You make the call: 4th Official Version

As I prepare this evening to address a group of referees regarding some thoughts on the 4th official, I recalled the below incident in the Bruins v. Montreal series where Shawn Thorton gave PK Subban a "carwash" during the last minute of Game 5. This incident is below, take a peek:



Now, my question is, if you were the 4th Official, standing in the shoes of Pierre McGuire (seen just to the right of the incident) what would you do, and how would you do it?

My thoughts in a few days ...

How Brad Meier got screwed (not how he screwed the Russians)

By now most have heard about how the US Men's Olympic Hockey has advanced to play Canada in the Semi-Finals today (21-FEB-14) at 12:00 EST.

Team USA has played well, but not without controversy during the match with Russia on 15-FEB-14, where the USA won in overtime after a goal (box score) which was disallowed by American NHL referee Brad Meier.

To be clear I am not here to dispute the call. By all accounts it was correct for the international game. I am also not here to talk about the fanaticism of the Russian fans united to "make soap" out of Meier.

My beef is actually with the supervisor of officials for the International Ice Hockey Federation, Konstantin Komissarov. Now you say, that's odd as Komissarov was front and center in defending the referees for making the correct call, and has been vocal about it since the event occurred. My issue is why Meier was even assigned in the first place.

Meier was born in the US (Ohio) and was shortly moved to Canada where he has spent his life, however has never renounced his US citizenship and holds passports for both countries, making him both a Canadian and US citizen. From this my question becomes why oh why was a US citizen assigned to a US match!?!?!

There were several other referees available to do this (list of 2014 officials here) so why even have a whiff of impropriety‎? Yes Meier is supremely qualified and did a nice job in the match and no I don't think he was tainted in any way, but why even risk it?

Now look what we have ... protests be damned as they are of no consequence ... we have a good referee that made the correct call who will be excluded from any future games this Olympics IMHO. Now functionally that may have been the case anyway as if either the US or Canada go through he would be excluded due to seeing them already or his citizenship, respectively. Then again, can he "turncoat" to US citizenship if Canada goes through?

My point being that I think it was actually pretty silly to assign a US Citizen to a USA match, even if that citizenship is shared with another country. It has put a fog on the USA win over Russia, will certainly have a similar effect if they medal, and most importantly to me, has an excellent referee out of the ruining at a chance to referee a medal match.

Too Much Dabbling?

Yesterday I reported on Jerome Chanpagne's candidacy for FIFA presidency, and also praised him for at least wading into the waters of trying to make a referee's life easier by creating an "orange card" that would have the effect of putting an offending a player in a "sin bin."

He has also suggested a variety of other changes that can be seen at the article.

In the face of all of these suggested changes, and that of MLB approving expanded replay in 2014 and the NFL tinkering with the thought of eliminating the point after touchdown (PAT), are leagues going too far to change the game they represent?

I think so. Instead of tackling the real issues in sport like PEDs, corruption, professional referees, the respective administrators of their sport want to tinker with silly elements that have been, or not been, part of the game for a long time.

If you want to look at a pioneer for changes to the game, look at Sir Ken Aston with the truly meaningful changes he made throughout his life.

Some changes are necessary with time, such as helmets for football players, and eventually as a result in 1956 penalties called "facemasks" were introduced.

Or maybe in gameplay itself as when icing was introduced in 1937 to speed up play and promote attacking hockey.

As I have stated here before I am not a fan of all the technology into the game to "assist" referees. Man has not evolved to the point that another man can't detect if they are cheating or not, as hard as they may try. Changes to the respective games today seem to be toward the introduction of these technological "advances" to "assist" referees.

While there is a case to be made for the technology assistance from some, fundamental changes to the game, such as how the game is scored should be left alone. Last time something like this was changed in the NFL was 1912 when a touchdown was increased from 5 points to 6. Now 100 years later we need to change this for some reason?

In this day and age, changes to the game are not made for the sake of the game itself I feel, but rather to appeal to the widest television market a sport can attain, or correctly said, allow for as many advertisers as possible. I suspect the NFLs motivation is more in this vein.

