It can be interesting to note that in Nadeshiko Japan coach Takakura has played Utsugi as a Left-Back quite consistently these days (at last Algarve Cup for instance). Actually, she was freely switched between LB position and DM based on different matches and line-ups. One of Utsugi's strong points is versatily and I guess, after AFC Asian Cup (along with Naho, she's going to leave today), this will be a very valuable asset for Seattle. Yes, in Reign thread it has been mentioned that Yanez herself was strongly selling the point that she can play very well as a CAM and, not much surprisingly, she gets that position in the first match of the season. Despite being seen by many as mostly a sub in this team, I guess Bev will get a lot of playing time, especially now that Seattle will miss most of their internationals for about a month to AFC Asian Cup.
Unfortunately I could not watch the game as Lifetime has decided that NWSL will not be available on their site unless u have a qualifying cable provider so they could have mentioned it every 15 seconds.
The Lifetime games are posted on the NWSL website ~2 days after they air. But yeah it's frustrating to wait.
Yes, I can imagine. Not sure why people outside USA like me are treated so well (probably both for promotional reasons and because it would be difficult for American people who are living here in Europe to get the games live otherwise), but I just finished rewatching the Seattle-Washington game, that I had missed live (it started at 3:00 am here in Europe) and was available right away for me on NWSL website.
To quote Jeff Goldblum's character in Jurassic Park, "That is one big pile of s___." I would say more but adding any "further information" on my opinion would guarantee me a BigSoccer yellow card, and that yellow card would probably well-deserved.
If it was a team I closely follow, I would have used a VPN but I have monthly data limitations so I only use it when I have to.
Just another stone in my shoe. I recently switched to Youtubetv which solved my ESPN/FS1 problems but I lost Lifetime in the process.
Can someone clarify the handball rule? I have been watching soccer for 20 years and this still confuses me. Is the criteria for ruling a handball: 1) The arms are in an "unnatural" position, i.e. one that makes the body bigger, not down at the sides 2) The contact was "intentional" I have heard commentators describe the rule both ways. Is it just one of these conditions, one or the other, or both? In the case of Sauerbrunn, that play happened so fast, I can't entirely blame the referees for calling a handball. On repeated YouTube viewings, in slow motion, it is still difficult to tell if the ball hit her arm or face. The most likely answer is it grazed her arm on route to her face. But the yellow card is absurd. It is ridiculous to say there was "deliberate handling." How is Sauerbrunn supposed to react in a fraction of a second? And, replay shows Weatherholt's shot was going well wide before the deflection, meaning there was no denial of goalscoring opportunity, or as Chesky puts it, "stopping of promising attack." The ball was heading out of bounds for a goal kick. As for "unsporting behavior", who the hell knows what that means. For protesting a controversial call? In summary, the handball call is controversial. Did it hit her arm? Maybe. Was the contact intentional? No. Did the contact stop Orlando from scoring a goal? No. Were the arms in an unnatural position? I guess so. It sort of looks like a natural running motion, but she raises them slightly at the very end, probably a natural instinct to protect her face. Are the referee's comments on that inquiry form ridiculous, given the benefit of post-game replays? Yes.
I trialed YouTubeTV during the Olympics. It works well. Another non-cable/satellite option is SlingTV. If you buy the basic $20 package, you get the ESPN family, and Lifetime. Unfortunately to get both the ESPNs and FS1/2, you need the most expensive package, $40. But if watching NWSL is your goal, the basic one suffices.
When I was a referee a few years ago they always told us to ask the following question: "Did the hand play the ball, or did the ball play the hand?" Directly from FIFA's Laws of the Game: Handling the ball involves a deliberate act of a player making contact with the ball with his hand or arm. The referee must take the following into consideration: • the movement of the hand towards the ball (not the ball towards the hand) • the distance between the opponent and the ball (unexpected ball) • the position of the hand does not necessarily mean that there is an infringement IMO, even if the ball did hit Sauerbrunn's hand it shouldn't have been a handball because she was protecting her face and had no time to react.
I've looked at the video a couple of times and don't see a handball call. But, if she deliberately raised her arms to protect her face and the ball then hit her arms, I think that has to be a handball. It actually looked to me like a direct shot to the face, no hands or arms involved no matter where they were. But, I can see the ref and AR thinking differently. The yellow card, according to the ref's statement, was for a deliberate handball (not for anything Sauerbruun said) -- apparently based on a conclusion the arms went up on purpose to block the shot. If that's what the ref thinks she saw, there's nothing wrong with a yellow card. So, to me the issues are (1) whether the ball did or didn't hit her arm or hand (I think it didn't) and (2) if it did, whether her arm or hand hitting the ball was deliberate, even if it was deliberate only to protect her face (possible).
What I like most about Youtubetv is the cloud dvr. I work odd hours. It also bridged the espn/foxsports chasm...most services supporting one or the other. Youtubetv had all the sports channels I care about. Unfortunately they don't have the A&E channels. I tried Sling and liked it as well but their dvr option was still coming soon. I would also need to buy both their packages to get the complete sports channels.
It is what is is. As I told Blissett, if it had been a Houston or Orlando match I would have used a VPN but I have a monthly limit so I have to pick & choose.
My take on these things is this. I thought it was a handball live (tho I don't agree with the rule) so regardless what the replays determined it to be it's not fair for me to blame the ref for having the same opinion. As I said, the the laws regarding hand ball could use a lot of improvement.
I've quoted my earlier post both to add the word in red that my slipshod proofreading allowed me to omit [it was bothering me] and to remind myself of the risk of not tempering my remarks. I'll say this much: I believe that for a ref to call a handball against a defender in the box he or she had better be d___ sure that a handball was actually committed. Arguably, an erroneous handball call of a non-handball in this situation can unfairly change the game a lot more than an erroneous non-call of a handball. I highly doubt that Chesky was ever so certain about what transpired in this play, but it seems she committed herself to her decision and doubled down on it with the yellow card.
Looks like a dark orange. Sometimes the camera skews the colors. I remember in one game Sky Blue FC's special-edition hot pink jerseys looked bright red.
I think the first half of the season is going to be rough for Chicago. Too many important players out for a while.