Three thoughts on the firing of U.S. men's soccer coach Bob Bradley on Thursday:
• Is it finally Klinsmann time? Two times the U.S. has come achingly close to hiring German legend Jürgen Klinsmann, and two times Klinsmann has left the Americans at the altar. Might the third time be the charm? ...
Kicking Back Comments: My jury is still out on this one. IMHO Bradley sadly had to go. If it is timely will depend on how quickly US Soccer announces a replacement. If they do so in the next couple of weeks, they were timely. If they delay any longer than that to communicate a decision, again IMHO, they should have waited to get the act together before tipping over the apple cart. If they really wanted to do it right, the two would have been announced simultaneously. If they really, really want to do it right, they will hire Klinsmann.
ESPN had some interesting choices, and odds, here.
Bin Hammam Is Latest FIFA Official to Go, but Cloud Remains
FIFA, the ruling body of world soccer since 1904, is shedding its senior executives in an attempt to appear to be moving faster than its corrupters.
The head of its Caribbean and North and Central American region, Jack Warner, removed himself by resigning from all soccer activity last month.
And now FIFA has barred for life Mohamed bin Hammam, who until Saturday was the elected leader of Asia’s soccer confederation, which serves more than a third of the world’s population. ...
As I completed another long day in the saddle for the Memory Ride, I wanted to take a second to thank all of you - AGAIN, for all continued well wishes and support of all kinds. Without you all, it just would not be the same.
Here are the gory details for all interested (click to enlarge):
So the 2011 Tour de France is in the books. This was a particularly notable Tour that struck me on several levels, as it did many, as seen here.
First, was the brutality. Early stages of the Tour this year were marred with skin melting, bone breaking, muscle tearing crashes. We started with 198 riders (22 teams with 9 riders each) and we saw 31 riders crash out, withdraw, or get dropped, leaving 167 remaining. Certainly more than in years past, and ones that I hope are not repeated in the future.
Second, was the incredible leaders and lead changes. Notably, Thor Hushovd, who held the yellow jersey for 7 days, Thomas Voeckler, a Frenchman, who held the yellow jersey for an incredible 10 days, the one-two punch of Andy and Frank Schleck in the Alps that gave Andy yellow for a stage, and the winner of the 2011 Tour de France, Cadel Evans of Team BMC.
Lastly, was what I would call the "American Invasion" of the Tour. In this Tour there were 4 USA teams, BMC, HTC, Garmin-Cervelo, and Radio Shack. Now, it is certainly an accomplishment in itself to be on a TdF team, to start, and even to finish the Tour. But, to win the Tour, or one of its coveted jerseys is the ultimate. Of the 6 jerseys to win, a USA team won HALF of them (Individual: Cadel Evans - BMC, Sprint Points: Mark Cavendish - HTC, Team: Garmin-Cervelo). Radio Shack survived with only 5 riders finishing in what I would call the gutsiest performance of the Tour. Maybe the TdF planning committee will consider adding an intestine colored jersey in 2012. Maybe not.
I bring this up, as many have thought, and some still do, that cycling is a "European sport", meaning, only Europeans are contenders in the sport. Sound familiar? Any other sports that you can think have similar bias?
Well one would think that after a performance the USA had this year in the TdF it would dispel such thoughts. Just as one would have though after the USA WC team in 1994 it would have dispelled such thoughts for USA soccer. Further still, after the appointment of David Socha to two World Cups one would think USA refereeing would have some acceptance in the world's ranks. This was followed by several appointments years after as well.
No to all. It would seem that if you have an accent (other than a US one) you instantly know about cycling, soccer, and art.
One notable exception is women's soccer as both the competing teams, and referees, rightly deserve the respect they have earned as serious competitors and officials in the sport. Women's cycling however is in its infancy in the US.
Why?
I don't have a clue. Maybe it's because we have created so many other sports and the rest of the world lags in those. Baseball, grid iron football, and basketball come to mind immediately. Maybe because it's because the US is generally not liked around the world and it is a viable opportunity to "rub our nose in it." Maybe it is because we are truly not good enough to compete on the world's stage yet ... an excuse that I personally don't buy and one objectively that is dwindling as a reason.
