Live Long And Prosper

A voice to say one can be their own person yet excel just like everyone else.
May he rest in peace.

See also:
President Obama, J.J. Abrams, Zachary Quinto Pay Tribute to Leonard Nimoy

"Thugs cannot be martyrs"

Dozens dead in Egypt soccer stampede

Violence erupted Sunday in Cairo when police used tear gas to disperse fans trying to enter an army-owned stadium
At least 40 people were killed and dozens injured Sunday after clashes broke out in Cairo between police and supporters of the Zamalek soccer club, Egyptian medical sources said.

Violence erupted Sunday night when police tried to set up barricades and used tear gas to disperse fans trying to enter an army-owned stadium in the city's northeast on Sunday, witnesses said.

The fans accused security forces of a "massacre,” but police denied using violence to try and pacify the crowd. Many of the dead appeared to have died of suffocation after a stampede erupted. ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of Aljazeera.

Kicking Back Comments:

I am often reminded that football is far more than just a game to most of the world. It is also a reflection of social, economic, and political affiliations.

In this way MLS can never compare to the rest of the world as while there is passion regarding each MLS team ... there is frankly not the other flavor contained in the American Game (at the club level) that exists in the rest of the world.

Not yet anyway ...

  

So True General Patton

"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived."

On this, the 15th anniversary of Stephen A. Kokolski's death, I have been reflecting not on just that loss, nor the loss of the other giants in sport, and in humanity, Ernie Branco, Frank Hasek, and Frank Scarscella but more what these men have given back to the fabric of what we hold most dear.

Patton was right, can any of us imagine if any or all of these folks never lived or took on the things they did for us?

It is a staggering thought frankly and underscores to me why folks like this give more of themselves for such causes ... because in the most unselfish, unassuming way, they recognized very early on that the story does not advance if we all do things for ourselves only.

These men all deserve praise both in their own accomplishments, which unto themselves are significant, but also, what each of these men did for The Game and all who participate in it.

For me, that is their true legacy, and one I will remember on this solemn day.

38 Dead Children; 56 More Injured

Do I have your attention now?

I hope so, as these are the latest statistics detailed by Anchored for Safety, a non-profit group to raise awareness for goal safety, after the tragic death of Zach Tran who was killed in October of 2003 by a portable goal.

I was reminded of this again by NRAH author, Paul Levy, in his recent post "My personal bit of intolerance" and I certainly re-visited my post "That's netting to joke about."

Zach's heartbreaking story can be seen below, and at the linked sites.

As a referee, as a parent, a spectator ... any reason if you are walking by a portable goal, check to make sure its anchored. If its not, please fix it or get help to do so immediately.

Your actions will save a life.

There are bad days ... and there are BAD days

Many thanks to regular readers Matt A. and John U. for bringing these articles forward (oddly coincidentally) on the same day.

First is a local (to me) referee assault.

Alleged attack on referee lands soccer player in court

LYNN — A judge released but ordered an East Boston man to stay away from his soccer league after police said the man and his two brothers attacked a referee after he issued a red card.

“I think he really enjoys the league, but understands,” court-appointed defense attorney Daniel Werner said when the judge issued her ruling. ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of ItemLive.com and here, with a video interview with the referee from WHDH.

Kicking Back Comments: Foremost, Kicking Back wishes Mr. Garcia a speedy recovery. Cowardly assault on the referee aside, I applaud the trial courts decision here. I agree it is unusual to set a cash bail for such an event, even one as heinous as putting a referee in the hospital for a couple of days for a mass confrontation  but I suspect the judge, and both attorneys knew that (a) the suspects would deny everything, and (b) there is little chance of actually getting them back in court.

I also applaud the judge for recognizing the role the referee was acting in for the match. Check out the article for the particular quote.

So where are we now?

We have a referee who will never, on his own admission, referee again, with a broken facial bone, players who have allegedly committed assault and battery on a referee, likely never to show up in court, and a league that should take and face, some significantly stern action.

What can US Soccer do? How about Mass Soccer?

Likely nothing, as on a cursory look, the U.S. Latin Soccer League is not affiliated with either.

Take a look here for the affiliated adult soccer leagues in MA.

A word to the wise, unless the league is affiliated, there are few remedies outside those at law that can be brought to the bad actors. Also, it is far more difficult to assure compliance to common sense safety rules (e.g. having a detail officer at every match) and compel a league to take such action. Further, while US Soccer has an insurance policy that would cover (I am guessing) some of the damages that have occurred here for the referee, it would not apply, even if the referee was a registered US Soccer referee, as (and again I am assuming based on info to date), the league is NOT an affiliated US Soccer league.

IN SHORT, DO NOT EVER REFEREE AN UNAFFILIATED MATCH. THERE IS A HEAVY PRICE TO BE PAID IF THINGS GO WRONG.

Here is where there "rubber meets the road" for these referees however, and they should group together and take the issue to the league, and refuse to work another match until life suspensions are handed down to each player involved, and the team is tossed from the league from the rest of the season. Or maybe a petition to the Lynn board of parks to show what this league has been up to and pull their current field permit?

