There's no hope for these coaches
Interesting article in New Hampsire's The Telegraph (thankfully, not election politics). It has to do with a legitimate issue concerning soccer: yellow card accumulation. There's no real standard when it comes to this type of penalty: in MLS and the A-League, yellow cards have a point value, depending on what it's for, and once you pass a certain threshold, you face a suspension; apparently in New Hampshire high school, it's four yellows and you're out; where I live (at least in High School), there are none - I honestly couldn't tell you what it is for youth-play (there's one adult league here that charges a $10 fine for each yellow card - the money collected pays for the field rental).The writer of the article lists several points, which I'll endeavor to respond to, and then address what I think is the real issue:
* "They are given completely at the discretion of game officials and can be somewhat arbitrary in nature" - it's kind of hard to argue this, because it is true. Referees issue cards for different reasons, in different game situations - often, if it's not one of the manditory cards, the argument in the ref's head is if the card will "buy" them anything or not - if a good lecture won't gain control, but a card will, you issue the card. You may not like it, but that is the game, and that is our job - especially in a game like soccer, which doesn't have the stoppages like baseball, baseketball, or football.
* His next point is that technical fouls in basketball, or personal fouls in football do not accumulate like in soccer. There's only one responce: Apple and oranges - soccer is supposed to be played by civilied people, not warriors, not thugs, not gangsters who choke their coaches. Although the term has been retired in soccer, I think it's quite indicative that one of the old forms of misconduct was "Ungentlemanly Behavior".
*"Coaches have admitted to instructing players with three yellow cards to intentionally take a fourth late in the regular season." I think here's the issue - I know of coaches that intentionally push the line when they know they can take a "free" yellow card; they teach misconduct, and this is no different. I think is issue should not be, there's a problem with accumulated cards, but instead, there's a problem with coaches teaching unseemly behavior - especially given that he's writing about the high school game!
Still a fine article - because of one sentance and keeps the buck from being passed: "But when a rule like this one costs a team a chance to win a championship, the first place they should look is in the mirror."
Bravo