Friday, October 31, 2008

Update: Hand balls and penalties galore (recount of the last final)

The last final started at 1245. I did have a break this time since the previous final ended on-time at 1200. I wanted Subway, but didn't want to scarf down all that food right before I needed to run again (and I had no refrigerated place to store leftovers) so I just got a sugar-laden smoothie at Baskin-Robbins. It was better than nothing, but I wish I had been able to make it down to the Jamba Juice-wannabe place because I had some slight cramping in my calves near the end of the game. I was able to stretch them out in between ball-possession changes. The game itself was fairly uneventful aside from some parents complaining about throw-in calls as in previous games.

One team was quite overmatched. I found out later that they were one of the worst teams, but had done well in the playoffs. The players on that team got pretty frustrated. They were tired from having played a semi-final earlier in the day and they ended up getting beat 5-0. One kid complained about "the ref cheating for the other team" after the third or fourth goal. I overheard and explained to him that I was being as neutral as I could and that I understood that, from his perspective, seeing his teammates fall down or trip might look like a foul, but that wasn't always the case. He apologized immediately and I told him I understood that he was just tired and frustrated at losing, but that he still shouldn't talk that way.

The coach of the losing team came up to me after the game while we were cleaning up. He apologized for getting on my case in the semi-final and final games. He said it was heat-of-the-moment comments and thanked me for reffing. We talked about how I tried to be as impartial as I could and that, from his viewpoint, kids falling down or tripping might look like fouls even if they weren't. I told him I understood that and that I understand that I do miss calls. It was a very productive conversation.

He's a nice guy, I think originally from England. He's got an English accent, I couldn't place it, but I'm getting better at differentiating accents listening to all my football podcasts. He usually wears a Manchester United warm-up top while coaching. His kid was probably the most skilled in the division if not the league.

We talked more about referee abuse and I explained about the one kid's comments during the game. He apologized for rubbing off on the kids and I told him I knew the kids were just tired and discouraged. I also explained that I can handle all kinds of abuse from the coaches and parents, but that I would take very little from the players. He recognized that and agreed.

I appreciated him talking to me, but, honestly, he was one of the mildest coaches I encountered this season. It's still nice to have that communication and respect going both ways.

On the other side of the coach abuse spectrum, the coach I had a problem with also talked to me after his game. Our conversation went much like above. It was nice that he recognized he was out of line. I had been warned about him before the season so I was ready for it and it really doesn't bother me. I have a feeling he won't change as much as the other coach, but it's still nice to have a coach realize that his perspective is skewed and that we referees do know that we miss calls.

Now I'm finishing reading up on the High School rules. Some of them are pretty dumb changes from FIFA. I really don't understand why other organizations think they need to try and one-up FIFA. They usually just screw it up, but that's a post for another time. It's lunchtime now.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Hand balls and penalties galore (aka I referee for five hours)

The city soccer league ended last weekend. Most of the other referees were unavailable so I did two semi-finals and both finals Saturday. I probably would have just done the finals if there had been other referees.

As it was, it was just Alan, the guy who heads up the high school refereeing, and I for the first set of semi-finals at 0830. My game went well. I believe it was boys U12. I had a little trouble from one of the coaches who thought that every time any of his players was touched, it was a foul. He stepped on the field twice. Both times I warned him not to step on the field. He didn't know it, but if he had done it again I would've yellow carded him.

Note: The "U" numbering system works as follows: U12 means all the kids playing were under 12 years of age according to league rules about birthday cutoffs. In this league I think pretty much all the kids in that division were 10-11 years old.

I missed one call that game, it looked like the kid tripped over the ball, so I didn't call anything. The ball went out of play soon after and I asked the kid about it. He said that he had been tripped by the other player. I told him I thought that might have been the case, but I wasn't sure and that, to me, it looked like he had tripped over the ball. He understood, which is always helpful.

I gave two penalties that game. One to each team. The first was to the team who ended up winning. It was given when the boy dribbling the ball was knocked over. The problem coach jawed for a bit because his man "got the ball". Yeah, coach, your player got the ball because the kid who previously had it was knocked over by your player and obviously couldn't keep possession while tumbling to the ground. The second was given when the player with the ball was tripped from behind by an opposing player. It looked clear-cut to me (which is the only time a ref should give a penalty, when they're sure), but my assistant ref on that side said later that it looked like to him the attacker slowed up a bit and that's why the defender (who was chasing the attacker down from behind) ran into the attacker. My assistant had a side view and I had a view from behind. Still, even if the attacker "drew" the foul, the defender still ran him over from behind.