Maybe it is because we don't have a strong professional league in MLS as compared to others around the world, or THE game has not been accepted here. Maybe it is poor support at FIFA by the Americans. After all, we could have reasonably had a referee or two (Jair?) at the 2010 WC, yet we seemed to get no help from Esse Baharmast in making that happen. We will see how Brian Hall can help us in his role with CONCACAF.
Maybe it is a "Hopelessly American" attitude that suggests things like an intestine colored jersey in the most prestigious cycling tour on the planet.
I am just speculating as like I said, I don't know why there is such a clear bias.
One thing I do know is ... there is regardless of how well we do.
So as summer cycling is in full swing and the TdF is reaching its apex, I find myself ready to tackle yet another ride. This time it is the Memory Ride in central Massachusetts.
With it however I will be away for a couple of days as I travel, compete, and recover from the event (especially with the heat), but promise to be back at it early next week with new material. First on the docket is the follow up to Multiple Guess ... . So if you were interested, as many seemed to be, stand by for my interpretation.
Good weekend to all, and enjoy the grand finale of the Tour moving through Paris on Sunday.
The Referee Community is saddened to learn of the death of Sarah Dargon, 20, of Norwell MA. Sarah first became a referee at the age of 12! Anyone familiar with refereeing in Norwell will know the Dargon family name. There are no fewer than five other active members of the family in the household, making it the largest referee family in the state.
Sarah had always been interested in helping others and in 2006 she became the youngest person to complete the assignor's course. She was an excellent student and athlete in addition to her refereeing. She was involved in the community and had been a member of the National Honor Society. Her family has asked that contributions in her name be made to the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
Kicking Back Comments: In the afterglow of the WWC, don't forget we still have some serious stuff going on at FIFA. Notably Bin Hammam's ethic trial in this Friday. He is out stumping clearly as his claims now include that FIFA is out to get him.
World Cup - Bin Hammam: 'FIFA out to get me'
Suspended Asian football chief Mohamed Bin Hammam says a campaign has been waged against him within "certain quarters" at FIFA to "eliminate" him from the game amid investigations over a cash-for-votes bribery scandal.
The Qatari is scheduled to attend a FIFA Ethics Committee hearing on Friday which is investigating allegations that he tried to bribe members of the Caribbean Football Union in return for votes during his FIFA presidential election bid last month. ...
See the whole story here, courtesy of Yahoo! Sport.
Kicking Back of late has not included much in the way of substance on this topic. I mused a little in "It could never happen to me", where a Hungarian referee missed quite an obvious handball that should serve as a warning to all referees. We also had "We've got your bias right here ...", about an older 2004 comment from Sepp regarding women footballers.
Slightly more serious was "Still don't think there is a difference ...", where there is a clear view that men's and women's football is not the same, and even (in this case) the French National coach commented as such.
Of most significance was "USA Gets Gold in Women's World Cup", briefly detailing the tremendous efforts of the officiating trio who went to Germany, and in my estimation, conquered the tournament from a refereeing perspective.
That's it ...
I could make up some excuse like I've been really busy doing stuff, inspecting matches at the Regionals, or around Massachusetts. Maybe I get honest and say I was (am) more interested in the developing Tour de France (my poor Radio Shack team is getting creamed). I don't know.
Maybe it was the poor performance by the USA in the final. But I don't think so as my disinterest was throughout the month, not just after that match. Maybe I just did not find the tournament as a whole that exciting. Certainly aspects of it, such as USA v. Brasil or the final, but as a whole not so much. I don't believe it was because it was women's football, but I can't discount it either. Maybe there is a certain brutality that can occur in a men's match that piques my interest, and the subsequent management challenge that follows.
It has been opined by some that the players in the grand scheme are not that good as compared to what is touted on a regular basis. Take a look at "Face the facts: Soccer has found its niche in U.S.". Again, as with the other articles, please don't shoot the messenger. It is an interesting theory, and a very well written article.
Honestly I don't know, and it has left me scratching my head. I mean, I love THE game. I have for my lifetime. I am struggling to understand in this case my indifference toward the WWC, and the clear result being my lack of real substantive coverage here.
One thing I do know however, it that it has earned me the Media Pinhead Gold Medal.
