http://www.12thminute.com/?p=97 What about taking their idea and running with it throughout the league?
Ummmm... They may have a beef about that second penalty last night but their skill players excel at diving so that PK could be called karma. How many times did we see Ljungberg fall to the ground for no apparent reason in the final minutes?
We encourage everyone who has a problem with the officiating in the league to also don black t-shirts so "The Don" knows something has to change. This isn't a Seattle issue. It's also a New England issue (you guys have had more than your fair share of bad calls IMHO). In fact it is a league wide issue. So yes, please join us the week of September 9.
I agree that MLS officiating is sub-par and the league needs to address the issue with more training and possibly bringing in experienced foreign referees or sending MLS referees abroad for awhile on some sort of mentor program. I still believe to avoid any issues teams just need to score more goals and win outright. Take the referees out of the equation all together. Overall the players have more control of the outcome of a game than the referees IMO.
Amen, bolding mine. Our guys usually don't dive for penalties so you're probably better off stopping by the DC forum to garner some support. Good luck with the officiating protest, hope it works out for ya. That site's got possibly the most poorly designed header of all time.
I'm just saying, a leaguewide protest of MLS garbage officiating could be beneficial. We've been pretty well treated so far this year, but how many times have we gotten the shaft from officials?
What will staging a protest nearly five months from now - and six months into an eight-month-long season - do to improve the current "problem with the officiating in the league"? Are you content to right-off officiating shortcomings for most of 2010? At the very least, the timing of your event is off.
MLS acknowledge an unavoidable contempt and unrest at referees from supporters. I've been saying for years MLS/USSF needs to invest in some better officiating. I thought they were making efforts to last year, but that quickly proved to not be the case.
Maybe the league will implement a Designated Referee (DR) rule, where they will be allowed to go above the referee salary cap and bring back some world class refs that are out of contract after the World Cup.
LMAO!! Bleeding heart fans always seem to forget the calls that go in their favor!!! un-real...!!! Refs are HUMAN...period! They have off days just like everyone else..and YES it's probably very true..They'd much rather err on the side of the home team. Makes for an easy time at the bar, after the game!!
It's been fun having this discussion over the past 12 years and listening to similar discussion from the other top leagues from around the world. FWIW, the League is well aware of the quality of Refing issue and has tried all sorts of solutions over the past 10 years including bringing in Refs from other Leagues. While I really dislike some of the MLS Refing I've seen over the years I don't think it stems for inactivity or lack of emphysis by the League. This effort by Seattle fans demonstrates they are new to the League and are not aware of the efforts the League has made to resolve the quality of Refing issue.
Every sport in the WORLD has bad referees and referees who make bad calls. It is nothing new and will never change.
In general, I think the MLS refs let waaay too much fouling go uncalled. Watching the CONCAF final earlier this week, I really enjoyed seeing a game where players weren't constantly pushing (especially from behind) and kicking each other. I would like MLS refs to clean up the play in our league. That said, I got a little tired last night of seeing Montero 's diving (he goes down evvvery time he loses the ball) and Lunge-bergs constant falling down and complaining (stand up and play, man). Ironic then that Dallas gets a PK when their attacker goes sprawling for no discernible reason. I'm a neutral watching the game, but I have to say that if that was a foul by either Seattle defender, then no one should ever play try to play defense in the box and we can have games with lacrosse-like scores.
Here's 1: about 2:40 in. I can't say I have any interest in watching your team when the Revs aren't playing so really can't point to many others. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHKmrGGA-4s"]YouTube- New England Revolution 1 vs. 0 Seattle Sounders FC - Game Highlights - 08/20/09 [Week 23][/ame]
So you don't think they know this already? If you want to wear a black shirt with them, go ahead. I'm going to continue to wear my Revs jersey, because I show up to games to support the Revs, not protest the refs. If I want to protest the refs, I'll just post here.