I'm with Wiggo

So while this post is in reference to the doping controversy currently swirling around the cycling world, the message is universal.

To have credibility to comment on a matter, once needs to walk a mile in their shoes.

Wiggo made this point transparently clear in his rant the other day when asked about doping. Parental warning regarding foul language, or if you are a Wiggo follower, normal language for him.

Consider the move by US Soccer to qualify only ex-professional referees to their higher level assessing and instructing ranks. This to me is a particular clever maneuver and one that keeps the ship going  in the right direction as these folks should have the most to share for those who need it the most.

Now, you may be asking, I just received an assessment in my youth match from someone who has not refereed much, recently, or maybe even at all. Should I take that advice?

My answer is a conditional yes. In "Confirmation Bias" or "China Syndrome"? we explored this a little bit and I came to the conclusion that all feedback is good feedback. However, you need to file it accordingly.

That said, those who have "been there" I believe hold a particularly keen ability to get the right message, in the right way to those who are listening.

This is true I think with Wiggo as well. Part of his point was related directly to the media who write, not do. While a necessary part of making a sport more attractive on the worlds stage, I hold their opinions (not reporting on the facts) in fairly low regard as so few have ever been where they are reporting on.

Those that have, I listen to more than nearly all others.

A Real Gentelman's Game

For any who were following the drama in Stage 14 of the TdF we were treated to a spectrum of events that ranged from grotesque to divine.

For those unaware, several carpet tacks were spread on the road at the summit of the last climb, the Mur de Péguère. This caused absolute mayhem that included a reported (48) punctures for riders, several team cars, and many referees with over $10,000 of damage reported due to these punctures. Also, Robert Kiserlovski (Astana), tumbled to the tarmac, likely as a result of a puncture from a tack, was forced to abandon with a suspected fractured collarbone.

Reason for this assault is unknown, but when it was unfolding live, Madame X suggested it a Basque separatist statement. Hat tip to her as the Washington Post agrees with her theory here. While I laughed it off at the time, I am eating crow today.

In the carnage was last years Tour de France winner, Cadel Evans who punctured (3) times on his way down the final decent. I was sick to my stomach watching time slip away from him as no team car was present, no neutral support vehicle, and no teammate with the same size wheel, or bike to offer him to allow him to defend his title.

Wiggins the current race leader was made aware of the situation, and in the ultimate gesture of sportsmanship, neutralized the stage, and waited for Evans and the remainder of the teams who were effected by the sabotage. One notable exception was a single escapee, Pierre Rolland, who was eventually reeled in and will be punished by the peleton for the remainder of Le Tour.

Funny thing was when Wiggo was asked about it the next day, he was clear that he did not want to capitalize on another's misfortune, and he noted that such hooligans belonged at a football (soccer) match.

I found that interesting.

For something that I had often considered the ultimate "Gentleman's Game", I was shown that maybe, just maybe, we can learn a thing or two from another sport.

Hat tip to Mr. Wiggins.

I AM SPARTACUS!!

Photo courtesy of @RSNT

As most of you know I am a great follower of cycling, and specifically of Team Radio Shack.

This last week fans like me who have been suffering through injury, illness, and controversy of the teams early season have been treated with delight to the last week of the Tour de France and RSNT's stellar performance, save Frank Schleck getting caught in a crash on Stage 6 and losing a significant amount of time.

That said, Fabian Cancellara (Spartacus) has worn yellow for the week, and Andreas Kloden (Klodi) is sitting pretty in the GC at only +00:19 seconds back.

Not bad indeed.

So what does this have to do with the price of baguettes in France?

Well, as I continue to prepare for the Memory Ride in a week or so, I sometimes ... okay often ... go out an pretend like I am riding for RSNT on The Tour ... full RSNT kit and all.

While I generally don't pretend to be Spartacus (I'm a Popo fan), it is a nice distraction from grinding out hundreds of miles in an effort to try and get better on the bike.

I used to do the same thing as a younger, and honestly amateur level referee where I would follow the career of some other, more seasoned referees, in an effort to at times emulate what they do, as it was to me,  growing to be a pro.

