So, I am picturing the ref running around doing the game, then noticing a nice view and whipping out his phone and taking some pix...........
My assignor clued me in to this place a couple of years back. He said get there early! It’s actually a National Historic Site.
I made two brilliant advantage calls on the same attack today. The right back stepped up to prevent annattack from developing, missed the stop, as the attacker flew by. The defender grabbed his arm, but it was useless. ADVANTAGE, The attack continues, near the arc, and the first attacker dishes the ball off to his forward, and gets wiped out by central defender. ADVANTAGE 2. The forward goes in and scores. I am the only one who notices that I have completed the ultra rare double advantage leading to a goal scenario!
Best story of my week is acquiring tickets to attend the semi-final and final matches of the Women's World Cup next summer in France. Can't wait!
U12 Select match on a slightly cold morning. HC has what I believe is a scottish accent, although I admit I'm no expert on regional accents. I have prior knowledge that his teams in the past have performed well. About 25m a throw-in for home team near his TA he tells play to stop the throw in and let him check the ball and inflation. I'm not falling for the mind game here, but I do stop play and ask him not to stop play for this. Anyone who works with me knows I always check the ball, have a nice gauge and pump, and use them. He then persists that he has a right to check it and continues to engage. So I move to tell. Play resumes. 29m visitors have DFK in front of home bench. One defender stands cold at about 5 yards. As I am waiting to see if kicking team wants a QR player starts to walk up on the ball. This is a pretty high skill match for U12 and I suspect that tactic was coached, so I decide we're skipping the verbal warning and go with a caution. (Note: cumulative cautions are not tracked in this league) The HC explodes briefly and I give him a pass as we move on. This incident is important to put context around what happens next. 48m another DFK for visitors in roughly the same spot. Two defenders set up at 5 again, definitely coached. Again I'm waiting for the kicking team to either kick it or ask for ten yards. I'm not waiting long at all, within 2 seconds the HC is screaming that I _must_ show them where ten is because they're only 11 years old. I inform HC that either I decide when to show ten or the kicking team can ask for it. Of course we know that if his player stands in front of ball it's FRD. His players starting at 5 and demanding I perform a charade is also FRD. I remind him he's on tell but he persists. Dismissed. He asks why. "Behaving in an irresponsible manner." He asks why again. I told you, coach. He says he won't leave. I retreat to the center circle and call my ARs to me. He slowly retreats to a point about 40 yards behind spectator side. His team wins 5-3, with the two winning goals in the last 10 minutes or so. After the match he returns to the referee staging area to argue. Tries to argue every little decision I made in the entire match to prove what a horrible referee I am. Some were valid arguments about my mechanic and the substitution rules for this youth league, at U12 it's unlimited but in the first half I was tracking and had told the opposing coach "no" in the last few minutes. I happily fixed it after they reminded me at half. Every... dirty... coach trick. "What's your name? I'm going to report you." (intimidation) "These are 11 year olds, how can you card them?" (guilt trip) Easily coach, they're really good players! "We can demand you show us 10." On a happy note, I got in an advantage call that resulted in a goal. Yay!
Be sure to elaborate on this point in your match report, that he returned to harass you. If the league his team is in is any good, they will suspend him for an additional match and tell him why.
I understand the sentiment, but I wouldn't do that. The kids weren't to blame. Yes. The advantage was in the favor of the home team. The first of the two winning goals IIRC.
