Re: So, where's the Disciplinary Committee? I disagree. Even in the vaunted EPL there's constant talk about how bad the officiating is. More than anything I think it comes down to the average fan no knowing the exact rules of the game and/or how referees are instructed by FIFA and their FA's to do their job. That results in a ref making the right call and/or doing exactly what FIFA wants, but fans seeing it as a horrible decision. That's not to say there isn't bad officiating in MLS, but there's bad officiating in every league. There's also fan overreaction in every league.
Re: So, where's the Disciplinary Committee? It very well could be because I'm "vested" in this league as opposed to simply a "fan" in regards to the EPL or Bundesliga etc. I can say though, that we know the names of many more MLS refs due to their "skill" than we do in "big" leagues across the globe. It also might have to do with the seemingly much more egregious errors/string of borderline comedic calls or no-calls in MLS matches as opposed to simply seeing a shit game here and there from a ref in a "big" league. It's no secret that refs here leave much to be desired as a group (so much so that last year Garber essentially said WTF guys ?) I mean we've got two individuals that even the "casual" fan can spot as being absolute shit no matter how you measure ref performance .... and I don't remember either of them being taken off duty last year as Andy has said happens after just two shit matches. It isn't all down to simply "being good or not" though in terms of being behind the rest of the soccer world. Just like our player development being behind due to 100 different reasons that have nothing to do with actual talent, I'm referring to that same ilk in regards to our refs and our ability to asses them properly. It seems as though we simply don't have the magnitude of people in the right places being on the same sheet/train of thought/etc to make appropriate decisions/assessments/etc in this regard.
Re: So, where's the Disciplinary Committee? So Colin Clark just got the same term of suspension Mondaini did last year for breaking Morales's ankle in a tackle from behind (3 games suspension; Mondaini had 1 additional automatic game suspension for the red card). There's a whole other thread for debating Clark, so I won't dwell much on the justice of that particular punishment. But a superficial apples-to-oranges comparsions makes it appear again that the team he played, the national tv coverage and the "image" of the league are far more important to the DC than any actual attempts to improve the substance of their product and cut down on dangerous play, as far as leveling punishments go.
Re: So, where's the Disciplinary Committee? Or it's slowly improving and they're doing the best with what they have. Look, being a referee is already hard enough. Referees get one shot at making a decision from their one angle. They don't get to see things 5 or 6 times in super slo-mo. There are many aspects of the rules that are open to interpretation - figuring out what constitutes handling is still a challenge, even at the top level of refereeing. If a ref misses a dive, he get yelled at. If he, in the one shot he has, thinks a red should be given, but replays show a yellow would be more appropriate, he gets yelled at. Switch the colors in the last sentence, same result. If he makes the right call against a team, that team and their ignorant fans yell at him. If he gives a red card for a violent tackle, some fans yell that he ruins the game by inserting himself into the game. If he gives a yellow or no card, he gets yelled at for not protecting players. If he calls an absolutely perfect game? Crickets. Why on earth would anyone put up with that shit? If I was in a job where I got criticized for pretty much every action (even the right ones) and never got praised for making great decisions, I'd want to quit as soon as possible. You know what? This behavior happens at every. Single. ********ing. Level. From U-8 to MLS. Maybe if parents stopped berating teenage referees who are new to the position, we'd have more and better refs in the pipeline. If soccer fans want better referees, a great place to start would be by supporting referees instead of being giant assholes who tear them down all the time. Edit: Ultimately, the best approach to this is going to have to be multi-faceted. Improving on refereeing will happen with training, yes, but the fan culture at all levels needs to change. The disciplinary committee needs to step in when the referees miss out. MLS needs to have a consistent message on which kind of tackles are acceptable and which aren't. But to only criticize the refereeing is going to be counter-productive.
Re: So, where's the Disciplinary Committee? Jawohl. I would also point out that the three games that Clark got was more severe than the following punishments during Garber's tenure: The one game that Dema Kovalenko got for breaking Brandon Pollard's leg in the '99 playoffs The one game that Kovalenko got in 2003 for breaking Ronnie O'Brien's leg The zero games that Jonathan Leathers got for breaking David Ferreira's leg on a tackle from behind last season But a nice golf clap to Don Garber and the "Disciplinary" Committee for cracking down on rough play and cleaning up the game by preventing players from scarring the psyches of innocent ballboys.
