vetshak
30 May 2009, 10:02 AM
I think it would be an interesting discussion to review this match. It's not often you see a FIFA badge throw 11 yellows and a red in one match, but there were numerous incidents of interest outside of the cards, too. Aside from the PK decision four minutes into stoppage (judgment call... from the TV vantage point I thought it looked soft, but Vaughn would have been seeing it from the best angle and I certainly defer), I thought a couple things stood out...
1) The first caution of the game to Harrington... again, all fairness to Vaughn watching the play at live speed as Galindo roared up the field and Vaughn was caught on the break. But with the benefit of slow motion, contact was minimal and Galindo took a dive when he realized he was going to lose possession. John Harkes (who obviously knows very little about officiating) was very critical of the card, but I will say this... if it was a foul, then it was tactical and therefore was 100% misconduct.
2) Both of the first two PKs were clear cut calls. And I'm pretty sure the AR called the first one, even though it must have been off-screen, due to the long delay and confusion. Might be interesting to see if the WiR is again critical of the referee not "selling" the call. A few weeks back when Okulaja's AR flagged a PK handball, Okulaja looked literally pained to call the PK, and the WiR rung him up for it.
3) Dunno if anybody else caught it, but on the Chivas PK, Vaughn had a bit of a hiccup. He blew the whistle to allow Galindo to take the PK while Jon Busch was facing the back of the goal. Busch turned around surprised when he heard the whistle, and was visibly upset about it afterwards. Vaughn looked preturbed on all 3 PKs that the GKs were taking their sweet time to get into position to "ice" the shooters, but Law 14 clearly states the GK must face the field. On this one, he never even bothered to check Busch's position before blowing the whistle.
4) I'm always amazed at the things MLS players get away with in terms of verbal referee abuse. On the first Chicago PK, Jesse Marsch (and for the sake of George, who possibly could have thought it was a good idea to make Marsch the designated player to speak to the referees anyway?!?!) could be clearly seen telling the AR that it was a "bulls*^t call." Twice. I know grownups are allowed to use a bit more harsh language than kids, but I'm red carding any 14 year-old that tells me that. Shouldn't that at least get a yellow card for dissent, even in the pro ranks? What kind of message does that send to kids watching the game?
I have a clip from last year, in a San Jose game, of Ronnie O'Brien on a throw-in call at the halfway line by Jair Marrufo, turning around and screaming "F*&k off, f*&k me" at Marrufo. 10 minutes into the game. On a throw-in decision at the halfway line. I'm not saying that MLS officials should be red carding these guys... big boys use bad words... but no punishment at all for those kinds of public displays hardly helps anybody.
The counter-argument to this is that "cheap" cautions for public but brief outbursts (as long as the content isn't "personal or provocative") change the dynamic of the game. Granted, Marsch is booked there and then picks up a US card later for a bad tackle, the card for the dissent is an instant talking point (not that Marsch didn't take care of this himself anyway!).
When I teach classes to other referees, my personal approach to this is to ask a student if they prefer chocolate or vanilla ice cream. When they answer, I yell at them (regardless of the answer, and loud enough for the whole class to hear me breating them) that, "That's a terrible decision!"
I strongly believe the content of what is said plays a big role in deciding whether a card is needed for dissent, as well as (more importantly) the impact it will have on the match. But frankly, if the response is outside the norm for a routine debate on ice cream flavors, at the least we have to open the door and allow that a caution may be given. If I tell somebody I prefer vanilla and they then yell at me, "That's a bulls^%t decision!", I think that clearly falls outside the norm of civil discussion.
5) Speaking of FAL, when Sacha Kljestan tried to pull Bakary Soumare's head off on a foul early in the second half, there was some serious yelling between Chicago coach Denis Hamlet and Kljestan. On the replay you could clearly see and hear Kljestan screaming at Hamlet to "Shut the f^%k up!" Again, message to kids?
Still on this incident, Baldemero Toledo was extremely active in trying to control the Chicago bench on this incident. (You could tell MLS thought this was a big match with both a FT ref and 4th.) Where was Vaughn? Doesn't the directive say that the referee needs to take command of the technical areas? Doesn't a coach screaming at an opposing field player warrant some kind of intervention? I suppose with a guy like Toledo as 4th he might be more prone to letting him deal with it. But I thought it was a pretty ugly incident all around, and it seemed like it needed the referee to deal directly with both Hamlet and Kljestan.
