Kevin Stott :: DC United @ LA Galaxy :: Ref Thread :: [R]

[JayRockers!]

REFEREE: Kevin Stott.
MLS Career: 115 games; FC/gm: 26.7; Y/gm: 3.4; R: 30; pens: 19
Games involving Galaxy: P22 W11 L8 T3; FC/gm: 25.4; Y/gm: 3.5; R: 2; pens: 5
Games involving United: P28 W16 L9 T3; FC/gm: 27.0; Y/gm: 3.3; R: 9; pens: 4

SAR (bench): Steven Davidson; JAR (opposite): David Bragg; 4th: Ramon Hernandez

SUSPENDED: LA: Jovan Kirovski (through July 27)
WARNINGS: LA: Paulo Nagamura (18 CP) ... DC: Bobby Boswell (20 CP)

I can't remember, is he the good Kevin or the bad Kevin :)

Anyway, [thread=110167]big ol' last year's ref threads[/url].

With 2 senior ref's giving us good games, followed by another abortion by Toledo, I guess we can be thankful it's an MLS veteran crew this weekend.

Thx,

Jay!

[MattMathai]

I like Kevin.

He's dreamy.

[mutinywxgirl]

REFEREE: Kevin Stott.

I can't remember, is he the good Kevin or the bad Kevin :)

Jay!

He's the good Kevin.......

[beltwayrob]

I like Kevin.

He's dreamy.

Its a sick sick world we live in. Maybe thats how we get the refs on our side, instead of saying "F U Ref" we yell cat calls, "He sexy, 5 dolla sucky, f-cky, me luv you long time!"

[Sundevil9]

Its a sick sick world we live in. Maybe thats how we get the refs on our side, instead of saying "F U Ref" we yell cat calls, "He sexy, 5 dolla sucky, f-cky, me luv you long time!"

You go right ahead and do that. Just don't tell us about it.

[Th4119]

I hope Boswell learns to keep his mouth shut. Picking up more worthless dissent cards is really going to hurt DC if he's suspended before Namoff gets back.

[mutinywxgirl]

I tend to think that as quickly as Boswell has learned so far, he's learned his lesson in this case. Also, Stott is one who talks to the player first before giving a card. Let's hope he does the same today.

[Footer Phooter]

Stott's one of the better ones. Hopefully, we'll get a well called match without any match altering mistakes.

[doctorjim]

Stott's one of the better ones. Hopefully, we'll get a well called match without any match altering mistakes.
Well, he didn't change the match in any obvious way, but this was not a good effort. Frankly, he should have given Boswell a red card for taking Jones down. Boswell was the last defender.

Otherwise I thought he made some fundamental errors, the kind you see in rec league. The hand ball call against Prideaux. It's not hand ball if it's not intentional. The no-call against Vegenas in the box. Vegenas made no attempt to play the ball; he just obstructed the DC player. And the call against Walker -- just because the other player falls down doesn't mean that it was a foul.
You would like to see better from a ref in a pro game.

[GrillMaster]

Well, he didn't change the match in any obvious way, but this was not a good effort. Frankly, he should have given Boswell a red card for taking Jones down. Boswell was the last defender.

Bad decision by Stott. I've got a bridge I want to sell him.

Otherwise I thought he made some fundamental errors, the kind you see in rec league. The hand ball call against Prideaux. It's not hand ball if it's not intentional. The no-call against Vegenas in the box. Vegenas made no attempt to play the ball; he just obstructed the DC player. And the call against Walker -- just because the other player falls down doesn't mean that it was a foul.
You would like to see better from a ref in a pro game.
Damn right we should expect more -- especially from Stott. With today's bungling and his gold cup disaster in Houston, he's really hit a bad patch of form. I hope the assessor drills him a new one!

Sorry, mutinygirl, but Kevin really butchered this one. Talk about inconsistency!

GM

[RMDad]

I agree with GM on his assesment.
Stott must go to the dinner theater too often, he sure buys into cheap theatrics.
Mark

[MikeLastort2]

I don't think any of the cautions he gave to United were justified.

[Red&Black]

stott was a disaster all day. horrific game by him. nothing redeemable about it.

[WHOLMAN2]

I don't think any of the cautions he gave to United were justified.

Nor were any of the fouls he called against the Galaxy in United's box.

Not griping, just agreeing. :)

[NattyBo]

Some of the decisions in this game were simply puzzling

[Daniel le Rouge]

For the challenge on Cobi to be a red, there has to be an intentional challenge. Cobi pushed the ball past and simply ran into Boswell so he could fall down. It was a yellow all right, but it should have been to Cobi for simulation. If you watch the video, Boswell's feet are set--he stopped. All Cobi had to do was take a half step sideways and he was gone. He CHOSE not to do so, thus initiating the challenge. Cobi committed the foul.

As for the whackjob Moreno did on Ihemelu, it was certainly deserving of a yellow. I just wonder where the yellows were for Galaxy players on some of their follow-throughs.

Gomez dove. No problem there. It's just that Stott was buying Galaxy dives all day long, and carding ours. Very uneven game with the home team getting the benefit of every single call.

That said, if he was truly after us, he could have sent off both Boswell and Moreno. This one was a bit of a howler compared to more recent efforts.

[MassachusettsRef]

Frankly, he should have given Boswell a red card for taking Jones down. Boswell was the last defender.Not true.

For the challenge on Cobi to be a red, there has to be an intentional challenge. Also incorrect.

Though many fans, including what I feel are usually the more well-informed ones here on your board, oftentimes have legitimate gripes with officiating, the above two comments illustrate why, perhaps just as often, fans think the referee is wrong because they just don't know the laws. Stott got this call exactly right (with the only possible argument being a yellow wasn't necessary).

