Yes, actually, the ref was bad. He was horrendous, in fact. As has been mentioned elsewhere, his most aggregious mistakes involved inconsistencies in awarding cards and fouls. It's been a while since I've seen a game where the ref was that determined to make sure that he had a direct result on the outcome of the game. That said, we shoulda played better and the ref did not cost us the game all by himself. But he was definitely a part of the problem.
That's where I sat second half. Quite honestly, it was much livelier in the 200-300s than the supporters side was in the first half. (not talking about the supporters sections, just those that sat above them.) I think the ire was really piqued with Clint... He was really eyeing the stands, almost encouraging the reaction. Then, all the nonsense trying to get him into the tunnel only escalated things (from a fan perspective) as that happened right in front of everyone.
I only got to see the second half (was refereeing some games up in Balto.), but it didn't appear to me that Kennedy was having a bad game. In the final analysis, it wasn't the ref who couldn't generate a coherent offensive scheme, or who lost his man on a free kick with seconds left in overtime. BTW, Mathis is a nut.
Speaking of Mathis being a nut... Wasn't it about this time last year that we all had our calculators out doing the complex math required for entry into the playoffs and Mathis got booted from a game up in NJ for stomping on someone? Was that Convey or Williams who got stomped? Deja Vu! Which is good, becuase in the Matrix when you have a deja vu it means that something has changed. So this year we go to the playoffs!
Why so concerned about revenge in the Open Cup? Personally I couldn't care less what happens in that tournament. It's not the FA Cup after all. The biggest reason for not caring is that it doesn't give our guys time to recuperate before going into another important stretch against the teams we are trying to fend off from behind us. I'd just as soon see as many guys play in the OC game that won't play. If Petke and Dema are out of the Columbus match then sure play them on Wed. Otherwise, rest everyone for the important match. We could still miss the playoffs if not ready for those next three games.
So then the Open Cup IS important. We may not be assured a spot in the playoffs (though I doubt it), but we can assure ourselves a spot in a major final. I would say that both are of equal importance right now.
Any match where you hand out the number of yellows that Kennedy handed out in this one is a sad statement about a referree. Granted, Metros (with Guevara out and their offense slumping) went for more of a hard running, tackling, fiesty lineup--so you'd expect a more chippy match than the last one. That said, I've seen chippy matches that didn't have anywhere near this number of cards. I also agree with the comments that poor marking, conceding free kicks close to goal, failure to finish led to this loss. I also think the USOC semi counts for a lot. Not just b/c it could put us in the final of a major competition. Assume for a second you think it's all about MLS. First, this is a good opportunity to send Metro a message for the playoffs. Second, we (even with the Rimando and Olsen injuries and the other guys missing--Reyes, Barclay, etc.) have more depth than they do. Right now, Metro struggles to find a 4th defender. They have talent on the front-line but do you really want to say that your point of attack is a P-40 player? Magee is good for his age but that's a lot of responsibility to carry. Wolyniec? To put it another way, Metro could use a rest much more than DCU could. And except for Stewart, it's not as if we're putting older guys out there who need a break. Etcheverry and Stoichkov have been sitting (for various reasons).
I missed the game, and forgot to even TiVo it, though at this point I may be happy rather than sad. Poor frickin' Ben; his injury really sucks. And for all those who are unhappy with Mr Kennedy, just think if Brian Hall or Noel "Smiley" Kenny had been in charge. I guarantee it would have been worse... Broon Ale "Lesser of Two Weevils" Magpie
Jorge Geddes from West Virginia Weslyan is our backup goalie. My brother and I debated whether the team even had a jersey for him.
Re: Why Did Ray Leave For The PK? Hudson actually went over to a DC Official to make sure the TV monitor in the dressing room was on so that Bennie would be sure to see the PK and the rest of what surely seemed to be a victory in the making. I know this because we noticed during the PK that Ray was excitedly badgering this poor guy during a time when he surely should have been happy and we thought this quite strange. Then after the game, we saw the same guy and asked him why Ray was yelling at him and he told us about the TV thing. Pretty interesting, I thought. Oh, and Wheezy, that was Chino who got stomped by Mathis last year and it happened in RFK.
Re: Re: Why Did Ray Leave For The PK? This is turning into an annual event. We should designate September as Clint Mathis Gets A Stupid Red Card at RFK Month.