Now in the RSNT case it is clearly being a fan(atic) as I have no where near the skill of these guys, and never will in my lifetime. The refereeing on the other hand was another matter.

I used to revel in watching Bratsis, Kleinaitis, Evans, and Mauro, and whenever possible pick up tips, tricks, and knowledge from these men from afar, and through good fortune, personally, over time.

Today is an age too that one can follow a referee from afar using tools like Facebook, Twitter, and blogs and I am here to assure you there is no harm in emulating the good behavior of the modern day giants like de Bleeckere, Webb, Stark, and Kassai. In fact it can be quite fun.

Also too as our world gets smaller and smaller, to reach out to these folks and say hello, or even strike up an appropriate dialogue is quite excellent as well.

You may be amazingly suprised just how open folks are to share what they love, when asked.

Oh yes dear friends ... it is time

Courtesy of leTour.fr

Your clothes speak louder than you do

So as I wrote about this last weekend, I was out riding as a domestique for Team Schneider Electric for the 2012 MS150 in Rhode Island.

Great weekend for cycling and aside from a minor calf strain and damage to my "secondary hull", all came away unscathed and in good spirits.

One thing that kept happening over the ride was that people kept calling me by the name on my jersey, "Schneider Electric", and asking me questions about the company.

I'm not complaining, as that is why I was there wearing the jersey, which was to be a brand ambassador, and let people know our company was involved in community outreach as well as "business as usual."

What you wear says a lot about you ... at times when you least expect it.

In my example, I obviously knew what I was doing and also made sure I acted appropriately. Now if I saw someone 

zipping by on a bike wearing the jersey at left, I would know it was Fabian Cancellara, the Swiss National Champion ... again.

If I saw someone wearing a US Soccer referee program shirt, I would imagine they were a US Soccer referee.

If I saw that same person entering an establishment of questionable moral fiber (as defined by the individual observer), I would take note if they were wearing a US Soccer polo of some type.

So what's the message?

If you want to go out after a day on the fields, don't wear anything (anything!) with a soccer logo of any type (not just your FIFA warmup), and stay out of trouble. There is nothing wrong with legal relaxation, so long as it does not get out of hand.

As some have heard, part of this suggestion was followed by (3) Toronto FC players, unfortunately (for them) they were arrested on public intoxication charges, and sent home.

The quote from the TFC coach (Paul Mariner, the former England International) is excellent and spot on. From the article:

"I think it doesn't matter whether it's basketball, ice hockey or whatever sport," said Mariner, a former England international. "I've been a professional athlete myself and you're held to a higher level of order because you're in the spotlight and you're living in a privileged position of being a so-called elite athlete."

Let me add to that as well. This is true for athletes for certain ... it is even more heightened for those who judge these elite athletes. Trust me folks, a referee can lose a badge over something like this ... so just don't do it.

Kicking Back == Hypocrisy?

So as a backdrop for this whole story are the recent (re)accusations of Lance Armstrong (this time) by the USADA for doping.

Before I make my primary observation, here are some background opinions on the whole thing to set the stage.

1. I believe the USADA has a useful overall function in keeping young, amateur, developing athletes away from medication that will ultimately hurt them.
2. I believe that the CEO of the USADA, Travis Tygart, is wrong to go after Lance Armstrong. I will expand on why in a later post tentatively titled "Ahab and his Whale."
3. I believe Lance Armstrong is a "clean" rider, yet recognize the mounting amount of what I would consider circumstantial evidence to the contrary.
4. I have spent much of my youth, and all of my adult life trying to stop cheating inside soccer fields across the US and internationally on a more limited basis.

Now ... come in the wayback machine with me to 1986 in Mexico. Anyone recall this:

As a young referee with aspirations of becoming FIFA, I was furious. How could such cheating be left without being punished? How could someone who claimed to have respect for The Game cheat so blatantly?

How dare they!!

I instantly became an anti-fan of Diego Maradona, and while I have tremendous respect for his ability, I personally do not believe he has any respect for The Game at all, and should be punished as a cheater, when he demonstrated such.

