I briefly mentioned it before but I think in this conversation it's worth highlighting more. The collision between Brianna Pinto and Laurel Ivory in what I believe was an ACC Tournament semi or final. I don't know if it fits in this list because the "consequence" was that of Ivory being knocked out for the rest of the season for UVA. This consequence occurs regardless of whether or not the official makes the right call in the sequence, whatever you believe the right call to be. Naturally, or, rather not naturally, UVA fans hold a grudge against Pinto to this day. Curiously I continue to see the argument be that Pinto missed the ball with her head and that's why it should have been a foul, but I continue to see a slight deflection off Pinto's head every time I watch it in the Santa Clara Championship Game, @Tally T already correctly pointed out that the "consequence" of the non-call is mitigated by the timing of it. I think when you look at what UNC fans mean by "the most consequential call of all time", we're referring to the fact that it occurred with 16 seconds to go. Similarly in the regular season match-up the AR made another consequential non-call that lead directly to the game winning goal with not a lot of time to go. I don't think that is as consequential as the 16 seconds but higher than the no call in the Santa Clara game. as for the PK call itself, I'm chuckling at Unkel who made a clear motion with her leg when she waived the call away, a little mule kick where she's suggesting the defender didn't actually catch Robbins with the challenge but Robbins reacted with her leg like she had. It kind of fits with how Robbins leg and foot remain suspended in a weird way after the supposed contact, as if she's leaving it hanging there for as long as possible to invite more contact. Unkel is also close enough and pressing against the play (unlike Martinez, the official in 2022 Championship game) where she probably would have heard if there was any contact. You could see her make a little adjustment to her positioning right before. The official in the Pinto Ivory collision also was standing too far away and seem unconcerned about getting into a better position to watch for fouls. Not about to say I miss Unkel, but, ... Cynicism plays a role in if officials make PK decisions, and she probably decided that even if there was contact, Robbins played into it too much looking for a foul. I also note how Robbins doesn't seem to react at all and just gets up and keeps playing.
Tom81 should write the rules of etiquette for these boards. It's certainly not required to agree with the fans of the team, but it would be nice to at least give fans some space to talk something over without ridiculing them for doing so. I can live with "Mistakes get made. It was a foul and it got missed in a bang bang play with very high stakes". People saying it is not a foul and/ or that it is not ok to discuss this on a page about this team seem unkind. I'd say if UNC fans were going onto the UCLA page or some more general NCAA college cup pager and complaining , that would be over the line. But, chatting about it here? Please give us some leeway. I don't know babs personally, but after observing him here and on twitter over many years, I can say that you won't find a more dedicated fan and that he is a very reasonable person. Remember that fan is short for fanatic. I don't think anyone claims that there is any real life consequence or importance to any of this We are talking about a sport. Sure, we get impassioned. Just give folks a break, please. I , for one, and I am guessing babs also, is not yelling at my coworkers or neighbors or road raging or some crap like that about ANYTHING. Sports is an outlet. A healthy one. If this was a bar or a coffee shop and some UNC fans were talking about the game and you came over and told us to stop talking about it, well , I think it is pretty evident you'd look like a major jerk. So, just give us some space, ok? If the call had been made, I think UCLA would have complained, but honestly I doubt they would have complained that much. If the call WAS made and we were looking at replays from THAT perspective, I very much doubt many people would try to make serious arguments that it was not a foul. I think that the thing that makes this call particularly awful is that it absolutely determined the outcome of a national championship. Call is made- game over- UNC NCAA Champs. No extrapolation needed.
This behavior demonstrates symptoms of an obsessive fixation disorder. But please don’t take it personally.
Something not discussed so far but that was referred to on the Referee forum is that the ref did not stop play before the corner and give the players any instructions or warnings. She could have stopped the clock and done that. Of course, depending on what would have happened with the corner kick in that situation, either team could be upset afterwards with the stoppage -- either that it gave UCLA more time to figure out what they wanted to do (if they scored) or that it gave UNC more time to get organized (if UCLA did not score). It just is interesting to think about, but not having a stoppage certainly contributed to the helter skelter at the end. There is some interesting discussion about the non-call on the Referee forum, starting here and continuing on to the next page, interspersed with some other stuff. I find that forum worth going to now and then in cases like this, to see what disinterested refs think (as distinguished from what fan advocates who occasionally go there sometimes post).
indeed it does appear bizarre that some fans are determined to decide for others how long they are allowed to discuss certain topics. It's only been three weeks. They're complaining about the Ivory Pinto collision THREE YEARS after the fact on the UVA thread. Where are the "move on" folks there? I also wonder just how much we would have been actually talking about this if it wasn't for the "move on" people. Tell me not to think about Elephants and all the neat psychology stuff. A few days of posts and we'd have all moved on, but noooooooo someone had to start the "get over it" days after the game and here we are, three weeks later, in this circle. Finally, one can be "over it" and still be able to discuss. They're not mutually exclusive. I don't really feel a sense of rage or frustration at the call and have made it clear I don't expect anything to change beyond maybe a rule change. I'm looking forward to sitting down and watching the game again in a few days to tie a nice bow around the season about things mostly unrelated to this call. Nobody is making you people read the UNC 2022 thread, if you want to read about UNC's prospects and their team going forward, the UNC 2023 thread is there and waiting for you. I've always been meaning to look and see if there was a dedicated officiating thread. You've saved me a search.
I think we need to talk about the 1998 championship game Florida won because the referee allowed them to push, shove, and otherwise maul the more talented Tar Heels. Can’t believe that discussion was dropped so quickly.
I posted the view from behind the goal in the thread you’re referring to in the referee forum. As is the case here, even refs can’t come to a consensus on the correct call.
I got to re-watch both the 9/4 match and the final. And like Coach Dorrance said, ‘They won both so hats off to them.’ Looking at every minute, I can say that UCLA was the better team.
Me too. While I don't lose any sleep over it, every time it does come up I remember near the end of the first half becoming more and more appalled at the referee. After about 15 fouls by Florida it was clear what their game plan was and the ref was failing to apply the "persistent infringement" rule (section 5.b. in the NCAA rules at that time). By the end of the game Florida had 31 fouls and nary a yellow card. The only score in the game was a early free kick by Florida into the far upper 90. From that point on Florida played defense in their own half which was based on fouling. UNC was indeed thrown off their game when every time UNC had the ball in the offensive half (or crossing the center line) they were fouled...nothing particularly vicious, but a trip or hard bump calibrated to stop the play. 31 vs 4 fouls, and shots 21-6 for UNC, many late in the game once the bus had been firmly parked. Anson, as usual, was highly complementary of Florida for their 26-1 season (the loss was earlier in the season to UNC) and their championship win. We fans did not feel as generous -especially towards the referees. And to their credit, the Florida write-up stated "The Gators used a punishing defense... and hard marking in the midfield..." and I learned what "hard" marking was.
I recall they had to carry Danielle Borgman off the field on a board in a neck brace. Luckily she was not badly injured.
Funny thing, I was at that game. Not surprisingly, I attribute the Florida win to the epic four-overtime game between UNC and Portland in the semi-finals.
Back then, with the game 0-0 at the end of regulation, they first played two fifteen minute overtimes, no golden goal. Then, with the score still 0-0, they played two five minute overtimes, golden goal. UNC scored with a minute to go in the second of those overtimes to win the game. If it had ended 0-0, they would have gone to PKs. I played in a game once that ended after 130 minutes (as a tie). It was brutal but fun.