line on the second game, had a gimpy knee and I'd be two two lines. It was OK for the other AR, who was an up-and-coming young kid in the peak of health, but I'm an old fat fart, and I asked to be placed on the far side, away from the coaches, in case there was any problems.

No problems, really, except that I simply started running out of gas in the fourth half. The assessor that was there noticed it, but was pretty sympatheic about it - it was an honest assessment - they knew I shouldn't have done two 90s at that level, I knew it, too - but there really wasn't much of a choice left so we agreed to muddle through.

09 June '04 - 08:17 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Mild Referee Wackiness

Every once in a while, communications between those who schedule games and those who schedule referees goes foom; strangeness ensues. We had that happen last night, fortunately, other than a slightly later start, no harm was done.

It was the same 15-18 boys rec league that I wrote about earlier, and over two fields, there are usually three games scheduled. One field gets two games, the other a single - at least that's what the setup was the last time I was there. We had two full crews... but only one game. I was supposed to center the first one, but before we were absolutely sure, I walked up to a coach who was on the field, who confirmed they only had a practice.

"You can ref our game," said a kid who was practicing, toungue obviously placed firmly in cheek.
"Sure! But we'll be doing it from the sideline... watching the other game... with our backs to you." The chuckles indicated that my responce was well met.

So the three of us watched the other game, answered some questions from a parents on offside, passbacks to the goalkeeper, and the limits of goalkeeper handling. We also chatted with a board member of the local club, and got some unsolicited (but nonetheless interesting) opinions on club sniping of players and the emergence of local "super-clubs" (clubs that are so good they pretty much compete on a national scale, because they would just crush any local, and usually lesser, opponents - many of them belong to US Club Soccer as opposed to US Youth Soccer).

More strangeness ensues when we get ready for what would have been our second schedule game - the crew that had a game all have to leave (they were only scheduled for one), but now we have four teams. Two games, three referees, what do to? One member of the first crew was going to send two of the teams home, but we intervened - after all, it was only rec games, misconduct really shoulnd't be a problem, and there had been enough trouble this year rescheduling fields beacuse of weather. Even if travel teams, unless it was very high level, we'd want the games to go ahead. So we split up, the other two guys picked a club line (basically a fan, usually a parent, who only signals when the ball goes out of play - they don't signal direction, don't look for offside - I tell them I'd perfectly happy with them standing at one position for the entire game, if they so wish), and I picked up a pair, running the game solo.

Neither game had any problems - I explained to the captains what the club lines did, and that offside would be judged by myself eyeballing it, which means, "offside calls are going to suck." Basically the same thing I told the adults in the unaffiliated league before these games started up. The games itself went on without a problem - the teams quickly adjusted (or maybe just ignored - works either way) to the lack of offside perspective, and I think everyone was happy. I ran my fool butt off, to compensate for lack of ARs, the lack of a second game, and frankly just because for some reason it felt really good, which left a good impression with the coaches. I imagine they were just happy to get the game underway, but I didn't want to give them reason to regret it.

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

"It's a game they'll remember for a long time"

When I was a kid, before I discovered soccer, I played american football (or as my girlfriend and I now call it, "pointyball"). This was my second team, after moving to another state, and while we didn't play that well, we played hard. In soccer, at least here, youth teams have an end of the season tourament to give them all a post-season. To point-ball kids they get a "bowl" game, set up between powerful people who allow their really good teams to beat up on the lesser teams... again. Yes, I have some issues when it comes to my childhood and organized sports - undoubtedly I'll give you the details at some other time. One of these events became known as the mud bowl - I think the result was pretty much the usual (we were pounded on by some "random" team with players chosen at "random"), but I was forced to ride home in my parents' station wagon on all fours, and then proceeded to be hosed off in the driveway, with a garden hose, before allowed to come inside.

Now, substitute my pointyball team for a bunch of 15 year-old girls in soccer uniforms. From my perspective, in the middle, it was a lot of fun. The field was wet, very soft, and with a few patches of standing water, mostly centered in each penalty area; I've seen and played in much worse, but I'm also aware of covering my butt. So even though if the field was playable was my call (unlike high school, where it's the home athletic director's), I felt it was prudent to walk the coaches through the field, and get their opinions. This wasn't a high-level travel game, and if one of them drew all wide-eyed at the prospect of playing, I'd side with calling off the game. It's kids, after all.

As it was, no hesitation from either coach: no problem, game on. And thus began the slog which I despretly wished was videotaped. The best part of it was that these kids were of the right age (and probably, gender) to appreciate this game for what it was - a way of adolescent kids to forget puberty and splash in the mud again. And by the time we were done, it was a big mud puddle (I was shocked that the city didn't veto the game, but no objections were sent to the coach) with kids splashing all over the place, some half-covered in mud. The game itself wasn't anything grand, it ended 1-0 on an ugly goal - but when the ball stops dead as soon as it hits "land", you're either going to get very pretty airborne balls into the net, or very ugly ones past half-a-dozen people frantically trying to dig the ball out of the lake.