Re: So, where's the Disciplinary Committee? I would agree with this impression. The Clark penalty came out after I started this thread (obviously) but that is the point I was driving at when I started it. MLS talks a good game, but it appears to take a large outrage for them to actually do anything beyond what they've done in the past. then once they do it and set the new reasoning and plan they forget it just as fast. And this isn't just a fan issue. clearly, from the nature of some unpunished tackles this season, the players have learned to ignore MLS's talk about cracking down. When you know that you're only going to get punished if the ref sees it and pulls red and/or if there's a significant injury and the chances of those happening are as low as they seem to be, there's not enough disincentive to not make those type of tackles. Its becoming a "boy who cried wolf" situation. Eventually MLS is going to mean it (I hope) and when that day comes you're going to have a lot of games ending 10 vs. 9 and a lot of bench players getting more starts than usual to handle the added suspensions. That's not going to make for attractive soccer that season.
Re: So, where's the Disciplinary Committee? And no one should be really surprised. Has any dangerous tackle in MLS made as much press/news coverage as Clark's gay slur? Right or wrong general public image carries a lot of weight these days for any organization.
Re: So, where's the Disciplinary Committee? For getting the league's attention? To some degree, yeah, with national TV being the other big component if you want to call it "fault". Personally, if I were one of those fans, I wouldn't call it fault, and I'd be proud - you've managed to get the league to pay attention to items it prefers to ignore, if looking at history. Take one of ElJefe's examples tangentially - Ronnie O'Brien, to my knowledge, was not once suspended for the thousand times he sweared at the top of his lungs while he played. Meanwhile, fault for the actual action is still on Clark. Just to spell things out for your usual touchy self.
Re: So, where's the Disciplinary Committee? Shit, the notion that a player has used untoward language towards anyone else in the stadium -- even a ballboy -- only once in MLS' 16-plus-year history is such laughable on its face. But this is the one time where it got picked up by the mics on a national TV game, so Sheriff Garber rode in to administer some law and order. It doesn't take a very conspiratorially minded person to speculate that if the mics hadn't picked it up or if it had been a local telecast, no one would've even known about and that Clark would've gone unpunished.
Re: So, where's the Disciplinary Committee? Hell, KC's keeper had a few choice 4-letter words for a Dynamo ball boy....two years ago if I remember right. Being that it was only at Robertson, though, nothing came of it, except for said keeper being mercilessly taunted by the general fanbase the rest of the game In all fairness, the ballboy in our case was totally delaying any restart
Re: So, where's the Disciplinary Committee? Oh he not only said something to him . . . he started walking toward him yelling and pointing.
Re: So, where's the Disciplinary Committee? Makes me wonder if it is in any of the highlights. Just might have to check
Re: So, where's the Disciplinary Committee? Yeah, talked about it over on the other thread. You would have to ask MLS because their decisions have been less than consistent. If the larger part was the slur, why wasn't Nguyen reprimanded? If the larger part was going after the ball boy why wasn't the KC keeper reprimanded? If it was a combination, why did the previous two not get at least some level of fine and then hit Clark with the combined penalty? So to answer your question . . I think the larger part was that it got caught on national TV and MLS is CYA. They don't tend to do anything unless they fear someone on the four letter network has a negative comment.
Re: So, where's the Disciplinary Committee? btw, I can't find any confirmation on this but the word is Adam Moffat got a game suspension for this tackle on Alonso, I think he was given a yellow on the play.
Re: So, where's the Disciplinary Committee? If so that's (finally) a step in the right direction for the DC. (Though the Discipline page at MLSSoccer.com has been updated with Clark's suspension but Moffat isn't listed)
Re: So, where's the Disciplinary Committee? http://www.mlssoccer.com/video/2012/03/23/yellow-card-moffat-shown-card-1st Here's a clip of the tackle in case anyone's interested.
Re: So, where's the Disciplinary Committee? Wow.. That would be a huge move by DC, assuming it is true and it is an indication that they are actually going to stand by their earlier comments. Last year the DC was notorious for publicly announcing game suspensions on Friday.
Re: So, where's the Disciplinary Committee? Should I make the first post about it yet again taking somebody associated with Seattle to get the DC to finally step in?
Re: So, where's the Disciplinary Committee? Article on NBCSports.com today reflecting the general tone of this thread: http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/...nd-morales-never-forget-the-spring-to-forget/
Re: So, where's the Disciplinary Committee? Apparently. Not only are LA's DPs protected property for MLS, but so is anyone associated with the Sounders. Booya!
Re: So, where's the Disciplinary Committee? They forgot the best part: how long a suspension Leathers got.
Re: So, where's the Disciplinary Committee? here you go: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...uspended-tackle-fernandez-fined-embellishment I like this part also: hope this happens more often to reduce the amount of dives.