That highlights probably the biggest problem with the city league; the lack of training for the refs. Many assistants didn't know the basic signals for anything beyond offside and throw-in. There was only one assistant I thought who really knew what he was doing. The other main center referees knew, but I didn't ever have them as assistants until I got one for the last final.

The weather went from about 45°F at the beginning of the first game, to probably 70°F at halftime, to around 80°F by the end of the game. I had to take off all my layers, including my long-sleeved silk undershirt, except for one short-sleeved t-shirt.

Alan and I did the second set of semi-finals at 0930. My game was another boys U12 game I think. Both of our games went to penalty kicks. To speed things along, if the game was a tie at the end of regular time, we went straight into penalty kicks. The goalkeeper for one team was quite good and made one great diving save and two other relatively easy saves.

In both of those games I had a few parents get quite irate over a few throw-in calls. A couple times, a player on one team would kick the ball out and it would slightly deflect off a player on the other team. How these parents didn't see it I have no idea, the ball generally changed direction at least a little and the spin always changed. And they called me blind...

Ted, probably the best high schooler who refs, and I did the first of the finals. Mine was co-ed U14. I was scheduled to have a break from 1030 to 1100 (end of the 0930 game to the beginning of the 1100 game), but since the 0930 game went to penalties, it ended after 1100 so I had to go straight on. One of the coaches was the coach from the first game that I had a problem with. He was a little better in this game.

I blew one call that game. I should have given a penalty for a hand ball. A girl raised her arms in the air as she was trying to kick the ball and it came off someone else and bounced up and hit her arm. I didn't give it because she didn't move her arm to play the ball and it only slightly deflected off of her arm. So I rationalized that the ball played her instead of the other way 'round. Really though, the ball can only play the man if the arm is in a "natural" position and the player doesn't move their arm to play the ball. An arm over the head isn't considered to be in a "natural position" and so I should have given a penalty regardless of whether the ball played her or not. I had already given a penalty earlier for hand ball against that girl's team and I'm still not sure why I didn't give that one.

The only other controversial call was a goal I gave in which a player on the attacking team was in an offside position. Offside is an odd law. Its definition now (it has changed over the years) says that being in an offside position is not an offense itself. The player has to be involved in the play or has to gain an advantage by being in that position. The attacker shot the ball between the near post and the goalkeeper. The player who was in an offside position was near the far post and wasn't involved in the play nor did he distract the goalkeeper or draw a defender or otherwise gain an advantage by being there. My assistant (happened to be the one I trust) didn't flag for offside and indicated he thought it was a good goal. That didn't stop the coach whose team was scored on from yelling over and over and over that a player was offside. She finally stopped when I told her that player wasn't involved in the play and therefore was not offside.

I'll write about the last final later.
To be continued...

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Bailout Bill Email to my Representative

UPDATE: I wasn't ever able to get this to go through using the House's email your rep function because they limited the number of simultaneous submissions so as to not overload their servers. I'm happy that Rep. McCarthy voted "no" again even though the bill still passed. At least my representative is actually representing me.

Rep. McCarthy:
I strongly urge you to oppose the latest "bailout bill" just passed in the Senate on Wednesday (1 OCT 2008) when it comes up for vote in the House. I believe it is wrong for a lawmaker to support a bill because of some tacked on pork or tax cuts if the main idea of the bill is contrary to their ideals.

Some of your Republican colleagues are already speaking as if they have fallen into this trap and say they will support the bill now that FDIC limits have increased and there is "a $150.5 billion package of unrelated personal and corporate tax cuts" tacked on. (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122286874792094117.html?mod=rss_whats_news_us)

Bailing out the companies and investors who, along with the Carter and Clinton Administrations, caused this mess, is not fiscally or morally sound. Neither will raising FDIC limits help "bolster consumer confidence in the banking system." The general public causes bank runs because they don't understand the FDIC in the first place. Raising the limits will only reward those who took a risk and ignored the limits in the first place. The extra insurance will be paid for through inflation.

I do not support my government devaluing my hard earned money to help the people that caused our current predicament. If this bill passes the House and becomes law, the American public and investors will not learn their lesson. They will, instead, learn that they can make risky investments, and, if they go badly, the government will bail them out.

Please vote "no" when this or any other bailout bill comes up in the House and encourage your colleagues to do the same.

Thank you,
Travis Gilbert