Running Log: 28 October 2010

So I ran the next day during the day (4pm ish) and I guess I am just that out of shape because though I ran a slightly different route and got slightly confused as to my mile marker and therefore ran about an extra 200m on the first "mile", I ran the first mile in 08:32 and the second in 10:03.

The following Sunday I was sick and have been recovering slowly this week so I haven't run again, but Abby and I have done workout videos indoors for some cardio. I'm hoping to get back running soon since I'd really like to get back to where I can easily meet the USSF international fitness requirements one of which is to run at least about a 7 minute mile for 2700m (~1.7 miles). One of the other requirements is to do at least 10 laps on a 400m track alternating 150m sprint in 30s with a 50m walk in 35s. That's a about an 08:45 minute mile on average, but with the sprints at at least a 05:20 minute mile pace.

At this point I could probably last a mile doing the sprint/walk routine, and probably do one mile at the 7 minute mile pace, but not one after the other and I'd likely collapse after either one.

Running Log: 27 October 2010

I've started running again to try and get in better shape for refereeing. Last night I ran 2 miles. The first mile was 08:34 and I finished in 18:08 for a second mile of 09:34. I was tired on the second mile, but I also ran at 2100 (aka 9pm) and the route I took was very dark (very few streetlights) for about 2/3 of that second mile so I was a little more cautious as well.

Cooking

While Abby and Daniel are away visiting family and friends, I've had to fend for myself meal-wise. For me, this is an opportunity to experiment. A couple years ago I found a couple recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking and played around. My mom got me the actual book for Christmas and I've since made recipes from it when I can. So last Wednesday I got some steaks and attempted to make Pan-broiled Steak with Bearnaise Sauce.

The steak turned out well, the vegetables were okay,


but the sauce didn't make it.


It actually worked out because after the sauce broke and I tried to recover it, I tasted it near the end to check the flavoring and I found that the vermouth I had used had gone bad. So I ended up using some of the melted butter that hadn't yet been added to the sauce instead.

I really need to work on my timing. The vegetables over-cooked while I was trying to save the sauce and the sauce broke because I was checking the vegetables and steak.

Supremes de Volaille a l'Ecossaise

(or the more correct, but not as google-able "Suprêmes de Volaille à l’Écossaise")

I cooked this recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking tonight. The English translation from the book is "Chicken Breasts with Diced Aromatic Vegetables and Cream". It went pretty well despite a few hiccups. The first hiccup was that we do not have a heavy, 10-inch diameter, covered casserole dish. This is a different dish than the glass casserole dishes you are probably familiar with. In fact I used a glass casserole dish and aluminum foil (for the cover) to substitute and it was okay, but definitely not a substitution I would make in the future.

The recipe calls for the venerable combination of carrots, celery, and onion (I substituted shallot) to be cooked in 5 Tbsp of butter in a 400°F oven for about 10 minutes. I forgot to cover the dish and also put it on the middle rack instead of the top which caused the vegetables to be almost spot on (perhaps slightly underdone) for my tastes, but Abby said she preferred her celery to be more well-done while the carrots were to her liking. After cooking the vegetables, the chicken was added to the dish and supposed to be done in six minutes more. I again forgot to cover the dish so the chicken was not done after six minutes. I remembered about the cover, flipped the chicken, and also moved the dish to the top rack for four more minutes. The chicken still wasn't done so I flipped it again and put it in for another four minutes. It was done after this.

While the chicken was cooking, I was prepping the sauce. It was supposed to be made with the vegetables after the chicken was done and removed from the dish. I didn't see how I could make the sauce in the dish using the oven and I wasn't sure Daniel would like the sauce so about mid-way through the chicken's cooking I decided to just make the sauce without the veggies in a saucepan on the stove. My second hiccup was that the recipe calls for one cup of whipping cream. Well, we didn't have any type of cream (unless you count Abby's coffee creamer). So I substituted a half cup of Daniel's whole milk and 3-4 Tbsp unsalted butter. This was a successful substitution. However, my third and final hiccup came when, in the middle of making my sauce, the chicken needed to be turned for the final time. As I was evaluating the done-ness of the chicken and deciding what to do, I neglected my sauce for 30, maybe 45, seconds. This was enough time for it to break. So, my sauce looked odd and didn't have the texture I wanted, but it tasted great. Luckily, this was enough for Daniel to scarf it down (even with the sauce) and Abby to rave about it.

So despite the broken sauce, wrong dish, no cover, and no cream, it was a successful meal. I think the sauce would be a little easier to make with the cream so I would use that if I had it. The chicken was bland (I forgot to add salt, pepper, and lemon juice to it) and looked like it might have boiled in the water from the veggies instead of sautéing in the butter. Abby said she didn't want to say anything about the chicken, but then the sauce came through and saved the day. So I think I would fix this on the stove-top next time unless I had the right dish. That would allow me to monitor the chicken and veggies better, let me put a little color on the chicken, and keep it from boiling.