Now, enter Lance, and his current controversy. I have to be honest, I don't feel the same way ... even if there is a "smoking gun" of evidence found showing he doped during his (7) Tour victories.

I had to stop for a second and really think about why that was. Why isn't a cheater (like Maradona) a cheater (like Armstrong)?

Was it that Maradona's multitude of incidents was just so off the reservation that put me to a point of no return? If true, why didn't Lance doping for (7) years get me to the same place?

Is it that Maradona has not made much of an appearance on the charity circuit as opposed to Armstrong's notable Livestrong Foundation? Not sure if that is true either as Maradona has done charity work for UNICEF, as well as a variety of other causes.

So what is it?

As scary as this might seem, I think for me it comes down to likability. While I have not met (for any length of time) either man, I just like Lance better than Diego.

One is a cheater, and one may soon be proven to be one which theoretically makes them equivalent.

In the eyes of a referee, they should be punished the same as we are not in the business of determining why a player did what they did, but rather responding to the actions they took.

There are always nuances and extraordinary factors to be sure. Do we think however that a player received a caution because you "knew they were going to be trouble", not by what they actually did? Or the opposite of "she's really nice most of the time", so was not sent off today.

It's hard to drop a bias and be completely objective, if that is even possible. As a referee however, we have to dump the baggage, and act on what we see.

As sad as that is to me, Diego and Lance would be one in the same, if Lance is found to have doped.

Back in the saddle

I'm at it again folks in the 2nd ride of my "spring classics" with "Ride the Rhode", a 150 mile, 2 day stage ride supporting the National MS Society.

Serving as domistique for Team Schneider Electric, this ride looks to be fantastic with an opportunity to cross both the Newport and Jamestown bridges on Saturday.

I'll be in the saddle for these two days, but will be back at you on Monday with a road report, and other goings on in the football world.

Enjoy the weekend!

Friends,

No soccer related post today as I am riding in the Tour de Cure 2012 in southern Rhode Island to To Stop Diabetes!

On behalf of the 25 million Americans with diabetes and their families and friends, OUR FRIENDS, COWORKERS AND FAMILIES, thank you in helping our team make a difference!

The funds and awareness we raised will support the American Diabetes Association's important research, information and advocacy efforts and its mission: to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.

See you all back here tomorrow for more Kicking Back.

Refereeing Can Be Like This ...

Up, coffee, feed, gather, race, rinse, repeat

Cherries

That was the subject line of an e-mail from my husband, Lee. HMMM, wonder what that is about. Well it turns out that the cherry trees on our property are booming with lovely yummy cherries. I miss home.

Hump day is over, and I am excited about the last few days of this race. It has been a tough one. I know that I am a strong rider, but it is hard to accept that I am elite enough to be where I am right now. I truly have to fight back thoughts of not belonging and only being lucky. Some of the other ladies have some pretty impressive backgrounds that give them a fighting edge. I hope to be aggressive and competitive enough to pull this through. ...

See the whole story here, from Cycling News.

Kicking Back Comments: Let's face it, refereeing can be BORING sometimes. A match is not challenging, you are just not in the mood, a coach or player is really busting your chops, it can be less than fun.


It can be hard to have the mental toughness to be able to referee day in, day out like is detailed here in a multiple day stage race. It takes hard work, and a strong team to do well, day in, and day out.


Traveling is hard, being away from home is hard, working day in and day out in something that requires so much concentration is hard.


Don't forget, take a break every once in a while. I just (re)learned this lesson the other day. While training for a cycling event, I spent (11) days in a row training ... and paid dearly for it. I found myself just not wanting to get on the bike, tired, and not having fun. What did I do? Took a weekend off the bike, and eating some of my favorite junk foods and watched some TV.


Same is true for refereeing. Build in some breaks, and take some time for yourself and your family. The Game will consume every last moment you have if you let it. Take it from one who has been there. Take a weekend and unplug ... you'll be a better referee for it.

"Secret Drink Mix"

So dear friends, tournament season is upon us, and as many have heard me say in the past, refereeing at tournaments is an endurance sport.

