I cant remember an MLS game that I've watched in recent times without at least 1 and usually more than one occurrence of 2 balls being on the field at the same time....once in a while is no big deal...but it happens EVERY GAME!!! like, do the people throwing the balls on the field not follow the sport? to make matters worse, whenever a player wants to play fast and throw the ball in quickly there is generally never a ball to be found! whoever trains/supervises these ball boys needs to step it up!
Jon Busch approves this thread. ". . .Quakes goalkeeper Jon Busch has been suspended for one game for "aggressively retrieving a ball" against Sporting Kansas City . . ." https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2012/06/13/san-joses-busch-suspended-one-match-actions-kc
If there is, at anytime, two balls on the field at the same time, it is 1) the referees’ responsibility to hold up play until the second ball is removed 2) it is not necessarily the ball boys’ responsibility to remove said ball. This isn’t tennis where every restart is held until the official says it can proceed. There are, invariably, mulitple times a game where a player will attempt a quick restart when a second ball is on the field. The last thing we want is for some kid to run on the field to grab a ball and have that kid get plowed because a player tried a quick restart.. As a result, it is not uncommon for ball boys to be told that they are not allowed on the field..
the ball boys are the reason that 2 balls are on the field in the first place! they throw the ball cluelessly to no one and slow up the game every game in MLS...just watch if you dont believe me. so the issue is not who is responsible for pausing the action or why are the ball boys not running on the field for the ball....it is why the hell do they have to throw extra balls on the field every game??! its really not that hard to NOT throw an extra ball on the field...or is it!!?
yeah i know...seems whoever has these jobs doesnt understand the sport very well whoever they are and doesnt take their job very seriously.
What I've seen more often recently are fans throwing the extra ball on the field. With all the newer stadiums having the fans closer to the action, it is easier to do.
okay that makes more sense...i literally have not seen an MLS game in the past 2 seasons without 2 balls being on the field at once....and it is a bit weird, imo.
The Timbers Army retirement home (section opposite TA at the south end stadium) tell the kids when to hurry up and when to slow down getting the balls back onto the field. I saw them talk the kids into throwing the 2nd ball on to kill time on more than one occasion. It was hilarious actually.
Neither did Jon Busch. The rumor (and that's all it was) was that the Kansas City ball kids had been coached to delay offering balls to opposing keepers when Sporting was ahead, a deliberate tactic similar to what keepers with a lead practice before a goal kick. It was fairly obvious to Busch back in 2012, hence his "aggressive" reclamation of the ball. So the ball kids either need to get a code of ethics, or disguise better their behavior.