Two GU14 teams from the same club. Corner kick. Kicker calls out the signal: "Elite!!" Coach nearby, "OK. You know the Elite play!"
From my college club game Saturday. Orange team player called for a shirt pull in midfield. Player says, "That's me." Less than two minutes later, he commits an arm grab at the same place on the field. After I whistle for the foul, he drops his head and says, "That's me. Again. F....k." There were no further problems with him.
I wish all players had the honesty to accept their punishment and not pretend they are innocent. I can maybe understand if they truly think they are innocent (some folks (and their parents) are always oblivious to their foul-play). Watching the pros on television is the worst sometimes. They pretend there was no foul when the video shows the worst hack. There should be fines for acting innocent on an obvious foul...
U16B. Good amount of spectators (parents and relatives). I award a CK. From one touchline I hear the same loud person, who has been disagreeing the majority of the match so far, yelling.."I can't believe it..that should be a goal kick. Man oh man...that is a goal kick...not a corner." #16 player turns to the touchline.. "Dad...it came off me...it's a corner...now shut up!" I gave the player a fist bump. Never heard another word.
Couple of weks agi: Boys U14, I signal for a goal kick. Attacking player: That went off the GK!" GK: Yeah, that went off me! "Ok, well, thanks for the honesty!" Coach: "Tony, quit helping the referee!"
I came this close to heading off to my noon match with one cleat and one turf shoe. Maybe that would have worked as an adjustment on my lower back. Anyway, U13 boys. Blue is dominating, and in the first half I get at least one "C'mon ref, let 'em play" from blue coach, a big burly bearded guy who looks like he's propped up more than more bar in his time. Early in the second half I call a hold against blue right in front of his bench. "Oh c'mon ref. Let 'em play. There's nothing there." "That's a hold coach." One minute later, again right in front of his bench, his player gets tapped from behind, not enough for a foul, plays through. Coach starts up with "That's the same thing! If you're gonna call it one way you gotta call it the other. It's the same thing!" Play stops for offside, he keeps up with "It's the same thing! It's the same thing!" I blow again, tell the defender to hold the kick, trot over, line up side by side next to him, and hunker down to his seated level. "It's the same thing. You gotta call it." I put my arm over his back, say "Coach, I heard you." "What?" "I've heard you. I got it. Now, that's it. OK?" "OK." I give him a pat on the far shoulder, say "Thanks," and resume play. He wins 6-0. After the whistle he comes up to shake hands, says "Sorry I went off on you like that." "No worries, just doing your job." "But it was a nice hug."
U17 Boys. I walk up to one coach to check in his team, "Do you have a game sheet?" (roster & score card) "No, they are home. They should have it." I walk away going, "And if they don't, you have to write your whole team down on a piece of paper..." I find the home team coach who had dissapeared onto the spectator's side to get the game sheet. Immedietly he starts complaining. "They have 19 listed on the game sheet, they are suppose to reduce their roster to 18 before noon on Friday. They are taking advantage of the roster rules." I promise that I'll make a note of it but I don't know what the coaches were told, but all the referees were told was that they can only roster 18 for a game and non-players need to be crossed off. I then told the coach that he had to change uniforms since both teams were in blue and he is the home team. The coach then quoted a made up rule, "The visitors have to change if there is a color conflict." Then another, "Visitors wear white, so they have to change because they aren't in the correct color." While my two ARs checked in his SEVEN players, I dug out the rules and showed him that he had to change. His team got up to 11 players eventually (after they were losing 4-0), and ended up losing 10-0. But, you know, the fact that the other team listed 19 on the roster, but traveled with 16, is the real reason he lost...
We had a HSVB coach, visiting team, start going off on the referee, during the run of play, demanding to know how many balls the home team had provided for the game. He wouldn't let it go. Well, he wouldn't let it go until the referee cautioned him and politely told him that the home team had provided four balls (before you go to your NFHS rule book, the required minimum number is three) and they had all been properly inflated. Home team won, visitors didn't score. Probably because the home team had trick balls.
