Fascinating letter concerning the politcizing of Soccer rules of the game. Unfortunately, I'm sure we can recall many incidents that match his points. http://soccer-ref.quietfire.com/BobEvansPaper.html
Thanks Raoul. Of course, since I posted this here two days ago, it sort of pisses me off, but hey, free country.
Sorry, Bill. I didn't see your thread. I went back and still couldn't find it. I'm forwarding a copy of this to Garber's office with an endorsement from a fan (me). The intent clearly is in line with what's happening in the NHL and NFL. The ridiculous foul (tackle from behind) on McBride by Hernandez in game 1 (after Kante's red) and the 3 minutes of stoppage in game 2 clearly fit the pattern mentioned in the letter. Bill,I don't know how you refs restrain yourselves sometimes. If Meola made the comments to me that I saw him make at the end of the game mentioned (saw the replays) I'd have ripped his pissant head off and worried about the consequences later. One of the attractions of this game (for me) is the sportsmanship and the other is the speed and continuity of play. This letter explains the inability, or unwillingness, to enforce the persistent foul rule and reticence to card the grabbing and professional fouling on breakaways etc. The scary example of rules gone amok and ruining the game is the NBA. WTF does the NBA have to do with basketball and why can't they play by the same rules as everyone else in this country or utilize the International rules. And they wonder why their fan base decreases! The NHL enforcement of obstruction and changing the faceoff rules to immediate will dramatically increase the speed of the game and add more team value to the skill players vs. bulk. MLS needs to heed their lesson IMO.
I, too, sent an email to Don Garber concerning this issue. What will be interesting to see is how MLSHQ handles this. I can't see how the league would or could ignore this.