But ugly can be fun, and I think we all did. The parents had a ball watching it - I had a ball participating in it (and was lucky enough not to fall in myself, although my back was covered in mud that my cleats flung up), and the players had a ball win or lose. I even had a zinger for the parents, who offered to "help" me referee (in a good natured way): "Don't you know? It's a league rule, when the referee's wet, and the parents are dry, they're not allowed to!"

My AR was right, they will remember this game for a long time - I certainly remembered mine.

07 June '04 - 13:59 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

On foul throws, coaches, and red cards

So many things went on last night, it's hard to put everything together. I think the best way is to just go in order of appearance.

My assignor likes me - she knows that I'm happy to drive just about anywhere as long as there are games to do. I like it, it I like doing it, and therefore she likes me. It also means that she's comfortable giving me (and the other members of my crew) difficult games. However, the first game we had was anything but. The center for the first game, which was a thirteen girls game, warned us that this game might be slow and unskilled - this is not necessairly a bad thing. Yes, as referees you want to give all you can to each game, but it's also good to have a realistic view of what's going to happen; and when one team is playing two short, you need to put yourself in the correct mental state. And one of those states is doing some good stretches on the line for the upcoming sixteen boys game, which promised a lot more energy, running around, and an absolute need to not get stiff when standing at the center line for 30 minutes of the 35 minute half.

We had a warning from our assignor regarding one of the teams in the 16 boys game: there was a pass goof-up and two of their players passes were missing. Apparently two of their players were serving red-card suspensions, and the sheet that serves both as the enforcer of suspension (referees from each game they are suspended sign the card to show a game had passed since being suspended) and as the pass itself, in case the original hadn't been returned. Those two cards were gone, it wasn't the coaches fault (no, really, it wasn't - I'm not being flippant about the coach... yet), and he was understandably perturbed about it. Fortunately he didn't take it out on us, when we expalined that while we sympathize, the league rules regarding mising passes is one sentance long: No pass, no play, no exceptions.

Someone is going to be in deep doo-doo regarding those cards, (more)

04 June '04 - 08:39 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Penalty Kick Mathematics

After doing a number of highly skilled youth games (ranging from U14 to U19), you find that doing adult games are vastly different in a number of respects (or at least, the kind of adults I'm allowed to referee). If you read this with any type of frequency, you know I've been working a lot on my positioning this summer - because I never (and will never) played at the level of soccer I ref at, I have to work harder at getting where I need to be, and more importantly, to anticipiate it - I don't have the instinct that comes from years of playing with paid coaches, practices, and whatnot. So I watch other games, higher-level referees and hope I pick up enough that I do a good job when I'm in the middle.

We had two games, a double header of adult "rec" teams - they play full 45-minute halves, but have open subbing like youth leagues, but otherwise the laws they follow are USSF and FIFA. They play competitive soccer, I've learend prettying quickly that the Recreational part of the name only denotes what level referees they recieve (as opposed to the top level amature leagues that get State and National referees - and play at such as skill level where I'd probably fail miserably five minutes or less into the game). I think there are some other differentiations, such as not being governed by the US Amature Soccer Association (the national governing body of amature leagues, like the AYSO or USYSA), so they can't go into national tournaments or something, but to the players, it's largely irrelevant. My center (in the first game) was largely uneventful - I had a very experienced AR on one side, so I tried to milk him for suggestions on positioning; although it's kind of hard to give specifics other than, "Your diagonal is too rigid," or, "try to come closer to play." The game started early off with... a penalty kick. I generally don't give handling calls, especially in the penalty area, but the defender moved his arm right into the ball, and there were no complains about the call from the defense.

There was a minor issue on the penalty kick; oneI've had this a few times already this year. The goalkeeper wants me to walk the distance off, because invariably there's no penalty mark on the field like there's supposed to. I understand the reason for the omission (although it's not an optional mark) - it's to keep people from tearing up the penalty area, taking kicks from the mark in practice. So in the event of a penalty kick, where do you put the ball? To start with, I never walk it off. Why? Because my legs are too short. I know, I've tried pacing it off on pointy-ball fields where every yard is marked - it takes me 11-12 measured paces (which are probably longer than my normal ones) to hit 10 yards (let alone the 12 yards for the penalty spot).

So again, where do you put the ball? Easy: you eyeball a place exactly between the top of the goal area (or six-yard-box as is commonly known) and the top of the penalty area.

Penalty Area, from top to bottom: 18 yards
Goal Area, from top to bottom: 6 yards
Placement of penalty spot: 12 yards.

