Kicking Back's Thoughts for 2011

So as I sit here "penning" this on New Years Day, I reflect with mixed emotion on 2010, and with great anticipation for 2011.

I do not share all of ESPN's views on the disappointments of 2010 in the US Soccer world. I do share some however, particularly what happened to the 2022 World Cup. While I understand that a significant portion of this was FIFA's doing and the corruption, or at least disguised bid process that I have written about, I also believe that Mr. Guliti and his team, are not blameless in the episode.

To be sure there were high points in 2010. The US performance in South Africa while not all we hoped it would be, was not without great merit. It certainly kept reminding the World that while we are not that elite international team, we certainly belong on the stage.

Back at home there were ups and downs too. We lost a friend of THE game in Rich Filippetti, and saw a local boy turned international sensation Tom Supple retire in 2010.

On the other side of the ledger, we saw great progress in local referees and the advancement and recognition of many. Far too many to single out here. Further, the MSRC is clearly stepping things up, both with their expanded Academy Program, and the level of professionalism they expect from their advanced referees. Both are excellent steps in the right direction.

On balance I will look back on 2010 with some nostalgia for a variety of reasons. One of the largest of all is that it was the beginning of my way back to a game I love so much, and get the opportunity to share some of that here with you all on Kicking Back.

I am predicting that 2011 will be a time for change ... that itself is not very prophetic to be sure. However after some of the shakeups in FIFA, US Soccer, and MLS, I believe 2011 will be a very interesting year, especially for US referees.

Thanks for reading Kicking Back and making it a success in 2010. Let's see what we can do in 2011.

Lies!! Damn Lies!!! Part Deux.

Product is property of Power Balance

In an earlier post I spoke about this Power Balance product and how they got caught scamming folks at $60 a pop.

Well, as I said the product is available much cheaper from outlets like Amazon.com.

Just for kicks I got curious how the live demo's (as seen in the earlier post) actually work. As luck would have it I found this really funny post on Amazon with one person's experience and what he did to thwart the scammers.

151 of 166 people found the following review helpful:

 Sales rep... Busted! *READ IT*, September 22, 2010

By 

jtvt "Justin"

This review is from: Power Balance Silicone Wristband Bracelet --(Color:black; Size: L) (Misc.)

Allow me to relay an experience I had with a sales rep at the local fair recently, which may be illuminating. 

I was wandering through the sales tent with my girlfriend, and paused in front of a booth with stacks of these wristbands, official PB sales material, and photos of star athletes with PB bling on their wrists. 

"Have you heard of the PB wristband?" Salesman (as of then) asked. 

"No, what is it?" 

"It's embedded with a positively charged hologram that reacts with certain frequencies in the Earth to improve balance, strength and flexibility". ...


See the full review here, courtesy of Amazon. It is funny!

ESPN's Take on 2010 for US Soccer

Biggest disappointments in U.S. soccer

No one will be happier to see the back of 2010 than U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati. First, there was the U.S. national team's second-round loss to Ghana at the World Cup. Then there was Juergen Klinsmann turning down Gulati's offer to manage the U.S. side. Finally, Qatar won the right to host the 2022 World Cup over a U.S. bid headed by Gulati.

That's not to say this past year was devoid of highs for U.S. soccer. Heck, Landon Donovan's stoppage-time winner against Algeria, which propelled the U.S. into the second round in South Africa, will sustain supporters through the bitterest winter night all by itself. (For more on the U.S.'s best moments of the year, click here.) ...

See the full article here, courtesy of ESPN.

Lies!! Damn Lies!!!

I just caught this and as it was tangentially soccer related I posted it for all.

For anyone who has seen the add for "Power Balance" or heard their claims that "Power Balance wristbands improved your strength, balance and flexibility."

I hate to break it to you ... it was all a lie.

After all how does one expect the "... harness(ing) naturally occurring frequencies and program them into a mylar hologram," to work any way? No really, watch the ad above.

Well someone caught up with these snake oil sales folks as the following "corrective advertisement" can be found on their Australian site.

It states basically ... we lied, we made it up, we got caught, and we'll give you a refund.

Nice.

Fortunately no one in the soccer world seemed to pick up on this scam and endorse it ... or did they?

Check out here. You will get a couple pictures of Becks and the kids from US Weekly and People Magazine from the offending company's site.

Who says sports isn't big business? At $59.95 a pop (or $5 on Amazon.com), and Becks as an informal spokesman, who could go wrong?

Interesting Spin on Climate Change

Photo (c) by Flickr user scpgt. Used under a Creative Commons 2.0 licence.

Climate changes in sport

There is much talk about the weather these days, as it is – as usual – behaving out of the ordinary. There are two ways to approach extreme weather. One is climate initiatives, and the other is to adapt to the weather conditions. In national and international sports, there is increasing talk about the latter. ...