Family reaction to USA v. Ghana

Daniel says, "US players, you have to keep the ball out of your net to win, here try again with my ball." (Our reaction to Ghana's goal in the fifth minute.)


Our mood the morning after the USA was eliminated from the World Cup.

Referee Rating: 2010 World Cup Final - Netherlands v. Spain

Howard Webb realizes the highest refereeing honor as the center referee for the World Cup Final. Darren Cann and Mike Mullarkey are his assistants as always. All three referees will hope that the talk after the game will be about the play and not their decisions. However neither Webb nor his assistants will be afraid to step up and make a big call if there is one to make.

14' Easy call for the foul on Puyol.

15' It was easily a foul by van Persie, not necessarily a yellow, but the challenge was from behind and ended up two-footed even though it didn't start out that way.

16' That was easily a yellow for Puyol.

18' Good call on the offside by Villa.

22' At least Webb won't be accused of letting van Bommel off easy. Of course van Bommel made that decision easy.

23' The challenge by Ramos was late and high, but not necessarily a yellow. It did look worse at full-speed though.

26' That looked like a foul by Sergio, not on him to me.

28' That was a dumb challenge by de Jong. Probably should have been a red.

31' Good advantage, too bad Pedro did nothing with it.

33' Busquets made no attempt to play the ball, just put a shoulder into Robben.

36' Easy call for the foul on Sneijder.

43' Sergio is really annoying me calling for a card for every foul committed by the Netherlands.

45'+2 Good call by Mullarkey on the offsides. While van Persie didn't play the ball, he did obstruct the view of the Spanish defender covering Kuyt.

First half rating: Good. 7/10. Some might criticize the number of cards shown so far, but it seems like they calmed the game down and all but one of them were easily classified as reckless. As for de Jong's yellow instead of red, I can only assume Webb saw it as reckless instead of excessive because de Jong only had eyes for the ball. It could have easily been a red though and it would be interesting to know what Webb thinks of the challenge now that he will have seen a replay or two of the challenge. I expect he might have second thoughts. It would be nice if I had a DVR so I could see Webb's positioning and de Jong's challenge frame-by-frame, but I have to make due with ABC's replays.

46' Iniesta flopped a bit there.

49' Neither van Bommel nor Xabi looked like they were trying to play the ball nor could they have.

54' That was a yellow only because of the position of the foul. Van Bronckhorst knew what he was doing.

56' Webb tried to play the advantage while Villa made a meal of that.

58' That wasn't "minimal contact" on Sneijder as Ekoku (commentator) said it was. It was a foul, but no more than that.

62' Great run by Robben, he was easily onside. Great save by Casillas.

67' Easily a yellow for that foul on van Persie. It looked like he could have stayed on his feet though.

68' Not sure what happened there with van Bommel. Great call by Mullarkey on a close offsides.

73' Good call for the foul on Iniesta.

78' That was not a foul on Iniesta. It probably should have been a yellow for him for his reaction though.

83' I don't think that was a penalty, but I'll hve to see a replay. Nope, an arm, but that wasn't even a foul by Puyol. That was a good card for dissent by Robben.

88' Easy call for the foul on Villa.

90' Easy offsides call by Cann on van Persie.

92' Fabregas dove. Xavi kicked Heitenga and then dove. What unsportsmanlike play from Spain. I'm firmly rooting for the Netherlands now. It had been half-hearted support since Robben was rolling a bit, but Xavi's insistence on a card for every foul on his team had me on the Dutch side.

96' Not really sure what the foul was on that corner.

102' Good offside call by Cann.

108' Easy call on the ball out of play.

109' Robben should probably watch his protests. Iniesta went down easily there. I'm not so sure that was a foul. If it was, then a red is correct, but I'm not so sure. Seeing the replay, it was a second yellow. I guess that's a more defensible call, but I still think the foul was soft.

113' There was no need for a yellow there, but Robben is on very thin ice. He's basically asking for a second yellow.

115' Webb missed the deflection...I'm not sure how. He's not had the greatest of games. His assistants have been great though.

117' I think Iniesta was offside there. Replay shows I was wrong and Mullarkey was right. Easy yellow for Mathijsen. He was throwing a tantrum worthy of a two year old.

120' Xavi finally gets the card he deserves, but it's actually not for a dive or dissent.

Ratings will come after dinner.

Updated 12 July at 1320 EDT:
Ratings:
Assistants: Excellent. 9/10. Cann and Mullarkey got every call correct even some very close offsides calls.

Game control: Pretty good. 6.75/10. This one is hard to rate because I feel that the game got away from Webb a couple times. That said, both teams, particularly the Dutch, were fouling pretty hard at times. I think the cards did calm the game and were pretty much all given for clearly reckless challenges or tactical (unsporting) fouls.