At these events you are endurance athletes and need to fuel yourself like endurance athletes.

This is a topic near and dear to my heart as in my post-refereeing life I too am an endurance athlete in a different sport, cycling. These lessons are directly relatable though, and I offer an article on the topic here.

The author is Dr. Allen Lim, an exercise physiologist for Omega-Pharma-Quickstep pro cycling team. His blog post, Hydration Science and Practice, is a good reminder about how to fuel your body, and why just water is not enough, and some popular sports drinks are too much.

He does have an electrolyte solution for sale that I have not tried, so I don't have any comment on it yet, but (and more importantly of this discussion), the science involved is spectacular and worth looking at for any endurance athlete. I have included the video here which details his experiment.



Truly fascinating stuff, and a reminder about what it takes to keep and endurance athlete working at capacity for long stretches of time.

Think about it, a multi day stage race for cycling, 3 to 5 hours in the saddle churning for much of that time, for a few days in a row. Youth tournament play, several game sets, 5+ hours in a day working or exposed, for several days back to back. Both are demanding .... very demanding ... and there is some sharing between the two I feel.

"Secret Drink Mix" comes from Dr. Lim himself where he worked on the Tour de France in secretly replacing the overly sweet drinks supplied by the sponsor with his own, all natural recipes. Riders loved them, and thrived using this formula. As it was kept from the sponsors it became known as the "Secret Drink Mix."

Today, Dr. Lim and company can be found dispensing products, advice, and a most excellent cookbook (The FeedZone Cookbook) at SkratchLabs. If you are really interested, he has his "Secret Drink Mix" available for sale also, here.

Sometimes you have to roll the dice

So for those who have been following me for a while, you know that I am also a huge cycling fan. For those who have been unlucky enough to sit through one of my presentations on teamwork I go into great details about cycling, how they work together, and how they need each other to win.

Another refereeing lesson was reenforced for me the other day from the cycling world when I was watching stage 7 of the Amgen Tour of California. It was about taking risks.

You can see a profile of the stage here ... it is basically straight up.

Now, Chris Horner (of my favorite team - Radio Shack Nissan Trek) is last years winner, and was expected by many to repeat again this year. Only problem was that he was down 2:30ish in the General Classification (GC) before stage 7, meaning basically he had very little chance, short of a catastrophe for many other rides, to win the GC.

Knowing this was the case, at the beginning of the stage, he collected several members of his team, and "Swung for the GC Fence."

He knew it was a long shot, and basically did not care what everyone else thought ... he went for it, and very nearly won it all with such an epic risk.

Refereeing can be like that sometimes. You have to take that risk. It might be in the form of playing an advantage, maybe it is NOT cautioning a player that did not "feel" right to do. Maybe it is sending off a player straight away to keep the match from going into disrepute.

In all matches there are elements of risk involved. After all, you don't know what is going to happen when you choose A over B. Sometimes picking one path has more risk than another. There are times that we do this knowingly as a referee to move to a particular desired outcome, ultimately to manage a match. There are times however, we make a decision not being fully aware what the outcome may be.

In all cases however, when we learn about the risks, we have to be ready to take them. There are times taking these risks (with the best of intentions) will yield disaster. There are also times when they will yield a beautiful match.

Taking no risks however may yield the same results, but you will get there in a far more unpredictable fashion than if you were to take the risk. After all, this is the magic of refereeing soccer where the referee is allowed such wide discretion to manage the match how they see fit, and take those chances to allow the magic to happen.

Lest there be any question ...

So Easter Sunday was, despite the colder weather, good. I watched all of the coverage of Tom Boonen's "2-fer" with his win at  Paris-Roubaix, after his win last week at the Tour de Flanders.

I was able to get out for a ride myself, no where near those speeds of course, but was thinking about the grand tour series that is upon us, and who these cycling athletes have respect for.

In looking around several pro cycling sites, I cam across the Katusha Team (THE Russian Global Cycling Project ... I love that) and took note that in all the riders bio's was the answer to "Who is your favorite soccer team?"