Re: Re: Re: Why Did Ray Leave For The PK? A wonderful idea. But the Metro fans would oppose it arguing it was only a cheap marketing ploy, was generated solely by DC United fans, that Metro fans were not given any input into this, that it was a sleazy effort to liven up something that shouldn't require any hype anyway and paled in comparision to more meaningfully designations like...National Talk Like a Pirate Day...
Speaking as a referee, I wholeheartedly disagree with this statement. Where is the players' responsibility to play within the rules? If the player committs a cautionable offense, he gets cautioned. Period. From what I saw in the second half, Kennedy could easily have thrown at least 4-5 more, one of which was when he took 45 seconds to get the DCU wall to move back late in the game. Quintanilla is damn lucky he didn't join Cletus in the locker room. At some point, after having thrown a bunch of yellow cards, all you can do is try and prevent a bloodbath, as the players obviously have something besides soccer on their minds.
Except that if this referee had an ounce of common sense or physical presence, he wouldn't have lost control of the game in the first 15 minutes. "A referee's control of the match" is a bit like pornography in that it's hard to say for sure exactly what it is, but I know it when I see it. And wee-man Kennedy lost it early on yesterday.
I agree to a point. I think there is a culture within the league where the players recognize the lack of control that officials have. A memo available on the USSF refs Web site recently addresses not letting gus getting away with a second cautionable offense just because they're afraid to give a red. The players know this stuff. To their credit, they cut out most of the physical stuff, but when Richie gets a yellow for taking down Dema, then Dema gets nothing for slapping at Richie and yelling in his face for two minutes in a vain attempt to get Richie to relatiate, the die is cast. He threw lots of cards to try and cut down on the physical stuff, but did nothing to curb the extracurriculars that led to the physical stuff. That's how he lost control. And the players know that full well.
i had the privelege of playing in the charity golf tournament today with Hristo. we started talking about last night and i was complaining about the ref and the long stoppage. and hristo said "no, shut up, the ref did nothing. we had chances to score the second goal before stoppage and that is what lost the game".
Hristo said that!?! With a straight face!?! Bartender I'll have what Hristo is having! Having said that I think the comment is right. More than anything the Metrostars intimidated DC United with their physical play.
cool man, i recently had dream where i met hristo and he was pretty cool. what do u think of him in person, what else did u talk or hear him talk about? cheers
I said it before, Hristo's a psycho, but he's OUR psycho. I don't think if I asked someone something and they told me to shut up I'd think it was too cool. But then again, I can't drill a 35 yard free kick into the net either.
well i don't think he really meant "shut up" in a negative way, he was being very nice and discussing the game in great detail with me.
I think the major problem we (fans) have is the lack of consistency a ref has in a single game. No card on Leitch for stopping Kovalenko breaking out of the back. Less than two minutes later carding Petke for grabbing Clark in midfield. 1 minute of stoppage time in the first half. 5 minutes in the second half. It doesn't add up from a fan's point of view. I know I don't see every little directive from the USSF & FIFA, but when there is a pattern of indecisiveness on the part of an official, it does nothing but frustrate a fan who may not know all the "details". Like, I know they don't want to take unnecessary risks with players health during the hot summer, but only one minute of 1st half stoppage time on July 5th was a joke, with 5 cards, a red, a penalty and one or two subs. The league should just post it as a rule that they are only going to award time in the second half and be done with it. One less thing for the fans to get angry about. Thx, Jay!
I'm pretty late joining the party. I was at the game yesterday but didn't get there til 20 minutes had elapsed due to (like someone else) reffing a game that ended at 4. If you want to be heckled by complete strangers at RFK you should show up wearing a referee uniform. It wasn't until I read the paper this morning that I even realized Olsen had started and been injured!;( I sat in 232 looking into the sun so it was kind of hard to focus on the game at times. We've definitely had bad luck with 4 pm Sunday games against the Mutts this season. This result wasn't as bad as the one featuring "young goalkeeper Eddie Gaven" 2 months ago but it still tasted like a defeat. Someone way back (sorry if it's been answered but I only read the first 2 and last 2 pages) posted that the ref blew the whistle at 99:59 to end the game. That is correct but I think it's because the RFK stadium gameclock doesn't have enough digits to go further. The clock had been stuck on 99:59 (but only for about 10 seconds) before the ref blew the whistle. He definitely should have awarded more stoppage time after carding Poison Whiskey (Lynyrd Skynyrd reference) for time wasting moments earlier.