Blatter focuses on soccer milestones, not scandals
BERLIN -- A beaming Sepp Blatter took the dais at Olympic Stadium to talk about FIFA's love of women's soccer -- and nothing else -- at the Women's World Cup 2011 opening press conference Saturday .
The FIFA President spoke with enthusiasm on "Frauenfussball" and reveled in the furious din of clicking cameras as he handed a game ball to Steffi Jones, president of the organizing committee and a former Germany player herself. The photographers, one carrying a zoom lens usually reserved for taking pictures of distant skiers, eagerly snapped away.
Most of the questions elicited a few more comments on "Frauenfussball" and some dollar figures. But one reporter changed the tone slightly when he asked if the recent Playboy pictorial featuring female soccer players was a sign of "progress," given Blatter's infamous suggestion years ago that women's uniforms should go shorter and tighter to show off more of players' bodies.
Kicking Backs Comments: I am already in trouble from my last post, even repeating the comments from another that there are differences between the men's and women's game. Good old Sepp, stands on his own for these comments. Beyond that, I have no comments.
One aspect that is not being widely reported is the success the USA referees had in the tournament. Based on the performance of Kari Seitz, Marlene Duffy, and Veronica Perez, it was clear they "ran the table" in Germany, and if it was not for the USA being in the final, may have indeed worked that match in lieu of the 3rd place match between Sweden and France (match report .pdf).
For an interesting and inside look at the tournament through their eyes, check out their blog here. It has some very interesting stuff, including the following video. Certainly worth a look to get a glimpse at the highest level in the world.
So today, France fell to Sweden 2:1 in the 3rd place match (report .pdf). This was a fun match to watch and the US crew did a fine job. More on that aspect later.
There was a comment on the match that really struck me from Bruno Bini, the coach of France.
"At one point, the spectators starting behaving as if this were a men's match,'' Bini said through a translator. "We had boos and whistles for Sonia. It's unbelievable. She really didn't deserve that. The spectators behaved like this was a men's game, and I don't like this type of football. This destabilized the whole team."
I personally have been lambasted in the past for even suggesting there are differences between the men's and women's games. Well, Bruno did the talking and not me. Let me just say that I agree with the larger point that the fans are different, the athletes are different, the game is played differently, and yes, the refereeing is different. That one I have seen first hand from a few years of refereeing experience in WUSA while working in MLS.
What is fundamentally the same regardless of gender, is the love they all have for the game, and the respect they deserve for participating.
As I did the other day with Media Pinhead Bronze Medal: Michael Smith of ESPN, the next (2) posts I am going to call out some folks in the media that I believe are pinheads. This distinction may be for a variety of reasons, or a single event. In all cases these are my personal opinions about their professional conduct or work product. I don't know these people personally, so I can not comment, nor will I comment on them personally.
This one for me was based not in a pinpoint stupid comment as with Michael Smith, but with a continued and consistent lack of regard for referees and their art, or alternatively, a continued lack of understanding and gap filling with opinion.
This particular article is in regard to L. E. Eisenmenger (Examiner) and Paul Gardner (Soccer America).
I will say that both of these folks are very accomplished and very good journalists ... a whole lot better than me frankly. LE's profile can be found here, and some info on Paul here.
My reason for the "award" is the regularity that these folks pin the woes of the (soccer) world onto the referee's back.
I have taken particular note of this from very early this season. Back in the beginning of April, Paul Gardner wrote a couple of pieces lambasting MLS referees only a week into the season. That piece, A walk in the Garden(er), made sweeping generalizations about referees such as:
It evidently takes a good deal of time for officials to alter their mindset. We saw the same thing after the 1997 alteration to the offside rule ... . It took nearly a decade for that new thinking to sink in.
and,
It almost looks as if referees, as a body, decide to ignore any changes, but that of course, is ridiculous -- not least because referees have never been known to act in concert. The reason for their intransigence is evidently that, quite simply, they do find it difficult to adjust their way of doing things.
... does it really make any sense to finger the referees as the villains? It does not -- and, in this particular game, I do not believe that it was justified. ...
I do find it ironic though as it showed a fundamental shift from his earlier position that referees are not stern enough, or they are intractable in their thinking ... so much so that it took a decade in some cases to change.