See the complete article here at Playthegame.org.

Tamborino to take position with MLS?

An unsubstantiated story has surfaced that former USSF Director of Officials Paul Tamberino will assume a position with Major League Soccer as a Director in the "Competition Department." Supposedly the job involves serving as liaison to both the USSF and Canadian officials for the purpose of training and development of the league's cadre of referees. Do not be surprised if this includes assigning the referees, which he did in his previous position.

So, to a casual observer, this seems like a newly created position to do just what he was doing before, but under the direct auspices of MLS. Stay tuned for further details.....

Cost of hosting the 2022 World Cup ... $78.4M?

Series of Gaffes Ends Soccer’s Big Year

It began as a celebrative year for Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA, soccer’s world governing body. He took the World Cup to Africa for the first time, although many were sure that South Africa would fail as the host. As it turned out, Blatter, 74, was right. The stadiums were full, the South Africans were welcoming hosts and capable organizers, and fears of violence were unfounded.

The problem with the end of Blatter’s year, though, is that FIFA has never adapted to the standards of transparency that govern many international entities. Based in Zurich, it is an insular body unregulated by any outside organization. And since his election in 1998, Blatter and other top FIFA officials have faced repeated charges of mismanagement and corruption. ...

See the complete article here, courtesy of  the NYT.

See you in January?

Players support winter World Cup in 2022

After the comments by Sepp Blatter, Michel Platini and Franz Beckenbauer that the 2022 FIFA World Cup should be played in January instead of June/July, strong support has come from FIFPro, the world footballers’ union which also believes the 2022 World Cup in Qatar should be held in the winter instead of summer.

Summer temperatures hit 50 degrees centigrade in the Gulf and FIFPro has said it is pleased FIFA is open to changing the tournament’s timing to address the issue of heat. ...

See the full article here, courtesy of George Cumming's Football Blog.

Programming Note

Friends,

In the next couple of days I will be completing my preparation for completing my law school studies. During this time I do have a couple of stories queued up for you for your reading pleasure, and I am sure JAFO and Nigel will jump in as well.

I will be back online for the turn of the New Year to answer any comments and "set the bar" for 2011.

Until then, be safe, stay healthy, and enjoy the holidays.

A word of the year

As some of you know I am developing in to a sesquipedalian in my old age. That's just fancy speak for, "I like to unnecessarily use big words."

I am blaming my imminent completion of law school on this phenomenon. Hopefully it will pass.

In the mean time however, I was reading Paul Levy's recent entry, "I'm gonna scream." In it, he points to a recent NYT article that detailed the words of the year that have been added to the English lexicon.

Chief among them ... Vuvuzela.

Yes folks, I just can't get enough ...

Just to finish the year off right, here is a fun story from CNN detailing the history of the fabled horn.

Services for Richard Filippetti

Additional information, and details about the services for Rich have been posted on the Massachusetts State Referee Committee web site here.

Referees planning on attending services are encouraged to wear USSF formal attire.

No comments ... please

Merry Christmas from Kicking Back!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Soccer and the Christmas Truce of 1914

As JAFO is fond of saying, and is correct ... Soccer Is Life.

For those who have not read the story of the Christmas Truce of 1914 please take a few moments and read the linked story and materials. It is an amazing piece of history.

While today, war is a part of life, and for some, sadly, a way of life, this story gives me hope that it does not have to be that way forever.

One interesting note for me was the fact that there were no referees for these matches. This fact continues to strengthen my conviction that referees are really just surplus for THE game anyway as it belongs to the players.

Please note the early release time of this one, as if you are in the same boat as me, you have screaming kids already up and tearing up the house. Nothing better.

Merry Christmas to all!!

Soccer and the Christmas Truce of 1914

It’s can be difficult to explain to one’s fellow non-soccer-loving Americans just how powerful a force the game of soccer is in the world.

For example, soccer can be the spark that ignites the flames of war.

In an already existing atmosphere of heightened political tensions over the borders between El Salvador and Honduras, the qualifying matches for the 1970 World Cup between those two countries led to La guerra del fútbol or “The Football War.” After 100 hours of combat some 3,000 soldiers and civilians were dead and hundreds of thousands of civilians had been displaced. After the war, because each country had won the home leg of their qualifiers, a play-off had to be played, which El Salvador won. They didn’t make it out of the group stages of the World Cup in Mexico and some four decades later the demarcation of the new borders between the two countries has yet to be formalized.

Or, soccer can be the symbol that finally turns the page on a long ended war. ...

Full story continues here, courtesy of The Philly Soccer Page.

Passing of a friend

Dear Friends,

On 23-DEC a true friend of the game, Rich Filippetti, has passed away after a long, and strongly-fought, battle with cancer.

