MLS has Goal of the Week, and Save of the Week. This league really needs a Bad Call of the Week. How cool would that be. Have 5 refs faces up there, with video of the worst calls of the week. Heck assistants could be eligible for bad offside flags. It would be awesome! Then we could all vote on Bad Call of the Year. 2011 Winner http://youtu.be/lJcRqEIESdU
I'd be 100% behind this site financially and with material support to point out the incompetence of certain officials. The problem is that the MLS would shut us down in a real hurry for using their material. That's unfortunate. I don't see any way there wouldn't be a cease and desist in about five minutes if anything was used from MLS games, which sucks. In the old days it could have been hosted overseas and it might have gotten a pass, but I think it wouldn't work now. It just wouldn't be as effective without video. Too bad.... because to me this is a brilliant idea. I know fans would love it. Just like they love Deadspin. The ridiculousness that goes on in sport draws them in. The leagues know this and are just so overly protective of their material now that fan sites are stuck with still photos they took themselves or stuff they get off of the AP and Getty it seems. Great idea though. I would love to see how many hits and votes it got. Maybe linking to Youtube videos of the same plays. I put a few plays up on Youtube at some point and inverted the video and MLS never said anything. I don't know why inverting them helped, but they must have some software that looks for a specific video. Having it display inverted may through off their search bot somehow?
Yeah, that's not okay. Do we have a miss of the week for a player who should've scored but didn't? The league should be doing nothing to highlight negativity, especially when it comes to referees.
actually, yeah. http://www.mlssoccer.com/video/2012/03/28/not-goal-week-week-3 It's not something you vote on, but its a segment where they show the worst misses from the week prior. Some criticism of the refs isn't going to make them all cry and go away. These guys get bitched at each and every game for 90 straight minutes, if they don't have thick enough skin to take the criticism, they should think about doing something else as a hobby (hardly any are full-time)
That's different from goal of the week and save of the week. This is just a video with Simon Borg running through some misses. He also has a weekly video where he runs through referee decisions throughout the week that people have questioned. I'm not worried about the MLS referees. You're right, they don't care what people say about them because the only thing that matters for them is how the high-level referee community views their performances. What I'm worried about is that promoting disrespect and ridicule of referees at this highest level will trickle down to youth and adult amateur games more than it already has. I'm a SLC referee and RSL season ticket holder. The amount of shit I hear from parents at the youth games I do is ridiculous. People seem to think that giving the referee crap is a normal part of the game that needs to be tolerated. It's not. Referees need to be treated with respect. The fact that this nonsense is tolerated and sometimes even promoted at these highest levels gives people the idea that they can tell me and my fellow referees on a local youth game that we're terrible and that we don't know what we're doing. It's a culture problem and this sort of idea would only make things worse.
Guys like Steven Lenhart are the ones who disrespect and ridicule for referees. Players like him give soccer a bad name.
Accountability not being a part of the referees job is a problem with the sport. Guys can call 8 or 9 straight bad games it seems before the league does a thing about it. A player makes on play that is legal, the ref blows it, and the player is suspended immediately. That to me is a big problem with the system of "ref protection" in all sports. The leagues feel that if they protect their refs that they somehow protect the integrity of the game. Quite the opposite. The NBA has lost many fans over their decision to reinstate the referees who were under indictment for tax fraud. The league felt they needed these "good quality refs" on the court, but really a lot of us just lost faith in the league and the refs. I think the NFL had the right idea when they had a weekly "you make the call" segment, which they then cancelled, because they felt a need to "protect their own". We want refs to learn and to be accountable. We want the league to stand up and say, "Wow this was a blown call." Highlight the many calls they make right, but also be willing to admit when something went wrong so that referees get it right next time, and fans know that the league at least acknowledges that bad calls were made. As a referee I want to know when I've blown it, because I'm not such an egomaniac that I would think I make no mistakes. I was never above apologizing to a player post game when I realized I had blown it. They seemed to appreciate it. The next game around they saw me and seemed to be glad to see me knowing that I was fully willing to accept responsibility and was giving it my best just as they were. You seem to be caught in the trap of thinking that the whole situation is one of a breakdown of society and blah blah blah. Come on. The league has some serious refereeing issues, and watching last night's game should certainly tell you that. If you've decided to side with that referee after that performance then you're missing the boat bigtime sadly. Changes need to be made. Improvements need to be made. Bad referees need to be remediated to the point where they fix their poor calls or they need to get removed from high level matches.
Nope. There's plenty of accountability behind the scenes. Just because some fans think a ref has had a bad game doesn't mean the ref actually had a bad game. The people doing referee evaluation and assignment at these levels understand refereeing far, far better than you and me. When a referee screws up more than a couple times, he gets punished. Trust me, I track MLS referees in the same way most fans track players. As for last night, the referee did just fine. The Olave DOGSO send-off turned out to be iffy upon replay, but it's hard to imagine a referee making any other call given the circumstances. I watched the game at the RSL watch party at Legends in downtown SLC with a friend who works in the RSL front office. He and I were in agreement that the referee had a solid game. Put away your homer glasses.