Saturday Night HSBV Regional Final. There were 6 games scheduled in my area (70mi radius) and I get assigned the one that is the furthest north and with a start time at 7PM. Temp at kickoff was 32° but luckily this field is well shielded from the wind so no real wind chill. I show up like I normally do in my shorts and sweat absorbing T-shirt. (we decide on colors after we arrive). Person at ticket booth is wrapped in two blankets and has a pair of choppers on. She said I am crazy and I told her I will get plenty warm running. I do put on an under armor long sleeve top to go under my ref jersey. It was a pretty good game even though the home team is better (they were the #2 seed against the #3.) Game is 3-0 home team when a ball is played long on the turf. Home defender slides in at the last second to poke the ball OOB as the attacker trips over him and falls on his back, Hard. I motion the trainer on and step away to discuss with my AR, we are both in agreement that it was a clean tackle by the defender and should just be a throw in. Well, the kid isn't getting up. I go back over and the athletic trainer is on the phone getting the ambulance, can't feel one of his legs. *ugh* I go to the benches and tell the players to get jackets and blankets and to stay warm. We get the kids parents down from the stands and they stay with him until the ambulance comes. 20 minutes later and we are ready to start again. I go to the defender and tell him that he did nothing wrong and it was a good defensive play and it was just a bad accident. He looks a little shaken up but we play on. Rest of the half was really subdued, I made a few calls and got NO complaints from fans, coaches or players. It was just really odd. Half ends 4-0 home team and during the break I ask the AT if she has heard anything on the kid, she says she hadn't but think the kid will be ok, from they way he was leaving the field. the kid was only 15 and handling it like a champ. Also, the girl at the score-table is the home coaches daughter and she also sings the Anthem before the match and a really nice girl. (still in HS). well during the delay we were all talking and one of my AR's (AR2) had his birthday that day. So as I blow the whistle for halftime the whole home student section (about 30 kids) start singing happy birthday to my AR. It was really cool. Game ends 9-0 but went the full 90 and both teams were very complimentary to each other. Game got over around 9:15PM. Got in my car and it said 27°. NOW, here is the funny thing. I am talking with my AR's during the long delay and I start talking about some threads on this site. He says "I was just doing a game in MN last week and was talking to the referees and one asked him if he posts on a referee MB" since he is in the same "stick" area of WI. He told him no and then later when I sent him the contract for this playoff match he saw that my email included the ickshter. I said "Uh oh, they are on to me." So now I must go deep, deep DEEP undercover before anyone finds me. Getting too close
My weekend was interesting. I had a U18g game on Saturday forfeited because the visiting team couldn't show up with enough players. That was a 30 min drive each way for nothing. Then yesterday I had another U19g match and I let get away from me. It was a physical team (blue) vs a skill team(white) and I didn't allow for the cold (34 F) weather as a factor. It seemed like most physical contact was being exaggerated by the skill team, if I had thought about the cold it would have made more sense. The moment of the game that I missed was a tussle where two players got tangled up both going for the ball. Both fall to the ground near the parents side and then the white player on bottom says loudly, 'Get off me, b$%ch." I was right there and heard it, but in the moment it didn't raise to OFFINABUS. I caution her and we keep going with angry parents. A little bit later there were a series of fouls where white would try for the ball and get more leg, blue player would get hurt but I didn't see anything card worthy. After the third player being escorted off the field, the white coach is livid. I let him blow his steam and then warn him to keep it down. At the same time blue coach starts to chirp and tell him I didn't want any of his mouth either. I tell each coach to push back the parents 10 yds off the line and after a 5 minute delay we're started again. At this point, I'm calling the game very tight, I mean bad throw-ins, hands on other players, anything. The players on both sides are frustrated by adapt. The game ends without further incidents. So, it's games like this that I accept as karmic payback for the quiet, boring games I've had this season.
Halftime of my 4th match (3rd at CR, U13 girls) of a tourney and I'm walking toward the sideline where the refs from the adjacent match are sitting, and the tourney director who's coaching is blowing up, and I mean BLOWING UP at the CR. He's upset because he says he only wanted to ask a question, the CR is escalating the situation by acting like a power-tripping a-hole instead of de-escalating, he's basically needling the coach with comments like "I told you to shut up", "I'm the ref, I don't have to talk to you if I don't want to, I don't CARE what you're asking me." The CR had a Really bad "**** you" attitude, which was really surprising. I don't really know the guy but he always seems pretty chill. I know the Coach a little bit and he can be a hothead, but I've never seen him this upset before. My ARs sit down and start checking fantasy football scores, the Coach's colleague from their club (not coaching, just watching the match) is standing there, hands