for simulation leading to Ruiz's red card. The red card still stands. I consider it a fair trade. Without the simulation, I seriously doubt Ruiz would've seen the deserved red, for which he will still sit out this weekend's game. Should we pitch in to pay the fine? JPNutter excepted, of course.
I'll throw in one for the league.... of course it's my middle one... Attention MLS: So now I guess Ruiz should owe the league like $240,000 for all the "simulations" he's done of fouls in the penalty box. Anyone remember Garcia's handcheck on him in game #1 of the playoffs that led to a miraculous swan dive resulting in the PK that swung the game in LA's favor? I believe some of Ruiz's other simulations have led to a few other defenders getting cards in the past but probably no fine to him. It's funny how some one had to exagerate something so much to get the ref/league to look at someone else's dirty play. I'm not saying what Garcia did was right by any means but if they're going to hand down what is considered a big fine in this league for that then that's a crock. Didn't Stoichkov get fined 1k for breaking a teenagers leg? Of course no suspension on Nick but that's pretty steep as far as MLS fines go. Nick didn't endanger anyone like the standard $250 fine they slap on red card offenders. Unsportmenlike? Yes. Fair fine? I'd say a bit much. It had no impact on the game and Ruiz did deserve his card for his intent to hurt someone. Who was more unsportsman like as a result of both actions? The guy who hit the ground, or the guy who tried his hardest to get him to hit the ground in pain, on his ACL, and away from the ball.
Need to try a little better with your .gif smack PZ. I would expect greater attention to detail from a moderator. Wait, you route for LA... never mind.
What a load of shite...I sure hope they didn't spend this whole week coming up with that bogus punishment. Myabe Im just mad, but I say good job Nicky. At least you got a ref to notice what a dirty player Ruiz is. If he had to dive a bit to do so, I don't care because Ruiz has certainly done his fair shair of diveing.
Something of interest. If you read the MLS release, it appears that they haven't the foggiest clue about the laws of the game. They are going to punish acts of "clear and substantial simulation that lead or significantly contribute to another player’s immediate expulsion from the game in question." If the LOTG are applied correctly, Garcia's simulation did NEITHER of these. Ruiz committed one of the immediate sending-off offenses. The dive may have brought the attention of Kevin Terry, but the AR on the near side saw the event, and at the stoppage made the suggestion to Terry. This is another of the league office's "hard and fast" rules, like the salary cap and discovery player rules. The fine is pure shite, and what little respect I had for the league office evaporated as a result of this. A very interesting project comes to mind: take a look at the footage from every game, and take note of every dive. Let's see who has the highest retroactive total...
I see Nutter hasn't responded yet but I have to imagine after the criticism he received for calling Garcia to the carpet for faking the injury (not just diving) that he must have some sense of satisfaction. That said, Ruiz is the biggest hack since Diego Serna or Trevor Hockey (that'll take you back) and deserves a red card just about every other game. The fine to Garcia is outrageous. $1000 for simulation. Christ, what would he have gotten for something really serious--like say breaking a leg or two. A $250 fine would have been a nice precedent (this is MLS afterall). The fine was deserved but if Ruiz were to be fined every time he dove or "simulated", MLS would be in the profit margin by now.
This is purely f-ing outrageous. Basically I see this as payment for Terry's mistake. If he'd seen that Nick wasnt hit (or the AR) then he would have yellow carded Nick and he wouldnt have been fined, since he was already punished. Second, $1,000???????? Give me a break! How much did H.Stoichkov or Kovelenko get fined for breaking legs? If you're gonna start fining players there better be a set standard. The league set this fine high, because what if a rookie does this? MLS is saying they would take away half a months pay from a rookie if he "simulates". Oh wait, MLS doesnt stand by its precedents. They create different rules for different players. What a load of crap.
I agree with your reading of the release...but he still "simulated" and was fined for it. The fine is too much, but that he was fined is not unjust. I am glad he dove and I think it was a good time to do it. But as soon as I saw it I was convinced that he'd be fined. That doesn't mean that I don't think it wasn't the right thing to do. Just like every time KZ hits the ground. He does so in a way that calls attention to a foul that the ref might not otherwise call. Same situation, brighter spotlight. Let's not pretend that there aren't multiple standards based on who is involved in a given incident. It would not be any different in any other sport or league. The high-profile incidents will be treated with more fanfare, and in this case, Ruiz got what he deserved (a red card) and unfortunately Garcia had to sacrifice to make it happen. You are right however, that if Terry would done a better job of calling the game, or at least the contest between Ruiz and Garcia, then this would never have come to a head. However, I think it's worth $1000 (of course, I'm not paying!) to call attention to the fact that Ruiz is a dirty hack.
break the bastard's leg nicky! My message to nicky, if you get fined $1000 for a simulation, then next time just break the dead beat non-childsupport paying, greg luganis(sp?) wanna bee's leg. That should teach him and the league a fscking lesson.
