It's a matter of perspective ...

For those of us who have followed, and follow the adventures of the star ship Enterprise, the image to the left may be familiar. It is from the second season, and is episode #33, broadcast on October 6, 1967, Mirror - Mirror. A full briefing can be found here.

This episode goes into an alternate universe Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Uhura and their mis-adventures on the ISS Enterprise (as opposed to the USS Enterprise).

I can see the eyes rolling now, both from my wife and a certain FIFA AR that has been checking this blog out recently and understands my love of Trek lore, and asking ...

What's the point?

Things can look polarized at times, really one way, and not the other. But, if you stop and change your perspective, it can open up a world of possibilities.

Here is a little bit of a disclaimer, and a little bit of a glimpse into a behind the scene look into what is going on here at Kicking-Back. Both can be handled in one bite.

From a disclaimer standpoint, I want to be clear that I am not intending to give out any sort of referee advice that is sanctioned by US Soccer or the National Office. (Your crazy if you listen to me anyway) A far better forum for technical questions is here. This is a tremendous site that is moderated by who I would consider is one of the great minds of the game in the US, Jim Allen. He has quite a staff behind him too as noted in the about page. This team of folks have helped shape the referee program at the National level for some time, and is an excellent resource for questions about the laws and their application.

This blog is not intended to be instructional in nature in any official capacity. I do wear that hat when I am asked to referee a match or provide an opinion and advice to other referees and soon-to-be referees from an assessment standpoint, and maybe (likely) an instructional one.

This fora was originally conceived (over 50 posts ago!) and continues to be a free exchange of ideas that relate to refereeing in the context of the game, and the greater game of life. While it will contain specific advice and reference about the LOTG, it will in every aspect attempt to be technically correct and consistent with the advice given to us as referees ... and more.

I do hope however it provides more than text of the laws, or interpretations that are well understood. It is my intent to make people think about how small things, seemingly meaningless details at times, can make a big, big difference in the game, and life outside of the lines. There are others when it will be a repost of some event that may be relevant to what we are discussing at that time, or just something out of the blue that seemed fun. In all cases however, it is intended to be worth the read.

In short, I'm trying to get everyone to think a little off the beaten path. Sometimes it is just in the form of a reminder, sometimes it is just the ramblings of someone who has been there ... as so many of us have. We are after all, one community with many common experiences.

In all cases take the posts with the grain of salt they are intended to have standard with them. As a great assessor once told me, "Take what you like and use it. Just throw away the rest".

Simon Says ...

... get something back.


So what do I mean by that?


I mean if you give a caution to a player, you better get something back for it.


Simon did ... lets see how.


Take a look at the official match report, you can get it here. There are a couple of things that stand out. First, there were what I would call an "average" number of fouls for the matches played so far. We will see in the month ahead if that stays true to form. Second, we saw with (6) cautions what is an "above average" number of cautions thus far ... in fact this now places FRA, ENG, and USA in a tie for 1st for cautions. Were so many needed? Lets review what they were. 


In the 26', MILNER was booked for Persistent Infringement. Did anyone catch the referee holding up two fingers when he was booked? He was letting everyone know this was his second foul, and as it turned out, his last of the match.


By the way, did anyone catch who he fouled? It was CHERUNDOLO. Hang on a sec, that's important.


In the 39', CHERUNDOLO was cautioned. Sound familiar? He committed that one foul and that was it.


So, Simon says stop with a caution to (2) players, and neither commits another foul in the match. I would say he got something for those.


In the 47', DEMERIT knocked down a ball with his hand and got exactly what he deserved, a caution. That as cautions go, was an easy one. But note, if Simon does not give that one, his World Cup experience I predict would have ended early.


In the 60', CARRAGHER landed a nasty over the ball tackle on FINDLEY. While the caution was warranted, I was wondering if Simon was thinking red given the challenge. Remember who was fouled here too.


In the 61', GERRARD goes over the ball onto the knee of DEMPSEY (the goal scorer).


By the way, after these cautions, neither player committed another foul the entire match (keep in mind they still had 30' to go plus stoppage time). Not bad ... certainly got something there.


Even Harkesy when calling the match on ABC was saying after the GERRARD foul, that it changes the mindset of the defender after a caution ... the part he did not say was if the caution was the right decision, and was delivered with effect.


Finally, in the 74', FINDLEY (the recipient in the 60') finds GERRARD with a tough tackle, and yes, that too was his last foul called of the match, but I am sure wanted it to count on a guy that just really tackled one of his own.

So in looking over the cautions that Simon gave, he got something back for each and every one of them. He either got (a) that player to stop, (b) set an example for OTHER players to stop, (c) did not allow retaliation to go unpunished so there would not be more, and (d) protected the integrity of the game from silly stuff.

So, the next time you are ready to raise a caution in the air for all to see, stop and think ...

What are you going to get out of it that will help your game that day?

If the answer is nothing, don't even take it out of your pocket, it would be meaningless.

History Repeating Itself?

