More signs that MLS refs don't know what they're doing. When the announcement went over the PA for 4 minutes of stoppage time, my friends and I were all shocked.
Some talk in the refs forum that they added on for time-wasting by Pickens (and others). Personally, if you've doubled stoppage time because of time-wasting, somebody should have been carded.
As stoppage time approached I said to Kate, there should be 2 minutes but there will probably be 4 or maybe even 5. MLS refs need to learn the game is played and the results should be based on the 22 players on the field, not them.
Maybe I should visit that forum. I all ready documented how much time Busch wasted without nary a blink from the ref, but Pickens was babysat during each goal kick.
That was pretty much my point, the referee has a duty to account for that time BUT if it accrues to two full minutes (above the two for the 4 subs) then it should have been sanctioned in the match -- if there were 12 occasions where an extra 10 seconds were taken (an eternity in a flowing soccer match) then he was not doing his job very well. Inappropriately adding it on the end is too much like a so-called 'make up call' which doesn't make up anything but rather doubles the mistake (if there was one).
It might just be a reluctance to saddle the winning side with a card while the giving the losing side its fair time. I'm not sure I care that much, but 4 minutes for last night's game - LA v Dallas - seemed just as un-called for. It was a different ref with similar results suggesting that it might just be erring on the side of no cards.
For me it's a matter of consistency. If it's okay to take ~30 seconds for a goal kick before a goal is scored, it should be okay after. If you're going to add extra time, do it both halves.
Refs feel the pressure of the game just like the players. I think that's why there are always issues towards the end of matches. And I think there is a big difference. As a referee, you can tell when someone is purposefully wasting time and someone is just moving slower. And there's motive. Nor should we expect injury time to be applied consistently from referee to referee or game to game. There are guidelines, including injuries and substitutions that are suggested, but none of them are binding or required. Same for time wasting, it's a very subjective rule, which means each ref is going to apply it differently and they are going to manage it differently when it comes to player discipline. As long as the referee is communicative to the bench and the players, and they understand the standard, then he's done his job. We didn't see any yellows for time wasting in the Rapids game, even though 4 minutes seemed generous. I'd love to see a study that demonstrates the standard deviation in injury time between games being decided by 1 goal and games being decided by more than one goal, taking into account number of subs and injuries. I always feel like the closer games get that little bit extra, warranted or not.
You can't compare the two second halves because theirs had two goals and the resulting celebrations and time to re-set for the center restart kick -- ours didn't have that, also the number of subs may have been similar but I think they had more and for one of them near the end it required time for all of the workmen and that forklift to move large cone out on to the pitch. ;>)
Did you read my earlier post? Within about a minute of the goal, he hounded Pickens 10 seconds after the ball went over the end line at which point Pickens had put the ball on the line to kick it. That was after doing nothing when Busch was taking 30-35 seconds. I've pointed this out in other games. The ref's change their thinking, from "I don't care about how long a GK takes". "Oh wait, now I do."
There is no advantage for the losing side to waste time - in fact, any time wasting benefits the winning side. My observation has been that usually time wasting is called when the team that is ahead is doing it in order to maintain an advantage.
So I'm sitting at my desk a few minutes ago and I look down at my feet to see a piece of blue confetti from the game. I have no idea how it got here unless it was stuck in my jacket somehow on Saturday night.
BTW, whoever had the idea to add a Woodchuck keg to the tailgate deserves some kudos. We should do that again.