Pablo suspended for...

[iluvsoccer]

11 points in 3 games. Where did this rule come from? Does anybody know what a red/yellow card is worth in the MLS foul point system?

If nothing else, Pablo will head to Europe just to be able to deal with slightly more competent refs.

[GreatZar]

See MLS rules at http://www.mlsnet.com/about/regulations/ for points (yellows are 3 or 4 depending on type of yellow issued if I remember correctly while red is 10 I think).

This points rule system has been around for a while...

[iluvsoccer]

I know the point system has been around, but it doesn't state anywhere that I can find about the 11 point in 3 games.

Doesn't really matter. It just sucks that we lose Pablo for another game.

[smudgeyjoe]

Here is what the rules state:
Yellow Cards

A penalty point system has been developed to weight the tactical significance of various yellow cards. Players accumulating 21 penalty points shall be suspended one game and fined. Players are suspended an additional game and fined after the accumulation of an additional 11 points and each 11 points thereafter.

Did Pablo already have 21 points against him? That seems unlikely. The league is shooting itself in the foot. Could someone tell me what similar regulations might be like in Europe, Italy, or Spain? If players who have not committed egregious infractions, and I would consider Pablo in that category, are going to get suspended on a regular basis, then they are just going to go somewhere else. How does it serve the league if their premier players, players that attract fans, are going to be missing games as often as Pablo has. Again, if he had struck a ref or another player, I would understand it, but I have seen no behavior that I haven't seem a million times over on Fox Sports World. Do you recall some of the WC qualifying matches where players even pushed referees without a card being shown. There seems to be something amiss here. Typical of the MLS, or Mostly Lacks Sense.

[Daksims]

Where's the info on Pablo being suspended? I checked the Rapids website and not surprisingly, nada. I looked on MLSnet.com and didn't see anything.

[smudgeyjoe]

The only place I can find anything about this is here. It seems farfetched, but nothing that the league decides to do would ever surprise me, after all, they were going to have an intergender match??? I hope this is not true, because it does the league a disservice to have one of it's premier players suspended without cause.

Go Raps!!!!

[Keevo]

Originally posted by Daksims
Where's the info on Pablo being suspended
Here it is...

http://sports.yahoo.com/mls/news/20020729/mlsinjury.html

SUSPENSION SUMMARY

Pablo Mastroeni - Colorado Rapids - 8/10 vs. CLB - 11 pts in three games

[jmeissen0]

i'm assuming that he had 3 yellows in 3 games


which is an automatic 1 game suspension (1 in each match)... the fire have had to deal with this rule a couple of times this year

[GreatZar]

Not sure why you think Pablo would be better off in Europe because our refs and points system is so bad. Refs are bad there, too. And the FIFA standard (I'm guessing the system in place at the FA) is a yellow in consecutive matches means you sit out match 3 (much more strict than MLS).

Now if you think Pablo will get better surrounded by better competition, that's reasonable.

I wish MLS would get rid of this yellow/red points system (confusing for fans). Americanization always seems to make the simple game of soccer more complicated than it needs to be.

[GreatZar]

As of July 28th, Pablo has 16 caution points (CP) (see table (http://www.mlsnet.com/statistics/tmstats.html)) from 4 yellows. Pablo was given a yellow Jul 27, clear slate Jul 24, yellow on Jul 20, clean slate Jul 13th, clean on Jul 7th, and sat out Jul 4th on prior red on Jun 26. Not sure when he got the other 2 yellow cards, but it was a while back since he was at the World Cup prior to Jun 26.

I suspect the suspension is reported in err.

[smudgeyjoe]

This has got to be an error. The key word in the rules is ADDITIONAL 11 points. That means he already had 21 points first. There is no way that could be true. I hope that is correct because we need Pablo.

[Jeff]

Understandable, but playing devil's advocate, it may be better for him to miss a (should be) winnable home match vs. Columbus rather than a trip to LA or a (2 weeks) home tilt with San Jose. I dunno, but I would prefer a three yellows in a row and you're out as opposed to two. Less of a chance of suspensions over borderline no card fouls/transgressions.