In this holiday time please take just a minute and keep the Filippetti Family in your thoughts as we all have lost a greatly respected member of the Mass Youth Soccer community.

What we were there NOT to see

So the other day I was at Jr.'s indoor match intently watching his, and his teams' performance. Halftime came and the young referee was standing at midfield, juggling the ball, passing the five or so minutes mandated by the facility for halftime rest.

Then it happened.

He missed a juggle, slipped over top the ball, and came crashing down on the pitch.

Ouch.

As he had drawn quite a crowd of spectators and players watching him, he was rewarded with a round of applause and took a bow for good measure ... no harm done.

Or was there?

Later in the match, you guess it, there was a contraversal call. There was some grumbling among parents, and one wise guy said:

Maybe you should stick to playing

I don't believe the young referee heard it, but the point was made ... albeit rudely.

This point was that we were there not to watch a referee show us how good a player he is. A referee is there just to referee the match. No more, no less.

Don't get me wrong, there are a fair number of referees out there, even at the international and professional level that have a "look at me" attitude, sometimes for the wrong reasons.

There is a time to be seen certainly, but most if the time you job is to be hidden and let the players show their skills.

It was once described to me a "getting out your invisible paint and painting yourself before a match." It was an interesting analogy, but also a very accurate one. You just don't want to be seen unless you have to.

Not juggling at midfield during halftime is a good place to start.

Fourteen Get FIFA Badges

Kicking Back Comments: I can only imagine there is no greater thrill than to be a pioneer in a new land. Congratulations to these referees who will now serve as Tanzania's finest.

FIVE local referees and nine assistant referees have been awarded FIFA badges for the 2011 year by the world soccer governing body.

The list comprises four men referees and seven assistants, while there is also one women referee and two assistant referees.

The Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) Acting General Secretary Sunday Kayuni named those who have been awarded the full referee badges as Ibada Ramadhan Kibo, Mbaga Oden Charles, Israel Nkongo, and Waziri Sheha.

Bulali Josephati Deu, Hamis Chang'walu, Kanyenye Rongional John, Clemence Erasmo Jesse, Kombo Ally, Maswa Hamisi, Mpenzu Samuel Hudson are the assistant referees considered.

Gamba Judith Andrew is the only full woman referee considered, whereas Makame Mwanahija Foum and Tibabimale Saada Hussein have secured women assistant referee badges.

Source: allAfrica.com.

All I Want for Christmas is ...

Screenshot Courtesy EA Mobile

FIFA 11 goes live for iPad

EA Mobile has released FIFA 11 for iPad, just in time for Christmas. Although if you're on a slower broadband connection, you might want to start downloading it now to ensure it's playable by 25 December - it's a whopping 890MB download.

As you'd expect from FIFA, there are bags of fully-licensed teams to play - 500 from around the world - and 35 gloriously-HD stadia to do it in. It has to be said, too, that the game looks amazing on the iPad screen. ...

Full review continues here, courtesy recombu.com.

No news yet on who's managing US Referees, but ...

... the contact page at US Soccer has changed a bit.

Take a look here.

Any guesses anyone?

“The most annoying player”

So says Claus Bo Larsen, FIFA referee since 1996, of Cristiano Ronaldo from a goal.com article here.

Take a look at the article however as it goes on to say that:

“Cristiano Ronaldo is given a clean slate at the start of every game, but when he would lie down after failing to win a free-kick, he would smile at me because he knows I don’t fall for his theatrics.”

Now *THAT* is refereeing at the highest levels. Know what is coming, talk with the players, and react (not prejudge) when an incident occurs.

Another outstanding FIFA refereeing talent retiring this month.

Nobel Prize?

The NYT had a very interesting article about Blatter's recent visit to Qatar after their victory in securing the 2022 World Cup.

Most of this article spoke about his recent gaffe regarding homosexuals and just how revealing it was of the man himself.

In addition to this, there was a piece that caught my eye. From the article:

This gaffe may take him even further from the Nobel Peace Prize, which he has been lusting after for years. A Nobel Peace Prize for doling out soccer tournaments under murky circumstances, and occasionally prattling about fair play?

Are you [bleeping] me?

Is this pol really in the hunt for a Nobel Peace Prize?
He's kidding, right?

After poking around though, it would seem he is serious ... or at least he is reported to be, from a variety of sources. (ioL Sport, 7am Kickoff, SI.com)

Reaction to this was fairly visceral:

Excuse me while I vomit in the nearest available bucket.

Quoted one article ... and I share the sentiment.

Maybe we got the reason wrong for the abrupt shift for 2022 to Qatar. It may not have been money after all, but pride.

If Sepp winds up with a Nobel, I would have to say that was the primary reason, not the petrodollars currently under suspicion.