Spirit vs CyberRays 29 June [R]

I'm a Spirit fan and a Joy Fawcett fan, but I have to say I don't really disagree with the ref red carding her.

Watching a tape of the game, its seems apparent that Fawcett did foul Sanchez and was the last player.

The rules say this warrants a red card.

Now I know Fawcett hasn't ever received a red before and she is considered one of the game's cleanest players and is one of the Spirit's most popular playes, but she did commit the violation. Her reputation in this regard doesn't change the action or the consquence of her action. Nor should it.

After the game sure commented that she did not think she was the last defender, but on the video she clearly is.

On a side note, yes the ref handed out lots of cards, but given San Diego's reaction to Fawcett's red, he had to call it tight, in order to keep some semblance of control.

Pretinha's red was simply stupidity on her part. First the low bridge on Pickup was very dangerous and warranted a yellow--check out Pickup's knee on the play. Second, she delayed the game on a restart which most refs get frustrated with and issue a yellow. 2 Yellows=1 Red.

I also thought it was highly unprofessional of the Spirit reserve players to encourage the crowd to boo the refs. Not exactly role modelish. Even if one considers the referee in error, the reaction should be much more professional.

 

I would very much like to get a copy of the game tape if anyone is willing to make me a copy. I would, of course, pay for tape/shipping.

I still think Joy's being red carded was bogus, and yes, I've seen the photos, etc. I thought Sanchez was out of control, and Joy was trying to get her arms up before being plowed into by Sanchez.

Unfortunately, I think the red card on Joy did set the tone of the game, and not in a positive manner. With the way cards were flying in this game, I think the effect was frustrated players on both sides with the reaction being 'if I'm going to get carded for playing the game, I may as well get my foul's worth.' It almost looked like a Beat game. *grin*

As for Pretinha's two yellows...I think the first yellow could have gone either way, and it just went Pretinha's way. Again, having seen it in person, then again looking at still photos, it looked to me like Pickup went in with a high kick, jumping up and over Pretinha and Pretinha was ducking in an attempt to avoid being kicked in the head/face.

As for Pretinha's second yellow...yeah, maybe she shouldn't have stood in front of the ball in an attempt to delay a quick kick from SD, but to have the yellow come out without first giving a warning is, IMHO, a *bit* overdone. I've seen players (Foudy comes immediately to mind) do the same thing several times during the course of a game and get nothing but warnings every time. Even Foudy commented after the game that when she saw the yellow come out for delay of game her thought was 'you've got to be kidding me.'

 

If some believe that the red to Joy was legit just check out this guys record. He obviously believes his ego needs a boost whenever he is on the field. This was not even a rough or overly aggressive game and certainly did not warrent a record number of cards. The ref caused the issues not the players on the field or on the bench. I have not seen the tape but at the game it appeared to us that there were more than just Joy and Kerry in the mix. It was not yet close to a breakaway and there was help on the way. No matter what lets hope we never see this guy again.

 

By this guy, I assume you mean Arnold Baldeaux, and you know nothing of his record. I have seen Mr. Baldeaux referee at every level over the past 15 years, including the A-League which is much faster and more physical. His record/reputation is actually one of a guy who tends to swallow his whistle. And enough whining about the calls already! We won, and the calls were dead right according to the Laws of the Game. A game doesn't need to be rough or overly physical to warrant two ejections. One was a professional foul. The other, a calculated risk taken by a player with one yellow already. The referee didn't grab Keri Sanchez around the waist at the top of the box and the referee didn't stand in front of the ball when the Spirit tried to put a free kick in play. You just don't like the outcome, so you blame the guy who is paid to make hard decisions. Become a licensed referee and I think you will change your tune.

 

I agree with jscott completely. I think if the Spirit players were to review the tape of the game, they would have to concede that both Joy Fawcett's red and Pretinha's second yellow followed the rules of the game.

I think the emotions of seeing a player like Fawcett thrown out really clouded the judgement of MacMillan, Foudy, etc.

I was one of the people in the stands screaming, too, but after looking at the calls more closely with the advantage of replay, I have to offer my apologies to the ref.

Also, I think it was completely out of line for Mark Zeigler of the SD Union-Tribune to call out the ref so harshly--even telling readers where the man works. What relevance does that have?

I know Mr. Zeigler was most likely working with a deadline, but perhaps he should take a closer look at the film and/or the rule book before so publicly lambasting a ref.