State Tournament Begins
Now, all the sudden the State Tournament begins - where teams are fighting to get promotion to the next level of play (the top division has already had their championships). I started out pretty easy, a pair of U14 girls games, one center, one line... except the center doesn't start out so easily. Not on the field, the game was fine (no issues in either game - in fact the second center did a nice job, recognizing when a player was injured, and asked the coach to give her the honorable out when she said, while continuing to limp, that she was fine) - but the field itself. There was a huge trench that went from the top of the penalty area, diagonally across to the bottom, as much as two inches deep. Both coaches expressed concerns, and I agreed. Fortunately, there was another field nearby, with a hill on one corner, but at least it was safe.I had another center, a 14 boys game where the kids were trying to win promotion to the second division. I ended up doing a lot of talking, a lot of running, but no cards. Which was funny, because I saw a league official who remarked that I threw out more people in one game than the rest of the tournament; fortunately me mixed me up with someone else (I don't know what to make of that mistake - especially considering I hadn't sent anyone off since the middle of winter). The home side had a couple of big players who could easily play through most fouls, and so I let them, only calling the really serious stuff (of which there was little). Still, it was a tight game, and a lot of fun to be involved with. I did come close to tossing a coach, though (and of course I thought that my conversation about a mistaken identity just jinxed me); a very good offside call by the team-side AR drew howls of protest from the coaches, who then both converged on the official. I ran straight over to deflect their attention. I don't care if they think it was a terrible call (it wasn't), and if they get the last word - as long as they back off the kid who was doing a good job.