Which is it Paul? If a referee was allowed the inconsistency shown here, they would be hung out to dry by the whole press core.
Now, while Paul provides a somewhat balanced, yet hopelessly tainted view of refereeing, LE does little to hide her bias, or in an alternate construction, her naivete about higher level refereeing. I leave it to the individual reader to decide.
Now there was the eye grabbing headline, Slack MLS referees lead to Javier Morales' broken leg: Commentary and photos, where LE spewed how bad MLS refereeing was ("MLS officiating hurting the League") but other than a seriously injured player, failed to connect any dots as to why a referee was to blame.
There have been four season-ending injuries caused by bad tackles to four of Major League Soccer's top players just eight weeks into the season.
The conclusory nature of those comments does little to convince that the referees are the blame for the thuggish, or reckless behavior. This part was funny:
Despite that MLS clubs brought in more talented players this year, the quality has declined due to the inability of most MLS referees to manage games.
Again drawing a conclusion without any facts in evidence to support the conclusion. Further, professionally she is not trained as one who could make that connection, even if the facts were there.
I applaud the passion, and at times I believe she is really on to something, either because she is developing the understanding, genuinely knows, or via the "tipsy coachman" theory.
Sealing the silver for me was her article, Zakuani's broken leg vs. MLS referee directive to 'manage with personality', where LE feebly tries to paint a 1::1 correlation between a brutal tackle that occurs in the 3rd minute of a match, and one of several directives that a referee is given, specifically to manage with personallity. In this particular case I genuinely believe LE was intellectually dishonest, as this was just a hit piece.
That brutal incident is here:
Lets look at some facts in this case.
1. The tackle was was brutal and there is no place for it.
2. The Incident occurred very early, at 2:53 of the match.
3. Mullen was send off straight away for the misconduct.
4. Mullen received a 10 game suspension for the incident.
With that as a backdrop, what does managing with personality have to do with anything? The whole article is a red herring to again beat up on referees. This particular referee was exactly correct in their decision. A brutal foul, and a send off, period. What else is there? What else does she want? A referee to predetermine, or PREJUDICE their view on an incident or player before something happens?
Now, in reading that article you again may get the sense she knows of what she speaks because she quotes refereeing legend Angelo Bratsis, as well as yours truly on the topic. Guess what folks, as with many things, she places them out of context. No one in the refereeing ranks condones such reckless behavior, it is what we are trained to stop. Also, I have never known a referee to try to talk their way out of something like this. It was reckless, brutal, and unnecessary. Managing with personality is one arrow in the quiver of tools a referee needs to manage a match at the high level, not a one size fits all remedy to match control. As always the "prime directive" as it were, is to protect THE game and its participants.
By way of an analogy, remember game 3 of the Stanley Cup playoffs? It had this brutal hit:
Not completely dissimilar. Horton is a skilled player for the Bruins, Rome is a thug for the Canucks. Lets look at some facts:
1. The hit was was brutal and there is no place for it.
2. The Incident occurred early, at 14:53 of the match.
3. Rome was send off straight away for the misconduct.
4. Rome received a 4 game suspension for the incident.
Amazingly similar fact pattern. Except for one thing, the media reaction.
Well in these cases I believe the American media has (2) "baked in" biases.
First is the one against referees of all sports, not just soccer. We are a natural target, the folks wearing the "black hat" who rarely get it right, or even if they do, no one is happy. Silence is praise for a referee. It is easy to be against referees as at least 50% of the participants in any given time generally are. There is no risk in writing such a piece.
Second, lets face it folks, refereeing at the MLS or international level is hard. It is an amazing balancing of social, economic, athletic, religious, governmental, and personal elements to try and manage a group that inherently don't want to be managed. We asked for the job though, so its ours to rise or fall, succeed or fail. BUT, armchair media (or really anyone) just don't have the patience to understand what goes into the art, and at these levels how subtle the craft is that we spend a lifetime developing. Watching a match for 90 minutes and making a decision about how a referee did based on a result without understanding more is not doing anyone a service. Most don't spend the time to understand and have the gift to articulate it. What's that life lesson, "Seek first to understand, then be understood?"
I would the opine the media don't understand, and many don't even try to. Some are just open about their anti-referee bias.