While an argument has been made that (in the case of the NFL) these PATs are "automatic"and one notable coach names these as "non-plays" and there should not be "non-plays" in the game, it has been part of the game for a long time, and one that still provide some drama, however rare. Currently the last PAT missed was back in December of 2012. In the current season the conversion is hovering around 99.97%.

Not all that long ago (1932) the conversion rate for PATs was around 67% and teams in needing these point developed specialists to nab the PAT. Why take it away? Why not take away the 2 point conversion as well then? Field goals? Forward passes?

Like any game, I want it to be exciting, and some trains of thought may see the PAT as a non-exciting element of the game today. I respectfully disagree. In fact it heightens the drama as you should want to be there for that moment a kicker misses, or a team produces a trick play and runs it in.

How about this for a change to make the PATs more exciting ... make a touchdown worth 4 points ... a filed goal 3 ... retain the 2 point conversion ... and a PAT worth 1.

Yes the scores will be lower, but that PAT will mean a whole lot more.

Clearly it is unlikely they  will change the point value for a touchdown. Why? Certainly tradition.
So they why change the PAT?

Getting back to soccer, a very nice synopsis of law changes can be found here, courtesy of FIFA. Trust me, FIFA has done some dumb things to the LOTG as well, and at times has used the MLS as its petri dish.

I can sum this up in a word (from the early days of MLS):

Rampage.

For those who don't know about it ... imagine a set of (5) kicks per team, a goalkeeper in their net, a player at the 35 yard line, and the rest of the team at midfield. Everybody is in place and waiting. The JAR drops their flag and 22 players run at the ball in an effort to score or defend a score.

It was so absurd and so short lived I can't even find any video evidence of it.

FIFA and MLS quickly got the point how stupid it was, and abandoned the practice.

Tinkering is fine, kick ins for example were actually a cool idea and made sense for the game played with the feet ... but goofing around with the fabric of the game is not.

Just leave it alone guys, please.

A NHL Life

Often times I use other sports as a way to make a general message. Today is no different.

The NHL produced a series of video starting in November of 2013 called NHL Life. They are available on You Tube and at NHL.com.

Episode 2 in the series focuses on Tom Kowal based out of Calgary who has been with the league since the 1999 season and is below for your enjoyment.

This is well worth the 5ish minutes to view there are some powerful messages in there.

What I found funny was a few of the comments from You Tube shown immediately below. Many folks who are interested in getting to the professional level sometimes think there is some secret sauce that gets dabbed on folks. I'm here to tell you, there isn't.

You want to be a professional, yes you have to practice your craft more than anyone else to be the very best you can, but, you have to be an open, thoughtful, compassionate human when doing so.

Without these traits, it will be hard, if not downright impossible, to be the professional you may want to be.

Just let 'em play ref ...

Update: 24-SEP PM: I've changed the video source as the first was removed, and updated the times accordingly in relation to the new video.

Well then ... where to begin.

For those who did not see the PRESEASON hockey game between Buffalo and Toronto, here it is.

Check out the whole clip as it is instructional on many levels.


Now, to understand why this one happened, you need to go back to that Sabre's 4th goal by Tropp (a goal scorer) and Toronto sending Devane (a goon) to send a message. It winds up with Tropp getting the crap beat out of him, and slamming his head on the ice and lying there stunned in a pool of his own blood.

So it is right about this time that MEGA GOON John Scott gets a nod from the Sabre's bench and lines up albeit for a second with Phil Kessel (a goal scorer) and all heck breaks loose at 1:05 (now 1:40) in the video.

Now everyone saw this coming as within 5 seconds, (2) Leafs and (3) officials (a referee and (2) linesmen) were right in there trying to IMMEDIATELY break up what happened to avoid any further issues.

As soon as it was clear to both referees however that a brawl was imminent, both referees backed up and hemmed in the fights, as their assistants were hard at work saving Mr. Scott, or maybe saving everyone else from Mr. Scott.