6) Lastly, the card to Blanco was a nice example of proper and needed punishment for dissent. That was a public display of dissent, and I knew Vaughn was going to book him before he ever appeared on the screen. It was terribly amusing to see Blanco implying after he was booked that the guy he fouled took a dive... this from one of the league's great play-actors...
1) The first caution of the game to Harrington... again, all fairness to Vaughn watching the play at live speed as Galindo roared up the field and Vaughn was caught on the break. But with the benefit of slow motion, contact was minimal and Galindo took a dive when he realized he was going to lose possession. John Harkes (who obviously knows very little about officiating) was very critical of the card, but I will say this... if it was a foul, then it was tactical and therefore was 100% misconduct.
2) Both of the first two PKs were clear cut calls. And I'm pretty sure the AR called the first one, even though it must have been off-screen, due to the long delay and confusion. Might be interesting to see if the WiR is again critical of the referee not "selling" the call. A few weeks back when Okulaja's AR flagged a PK handball, Okulaja looked literally pained to call the PK, and the WiR rung him up for it.
3) Dunno if anybody else caught it, but on the Chivas PK, Vaughn had a bit of a hiccup. He blew the whistle to allow Galindo to take the PK while Jon Busch was facing the back of the goal. Busch turned around surprised when he heard the whistle, and was visibly upset about it afterwards. Vaughn looked preturbed on all 3 PKs that the GKs were taking their sweet time to get into position to "ice" the shooters, but Law 14 clearly states the GK must face the field. On this one, he never even bothered to check Busch's position before blowing the whistle.
4) I'm always amazed at the things MLS players get away with in terms of verbal referee abuse. On the first Chicago PK, Jesse Marsch (and for the sake of George, who possibly could have thought it was a good idea to make Marsch the designated player to speak to the referees anyway?!?!) could be clearly seen telling the AR that it was a "bulls*^t call." Twice. I know grownups are allowed to use a bit more harsh language than kids, but I'm red carding any 14 year-old that tells me that. Shouldn't that at least get a yellow card for dissent, even in the pro ranks? What kind of message does that send to kids watching the game?
I have a clip from last year, in a San Jose game, of Ronnie O'Brien on a throw-in call at the halfway line by Jair Marrufo, turning around and screaming "F*&k off, f*&k me" at Marrufo. 10 minutes into the game. On a throw-in decision at the halfway line. I'm not saying that MLS officials should be red carding these guys... big boys use bad words... but no punishment at all for those kinds of public displays hardly helps anybody.
The counter-argument to this is that "cheap" cautions for public but brief outbursts (as long as the content isn't "personal or provocative") change the dynamic of the game. Granted, Marsch is booked there and then picks up a US card later for a bad tackle, the card for the dissent is an instant talking point (not that Marsch didn't take care of this himself anyway!).
When I teach classes to other referees, my personal approach to this is to ask a student if they prefer chocolate or vanilla ice cream. When they answer, I yell at them (regardless of the answer, and loud enough for the whole class to hear me breating them) that, "That's a terrible decision!"
I strongly believe the content of what is said plays a big role in deciding whether a card is needed for dissent, as well as (more importantly) the impact it will have on the match. But frankly, if the response is outside the norm for a routine debate on ice cream flavors, at the least we have to open the door and allow that a caution may be given. If I tell somebody I prefer vanilla and they then yell at me, "That's a bulls^%t decision!", I think that clearly falls outside the norm of civil discussion.
5) Speaking of FAL, when Sacha Kljestan tried to pull Bakary Soumare's head off on a foul early in the second half, there was some serious yelling between Chicago coach Denis Hamlet and Kljestan. On the replay you could clearly see and hear Kljestan screaming at Hamlet to "Shut the f^%k up!" Again, message to kids?
Still on this incident, Baldemero Toledo was extremely active in trying to control the Chicago bench on this incident. (You could tell MLS thought this was a big match with both a FT ref and 4th.) Where was Vaughn? Doesn't the directive say that the referee needs to take command of the technical areas? Doesn't a coach screaming at an opposing field player warrant some kind of intervention? I suppose with a guy like Toledo as 4th he might be more prone to letting him deal with it. But I thought it was a pretty ugly incident all around, and it seemed like it needed the referee to deal directly with both Hamlet and Kljestan.
6) Lastly, the card to Blanco was a nice example of proper and needed punishment for dissent. That was a public display of dissent, and I knew Vaughn was going to book him before he ever appeared on the screen. It was terribly amusing to see Blanco implying after he was booked that the guy he fouled took a dive... this from one of the league's great play-actors...