Open Cup again this week. MLS teams now playing. Should be some good matchups. Chance for some big games for refs not yet in PRO2 group.
And unfortunately, it appears that all games are continuing to be behind the Paramount+ paywall, as opposed to YT in the earlier rounds. So no ability to follow the game timeline and go back and see big incidents for those of us not subscribed. A real damn shame, because I learned quite a bit from these shitshows
Some of the matches are live on the (free) Golazo! network, at least, but you do need a sub to watch any replays.
Stop being cheap. It only takes 1 of your game fees to get a subscription to Paramount+. There's too much soccer on Paramount not to pop for a subscription these days. Besides..... seeing Kate Abdo on the CL coverage is worth the price in GOLD. And don't be cheap when you need a new ref jersey either. Refs make enough money that they can replace that faded, sweat-stained green jersey with a new one. It's only $60 bucks. That one line on a MLS Next match. Off my soapbox now. Thanks for listening.
1. I will not fall victim to the current TV network scam of “put everything behind a paid streaming service”. 2. Funny you specifically mention the green uniform, because official sports green uniform is is only color uniform that completely fades on everyone. Clearly they used subpar dye or material when making it. We soccer refs already pay a ridiculous amount of money for a bunch of different colors of uniforms that no other sport on earth requires (despite all these sports having teams in the same different colors of jersey like soccer has), so no, I won’t be replacing my faded green uniform to buy another defective green one before they change the design in a few years and make refs spend hundreds of dollars AGAIN and being part of the referee uniform scam Completely sidetrack but you have your soapbox, I have mine
That's fair. I subscribe to the "look good, feel good, play good" theory. (#nogrammarpoliceplease). If you walk out on the field with that faded green jersey then, IMO, you put yourself one or two beats behind before the game even starts. If you walk out on the field with that crisp green jersey looking spiffy, you'll at least get a point for appearance before the coaches start accusing you of messing up the coin toss. I sarcazz, but I think looking the part helps every referee. Just my $.02 If you don't want to get into the uniform war with OSI, Capelli, etc. then I can understand that also. 5 short-sleeves and 5 long-sleeves plus the pink that's floating around is crazy. Add in the college uniforms for some of us and it's even more insane.
Oh believe me, I feel like I look like crap if I wear green, which is why I do everything I can right now to avoid it. But literally every referee I work with either has the same issue with their green, or tossed their green to buy a new one, so I refuse to participate by getting a new one. I have all 5 SS OSI colors and even the unofficial score pink one (and won’t get the OSI pink). But soccer referee uniforms are the biggest scam in world refereeing, and the excuse of “oh well it’s *just* one game fee, it’s not that bad” doesn’t fly. Every other sport has managed to have teams playing with as many jersey colors as soccer does, but make due with the universal black and white ref uniform, or some other generic single color. Not requiring 4-6 different colors in both short and long sleeve, putting referees out hundreds of dollars in just shirts, not even including redesigns. And then add in capelli vs OSI, vs. NISOA which are exactly the same as OSI but with some arm shading but you need another 5-10 uniforms? Give me a break. But I digress…
I watched Phoenix Rising and Houston Dynamo in CBS Sporys Network, completely free by the way. Very intense match. Phoenix got a controversial penalty call right before halftime. 9 cautions in all. Ties 1-1 going into extra time before Houston scored 3 unanswered to win 4-1.
Can I just say I haven't noticed any issues with the green before, but now I'll be looking extremely closely.
That’s surprising, because almost every single referee I know has the same thing. The entire back (except for the bottom since it’s tucked into shorts) and back sleeves are faded, the front and front arm sleeves are fine. See below (back on left, front on right) I don’t know, maybe we just way overused it. But actually, looking at my yellow, I think it’s also a little faded on the back too, but it’s much harder to tell with that color. Either way, I am not contributing to the soccer referee uniform scam by rebuying this because it’s faded
Most of the folks I work with know I hate green, so we rarely wear it. Perhaps that's the reason I'm not seeing this fading issue, that I suppose is similar to guys I see who refuse to buy shorts on a reasonably regular basis. I don't think I'll be further hijacking the thread by chiming in on the streaming issue since having to watch the games on such a platform is killing some of the threads on the forum (notably the MLS one the past two years). I had a hard line stance in the beginning also about shelling out money, but I get Paramount as part of our cable package and eventually "splurged" for Peacock since you have great Premier League matches on it. I've always said I've learned so much over the years (especially in the beginning) from watching the videos folks would share on Big Soccer. However, it's becoming increasingly difficult to post them when many of the games that used to be "free" are now on apps, etc.
Not even close brother! I stopped working for assignors that were requiring one uniform over another because it was going to cost me double and I wasn't going to make that money back. No reason to own OSI and Capelli NISOA jersey/shorts when everyone was trying to make money off the refs. No thanks. But I still believe in replacing a faded ref jersey when it's time. Maybe that's an oxymoron but it is what it is.
Yeah I don’t watch any soccer live, only a handful of games, and I have a number of sites that I’ll just pirate the full match from. It may be harsh but the USOC doesn’t deserve to be behind a paywall. In a vacuum I definitely agree with you. However, the circumstances that I’ve mentioned surrounding this particular situation (everyone’s green getting faded, and my anger about soccer referees needing a bunch of uniforms period) means I’m not doing it
Very interesting sequence in CHI/WAS (NWSL) starting late 16th minute. IFK for a GK handling after a flubbed release of the ball followed by a foul (???) coming out on the ensuing restart.
This is a mess. If the referee determines that the first Washington player's touch of the ball was not enough to consider that it was kicked and moved, the next player hitting the ball is sufficient to put it into play, and the defender is then guilty of failing to respect the distance. Given that two different attackers touch the ball here, no sure how this is a free kick coming out.
That's why you all need to be wearing black more often. It's simply the best color and fades the least
I think pink is the best but before pink’s release, I definitely like black the most. However, people rarely seem to want to use black, and also it is much more likely for you to be difficult to see. I’ve had twice where we had to change out of black mid game, once because the center could barely see the ARs, and once because players complained they could barely see the center on the field. My rankings are 1. Pink 2. Black 3. Yellow 4. Blue 5. Green (not factoring in the fading problem, just its general ugliness) 6. Red
I started when black was the only option (red alternate, but almost nobody even owned one.) Seeing ARs was never a problem. Sure a bright color may be easier, but I feel there's something else going on there.
I think i that games case one touch line was really close to a dark fence so the AR almost blended in. But my reason for hating red is psychological, red can bring feelings of anger so I try to avoid wearing it.
I have a new complaint that has nothing to do with streaming and faded uni’s. My complaint is with “formerly” white match balls that have been played to death on turf and are nearly black! I had a referee miss a ball going in the net because the ball arched up above the lights in a night game, he lost it against the sky, and when it came down, it found a hole in the net (of course!) and he ruled no goal! It was under the cross bar in reality by 3-4 feet!
What was the AR's take? Did they check the nets ahead of time and repair them as needed? Or was this some rec league somewhere?