18-6 = 12 yards of space between the top of the Goal Area and the top of the Penalty Area. If you place the ball right smack in the middle, you have six yards, plus the six in the goal area, or... right where the penalty kick is supposed to take place.

The bad news about making such a call, however justified, is that the offending team now wants everything that hits the hand to be called. "You called that against us in the penalty box!!" Which of course, isn't true. I called handling, because I thought it was deliberate, I didn't call that because it was merely a deflection - but it's an argument that's not worth getting into, and only gets more fervid if the game goes against them (which, despite the save by the goalkeeper of the PK, it quickly did).

03 June '04 - 13:59 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

That little fibber!

I didn't realize that it was a rec-level game until that morning - it was another round of way too busy at work combined with a very busy reffing schedule. It didn't matter a whole lot, it meant that I can't use it in my game count, the halves were shorter, and no futzing with passes. It also meant that the skill level was generally lower - although when the "rec" league is populated by boys ranging from 15-18, it doesn't mean that the game won't be contentious.

It wasn't contentious, but it did have an amusing moment: Early on in the game, one of the players (one that, after watching him play for seventy minutes, he's clearly not an in-house type of player - probably not division one or two, but a respectable travel player at the third or fourth division, clearly) tried one of those loup, clipped yells to try to distract an opponent with the ball; normally a yellow card offense for unsporting behavior. I did blow the whistle, but didn't card him, giving him the benifit of the doublt, instead opting to talk. "Oh, I didn't know, the last ref let us do that." Oh, how many times have I heard that one!

But it turns out, he did know! At halftime, the senior AR said that they took the same ref class together. That little fibber! He bamboozled me! I wasn't angry, I was laughing! He took advantage of the level of play and my unfamiliarity with him to weasel out of a booking. Still smiling, and even though there was still a chuckle in my voice, I said he wouldn't get that benifit of the doubt in the second half.

He didn't. In the second half, he engaged in a small bit of trash talk to an opponent; normally this is the type of stuff I'd let go with a verbal admonishment. It's not helpful, to be sure, but most players and mature enough to deal with it and/or stop it once I interviene. But this is a rec level game, and there were many players who just didn't have the skill level to take it to even the lowest travel league, so it seemed a good time to make it clear that when I said stop in the first half, I still mean it in the second. Bud, consider yourself nipped - he shut up and just played the game, scoring the game winner just five minutes later.

Was it a cumulative card? He certainly wouldn't have gotten it, even at the rec level, in the normal course of play. But then in the normal course of play, unfairly distracting a player is cautionable as well. While the booking did produce a chuckle by the officials after the game as "making up" the earlier one where I was conned, the foot does need to come down to show there is a limit. So, even if the later offense isn't normally booked (although bookable), I think he came out about even.

02 June '04 - 15:15 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Fun stuff from the media

A change in focus this time.

Pat Onstad waxes about the penalty kick in all its five phases: the call, the argument, the shot, the save/goal and the celebration. He thinks refs might have some good stories about the arguments they get when they call the PK. It was a respectful article, and I hope he gets some responces and is amused by them.

If you've forgetten, please remember to properly secure your soccer goals. Please.

Billings not only puts out a positive article about refereeing, they profile one, too. His creds sound awfully impressive, too. Sounds like he still needs a State 5 badge, but in a few years, look for him gaining one with a different title (National Referee, for those who don't know). This is followed by a rather playful article about a Judge (as in, long black robe, courtroom, etc.) who uses our tools of trade to keep lawyers in line.

Yes, referees need to be aware of the pressures that coaches face in their job. It doesn't excuse obnoxious behavior, but it should help us understand short outbursts.

There's no mention on how much trouble the referee will be getting into, but in this short, bizarre article lies the tale of two teams who filed a false match report for a game that never happened.

Romania's soccer federation deals out a two year ban to a player, and two game ban to a team. The player for assault a referee, the team for failing to live up to it's security and facility obligations, as dozens of players entered the pitch after the game.

OK, back to the regular type of media articles, but I'll try to be upbeat about this one, which deal with the Richmond Kickers of the A-League. Coaches is complaining about two things: a red card for excessive dissent, the second is for the referee following around that player for a time before dishing out the red card. Well, here's a little level-headed (for a change) information to help: the line between dissent and abusive language can be very fine, indeed - the most common way is to add the word "you" to your statement. Usually referees will include what is said in the event of a straight red, although it doesn't have to be the verbage that does it - gestures and mannerisms can do it as well - heck, you can say "I love you" in such a way that'll get you sent-off. As for the second, following around a "problem child" is actually a tried, true, and taught method of keeping players from boiling over. Obviously, it didn't work in this case - but my guess is that's exactly what he was trying to do.

Apparently this was the feel-good week in the world's media.

01 June '04 - 15:48 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