I appreciate the satire and parody going on here. But I have a serious question. When the players are reversed, and it's a defender trying to clear a ball out of the box, and Angela Salem is an attacking player, and she deflects the ball into the path of a teammate who darts in on goal, we're expecting the play to be allowed? We're going to be indignant when a referee blows the whistle for handling? Why would any defender ever try to block the ball with their body when it could take an unpredictable deflection towards goal, if they could use their forearms to block the ball like a boxer blocks a punch in the clinch? Players at this level are skilled enough to know what they're doing; why are we officially condoning forearm blocks? If it's a foul in midfield, it's a foul in the box... If it's a foul on the defender, it's a foul on the attacker... I don't think the direction we're going with this use of the forearms is consistent with the principles of consistency. And no one knows what a handball is anymore.
U-9 game last year. We're on a typical short-sided field that goes across one half of a full-sided field, but it's well marked given the circumstances. Parent comes up to me at halftime and asks why the goalkeepers are allowed to handle the ball so far from goal. I'm standing near the corner of the PA, so I demonstrate. "But ... they're allowed to handle it out here? Not just in the smaller box?" "Correct." "That doesn't make any sense!" I'm still being polite here and trying not to be condescending or dismissive, even though parents shouldn't be badgering refs at halftime. "If you have a chance, watch a game on TV this weekend to see this in action." "I played in college, but whatever ..." Geez. He did qualify his question a little bit to say he was stunned they'd let kids this young bring it so far out, and he was insisting I had it wrong, and how could they let keepers handle it there. I had to refer him to the USSF short-sided field mandates.
Yikes. Reminds me of a soccer class I had in summer school back when. I'd been playing soccer a year or two--as goalkeeper. Teacher explained that the GK could only use his hands in the goal area. The teacher, who I guess had no interest in teaching the class, literally through the rule book at me (I have no idea it if was rules or laws . . .) and told me if I was so smart I should show him in the rule book . . . so I did . . .
He called me a rules nut or something similar. Yup, gotta be a rule nut to know where the GK can use his hands . . .
Tori Penso will be the center referee for the NWSL Championship match between Washington Spirit and Chicago Red Stars (TV: CBS at noon ET / 9PT) http://proreferees.com/2021/11/19/2021-nwsl-championship-crew-confirmed/ Washington Spirit vs Chicago Red Stars Lynn Family Stadium (12PM ET) REF: Tori Penso AR1: Tiffini Turpin AR2: Kali Smith 4TH: Natalie Simon RAR: Walt Heatherly
What happened right at the end of 2nd OT with the injury, drop ball, player(s) coming back on? Can someone interpret? Cheers, Mi3ke
Play stopped for injury. Both players must leave the field before the restart, then the Center can wave them back on.
Penso whistles an easy foul call where Kelly O'Hara cracks Mallory Pugh in the back of the leg in the first half. O'Hara apparently argues that because she got ball, it couldn't be a foul. Pugh is injured on the play and while the trainers tend to her on the ground, Penso spends 30 seconds discussing with O'Hara why it's a foul (the sort of thing you'd see on a video on proper man management). As Penso walks away, O'Hara has the need to say something back and feels the need to have the last word. In a nutshell, the current and former USWNT players seem to think they're above the game and are the most vocal about NWSL officiating. At the end of the day, the officiating is not the problem...they are.
First NWSL season. I've watched every Spirit game, attending every home game and a couple of away games, and gone to many practices to write a book. Playoffs. (Spirit most definitely not involved -- how things have changed!) Tobin Heath falls to the ground. Alex Morgan, on the bench, gets up and starts screaming at the ref. I make a sarcastic tweet: "Alex Morgan gets up and yells to remind the ref that USWNT players get all the calls." After the game, Morgan RTs my tweet and calls me an idiot. My notifications started spinning like the electric meter at a blockchain operation. Many WNT players do *not* respect the NWSL. Having a national team that acts as a Harlem Globetrotters traveling circus would suit them just fine. The NWSL is far from perfect, to put it mildly, but the difference in commitment between the Harkes-Lalas-Wynalda generation with MLS and the WNT's commitment to building a new league is stark. And a lot of them got spoiled when Borislow showered them with riches and compliments -- while their teammates dealt with his wrath.
The best thing that happened to the NWSL is when Heath left for England. Folks can watch on YouTube the numerous videos of her behaving like a thug in matches...and usually getting away with it because of her status. Morgan is very opinionated on numerous things, but can't take the heat when called out. The men's National Team players always return relatively quickly from competitions such as this year's Gold Cup matches. It seemed like it took forever for the players to return to the NWSL after this year's WWC. I was at Red Bull arena where the only player on Gotham FC who had an issue with the officiating was Carli Lloyd. Didn't get a foul call (since there was none) and then wiped out the next opposing player who got the ball for a caution. Mostly, it's the USWNT players that behave like this. For those who don't know what Dan is referring to, Borislow is one of the former owners in the league when it was called WPS. Numerous players came out against his mental abuse towards the female players while WNT players such as Abby Wambach and Hope Solo came to his aid willing to look the other way since they were not affected and made a lot of money through this owner and who also looked the other way at the number of matches they missed for their club team. At the games, I was impressed at the fan support, which is not much different than the comments you hear at an MLS match. However, it's going to be up to the National Team players if it succeeds in the long term instead of disparaging the referees and embarrassing the league with their tantrums.