Hahaha. Accountability "BEHIND THE SCENES" is the exact problem. Players/coaches/everybody else has accountability directly in the media because the leagues all report everything including fines. Everything with the refs goes on "BEHIND THE SCENES" because they think it somehow protects the "integrity of the game". You want integrity? Call it out as a bad call when it's a bad call. I could give a crap who your friend is or what front office he works in. It was a bad call. Former players, current players, other referees, fans from teams who hate RSL all saw it as a bad call. The front office is more likely to agree with the league because they are all part of the same entity. Put away your "know it all" glasses and accept the fact that it was a piss poor call and everybody with a brain in their head knows it. The ref had a solid game? Honestly? What about the play from behind on Will Johnson? Was that solid? What about Lenhart's flop? Solid? I could give you ten more examples of INCONSISTENCY. I have no problem with throwing a straight red (although this particular ref is throwing one about every 2.5 games, which is frankly too many), but is not consistent. It doesn't take a homer to see inconsistency. It takes somebody who sees a ref making calls inconsistently. All I want is a game that is called the same way all game. If RSL gets a redcard for dangerous play, then San Jose should too. If Morales gets a yellow for dissent, then at least 3 players on San Jose should have as well for their reactions to certain calls. This ref was out of position, was inconsistent, and was quick on the cards all night.
Whatever. You're welcome to continue complaining and thinking you know what you're talking about. Won't change anything about how things are run. My original point was that referees need to be treated with more respect across the board and that's true no matter what you think of the professional referee structure in the United States.
No, your original point was that it was essentially a good call and that they are accountable behind the scenes, and that somebody from the RSL front office and yourself both said the referee had a "SOLID GAME". Those were all points you made. Even the guy who arguably is the most important person in RSL's front office (Jason Kreis) found the call so bad he contemplated removing his team from the field. Does your "buddy at Legends" in the front office think his semi-boss was wrong? I'd like to hear the discussions among the "front office" about the quality of the officiating on Saturday if what you say is true. If anybody in that front office is willing to go to Jason and tell him the officiating was SOLID then I'd love to be a fly on the wall in that situation. Because it flat out sucked. Of course in my dealings with the front office, it wouldn't surprise me if somebody that is up high thought that actually was good officiating knowing how little many of them know about the reality of what is good quality and what is poor quality. The rules are the rules, but the spirit of the rules and the consistency of officiating is the one thing that has not steadily improved along with the consistency of the quality of play in the league. With better play we should have better officiating, better tv coverage, better everything. The refereeing is arguably getting worse as it gets more diluted with the already poor officials having to cover even more games each week. Last night we saw one of the poorer refs the league uses do one of the poorer jobs that have taken place in an MLS game in the past year, and that's really saying something. The red he gave to Olave came out even faster than the red on Mullen when he busted Zakuani's leg with a karate kick.
No, this was my original point: You brought up the other issue. I'm obviously not going to convince you of anything. I've made my points and I'm not going argue further.
The next few matches in the Champions league may do more to change the way soccer is officiated than anything in recent memory. With two additional officials on the end lines in these upcoming high profile matches, a scenario where a critical call is corrected due to these "extra eyes" May prove to be just the step forward the futbal world needs in its efforts to get more calls correct. Problem with adding two additional officials will be in the willingness of the center official to go to his assistants for a ruling, too often we see the call being made by the center official without any input from assistant officials. Just look back at the Borchers call referenced in this thread, the correct call was and should have been made by the side official. Perhaps soccer is too fast and it's playing field to large to expect one center official to call and control correctly. I am all for more technology and additional officials if it means getting more calls correct. La Ricardo is correct in saying we need to respect referee's but he is incorrect in implying that we have no right to question their performance. What we need to do is promote a scenerio where officiating is improved. The last performance by the official in the RSL vs San Jose match deserves all the criticism it is getting.
