I guess the rationale here is that they want to discourage consistant yellows and try to force players to be on their best behavior. I think it makes some sense. From Stephen Zach: - A player who accumulates 8 or more caution points in the first two games in which he appears is suspended for next game (basically a yellow for anything except dissent or delay of game in each of the first two games will get you suspended for the next match). Key words "in which he appears" means that if a player sits out the game after receiving a yellow then a yellow in the next game will still force you out of the next game. For example, if Dema doesn't play the next match but then plays in the Eastern finals and gets a yellow, he would be out of the Cup. As long as he takes the field in the next match in some capacity and does not receive a yellow then he is fine. - A player that receives a yellow card in 3 consecutive playoff games equaling 10 or more points will be suspended for the next game (MLS Cup). For example - Game 1 foul - 3 points, Game 2 - Dissent - 3 points, Game 3 - Foul - 5 points = Suspension from MLS Cup.
Dave, Thanks for getting that cleared up. I saw on the MLS site that the caution points reset for the post season, but they never mentioned a new suspension threshold (21 and 11 points would be too high). Basically Nellie need to stay away from cards one of the next two games.
So, does that make refs tend to call only the more egregious fouls as to not have a big effect on th egame or do they call them the same (Well, as consistently as an MLS ref can be). Anybody ever looked at cards in playoffs vs reg season?