So, I might be harsh in my rating given the tough time the Dutch gave him. This appeared to be a very hard game to referee and keep under control, but I just would have liked to see Webb handle it better. Maybe no referee would have been able to do that, but given the way he handled the Champions League Final earlier this year, I expected more. I do think an above average World Cup referee would have completely lost control of the game so maybe even a great performance was what Webb put out and it was just a really tough game, but I still would've liked to see Webb excel.

Big decisions: Average. 5/10. I think de Jong's challenge should've been a red. The second yellow for Heitinga was harsh I thought. I guess it is a yellow if you think that's a foul, but I thought Iniesta went down at the slightest touch on his shoulder. I think he missed the biggest call of the game (de Jong), but his cards were mostly right and he was close to play to make the big calls. Even de Jong could been seen as merely reckless (which gets a yellow) instead of excessive or violent (which gets a red), but I still think Webb will see a replay of the challenge and think he may have gotten that wrong. I think some of the diving could have been dealt with, but the biggest flop by Xavi was kind of hidden from Webb from what I could see.

Overall: Above average. 6.5/10. A tough game was mostly kept under control. I think the biggest call was missed, but the yellow instead of red for de Jong is defensible in law. Maybe my expectations were too high for Webb, and my ratings reflect that. Like I said before, it's tough because it was a very difficult game and so maybe Webb deserves at least a "Good" or "Very Good" for giving us a game that was about the game itself and not really about him and his team, but it is what it is. If I can find Webb's thoughts on his performance and his explanations are convincing maybe I'll change it or maybe it'll confirm my criticisms.

So there's my incredibly wishy-washy ratings. I'm still not sure they should be that low, but we'll see.

Edit: After re-watching the final, I don't think there's many referees that could have handled the game as well as Webb.

Revised ratings:
Game Control: Very good-excellent. 8.5/10
Big Decisions: Good. 7/10
Overall: Very good. 8/10

Referee Rating: Germany v. Spain

Viktor Kassai and his team take charge today.

4' Kassai got the restart correct after that idiot ran on the field. Spain were good sports giving the ball back to Germany since they clearly had possession when Kassai had to stop the game.

10' Easy offside call for the far side assistant on Oezil. Replay showed he might have been just onside at the exact moment the ball left his teammate's foot. It looked quite close though and ESPN didn't draw a line like they normally do, but I think that call was wrong if only barely.

22' Good no call on the flop by a Spanish defender as Klose chased the pass back to Casillas.

24' Looks like the near side assistant missed a fairly close offside call himself. I think ESPN drew their line when the ball was still on the passer's foot and not just after it left, but the Spaniard was still onside.

27' Easy call for the stomp on Podolski. Lucky there was no card there on Ramos. He was late and seemed to be more focused on Podolski than the ball.

The pitch looks terribly torn up already.

36' Not sure there. Replay shows the far side assistant got that offsides call right.

39' Easy call for that foul.

41' Another easy call for Klose's foul.

42' That was not a foul by Boateng. Replay shows it was. It also shows that the near side assistant missed a not-so-close offside call.

44' That didn't look like a foul, but then I got the last one wrong.

45'+1 The ball had gone, but that looked like a pretty clear trip. Replay shows that was a pretty clear penalty. Oezil might have gone down easily, but Ramos seemed to pretty much foul his whole left leg.

First half rating: Pretty good. 6.5/10. Kassai hasn't had much to do and his assistants have missed some offside calls. The penalty shout at the end wasn't absolutely clear, and Kassai was right there. I thought it was pretty clear, but I am rooting for Germany so I'm not entirely unbiased. The game will pick up in the second half and Kassai and his team will have to step up as well. I hope they do because they haven't been exactly outstanding so far.

49' The near side assistant might have missed another offside there, but I don't feel like rewinding to find out :)

This is a chess match. It's fascinating that both defenses essentially need only one wrong touch to break down the attack.

54' That looked like a great tackle. At least there was no card. I thought that was two fouls in a row on Germany, but replay showed the referee just got it right I think.

56' Easy call for the foul by Trochowski.

60' Technically that was a foul on Villa, but not really at this level. He went down really easy too which I'm sure didn't help.

63' That probably was a penalty if the other one was. Well replay showed there was very little contact so that was the right call.

68' That was a foul barely, but Iniesta was looking for it and seemed to run himself into Klose.

69' Easy call for the elbow by Ramos on Podolski.

72' That looked like another flop by Iniesta. There was contact though.

74' Good wave off of offsides since the ball went straight through to Casillas.

76' That seemed soft. Replay shows Xabi got mostly ball and little of his man.

84' That again seemed soft. It looked like Xabi got that right. I don't know if he could have made that tackle without taking his man, but it wasn't a foul for me.

85' That was a foul by Puyol, but outside the box.

Good game, okay referee.

Overall rating: Okay. 6/10. Kassai and his team did alright. There wasn't a whole lot for them to do and I thought they missed more than they should have. The game was kept under control, but I don't feel Kassai had a whole lot to do with that. Both teams were pretty reserved and cautious. There weren't really any hard tackles or any dirty play by either side.