Wait... I brought up the fact that you watched the game with a member of the front office and said the ref did a good job, the calls were right, and he called a solid game? WTF are you talking about? How would I know that? You said it sir. I questioned how you could have seen that. I don't see how my "disrespect" for the officials does anything. I'm not on the pitch. Who showed disrespect? Lenhart, by blatantly flopping when he knew he had the ref out of view of the play. That is who I had a problem with in the situation. I had a problem with the San Jose fans who thought it was a great play by Lenhart, and the ref for calling it, and now for you claiming it was a well officiated match. It was NOT. Our coach said so. I agree with him. You claim I was viewing it with my "homer glasses". That was brought up by you, and your proof was that you were in the LEGENDS Club with some all important front office member. I'm not arguing. I'm pointing out what you said. And I'm pointing out your reasoning for justifying your opinion (a front office member agreed with you apparently). I'd love to hear who it is and I'd love to hear them tell Jason he was wrong. Did Jason show disrespect for the ref? No. He kept his team on the field. He didn't send anybody out headhunting after the poor calls. He kept his team on the field and they gave it everything they had to win the game. Where was the disrespect? Disrespect I saw was Lenhart first and foremost, the referee showed disrespect for his assistants by throwing a straight red without asking their viewpoint on either of them when they had a good view (in particular the guy on the far side who was directly in front of both straight reds... he was NEVER even looked at... the card was pulled before the ref could even get a step towards the players). He was indecisive at times, and too quickly decisive at others. He was flat out inconsistent. He showed no respect for the game last night with his poor job officiating. The fans all wanted to see the top two teams in the conference play a game. Instead we were treated to watching a guy who was confused, inconsistent, and out of position quite a bit. I don't care if you throw a red up. But don't go throwing out random late yellows like he did on Sabo and Morales, but not straight redding Dawkins for shoving one guy, then taking Will Johnson down from behind in clearly the most dangerous play of the game by far. Acting is if fans who point out inconsistencies and poor officiating are the biggest problems in the league is so beyond laughable that I can't even laugh, because I think you seriously believe it. The fact is that the officiating hasn't kept pace with the improvement in play on the field. Players are faster, stronger, better technically, etc., yet we still have the low quality officials running the games. Most of them seem to have little man syndrome and LOVE throwing that card up in the air and getting in a big man's face. It's embarrassing for the league. It's funny that you claim you won't argue anymore, yet you were the one who made the initial point about how the ref was so solid and that you had proof and such because you hang out with super important people. Well... I was sitting at home in front of my TV and my 8 year old son said, "that was an awful call" and Jason Kreis and he had the same opinion, so I'll go with the fact that the people I was watching the game with in my humble little home in Orem were just as knowledgeable as your mighty friends at LEGENDS!
1- When you say accountability do you mean training or actual reviews and disciplinary actions? 2- Given the circumstances shouldn't the ref be a little more cautious giving a straight red from that distance? I understand that reffing is incredibly difficult. I recently tried reffing and am too much of a player to be able to do it. But as a player/fan, seeing a ref make a call from 30+ yards behind the play is frustrating. Going for red on that same call is downright unfathomable. The ridiculousness of the call is only made worse by the fact that every single person watching the game in the stadium or at home EXCEPT THE REF has the benefit of watching it immediately on replay, over and over again. In my opinion you can't give a red on that play, simply because as a ref there's no way you can know what was actually going on. But again, I'm too much of a player to be a ref.
When fans on both sides are saying the ref didn't have a great game, it usually means he didn't have a great game.
See, this is the part of soccer that's really irritating the hell out of me. It doesn't seem to be as big of an issue in Europe or South America, but here in the US it seems to be only getting worse. We have refs who don't play the game We have players who don't ref the game I'm of the opinion that refs should be forced to actually have played to a certain level if they are to ref at a certain level. Players should have to give back by going and officiating, as well. There is far too large of a dichotomy going on between officials and players.
I agree to a certain extent. What I found while reffing was that letting the game "play on" too much quickly agitates teams and coaches. I personally prefer to play through some of the softer fouls, if the play continues, but not everyone like to play that way. My playing interfered with my ability to ref. And it could for others as well. Your point hits it though, the perspective gained is irreplaceable.
What about the yellow on Dawkins's scissor slide into the back of Will Johnson's legs? Couldn't that have easily been a red? Just as easily as Espindola's two-footed lunge at a 50/50 ball? Normally I wouldn't think twice about a yellow on that slide from behind, but the ref went against his own precedent in the game (maybe because he didn't want to seem like he was calling a "make up" call, to even out the ejections?). That limits, in my mind, the quality of the game he reffed. The call on Olave? Some of those are going to go against us. It sucks for RSL fans, but it was hardly the "Bad call of the week," IMHO.
Bad call of the week goes to the moron who tried to get the cRapids a cheap point with a bogus pk. Hell, I'd nominate that for worst call of the year or even decade I loved the reaction of the player who was supposedly fouled on the play. He gets up, turns around to run back, hears a whistle and freezes. Then he notices that, somehow, it's going his teams way. Un-freakin-believable. Justice was served with Cummings crap pk also, you know its a bad call when that homer moron Balboa is even confused
Can "bad call of the week" also be "bad no-call of the week"? If that's the case, I nominate the no-call of Marquez bear-hugging Salinas, throwing him down WWF-style, then kicking him and breaking his collarbone. You could have called three fouls on that play and yet nothing was called. Or was that last week?
As bad as the call was, I'm still not sure how there weren't at least 3-4 dissent yellows given out to Galaxy players after that happened. Especially when you compare that to what Larentoeixiwlzc did in the first half to get his dissent yellow. Beckham could probably get away with giving the ref a wedgie and not get a yellow.
This. It was a crap call but that doesn't excuse the behavior of Old Spice and the rest of the Galaxy.
