catchin up with the ref

First off I have to say there are some huge kudos to go to the AR for his previous post and its unlimited amount of links.

I havent gone on a rant about refereeing and the state of the youth game in a while so I decided now was the best time out of any. Over the past few weeks I have had some ups and downs. Downs include boring games and some not so great partners. This brings me to my "Hope Solo" moment. I know you never criticize a teammate and that is what some might say I am about to do with fellow referees, but some of this stuff is ridiculous.

Example. I am proud that I am a Grade 7 referee. I means I have taken an interest in improving. Going through the extra hours and maintaining a just above satisfactory level in my fitness. All you need is one assessment every year. The AR has seen the assessments I have gotten and everything has come back with very positive remarks. Just two weeks ago I wanted an Upgrade to 6 assessment - means I would be a State Referee, a lot more rides with that on the badge. My game was canceled but the one after it held true to form and that center referee asked for his upgrade to 7 assessment. Lets just say he did a less than stellar job but still passed the assessment. While he didnt do anything to affect the outcome of the game, he didnt exactly handle the game all that well. I felt like it kind of demeaned the meaning of the badge and the steps I took to get there. Maybe thats how Hope felt, all that she did to get there demeaned because Bri had two previous games against Brasil?

I also had a game with 7 yellow cards and one red card. 4 were for dissent. both Gks got yellows because they rushed out at my ARs. Jens Lehmann has had a wonderful affect on our youth. My 5th red of the 2007 year was for Serious Foul Play, the kid kicked another kid in the face trying to go for the ball, which was about 5 feet up in the air. I asked him if he was seriously trying to argue with me over a red card for kicking a kid in the face. But hey, at least that game was interesting.
On to some good news. I have been "nominated to serve in the State Cup Finals delegation." Yes I used quotes because it was just that formal. It will be a three day weekend extravaganza.

October 27th - Dinner, Training, "Social Event"
October 28th - Training Session, Games, Dinner, Review of Assessments
October 29th - Games

As the AR will point out, a lot was riding with being nominated to State Cup, because I was at a point of being fed up with the politics, but we will see how this pans out.

Believe it or not I am the most excited for the assessments. I know I just wrote stuff against the assessment above, but when I can get good quality feedback I am all for it. That is why I am upset with how the USA Cup panned out for me, cause i didnt get the feedback that I really wanted when I was up there.

More to come - this upcoming Sunday I am working some adult men's league games. There will be plenty to talk about I promise

Sweet Touch

OK. So not the most riveting game ever played at the new Wembley. Or maybe it was because it was one of the first games ever played there. Whatever.

But after 116 minutes of sometimes intense and challenging play and a lot of meaningless midfield shuffling, Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard exchanged a series of one-touch, pinpoint passes that led to the only goal as Chelsea defeated ManU 1-0 in the FA Cup final. So perhaps the Ref and Meanbaldguy can each take pleasure in successful domestic campaigns this season -- Chelsea winning the domestic double and ManU the Premiership title -- and rest until the battle renews in the fall.

Meanwhile, I have to say that Sir Alex's post game comments -- the routine bashing of the ref -- are a bit disappointing. I thought Steve Bennett did a fine job. I don't think the was the most difficult game to call and, aside from getting into passing lanes a couple of times, Bennett seemed to be in the right place and he kept the match under control throughout. On one handling call he blew the whistle too fast -- a ball hit one Chelsea player's arm from a kick that began about a foot away.

Ferguson's complaint focuses on the play when Giggs* slid into Cech, pushing the keeper and the ball apparently over the line. Bennett allowed play to continue, awarding neither goal nor foul. Sir Alex contends that Essien pushed Giggs and ManU should have won a penalty, but a look at the replay doesn't support this contention. (If the link works, the Giggs play is at 2:30 and the goal at 2:47.) As for Bennett's noncall, either he didn't see the ball go over the line, as Giggs was in front of the ball and Cech was cradling it, or if he did, he decided to allow play to continue. Technically, he should have called the foul -- no way it could have been a goal as Cech stopped the ball before it crossed the line and only Giggs momentum crashing into the keeper pushed the ball over -- because once a ball crosses a boundary line the Laws require a restart. So my guess is that neither he nor the assistant ref saw the ball over the line, and play continued.

(To be fair, had Manu won the game, we'd probably have seen similar comments from Mourinho. Teams never win or lose; it's always the officials' fault.)

(*Typo corrected per Ref's comment.)

ahh good times

Its been a few days I know and dont think its because I am afraid to respond to what has been said... but ive been busy so get over it...

Ill go backwards with the most recent first - Drogba and Jose are just fine.. and if Trudo thinks he can be a better coach then why was it when we played WSM that he forgot to have backup GK on the bench, naughty naughty... A player is hurt and stays on the field.. Drogba is a presence on the pitch and Kalou's goal is something to say to that - Drogba was a part of that play... So Trudo you have much more to do before you could become a better coach than the special one.. Sure it would have been good for Drogba to come off and save himself for Porto but eh hes fine.. As a matter of Sheva, as I write this he had a cracking shot on goal within the first 2 minutes of the Porto game and has said he feels as though he is growing accustomed to England. 2nd off why are you trying to create something that isnt there? where is the discontent between jose and drogba? there isnt one so tryin to get a comeback for your Arse coach, actin like the english press.

The Referee situation... Any improvements are much welcomed and if they end up saying they want two refs on the pitch that is fine. But as everyone here has said when they watched the HS games I played in with the 3 refs with whistles it was crap because there is no tone to the game. At the fifa level hey it might work cause they can have a team work together for years but at the youth level? Goal line technology is all good but I cant ever see a replay referee situation happening. While of course it interupts with play the other thing is that play goes so fast.. How many times could a goal be ruled out in exchange for a penalty kick for the opposing team because a foul happened and then a team went on a break? In the end the problem is with the changes how can they be used through out the competitions... Its unfair for the Uefa qualifies to have extra referees while the African qualifies to not..

So as we speak Barca nil-nil Pool and Chelsea nil-nil Porto..