For the foul to be a red card, it has to "deny an obvious goal-scoring opportunity". USSF is very specific on what that means: A) there has to be one defender between the attacker and the goal, B) the attacker has to be going towards the goal (not just the goal line), C) the play has to be close enough to the goal to be an obvious chance (ie, probably not midfield) and D) the ball has to be close enough to the attacker for the chance to be obvious. There is absolutely no way that the fourth condition was met. It was probably 95%+ of a certainty that Rimando was going to get to the ball before Jones. With that being the case, you can't simply just send off Boswell because he was unlucky enough to be the last man.

With that said, it is a complete and utter myth that a foul has to be "intentional" to warrant a red card in these sort of scenarios. The laws simply say that any foul which "denies an obvious goal-scoring opportunity" is a red card. That means, even an accidental trip, should one occur, constitutes a red card. If Jones had had an obvious chance to play the ball in this circumstance, Boswell was gone--even if it was unintentional.

The yellow card, in effect, was for unsporting behavior (stopping an attacking opportunity). One could make an argument that Stott unnecessarily "downgraded" what everyone thought was going to be a red into a yellow, when a simple foul and no card would have been more correct. But that's a judgement call, and is borderline. He got the important part right, however; despite what many think, there was no way that was a red card. The issue that Daniel brings up, about Boswell not moving his feet and thus making him the person that was fouled, is also debatable, but I think most people would agree Stott got it right. That call almost universally goes against the defender and Boswell made no effort to turn and play the ball. He simply planted himself and obstructed Jones. Sure you can make an argument that Jones initiated the contact, but it's definitely a subjective decision.

As for the rest of the match, I thought Stott was fine. I agree with what someone else said, about him having a tough run of late, but I think this match has him back on track. His cautions were all appropriate and well-selected, in my opinion (with the possible exception of Boswell's) and I think he got all the major decisions right. Prideaux's handling? It looked borderline to me on replay, but I do think it was deliberate. For one, the AR called it and it was right in front of him and secondly, Prideaux didn't seem to protest at all. That usually means something. That AR also got the offside absolutely correct on that second touch following the Galaxy free kick, even though all the DC players just thought it was a late flag. It was good, for once, to hear compliments from the commentators for that, because that was an extremely tough call to make.

[KGDG2005]

Unlike some of my fellow DC fanaticos, I rarely carp after a match about the officiating because I don't expect that at this stage of our league's development we should have any expectation of seeing a Collinaesque performance... I usually am just thankful that it is not Prendergastesque and our players are not regularly being carted off the field.

BUT Mass Ref's response just highlights precisely what drives players, coaches and fans crazy at times.


Though many fans, including what I feel are usually the more well-informed ones here on your board, oftentimes have legitimate gripes with officiating, the above two comments illustrate why, perhaps just as often, fans think the referee is wrong because they just don't know the laws. Stott got this call exactly right (with the only possible argument being a yellow wasn't necessary).

<much snipped>

The yellow card, in effect, was for unsporting behavior (stopping an attacking opportunity). One could make an argument that Stott unnecessarily "downgraded" what everyone thought was going to be a red into a yellow, when a simple foul and no card would have been more correct. But that's a judgement call, and is borderline. He got the important part right, however; despite what many think, there was no way that was a red card. The issue that Daniel brings up, about Boswell not moving his feet and thus making him the person that was fouled, is also debatable, but I think most people would agree Stott got it right. That call almost universally goes against the defender and Boswell made no effort to turn and play the ball. He simply planted himself and obstructed Jones. Sure you can make an argument that Jones initiated the contact, but it's definitely a subjective decision.

<more snipped>

The "unsporting behavior" being ascribed to Boswell is utter nonsense. When a player plays an unplayable ball (and in this case even you acknowledge that Rimando is going to get it) and then deliberately flies into the defender with the intent to simulate a foul and sucker a ref into reaching for a card - that is unsporting behavior and probably deserving itself of a card, or at the very least a Collinalike scowl.

Boswell would have to suddenly make himself disappear in your view in order to not get called for a foul.

He is not obstructing, for there is nothing to obstruct other than an out of control player who realizes he has lost possession by playing the ball beyond his wherewithal to reach and who realizes he has nothing left but to take the equivalent of a self-selecting dive by targeting the defender. It does not matter if Boswell plants, turns, does a pirouette or a jig. It is simply NOT a foul. Period.

Referees in the EPL and Serie A see such antics and usually wave it off as incidental contact and/or admonish the attacker for such pathetic theatrics. But no, here in the MLS the USSF assessors apparently agree with Mass Ref and until that changes we are the worse off for it.

KGDG
Come On United (States and DC)

[Primate]

Well, he didn't change the match in any obvious way, but this was not a good effort. Frankly, he should have given Boswell a red card for taking Jones down. Boswell was the last defender.
I'm sorry, it was blatently obvious that Jones had no intention of chasing after that ball and was just going for a foul and card call. He purposely ran right into Boswell when he saw he hit the ball too far, Boswell never moved. At most it should have been an obstruction.

[Bootsy Collins]

Well, he didn't change the match in any obvious way, but this was not a good effort. Frankly, he should have given Boswell a red card for taking Jones down. Boswell was the last defender.

You've lost your mind. Seriously. How, exactly, did Boswell take Cobi Jones down? His feet were planted, he didn't stick his booty out; Jones simply ran right into him. Terrible, awful, absurd call. Not Baldomero Toledo-bad, but bad.

Stott didn't have a great match, but by MLS standards I've seen a lot worse. But the call on Boswell was atrocious -- all the moreso by the fact that we now don't have him for the next match (although again, to be fair, part of that is his own fault through dumbass yellows for dissent).