in pockets doing nothing. The CR's ARs are just standing there, doing nothing, except asking for the Field Marshall. I spot him, 40 yards away, hiding, literally HIDING like a little kid from his angry parent, watching by peeking from behind a light post. (He was useless earlier, too, but in his defense likely voluntold to do the job and had no direction from anyone) It was surreal. So, after the CR dismisses the HC, the HC gets even hotter, so I decide i gotta do something and step between the two and try to calm him down the usual way "Name, I understand, we gotta calm down, man, I get it, I understand you're upset, we gotta talk about this." "Why are YOU talking to me???!" "Because you're losing your composure, c'mon, Name, just tell me what's going on" "Isn't THAT your field? I'm just trying to ask a question and HE is blah blah blah!" "Ok, I'm just trying to help, man, we...." CR: YOU, SHUT UP! At that point, I step aside, because I don't feel comfortable, and HC totally loses it, "What did you say to me?!" "I told you to SHUT.UP." "I'm a grown man, you're not going to talk to me like that!" Other coaches are pulling him away now, because, for some reason, they didn't feel like before this mess was good enough. I grab the CR and physically turn him away. I tell him "Dude, you can't tell people to shut up like that, you need to step away." "Yeah, but he's ALWAYS like this, and I'm sick of it." "OK, I get it, but you simply can't lose your composure, you have to calm things down." "Yeah but." "Let me stop you there, don't talk to him anymore, I'm trying to help you both out of a jam, but you're not helping me." He walks around me and now he's holding up his whistle with a real nasty look on his face at the HC to prove some kind of a point and he's saying "Take it up with the Tournament Director." In the smarmiest of ways, knowing that HC IS the T. Director. I decide they're beyond my help and step back to now watch everyone else joining in. I spoke to HC later and told him if he felt I overstepped, then I apologize, I just felt like they were both about to cross a line and I'm trying to keep everything kosher. We talked it out and all is well (as well as can be). Next match at 1/2 time, the other CR who's now ARing the last match grabs his stuff and leaves and has to be found. They had him finish up, although I don't know why, I'd have let him walk. I don't really know the guy, but spoke to a few other people who said he's verbally stated his massive hatred for HC in the past and had decided to swallow his whistle and let the two U16g teams play WWF while occasionally kicking a ball. I don't get it. This was a long story, if you read it, you get 25 internet ninja points. Sometimes it feels good to share when something unsettles one.
I've long wondered about both you and threeputz. Maybe it's time I unleashed the "skills I have acquired over a very long career."
It was super weird, right around 1245, it felt like everyone had missed their lunchtime. My field was better, but only because one of the teams' coaches was a gem, the other guy....yeesh.
Our high school association also serves middle school games, when we can. Yesterday I was scheduled to do a varsity game at a very fancy prep school whose opponent had no JV team (we usually do JV then varsity), so the hosts had scheduled a boys and a girls middle school games. I had the boys game against an equally fancy prep school. It was a hoot. These are kids who would be playing U-13 or U-14 if they were 'serious' players, so it was essentially rec. The visitors had seven players shortly before kickoff and the coach didn't have a roster. They borrowed two players from the home team, which had 22 kids, and eventually enough other visitors showed up that they had 14 by half time. Their goalkeeper didn't have a different colored shirt so he wore the same color as the rest of the team but he had gloves on. Huge field, one of the larger high school fields we serve, so a fair amount of bunch ball. At one point, the home team had five defenders all chasing two attackers. Couple of hands and I think one player falling on an opponent were the only fouls. Boys with squeaky voices who think they're stud athletes. The sun was out but it wasn't much over 70. It wasn't possible to screw up that game so my dual partner and I didn't. 3-0 for the visitors. After the game, a very earnest kid from the home team asked if the visiting team didn't have to forfeit because they borrowed players. "We don't make those decisions. We just report the score." A visiting team player then came to us and asked "Was that a real game?" We told him yes.
Sometimes there is something special about those poor quality games, where (once you stop rolling your eyes at the play) you just realize everyone on the pitch is just plain having fun.
I had a boys JV game yesterday. One of the best sports schools in the area conducts a JV and Freshmen tournament in all the disciplines. Not everyone who has a team enters, but they do get over 20 teams in the JV mix. 2-0 to the visitors who are strolling. Late in the game, there is a couple of headed balls near goal, I am watching the ping pong, watching the players, watching the GK, next thing I know the balls in the net, the ‘keeper’s on the ground, and the player who scored is way ahead of everyone on the goal line. I’m parsing it all in my head. It’s a foul on the attackers because the ‘keeper was flattened, and as I’m raising the whistle to my lips I realize the OS and simultaneously realize that the GK was wiped out by his own player. I blow the whistle, and raise my hand. Whew. The game ended 2-1 with a last minute ball off the crossbar.