Just a thought ...

Now as a second thought, MA Soccer and US Soccer should be at least "made aware" of this stuff, by what mechanism I have no idea, as should USLSL seek membership in the future, they might want to be aware of what history it carries.

But, with every ying, there is a yang, and as the title of this blog entry implies, there was a referee who had an even worst day.

As gruesome as it is, please check out Brazil soccer referee killed during match; his head displayed on stake midfield from Fox News. 

Fox does draw a poor comparison at the end of the article however, somehow thinking (other than causing death) that the stoning, quartering, and beheading or a referee, is in the same realm as the shooting death (~100 bullets were found in Mr. Escobar I believe) of a player who scored an own goal ... and as speculation has it, was killed by gamblers for not making the point spread.

Somehow I'm just not seeing the two as similar.

Richard Nieuwenhuizen Trail Update

Dead Dutch linesman trial: suspects speak in court

The dead Dutch linesman trial started today in court. Suspects could speak in court today. Some did, but their stories didn’t always match. ...

A full recap if the trail can be found here, courtesy of Dutch Referee.

Kicking Back Comments: Sentence demanded was for 6 years ... when this first broke I commented about "Restorative Justice" and my concerns for it ... I hope I was wrong in my thinking.

Dutch assistant referee killed by youth players

I am sad to report this is not a gag headline, or some clever turn on words that I am using to make a point about The Game.

This is a disgusting attack by (3) youth players, on another human, a father, a husband, a son, and assistant referee Richard Nieuwenhuizen.

Photograph via Facebook and ABC News

Serving as a volunteer assistant referee at his son's youth football match, he died after being kicked and beaten by several players. Nieuwenhuizen, 41, was shaking players’ hands when the three players, two 15-year-olds and one 16-year-old, surrounded him, pushed him to the ground, and began attacking him.

Authorities haven’t given a possible motive for the attack. The three boys accused in this case are in police custody, and will appear before a judge behind closed doors on Thursday.

Action taken was swift and included a lifetime ban from soccer in the country for the players arrested for the beating, and all upcoming Nieuw Sloten games have been canceled, the club where these criminals hail from. A number of teams, including all those based in Almere, have stated they will refuse to play any games against Nieuw Sloten.

Nieuw Sloten said in a statement on its website that it had banned the players involved and pulled its team out of the league. The statement said such incidents "do not belong on a football field". Both clubs cancelled all training scheduled for Monday.

This seems like a reasonable start.

To complete this, these boys should be thrown in jail to rot.

I am concerned about Norway's "restorative justice system" that generally is very gentile where I believe that (21) years is the maximum sentence for anything other than war crimes, or genocide.

Anyone remember Anders Breivik who only received (21) years for killing (77) people? Yep, that's about 100 days per murder.

Restorative huh.

Now from my criminal law days there are several reasons for punishment:

1. Deterrence (for others).
2. Retribution (for what they did).
3. Rehabilitation (so they won't do it again).
4. Incapacitation (so they can't do it again).

I'll be honest, I am going with 1 and 2 on this one and quickly followed up by a suit in tort for the families of each of these little murderers.

A strong message needs to be sent here, by the Dutch courts, Netherlands Football, and yes, FIFA. It needs to be stronger than what Sepp said the other day.

You want to make an impression, condemn the activity in the strongest possible terms. Be shocked, be sad, and be mad as hell that these punks did this, and promise swift and severe sanctions for all involved, the club, the league ... everyone, who takes such actions, or inactions.

It is times like this that I struggle with such barbaric actions, receiving humane treatment. It's the civilized thing to do, but I'll be honest folks, it is not coming easy for me personally on this one.

FIFA Refereeing core loses one of its own

As many no doubt have heard, a RusAir Tupolev 134 was trying to land at its destination of Petrozavodsk in heavy fog, and crashed short of the runway causing the death of (44) people, leaving only 8 survivors (source).

Among these 44 was a man named Vladimir Pettay (Владимир Леонидович Петтай) a FIFA referee who hailed from Pudozh, Russia. A former professional player, referee since 1996, and FIFA since 2010, he leaves a wife, son, and daughter.

Sepp Blatter sent his condolences to Pettay's family and federation stating:

“On behalf of FIFA and the worldwide family of football, I wish to extend our condolences to you, the Russian football community and, most importantly, to Vladimir Pettay’s family, friends and loved ones. Please let them know today the football community stands by their side.”

A sad day indeed, as by all accounts a good man was lost to a tragic event.

Requiescat In Pace

Paul the Octopus: January 2008 - October 26, 2010.

News of his passing stunned the world today, as there were over 1500 articles about his death as of this writing.

He apparently died of natural causes in his tank overnight. A life expectancy of 2.5 year is not uncommon for some octopus species.

FIFA has announced it will not launch an investigation into Paul's passing, as their investigative arm is otherwise engaged in a corruption investigation for World Cup votes.