Now I am going to start this by admiting that I despise Brian Hall. I think he is a totally crap ref, whose ego takes over games and he wants to be the show instead of letting the players be the show. I also hate Brian Hall for making the most inexplicable call ever in a playoff game last year that cost us a goal. That said...what he did last night was above and beyond anything I have ever seen a ref do, especially at this level. Last night (6/12) I attended an A-League match between the Portland Timbers and the Vancouver Whitecaps at PGE Park in Portland, Oregon. I was at first amused by some of Brain Hall's antics which included talking back to fans and even yelling at one. However, he really crossed the line into truly offensive by his actions as he was leaving the field at the end of the first half. He turned to our supporters group who were heckling him a bit and made the international gesture for "cunnilingus". He put his two fingers over his mouth and then stuck his tongue out, simulating cunnilingus. I am not exaggerating here. So what should I do? Where does this fall in the lines of "transgressions" by a match official? Does he get suspended for such actions? I thought I would ask a bunch of fellow refs your opinion!
I would think that refs with rabbit ears would fall to the side long before reaching Hall's level. If he's concentrating on his job he should not be listening to - or really even hearing - the spectators gibes. Jim
i'd probably write usl and mention that he did that. if you did so in a calm manner i wonder what their response would be. or are they not the relevant authority?
Re: Re: Brian Hall way out of line! We deal with it, we ignore it, we can even find information and humour in it but we will hear it and at times it sucks to have no recourse to where we can not thump out the ditwad(s). Being human, a mistake in judgement could have a referee act inapropriately. We harp on being the bigger man or woman and talk about selective hearing or blocking out the useless chatter. In as professional demeanour as we care to groom or maintain the illusion it means nothing is false. There are times when irritation is a mild sedative compared to the roiling boil a persistant torrent of abuse and crap can achieve. It takes a very composed individual to truthfully say it does not bother him or her to be a target. Some even manage to enjoy it. I only WISH I was one of those people. It takes intense focus and concentration to remain seperated from becoming just like the idiots we have to listen to.
Maybe a better question is why would he make that particular gesture. It wasn't a woman's match. Was it alluding to your abuse to imply that it "takes a licking but keeps on ticking"? Was he, in fact, simply showing a gesture of respect, for your obviously mature and sensible behavior (a kiss on the lips that never smile)? Or was he just being tongue in cheek, so to speak?
I'm troubled by this at many levels. I don't know the age of the poster, but I am suspect if Hall even made those gestures. It doesn't sound like Brian to do that and this poster has a clear axe to grind based on his stated bias and hatred of Hall.
Personally, I read this as a troll, trying to bait us into arguing that Hall is a brilliant referee and would never do this... The only part of this that can be really be substantiated is the fact that Hall was the CR on this game (I checked the Timbers website). Jarrett
Unless you were asked him what the call was you probably wouldn't know. I was an AR recently on a U14 premier game. I was standing near one of the coaches. Two girls were charging shoulder to shoulder going after the ball. The CR called a foul. The coach started yelling. What neither of us saw was that the offending girl had given a two handed push just before the action we thought he was calling. The player didn't complain, and the game continued. As in the famous Esse PK, you're not going to see every call. And unless it's a big game with TV replays you'll probably never find out what those inexplicable calls. No high level ref is as bad a some fans think he is. Refs don't get very high if they are completely incompetent. Hating a particular ref says more about you than about that ref's skill.
Well I'm certainly no big fan of Brians', who inexplicably is usually outstanding in internationals but often manages to get into difficult straits doing MLS games. Really quite odd. And I myself sat about 150 feet away when he made the single most inexplicable non-call/call I have ever witnessed, and then stiffed the group of referees who had driven, some of them, quite a distance to meet with him afterwards. Fairly or not, it certainly left the impression that he simply didn't want to have to answer questions about the call. (Jeff Cunningham dribbles through the center circle, where he is clearly fouled. Manages to keep his feet, and the ball, beats two more players, jukes the keeper who tries to intercept him at the top of the box, and taps the easy shot home from about 10 yards. Pause. Whistle. Hall indicates DFK for the Crew back at the center circle. Simply bizarre, to be sure. And believe me, if he didn't react to some of the stuff that was said to him, continuously, for the next 25 minutes THEN, he is completely deaf) All that aside, I simply don't believe this story. Hall is not an idiot, and didn't get this far by losing it over what some mouthbreather from the shallow end of the gene pool yells at him. I just don't see it happening.
I was at the game in Portland and can verify that he did indeed make the gesture. It was at halftime while he was walking off the field. The Timbers Army had been yelling at him for most of the half and while he walked to the tunnel a few sections away from where the Timbers Army stands, he very clearly made the gesture. Regardless of what you think about his ability to ref, in my opinion NO referee should ever should ever make an inappropriate gesture in a crowd that not only was made up of the people yelling at him, but also parents and children who were just out for an enjoyable evening of soccer. I also believe that if this weren't an A-league game played in front of 5,400 people and instead was an international game in front of 54,000 and tv cameras, Mr. Hall's arse would be in trouble. Simply put, he was upset, knew he could get away with it and he showed his true light. And for those wondering, the Timbers won the game 2-1 and Hall did call a decent game.
Brian Hall is an ego maniac I was also at the game and in the same section as Finnegan and Timbers Roberto. I did not see what happened, but do know Finnegan and Timbers Roberto well enough to know that they are not lying. I personally think it is funny that we were able to get under his skin enough to where he'd snap and do something like what he did, and should leave it there. Ya know.......................................................... He's bald, he's ***************, his head looks like a tit, Brian Haaaaaallll, Brian Haaaaaaallll!
