Interesting perspective. The only thing I'll mention here (since it is the Breakers forum) is that I don't think you can blame Seitz herself for being "well known" (as these things go.) Fans do care about the refereeing and we're going to get to know who some of the refs are - especially when they're FIFA and they ref the big games: World Cup, US friendlies, WPS playoffs, NCAA College Cup. There's going to be controversies in these games. Seitz is going to have her name associated with some of them because she's assigned these games and she's assigned them because she's considered one of the better ones out there.
Some people do just seem to be a lightning rod for this stuff though. Google Jennifer Bennett the ref that did the final. Also a FIFA ref and I can't find anything even remotely controversial. You can't find ANYTHING on her and she's done plenty of refereeing
Good point, could be. But I also think she hasn't gotten as many of the big assignments as Seitz has. Seitz is usually reps the US at the World Cup. Seitz did last year's WPS final (of course) as well as the inaugural game. Bennett did fine in this Championship but, let's face it, the referee was not going to make much of a difference in this game - Gold Pride was too much for Philly. (And outside the Breakers forum, there are as many people on the other forums who think she got it right as wrong. Or at least the referee can't be faulted for calling it as they see it from the angle they have especially when we aren't sure even after watching multiple replays)
FWIW: I think it may have been a handball. I think she was planning on scoring with her hand, but it was unnecessary as she managed to use her head. That said, her hand was positioned to catch the ball, and the ball ultimately probably touched it after her head did. Either way, I don't particularly care. There'd be no need to worry about this goal's legitimacy if the ref had called the foul that led to your side's only goal. I agree, ref was shit. Could have ended with an undeserved tie. The Hand of Doop was justice. Ugly, ugly justice.
I have a 59" TV but that does not allow me to see what really happened as the camera angles of both clips were blocked by the goal post. However, from the speed of the ball going into net, it looks to me it was a header. Goalkeepers of course will most likely try to blame something else for the goal. Philly's Henderson tried to say that Cheney was offside when she scored the Breakers' first goal. Adams' left hand was close to her head and it may have given Breakers' goalkeeper the impression that it could be a handball. As she did not press her point with the referee, I can only conclude that she was not sure. Personally I think it was a good goal although I am a Breakers fan. I hope we can give the referee the benefit of doubts and stay off her back. A referee is doing an unthankful job for the game and unless one is certain that he or she is at fault, I think we should let the matter stands.