Thornton was, in my opinion, making fun of the previous call by the ref. That PK call was possibly the worst I've seen.
nah, i've seen far worse things than that....although the play certainly was not a PK....but why would THornton reenact a dive while the game is on, and the ball is in play? The reason you provide does not seem to me as the proper explanation...he could have used the arms gesture (you know, the one that seems to say "he is jumping/jumped into the pool") towards the ref, if he "wanted to make a point"....
If he did the "arms diving" thing, he'd easily get a card. Instead, he was laughing as he fell. It was, in my opinion, a joke. He had the ball, no threat of losing it as the ball wasn't "in play", no flailing around and rolling on the ground like he was shot. He just fell after minimal contact, while laughing, because he was kidding.
To me he saw rozenthal coming and was prepared to make it look like he fouled him. He had already commited to this and when rozenthal came up short he was already in the process of starting his act and really couldn't pull back. So it made a mess of it and looked totally rediculous. Goalkeepers don't usually have to try and fake a dive like they got taken out with a slide tackle so they aren't very good at selling it. I just appreciate that Thorton immediatly acknowledged to the Ref that there was no foul and, yes he did dive. Figure he didn't deserve a yellow card for it because of the humiliation of making such a horendous attempt at a dive.
Your bias is showing. ("Minimal contact"? How about no contact?) I won't disagree that the penalty call was soft, to be generous. But at least there was actual contact. I've seen plenty of penalties awarded in MLS that involved literally no contact.
I thought the penalty was called because Curtin played the man, not the ball, causing interference, while the other Fire defender got to the ball. I personally don't think it was because of the dive. And yes, Big T's dive was comedy.
Yes at least something was funny and entertaining in that game. What a bore to watch on tv. I could stop looking, and only turn back when I heard Rolfe's name.
If that had been whistled a foul at midfield, not a single person would have given it a second thought. Since it's in the box, some fans, especially when it's their team, thinks tackle football/unnecessary roughness type standards apply. They don't. The rules don't say "Blah blah blah is a foul, unless it's in the box, in which case, play on." Sure, it was a very soft penalty, but I've seen softer. If Curtin doesn't want the PK called, next time, don't put his hands on the guy. He got beat, and acted before he knew where the ball was going.
They should. That was one of, if not THE, worst gifted goal by a referee that I have seen in 20 years of watching the game.
On a similiar note, while I think Thornton is a fat thug and a crybaby to boot, his behavior before the PK was comedy gold. "You going Left or Right? Right or Left?"
Not true. They bumped shoulders, that's all. That's not a foul anywhere on the field. Curtain held up because his teammate got to the ball first and the two players collided. Not a foul anywhere on the field. It was just a bad call and I think most Columbus fans would agree. You don't hear me crying becase Mapp should have earned a PK when he was dragged down in the box even though it was probably a poor non-call. It wasn't as bad as the call against Curtain.
C'mon. Again, I've seen plenty of penalties awarded in this league that involved literally zero contact. There was contact, and I doubt there'd be much fuss if it was whistled a foul at midfield. Soft? Absolutely. "Worst gifted goal ... that I have seen in 20 years"? Gimme a break. Again, Thornton's dive... wow. He must have been shocked when Rozental's slide came up short. It was pretty funny when he tried to stick his foot back in there to try and generate at least the look of a foul. What a doofus.
Maybe he should of focused on stopping the kick. lol Thornton almost scared the shit out of Busch. He caught Busch off of his line in the first half and had him turning every which way when he booted it from his end all the way over the Crew net. It was a entertaining game from where I was sitting. Frustrating at times but entertaining. I guess it's different at home. Nothing that comes out of Columbus at 4 p.m. is entertaining to the rest of the league. So, I guess that can be expected.
lol. It just cracked me and my dad up. Because Thornton kicked it from the top of his box. Busch was at the top of his and was focused on something else and then turned from side to side like three times and luckily it bounced over the net.
The funniest dive I have ever seen was Fecundo Erpen's last year again the Revolution. He hits Twellman, the ref sees it, and then he dives.
OK, Buschy said he believes Thornton was ACTUALLY going for goal on that punt! Says he was surprised & scrambled because he was worried it might take a goofy bounce into the net!