As I type this, I was supposed to be driving to Memphis, TN for the Inter-Regional ODP event held over President's Day weekend. Mother Nature had other plans with mid-20s for the highs in Memphis and some ice storms thrown in for good measure. So I'll do some indoor games this weekend instead where the temperature will be 40-45 degrees warmer on the field.
I had three schedule on turf for tomorrow. We're looking at 34 to 36 degrees with rain all day. Two have been cancelled. That third one better be..
U16G showcase indoors tomorrow, 10min from my house. Get to see some cronies and test-drive new e-whistle and new LS green. Looking forward to some normal.
Same for me too. Was supposed to have 2 games on Sunday. Postponed due to weather conditions. I’m not upset at all.
Had my first Varsity Girls center. Top two teams from 2019 who won their 6A and 7A respectively. Wow. Did not expect the intensity. Lots of spirit as well.
Funny you mention. All players were cordial and quiet for most part.... except one. Their star-studded 5'2 #1 in the State forward who was getting fouled and would pipe up about in a you-need-to-be-catching-this kinda way. She was right. There was one foul in front of me where another player literally used her a launching pad hands over shoulder and I just did not call it when I absolutely should have. Coaches were worse. Everything from "How can you not see that?" To "You weren't gonna yellow card her until he said something!" They lost 0-3 with some good breakaways to the 7A side. But the players behaved with a lot more grit and spirit
I did my first college game in about 1.5 year, it was also my second D1 middle. First I’ll say electronic whistles suck. But thanks to this board for helping guide me in this situation. my assignor for the conference watched the match and gave me feedback (all positive). Commenting on workrate (6.28 miles later). Working out at 600am and lifting a ton has definitely had a positive outcome for my fitness. The conditioning classes too have been helpful since I haven’t been out on the track much. I have another 5 more whistles coming now...
I had a combination of getting to provide some "fatherly" refereeing advice and some really nice coach support in the games I did today. I did four 40-minute games in a 6v6 indoor tournament. Solo refereeing on a 55 x 30 field. Second game is a U19 game. Blue is hammering Red 6-2. With about three minutes left, Blue's best player does a couple of slick moves (he was playing center back with free license to carry the ball forward, which is a great role for him in small-sided). As he does these, he does a "whoop!" type of sound and starts to hop down the field. He's clearly rubbing things in. He's a good kid off the field (my son is friends with him), but tends to believe his press clippings a little too much. So when the ball goes out next, I call him over. I can tell he's expecting a card, but I just talk to him for 20-30 seconds (he probably felt like it was 2-3 minutes) and told him he's too good for that and to take the 6-2 win and not showboat. I talked quietly enough that he and I were the only two who could hear this, but I had him away from everyone enough to where everyone knew what we were talking about. I walked away without carding him, as I figured the isolation was enough. After the game, Blue's coach (another friend of mine) said that he was really impressed with that bit of management. He figured that the "lecture" was more effective than the card. My last game was another blowout. With about 15 minutes left, Red's player is grabbed by Orange's defender (red was very dark and orange was light, so no color issues). I didn't call the foul as I was expecting him to move forward for a good goal-scoring opportunity. But he stands there and yells for the foul. I didn't call the foul (should have, and I admitted so to Red's coach after the game). He chirped at me for another minute or so on two other calls and I carded him for dissent. He didn't play for the final 10 minutes, including sitting for his planned rotation. After the last game, Red's coach told me "I'm glad you cautioned him. He deserved it, and it's a shame because he's a referee and knows better". I told the coach that I should have called the foul, but maybe my missed call is a good lesson for him to play to the whistle. Had he played instead of chirped, he would have had an unimpeded run along the goal line to the near post with his team's best player standing 8 yards away wide open for a sitter had he passed it to him. I also had a good conversation with Orange's coach after that game. I called a foul on a good shoulder to shoulder that I shouldn't have called against his player, and I owned up to it after I called it. After the game, the coach said that people just have too high of expectations for referees - basically that the expectation is we will be perfect from the outset. He said we won't get them all right, and parents need to lay off referees. He appreciated that I was honest enough to admit when I kicked a call so his player knew he made a good play. If nothing else, I walked away from the game knowing there are a few good ones out there who want to work with us, warts and all.