Well, whatever happened, it obviously didn't get him in any serious trouble because he's working center on the national televised MLS game right now (NY v. Chicago).
And shows a yellow to Thornton after a swing at Guevara, then gives the softest penalty to make up for it with 50 seconds remaining...
Good for Brian Hall. And this is a valid thread for discussion in the referee forum because...? Take it to one of the other flame-ridden forums and leave ours alone please.
PERCEPTIONS I learned from this thread that they must serve alcohol at the PGE stadium; that purported refs in the audience at that stadium feel free to verbally assault the CR, not only there, but on a referee forum; and that the ethics code is evidently only a suggestion to some. All useful info, I am sure. Thanks, gentlemen. I will now return to my National Enquirer for some fresh news of the world.
OK, so far, so good; that should have been a red ...and now you've lost touch with reality. Dude, Stoner called this one at the same time Hall did. Evan shoved the man down with two hands. That was closer to being the most blatant penalty I've ever seen than the softest. Alot closer.
Alright, first off when did I ever say I was a referee? I am a dedicated fan, who remembers good and bad referees who come into our stadium, and I (along with a whole supporters section) reminded Brian Hall what we thought of him. What code of ethics does this violate? Brian Hall responded with a rather entertaining gesture. Frankly I was shocked (not in the puritan sort of way, lord knows I have seen/heard way worse) but in the fact that such a high ranking ref would do such a thing. I just thought that the Big Soccer referee community might be interested in what the top official in the U.S. did! There were a number of us who saw this gesture. Unless you or Brian Hall can prove to the contrary, I think it is pretty well established that he did it. I just wish one of our photographers had caught the act!
I didn't see the incident in question (I was leaving the field by a different entrance at the time), but have to agree that Brian Hall is the worst referee I have ever seen take the pitch (local youth games in cluded). Here are the most notorious calls he's made that I can remember from last year: Last year vs. Seattle (this was on FSW). Seattle goalkeeper Preston Burpo ,unhappy with an assistant referee's decision as he attempted to keep a ball in play, ran a few steps toward the referee and hurled the ball at him with considerable pace (intent obviously to hit him with it, and didn't miss by much). Hall only gave him a yellow. As far as I understand, any attempt to assault a referee in that manner is an automatic red plus a suspension. The announcers were as shocked as we were at Hall only thinking it justfied a yellow Last year vs. Minnesota. Two Minnesota defenders, attempting to play a ball in the defensive end, run into each other, allowing the ball to go a nearby Timbers striker, who had given up on the play. And though there was clearly no way the Timbers striker was involved in the play at all, Hall whistles him for the foul. The Thunder took the ball upfield to score on the resulting play. Last year vs Vancouver. This is documented in a video I shot. Hall seemingly pulls a foul out of mid-air as one of our midfielders plays a ball back to Greg Howes, and whistles just as Greg takes a shot that goes in and ties a playoff game. There is nobody anywhere near making contact with each other in the video, and on top of that, the resulting play is indirect, further limiting what he could have possibly seen. According to someone with the Timbers I talked to later, they were told it was called an offside, though the assistant referee never raised the flag, and nobody was anywhere near being offside. Both official match reports listed it as offside. These three examples are just to give a little background as to why Brian Hall is given the treatment he is. We personally feel he has no place being on the pitch for a local U8 game, much less being "recognized" as being the epitome of American's referees. I will just end by quoting what someone in the Timbers organization said when we asked them about Brian Hall. Direct quote: "That SOB cost us three games last year". I can only remember two results that were affected by his decisions last year, so I must have missed one. I guess he's worse than even I thought. I only wish I had taken a picture of his gesture. Because a referee (or a player for that matter) should never be making obscene gestures to a crowd. From what I heard, what was coming from the Timbers supporters was very harsh, but nothing beyond the pale. But it's for the PGE Park people and the team officials to deal with if the Timbers Army are being crass, not for Brian Hall to take it into his own hands to deal with in the way he did. There is precedent in American sports for when players respond to heckling from the crowd in such a manner, which is usually a suspension and a fine. I think Hall should be disciplined in such a manner for his actions.
I think there are some very valid points in this thread. Many of them were made by the resident refs. To whoever started the thread: Unfortunately, nobody else has claimed to have been there. Although I don't doubt your statement, without corroboration, it sounds kind of off. I can't imagine the "premier" referee in America pulling that kind of stunt. But then again, it seems that once or twice a week, I think things that I couldn't say out loud without repercussions. To Statesman: You have a good point, but perhaps you should have reworded it. Same for Claymore. I agree, but it seems harsh. To Bill Archer: You make perfect sense. Although he's probably not the brightest bulb in the pack, he's not as dumb as the thread starter would like him to appear. Prof
Well this is going to come as a real big shocker to all you Timber whiners invading our forum -- Nobody gives a damn, and even if we did this is not the place to rant about it. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. (How's that for word choice, PZ?)
Unless anyone posts any constructive remarks I will close this thread tomorrow. I think it's outlived it's usefulness, though the point of it's lack of usefulness or enlightenment could be argued. Thanks.
I probably could have worded it differently, but the bottom line is that I have no time for a-holes like the guy who started this thread. IF Brian Hall did that, I'd be surprised, but only to the extent that I'd be surprised he let some hecklers get to him. I have a bigger problem with jerks who think it's "part of the game" or their God-given right to heckle the referee, and then whine like little be-otch when they get a rise out of him. [/rant]