Also, and frankly, blaming the referee in either case does not even pass the "sniff test." NHL writers saw the act by Rome as independent from any referees conduct, LE apparently does not make that break and implies the referee was the cause of Zakuini's injury through his conduct of match management, for nearly 3 minutes.
Like I said to start, both these authors are very good and very accomplished. I read them both regularly. They provide insight into THE game and have at times really provoked my thinking about some matters.
Over the next (3) days I am going to call out some folks in the media that I believe are pinheads. This distinction may be for a variety of reasons, or a single event. In all cases these are my personal opinions about their professional conduct or work product. I don't know these people personally, so I can not comment, nor will I comment on them personally.
Bronze Medal Pinhead Winner: Michael Smith of ESPN
So as readers have seen I have been talking a bit about the Tour de France and commenting about how these guys, like with soccer are real athletes ... tough athletes ... and deserve respect for that.
Well, almost on cue with the dramatic stage 9 crash of riders Fletcha and Hoogerland detailed in Not for wimps, we get treated to Michael Smith of ESPN laughing at the incident via twitter. A full accounting of his unprofessional and insulting conduct can be found here, courtesy of the Washington Post.
Now it was not his initial comment laughing at the incident, as I can almost stretch reality to say that an anxious laugh is not outside the possible, but to continue FOUR MORE TIMES (the tweets can be seen here) to insult decency with his vapid comments goes beyond the pale.
Icing on the cake was his feigned apology:
This really showed his professional level of respect for athletes, or those who follow athletes. I would surmise from his smarmy comments, he has none.
A simple apology, even if a lie, or even silence would have been better from the ESPN pundit.
So what are his credentials to make such a statement and dismiss such incredible tenacity that saw these riders return today to the TDF and continue to compete? You would figure he knows something that the rest of us don't as to what makes a pro athlete (any pro athlete) tick or some inside track about the difficulty of coming back from something like getting hit by a car, getting strung up in a barbed wire fence, receiving 30 stitches, and still getting back on a bike to ride 158km today.
Something? Anything?
Nothing. Except a BS from Loyola in 2001 for mass communication.
From his ESPN bio, he is a beat reporter and analyst. He has no athletic credentials to speak of that I could find. I would figure that such credentials would be touted by ESPN if he had any, even a scintilla of athleticism.
Nothing. Nada. Zip.
So why do we listen? Because he provides such cunning insight about things he watches? What makes him such an expert? He has never been there or done that with anything related to sports from what I can see.
It is easy to shower comments down to the masses in a lounge chair, when one has never been in the hot seat, any hot seat.
So as a professional, he is really nothing more than a guy with a microphone and no clue about what he is talking about as he has no life experience with professional sports (or even collegiate sports maybe) as an athlete.
Should that stop him? Heck no! Perspective is important and 3rd party observers contribute to the fabric of our culture greatly. Look at me (not for adding to the fabric, but), I talk about professional sports other than THE game, and while I worked in the professional leagues for many years, it was not in the NHL, NFL, MLB, NBA or international cycling, to name a few. It's just a perspective.
Now to me, Smith shows he does not respect sport, not just a sport, but sport in general through his comments. I can appreciate pundits who are not experts (i.e. never been there or done anything) who given opinions. I respect the thoughtful ones, and dismiss the bobble heads. Even the bobble heads often times at least feign interest in what they are commenting on and serve as an ambassador to their respective organization.
Smith through his actions in this matter, in my estimation, has neither respect for sport, nor is a good ambassador for ESPN. If he were he would have just said nothing, or offered a genuine apology it would never have been an issue as, I don't think it is in his DNA to offer a genuine comment about the sheer athleticism of what happened to Fletcha and Hoogerland, or for that matter about cycling.
So the irony left is that ESPN has a sports commentator that does not respect sport. Sounds pretty useless to me.
A petition to have Michael Smith suspended from ESPN is here. I already signed it as Smiths conduct is inappropriate to have an ambassador of a sports media outlet show such disrespect for sport in general.
Say what you will about FIFA, they are a marketing machine. Just take a look at the recent statistics regarding viewership for the 2010 World Cup Final.
1 Billion people. That's about 1/7th of the Earth's population.
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.