[TeamUSA]

He got jobbed hard with the yellow. The refs are incompetent.

[Jeff]

Agreed. Don't know why either player got the yellow myself. This is just what I was getting at about the three in a row being better than the two in a row. Though it doesn't help Pablo very much right now.

[iluvsoccer]

That last yellow is the most questionable call that I can remember this year. The only thing that I can imagine is that Pablo said something about Hall's mother.

I definitely don't think the refs in Europe are great, but I do think that they are "slightly more competent." I mean if Hall is the best we have and we get those kind of calls, something is wrong.

[ballboy101]

Originally posted by GreatZar
As of July 28th, Pablo has 16 caution points (CP) (see table (http://www.mlsnet.com/statistics/tmstats.html)) from 4 yellows. Pablo was given a yellow Jul 27, clear slate Jul 24, yellow on Jul 20, clean slate Jul 13th, clean on Jul 7th, and sat out Jul 4th on prior red on Jun 26. Not sure when he got the other 2 yellow cards, but it was a while back since he was at the World Cup prior to Jun 26.

I suspect the suspension is reported in err.

Eventhough Pablo did not receive a yellow card on 7/24 during the game, the supposed comittee after the game issued 4 caution points to at least 3 of our players (Valderrama, Hart, Pablo) for their arguing with the referees about the handball in the box during the game. Now this is the most ridiculous comittee ever. They are overruling all the refs calls during the game and obviously showing that they have no confidence in the refs. The ref during/after the handball incident if he felt like it could have issued card/s (if he thought it was necessary, which he obviously didn't). So then we get a bunch of guys in NY who weren't even at the game making new calls and changing cards always to make it worse not better. It is insane.

[greenie]

Current MLS stats show Pablo with 11 points in three games (suspension) and 21 total points.

http://www.mlsnet.com/library/2001/cards.html

[GreatZar]

This is a travesty! The freakin' ref has cards in his pocket and knows the game better than anyone. How the *HE||* can MLS HQ issue a yellow equivalent after the fact?!?!?

Please voice your disapproval (politely) to dgarber@mlsnet.com Don Garber (I'll also be asking Counce (dcounce@mlsnet.com) why this isn't being appealed)!

[soccertim]

Originally posted by ballboy101


Eventhough Pablo did not receive a yellow card on 7/24 during the game, the supposed comittee after the game issued 4 caution points to at least 3 of our players (Valderrama, Hart, Pablo) for their arguing with the referees about the handball in the box during the game. Now this is the most ridiculous comittee ever. They are overruling all the refs calls during the game and obviously showing that they have no confidence in the refs. The ref during/after the handball incident if he felt like it could have issued card/s (if he thought it was necessary, which he obviously didn't). So then we get a bunch of guys in NY who weren't even at the game making new calls and changing cards always to make it worse not better. It is insane.

While the refs in the MLS suck, they are too lenient, not too strict. Aside from the constantly blown offside calls, you're much more likely to see a foul that would have drawn a card in Europe go unpunished than the other way around. As for comittees assigning fines/suspensions when the refs didn't, I don't think it's that unusual in Europe, either.

As for arguing about the handball, I didn't understand that. They held up the game for at least a couple of minutes chasing the ref around arguing, but I didn't see any real issue. The corner kick hit the defender in the middle of the box squarely on the arm, and I don't think it was defelcted.

[MassachusettsRef]

Not sure if this helps or not, but as a point of clarification, MLS (among other leagues in the world, the EPL is included) has a system whereas if a referee feels "mass" dissent is taking place, most notably after the awarding of a PK, he is to refrain from showing multiple cautions at once, and instead note the incident in his report. A lot of referees don't like it, but it's what the leagues want. This policy started in England a few years ago when Roy Keane and his boys at Old Trafford were consistently protesting every penalty decision that went against them and intimidating referees.

So, that's probably what happened here. Hall didn't want to show 4 cautions at once (it does look really bad) and chose instead to note the misconduct in his report. Then, the league took action.

If you don't like the policy, don't blame Hall, he was doing what he's been instructed to do. And, don't blame just MLS as some renegade league that's doing things backwards--this policy originated in the EPL.