What a great experience! Great seats, great crowd, great game (well, for United fans). The reported sellout attendance was 45,922. The only bad news was when my dear wife made the halftime trek to bring me back a beer. She didn't come back. And she didn't come back. She missed the second goal. She missed the third goal. And she still didn't come back. Finally my son went to look for her. He came back and reported that he had found her. She had stood in a line for beer for almost 30 minutes, only to find when she got there that they only took cash. Then, being the patient, long-suffering good wife she is, she got in another line to try again. After another while, she still hadn't come back. I glanced at the clock and noticed we were in the 78th minute. Turned to my son and said, "Oh s___, they stop selling alcohol at 75 minutes. You don't think...?" Sure enough, she turned up a few minutes later with a bag of peanuts and a couple of cokes. She was third in line when they cut off the beer. She was a darned good sport about it though. And she got to see the fourth goal.
Yeah, and then to top it off some guy grabbed her butt when we were jammed on the train headed home after the match. But it was me.
Despite my intention to not work adult matches I did one last night at the request of an assignor. 6v6 men's league match on 1/4 of a full size pitch - way too many big bodies in a small space. I started the way I would any solo game hanging out on the middle, until I got plowed into by a player not quite my own size. We both stayed on our feet but both had sore ribs after the match. I moved to the touchline and tried to work the game from there - I was total crap. Constantly screened and half my direction calls were total guesses. Bad start to the year but the bright side is it won't be tough to improve on for my next match - which will definitely be outdoors. Next winter I might play in that league instead - it looked like fun and there were 16 goals in a 50 minute game - but it sucks to ref one.
Yup. It's actually great for out of shape older players, if you play smart you don't have to run much. Lots of scoring. They don't even bother with a kickoff after a goal - just restart with a goal kick. It's funny they do kick ins instead of throw ins because the space is so small. The only other age group I know of that does that here are kindergarten/1st grade.
I think they guy who hit me was about 90. Unfortunately for him I'm about 105. And I wasn't the biggest guy out there either.
Passed my fitness test on Saturday morning. New intervals 75m/25m at the time standard of 17 sec/20 sec.
Got the most completely unexpected phone call Sunday afternoon, our SYRA called and invited me to be a part of the Georgia Region 3 championship delegation this June, I am honored and excited!!
We have experimented around here with walking soccer, to avoid some of these problems. Same Laws as usual with the additional requirement that you can not run, ITOOTR. Power walk, yes. Run, no. It forces players to emphasize position and passing rather than the usual adult "I'm bigger and better than you, so get the hell out of my way." It also makes co-ed and multi-generational games much more enjoyable.
I did a pair of high school games last night and lets just say that the JV Boys were not equipped for the weather. I put sunblock on.
I have worked very hard over the winter watching videos to improve my refereeing generally, but especially my positioning in the middle third of the field. I just completed my self-eval of my first game at a new level. I was quite happy to see marked improvement after analyzing the tape!
Last night indoor games, Men's D league championship match. A defender recklessly takes down an attacker from behind. I show him a blue cared, then I show him a Yellow card for descent. His teammate butted in and said to me, "Ohh come on, that's not necessary." To which I reply, "He just called me a F*cking dumbass". to which he replied, "I guess that was necessary". Yes I know, I could have easily dismissed him for what he said, but I was feeling generous that night.
So your interpretation of that last comment was that he was expressing agreement with his teammate rather than with you?
No his body language and the tone of his voice sounded more like he was agreeing with me. I know these players, I've been reffing them for over 5 years. I know which ones are troublemakers and which ones are peacemakers. He typically doesn't cause trouble.
I see; I actually misread your post. Calling me a "F*cking dumbass" would certainly earn a valuable red coupon from me in any match I do, no matter how generous my mood. But I don't do adult indoor ...
I tried to get our U19's, who usually play late on Sundays, to do that. After a long weekend, it would be great as an AR if they adopted my simple rules. "No offside traps. No fast breaks." None of the players ever accepted my proposals.
I got the pleasure of centering a first round, boys, big school, playoff game last night. The worse ranked team, purple, scored first, you know, in case the game wasn't going to be intense enough. Two PKs later, pull/kick combo, and handling it is 2-1 for white. After the second goal for white, the scorer celebrated in front of the fans, not quite taunting, but way off the field, for a yellow. Same minute 20 purple committed a foul right in front of AR1. After a flag and whistle, he jumped up got in the AR's face and yelled "bull$h!t!" He earned a yellow. Purple ties it in the 55th minute. White goes ahead 3-2 in the 70th. Now I can't hear anything at any stoppage for all of the cheering/jeering in the crowd. In the 80th minute, Purple 20 commits a foul at the corner of their attacking PA in front of AR1. White just launches it up to the other end and the game ends. While waiting for AR1 Purple 20 makes a 50 yard run, faster than AR1 can get to me, and yells at me. After I show him his second yellow, he puts his hands on me to push before a teammate pulls him away. The game ended 3-2 for white, 2 yellows for white, and 3 yellows for purple (two to 20) and a long report that I had to write this morning. Oh yeah, they had painted on pointy ball lines with the soccer lines too. Yes one of the keepers took a punt from the pointy ball 20. Good news is that I have other obligations today and tomorrow so I won't have another playoff game until at least next Thursday.