So on my way to work this morning bombing down I-95 in Providence, I saw this sign. The little one on the left (sorry about the rainy shot).

Now I am a fan of sport (in general) and can understand the inclusion of 1950 and obviously 2010 on the banner ... but 1776?

Is Saturday a prelude to war?

One person that may be thinking so is Carlos Simon, the referee. One way he might handle it is through the use of misconducts. Look at the following AP article for some thought on what we may see ...

Card shark: Ref for England-US loves yellow
Source: AP

We may need this ...

In poking around the FIFA site I ran across the "Official Documents" Section. It can be found here.

All the documents looked interesting, two of which caught my eye right away and figured I would share.


First, is the 2010 FIFA World Cup Fan Guide (download here).

The second is the FIFA Disciplinary Code (download here).

I have to believe we will get good use out of both in the month ahead.

US Soccer Referee Directive: Dissent (Viewer Warning - Explicit Language)

Hey Rooney, F*%@ you too! This may have been the thought of the referee the other night when England played a friendly against Platinum Stars and was mercilessly berated for his efforts.

Recently guardian.co.uk reported on an incident of a foul mouthed Wayne Rooney during a "friendly" in South Africa that have lead some to paint him as a target to get sent off by inciting him to eruptive dissent. From the cited story, "The USA, England's first opponents on Saturday, have already suggested they might play on Rooney's perceived fragile temperament with this an indication that the player can be on edge. "Rooney insulted me," said Selogilwe. "He said: 'Fuck you.' He is a good player when you see him on the television, but when you see him on the pitch he just keeps on insulting the referee."

So lets get local about this ... what do you do when you are faced with dissent?

Remember we were talking about all these neat memorandum and position papers being online for the world to see at US Soccer. Well, here (.pdf download) is the one for dissent. It is a good read in spots, in particular it goes into the three reasons why dissent must be managed. From the memo:

• Erodes the authority of the referee;
• Reduces the enjoyment of other participants and spectators; and
• Can spread if left unchecked.

Further it goes into what three elements can be considered when determining an action for dissent. Again from the memo:

• Public

• Personal

• Provocative

Now, while the LOTG require a caution when dissent occurs, there is a subjective element when one referee feels that threshold has been breached. It can change under the circumstances, even in the same match.

Lets take some examples to illustrate these points.

In a Saturday match somewhere in Podunk USA, a player misses a shot in a one goal game and immediately after shouts "Oh (insert favorite one or two word explicative here)".

Dissent? Lets think ...

Does it erode authority of the referee or match control? Probably not.

Does it affect the enjoyment of the match for all? Probably not.

Can it spread? Probably not.

Was it public? You bet - everyone heard it.

Was it personal? No.

Was it provocative such that others will be incited by the matter? Doubt it.

Is it dissent and therefore deserves a caution? I don't think so. Just some frustration. I would probably respond by publicly jogging over and having a quiet word, maybe not even about the explicative, just to show some presence and acknowledge publicly that I will deal with it.

How about this one. In a Saturday match somewhere in Podunk USA, a foul occurs and immediately after shouts "Oh ref, that (insert favorite one or two word explicative here)".

Ask yourself the same questions as above, what did you get?

How about now. In a Saturday match somewhere in Podunk USA, a foul occurs and immediately after shouts "Oh ref, YOU (insert favorite one or two word explicative here)".

How about this. In a Saturday match somewhere in Podunk USA, a foul occurs and immediately after shouts "Oh ref, YOU (insert one minute trade without and foul language here)".

Same answer? I don't think so. I may be able to excuse the first as frustration, but the second is getting personal, and if done openly, loudly, and publicly, for me likely gets a caution. The third gets a caution. If a player can not calm himself down after a short period of time, he needs help to do so.

Last one. In a Saturday match somewhere in Podunk USA, a foul occurs and immediately after shouts "Oh ref, YOU'RE MOM (or other relative) (insert favorite one or two word explicative here)".

Here, they are done, send them home for foul and abusive language. Something so personal regardless of loud, soft, public, or not must be dealt with. To not do so invites big trouble. Get rid of that player or coach, the game does not need them, and neither do you.

There are lots of ways to dealt with these issues before they even become issues, and the position paper lists these well and we will deal with these later as well. Here is one now. Do some homework. Case in point:

Look at what the USA is planning, to make Rooney pop. Get him under a caution and you neutralize him for part of the match. Send him off and get a huge advantage.

Do you think Mr. Simon is thinking about this leading up to his match on Saturday?

Bet on it.

We'll watch together how he deals with it.

... And since we were talking about preperation.

Big kudos to US Soccer for making all of its information available on line for all to see. Of particular note for me tonight has been the Referee Directives from US Soccer.

These (10) areas while certainly not unique to the plight of referees, make up the fabric of what both referees and assessors need to be familiar with.

Each can be downloaded from the above link ... and should for those truly interested in getting on the curve (not even ahead of it) with regard to their refereeing and assessing. While we will step into each in the days ahead, they are a must read now.