Three HS playoff games this week, all as AR, in what will probably be my last games of the HS season (although I could luck into one more game if enough games get scheduled at the same time). I was very worried about the weather for the last game of the three, but thankfully there was no rain. 40F and I was bundled up and felt fine--rain would've made it an entirely different story. The only thing I'm miffed about happened during the last game, which went to PKs and I was the AR at that end. One of the kickers stopped in her run-up and the CR didn't call anything. At that moment I couldn't remember the exact wording of the differences between IFAB and NFHS rules. Obviously my main focus is the keeper, but I still should've brought it to the CR's attention.
I have now had my first 5 college games of the season either cancelled or postponed due to COVID and/or weather. Part of me is not happy, but part of me is also relieved. Not really OK with reffing in sub 30 degree weather.
I thought you lived in Oregon. My wife lived in Washington state before we met, and from what she told me it would never get like that in the Pacific Northwest!
I thought he was around the great lake area. My friend in Portland says it’s currently snowing tho... so ymmv
I hear you man. The tomato plants I put in last March have begun to slow down production and the Beefsteaks are not as big. I swear the stalks are at least 25 to 30'. It never got any higher than 65 deg today. It's parka time!
Finally quit harumphing and ordered up copies of LOTG for me +2 sons. North of $50 but by Graham Poll's 3YC we will have books to hold.
“By Graham Poll’s Third Yellow Card” is the referee equivalent of “By Grothnar’s Hammer!”, eh? Good to know,
It's been a while since I posted, but by Best Story is that I got notified about a mentoring tournament in my area on April 2-3! I'm hoping to get off work to ref but I haven't picked up a whistle since October 22 . I only reffed about 4 games during the fall season. With college and a part-time job there just isn't much free time to go ref right now.
Bad news for me again. I had major knee surgery last year at this time, and I worked really hard to get all the way back. I lost a ton of weight, got really fit, and did a full HS schedule in the fall. Not much USSF because a lot of clubs just didn't play. i have been bothered by tremendous soreness and stiffness well after the season ended. I took a lot of time off to rest, but nothing came of it. Somewhere along the line, I did something that causes my knee to hyperextend when I stand after having been sitting for a while, like getting out of my car after a drive, and a short drive at that. My knee then constantly swells and stiffens and aches because it is overly loose. Net/net is big surgery to fix the issue and I will have to do it all over again to get back for the fall.
Not just snow. The snow was on top of ice. Then there was light freezing rain, which added another layer and then snow on top of that. I have a house on a corner, so I had sidewalks on two sides of the house to clear. It wasn't possible to get the bottom layer of ice cleared, but, at least, leaving it exposed encouraged it to go away. We're up to 48 degrees right now, but I'm still waiting for the snow & ice to melt. Had to go to the gym (and wear the blankety-blank mask while working out) because the track was still snowy/icy. Another college game Sunday, supposed to be 51 degrees and raining. I'll take that over snow and ice every time. But my daughter, who lives in Cal-South, turns on their fireplace when it drops down to 70. When we showed the three year old pictures of the snow around our house, he objected, "It isn't Christmas!"
Don't you love that when that happens. I was checking Arbiter to see if any spring lacrosse games were assigned to me yet, and I saw that on January 20th, $110 was deposited in my account from a November HS playoff soccer game. I had no idea I had not been paid for that game. Like Xmas all over again
They've arrived, they're beautiful, they spell words funny. But again, dear friends, I can digitally (although not virtually!) consult the Book of Armaments as needed, in Technicolor.
ahh, a true best story of the week. I got a letter in the mail from Connecticut Ref program and was wondering what it was. Usually only get one a year from them, when they send me my new badge. And I already got that. I see it is an invite to the annual awards night, to be held virtually. And just as I'm about to go on to something else, I see that it says that they want to honor me as Assignor of the Year! Whoa, really. Did not see that one coming. Highest sports accolade I have received since I made that all star team back when I was 12 (and that was a LONG time ago).