I recently went to a MS game and realized I did not have ANY ref shoes. I had reffed a game in a swamp the day before and soaked both pairs and took them in the house to put them on the Peet shoe dryer. And of course, that was where they still were. So I was faced with doing the game in my work dress shoes, or barefoot. I decided to do barefoot and went out on the field like so. Not thrilled about it, but warm and dry enough and girls game, so was not too worried about getting stomped. When I got on the field, the visiting female coach was my former assistant coach from years ago. She had a good laugh at me, and then asked my shoe size. I said 9.5. She pulls out a pair of size 11s (she's a big girl) for me to use. They worked fine and dignity (and toes) remain intact.
I usually wake up shortly after making that discovery! Though I will confess that on the way to a game a couple of years ago, I suddenly realized my shoes were sitting out, and I did not have time to make it home and back. Mercifully, my wife was understanding and raced out to meet me.
I'm AR2, U12 Girls game, visiting team up 4-0. Visiting player takes a shot from about 20 yards out, goes over the keepers head, hits the crossbar, goes straight down but slightly away from the goal line. The ball never crosses the line, was not particularly close, and the goalie collects it. CR looks at me, I discreetly wave it off and we keep playing. Visiting coach starts to yell, "That's a goal! That's a goal!". CR is focused on the play and at the next stoppage tells him the ball never crossed the line, he yells "It was behind the goalie, that has to be a goal". Game ends uneventfully, coach dropped it, but as I'm walking to my car out of uniform I hear a parent/player talking which included this nugget, "...you could've had 1 or 2 more if the refs were any good, I heard the ref say the ball was on the line, and if its on the line it should've counted as a goal"
As we all know: If it's on the line it's in the field, or the corner area, or the penalty area or the goal area. It's only logical that if it's on the line it's in the goal!
I forgot to bring shorts to a game a couple of weeks ago. Realized that because of the rain the day before, I'd put them in the wash, and forgotten to take them OUT. Whoops.
This all makes me feel better about getting 10 minutes into my 30 minute commute this morning before remembering the shoes I need to ref in tonight were drying on the work bench.
I remember at least two occasions when my wife had to bring me some shoes. (I bet she would say it was three ...)
U10 coed rec. Attacker and defender almost occupying the same space when the defender toe-pokes the ball away for a corner. Defending coach says "Corner?" Defender said "It was off me, Coach." I said loudly "Thanks for your honesty." Coach said to the player "You didn't have to be that honest." Defender says "Maybe he will start giving us calls if he likes me." Not the first time I have had that scenario, sadly.
JV girls game. Forward in the penalty area, blocked by a defender right in front of her, tries to get around the defender, twisting and turning and, yes, there's some contact but not enough to knock her over, although it came close. After the ball is (temporarily) cleared, a voice on the bench yells "Amanda, just go down!" After a repeat of that, she yells back, "Why????"
This is actually how I play. Nice guy, admit when I'm guilty, don't argue stuff against me, but you can bet that I will use my good will once during a game to attempt to influence the referee.
What I can never understand is how players don't realize the reverse is sometimes true. If you are a pain in the ass to the ref, that might come back on you. I know some refs who very much use the "piss me off and you don't get any calls" model of refereeing. I try to avoid that, but I suspect I'm not always successful.
I don't think any of us can avoid that completely. It isn't intentional, but once we know someone is trying to get a call, our judgement of real fall vs flop probably changes.
Competitive BV game. Corner kick. No one is going over to take it. Players seem to agree that Jason should be taking the kick. "I am not on the field!!!" : Jason, from the bench.
Last night, HSBV regional match. One kid is just in my ear about everything. "Was that a push?" "Isn't that a hand ball?" "Isn't that a trip?". So we are standing next to each other towards the end of the first half and other team has a throw in. Kid say to me "Isn't that a foul throw?" Ball goes out again and while they are collecting it, I say back to him. "You want to know what makes it a foul throw? When I blow my whistle and call it." He quieted down after that.