MLS is acting like NHL referees who, on the same incident, will give a penalty for bringing down a player, and a penalty for diving. If Ruiz hit him, how is Garcia simulating that Ruiz hit him? If Garcia truly did simulate, then how does Ruiz get penalized for hitting him. Its one or the other. MLS shouldn't be so chicken$hit and instead take a stand for once.
Actually not. In the Laws of the Game it clearly states that a foul or attempt to foul is an offense. Therefore if Ruiz swings at Garcia, regardless of contact, he should get a red. Garcia, if contacted at all has every right to go down, hurt or not. But it seems MLS thinks there was absolutely no contact, therefore no reason for Garcia to go down other than to imbelish the foul and have Ruiz sent off. Its sad really, because Garcia could have just turned around and pointed it out and Kevin Terry or the AR should have seen it and red carded Ruiz on the spot. But knowing that jackhole of a ref, he would have just warned Ruiz and let him get away with it.
Heres what Im confused about- if he SIMULATED the foul then the league is saying that nothing happened and because of that, Nick is in trouble. If nothing happened and thats why Nick is in trouble, couldn't they call back Ruiz's red card? Its the same thing- Nick is in trouble for getting Ruiz a red so hes fined, so why wouldn't they "make it right" by also taking back the red card so Ruiz can play?
LSN, look back at my post. Either the league office is overtly playing favorites, which is shite, or they don't have a clue about the LOTG, which is WORSE shite. I'm not sure about the legal issues here, but it seems that Nick would have a fair constitutional challenge against the fine.
I know. I was just saying that it must be one or the other. If Ruiz is guilty, then Garcia didn't simulate.
I just watched the whole situation again on MLSnet.com... Maybe MLS had different angles of the play to show that Garcia didn't get hit by Ruiz, but from the view they posted you cant tell if there is any contact or not to Garcia's knee. Theres no doubting he embelished his pain, but players do that all the time, no matter what the situation. I have to say though, just as much as Garcia may have went down from not being hit, I'm not convinced Garcia stepped on Ruiz's hand. The arguement can be made that his hand had to get stepped on because of his body language and quick reaction. But, if you take that line of thought, you must then agree that Garcia got struck too because his reaction was instant as well. Because Garcia went down just as quickly and easily as Ruiz reaction to his hand being hurt. After all of this is over, Ruiz takes forever to leave the field. MLS has a precedent already in place for fining this. Did they fine Ruiz for this? NOPE, sure didn't. So why, if they look at this tape, and even post it on their website, would they not react to what both Garcia and Ruiz did? Ok, fine Garcia, but then you must additionally fine Ruiz for not leaving the field after being sent off. Hell, Rob Stone even give the league a hint by pointing out that not leaving in a timely fashion has a precedent for a fine. I'm with John on this one, seems MLS is playing favorites. Or at least overlooking one aspect of this video because Ruiz already recieved a fine for the red.
When I did a frame by frame review (via Tivo) of the angle they showed on MLS Wrap, it looked rather clear cut (> 80% probability) that no contact was made. In my mind, fabricating an injury is a much worse offense then embellishing one. While the amount of the fine is certainly open to discussion, the outcome (Garcia fined, Ruiz red card stands) seems fair.
I'm still not sure I agree. On MLSnet.com you cant see Garcia's head to tell if he was looking down. If Garcia wasnt looking down, his reaction was very quick so there had to be some contact for him to react and fall so quickly. It wasnt as if there was a delay and then he "decided" to go down. But if he was looking down and didnt get hit, he did a fine job of acting. Although, he didnt really "act" all that long. He was down for a couple seconds, hopped up, got a drink, made some painful faces and walked around. Not like he rolled around for two or three minutes like I've seen Ruiz do at least 5 times. But, I think you're missing my point. Yes, I agree and have agreed that Garcia should have been fined, unless in fact there was contact. Why is it then that Ruiz didnt get fined for not leaving the field immediately? He even went toward Garcia again. It seems that since MLS knows the red carries a fine with it, they didnt want to fine Ruiz more. So they fine Garcia for embelishing/simulating the same amount they fine Ruiz for taking a swing. Either way, they should have fined both or neither. But, since when has MLS been fair in its punishment of players?
Given the ESPN footage, and my 19ohm head, 29.98 Frames per Sec. slo-mo vcr (i.e., high end) I'm 99.9% certain there was no contact.
Let's start keeping a running tab for how much Ruiz "should" owe the league this season for his acts of "simulation". -I'm betting we easily surpass $20,000.