I found that interesting as you generally don't see "Who is your favorite NBA team?" when you see a bio with a NFL player.

Why the overlap? I think because soccer is so universal, that you can ask any (non-american) athlete who their favorite soccer team is and they will have an answer.

Soccer is Life.

By the way, lest there be any question that the Grand Tour season is upon us for cycling ... take a look below. It again looks to be an awesome time in Italy ... and with a start in Denmark.

I have to find a reason to get over there for work =)

Not soccer related, but interesting none the less

RadioShack-Nissan-Trek announces lineup for 2012

RadioShack-Nissan-Trek for 2012
Jan Bakelants (BEL)
Daniele Bennati (ITA)
George Bennett (NZL)
Matthew Busche (USA)
Fabian Cancellara (SUI)
Laurent Didier (LUX)
Jakob Fuglsang (DEN)
Tony Gallopin (FRA)
Linus Gerdemann (GER)
Ben Hermans (BEL)
Chris Horner (USA)
Markel Irizar (ESP)
Ben King (USA)
Andreas Klöden (GER)
Tiago Machado (POR)
Maxime Monfort (BEL)
Giacomo Nizzolo (ITA)
Nelson Oliveira (POR)
Yaroslav Popovych (UKR)
Joost Posthuma (NED)
Gregory Rast (SUI)
Thomas Rohregger (AUT)
Hayden Roulston (NZL)
Andy Schleck (LUX)
Fränk Schleck (LUX)
Jesse Sergent (NZL)
Jens Voigt (GER)
Robert Wagner (GER)
Oliver Zaugg (SUI)
Haimar Zubeldia (ESP)

Staff
General manager: Johan Bruyneel
Team directors: Kim Andersen, José Azevedo, Dirk Demol, Alain Gallopin, Luca Guercilena and Lars Michaelsen
Press officers: Philippe Maertens and Tim Vanderjeugd

Source: Velo News

Just like I planned

Photo courtesy of Velo News

So if you read yesterday (... they just fade away ...), you saw me offering a complaint without much else.

Well, as luck would have it, Velo News came through again with: McEwen outlines schedule in farewell season, to transition to ‘scout’ role.

Robbie McEwen is a pro rider since 1996 and rides currently for Team Radio Shack. Playing the role of a sprinter, he has dozens of palmares (wins) to his name, and significant racing experience to say the least.

He will be racing until May, then acting as a scout for Greenedge Cycling, riding the last several K of the TDF routes to scout things for the riders.

How cool is that?

Now imagine if US Soccer did something similar. Created a scouting program to work with the youth leagues to find that next FIFA referee. Not just hope they bubble up in some tournament, but a conscious effort with a group of scouts in each state to find these kids that will rise to the top.

FIFA wants 'em young to train. US Soccer needs 'em young to get experience and credibility. A national scouting program ... a bit more than we have now ... and with a little organization may find that next Angelo Bratsis, or Brian Hall.

Not for wimps, part deux

... results of the fall from Johnny Hoogerland. Any questions?

Photo courtesy of Cycling News

Not for wimps

You know, I personally get very tired of hearing about how much of a wimp soccer players, and cyclists are. Dancing around in their shorts, and Lycra, tra la la, la la. Rubbish. Well, there was a recent incident in MLS, and yesterday in Stage 9 of the Tour de France that should summarily dismiss the notion any of these athletes in their respective sports are wimps.

First up is the match between Columbus v. Seattle where Steve Zakuani received a brutal tackle. Keep this one in the front of mind folks, I will be calling a media pinhead out on it this week. BTW, that *pop* is his leg.



Second was a bizarre incident in the TDF where a French media car wrecked the 5 man breakaway and may have cost Teams' Sky and Vacansoleil as well as riders Fletcha and Hoogerland their lives and their Tour. In case your were wondering, both finished the stage, were awarded the most combative riders of the stage (1st time ever in TDF history), and Hoogerland was awarded the polka dot jersey for his effort in the mountains.



Also ... that was a barber wire fence Hoogerland was caught up in ... no wimps here folks. Check out here, for full coverage on the stage results, and carnage.