Look at 1:17 (now 1:50) of the video, both referees had the whole mess pinned in and were able to observe the whole thing ... including the Leafs David Clarkson jumping in from the bench.

Now the fracas continued for some time and carried over to the Leafs bench, with Tim Nowak (#77) expertly keeping Scott from anyone else. I have to say too that Scott, while a goon, has my respect as he is there to play a role and does it well. He also is not there to give the referee any crap as we can see at 3:43 (now 4:19) when he gives Tim a couple of pats on the back to say, I'm done, no problem here.

This is more respect than I am giving Kessel not only for the cowardly chops initially with Scott's back turned but also at 3:10 (now 3:45) when he makes his way back over and gives Scott a poke. I would have actually liked Nowak to let him go for a second to grab Kessel. Would have served him right. (Just for the record that is not a Bruins thing, just hate cheap play like that.)

So, if everyone knew this was coming, why let it even happen?

My answer is because they had to let them play.

There was no legitimate reason to send a player before the fight. There is no reason why both can't line up for the face-off, even if they knew it was coming. The officials very simply had to let them play, until the moment the trouble began.

This is a very difficult position when you can anticipate as a referee that something is coming, but you can't do anything about it, until it does.

To somehow contort the LOTG or fabricate an excuse to dismiss a player as much as it may save a significant issue, is not the right or correct thing to do for anyone, or the game. It's dishonest, and prejudicial.

By the way ... I know what I'm doing on November 15th and 16th when these guys meet again.

Here's a question for us ... how do THOSE referees come into THAT game?

Is that prejudicial or good management?

Peter asks an astute question in his post from June 5 (Kicking Back, When Does Reputation Matter) when he wonders if a player's reputation matters to how the referee handles him.  He says (and I agree) that it does matter, and then goes on to give some great advice about how to deal with it.  Did you catch his suggestion?  I hope so, as he put it in all caps:  TELL THEM!

This may be a difficult concept for some.  As referees, I am sure many of us feel that factoring in a player's reputation is wrong.  After all, we are a society that presumes innocence until proven guilty. 

But Peter is correct.  We must tell them what to expect.  And guess what, we already do!

I am not talking about the largely ineffective blanket warning to the benches before the game starts.  "I will not tolerate any dissent today."  That never really works in the manner intended. 

Nor am I speaking about finding some clever combination of words that the player will accept, although that is certainly a possibility.  (I once introduced myself to a coach known to be a problem to referees by offering, "Good luck today and I hope you are around to watch the whole game."  He must have gotten the right message because I never heard a word from him during the game.)

I am really talking more about OUR reputations, and the subtle messages we send from before the game even starts.  Like it or not, we communicate a heck of a lot more than we think, often without even saying a word.

Example from the State Championship tournament held just last weekend.  I observed two referees handling stressful situations.  One is a very young and relatively inexperienced grade 8 referee, about 5-1/2 feet tall.  The other was a mature grade 7 referee, about six feet tall with over 15 years in the program.  Advantage goes to the older referee, right?

Wrong.  Body language conveyed something different.  The rookie stood strait and appeared confident and assertive.  He looked people in the eye when he spoke to them.  However the veteran was slouched, and averted his eyes when speaking.  He appeared unsure and non-confrontational.  Both of those referees sent messages, and the players (and coaches and spectators) all received the message and acted accordingly. 

Oh yes, the words we choose also matter, as does our tone of voice, gestures, facial expressions, even whistle tone.  As referees, we are constantly sending messages about what we will or will not tolerate.  There is nothing wrong with this, in fact it is the essential tool we have in controlling a match. 

And it applies to everyone we meet in all facets of life.  Do not be afraid to tell people what you expect. 

Soccer is life.

When does reputation matter?

To start, lets take a look here at Matt Cooke's hit on Adan McQuaid in Game 1 of the Eastern Finals.



Now, in a bottle, Cooke got exactly what he deserved. He received a game misconduct (send off) and took no further suspension from the NHL. This was widely accepted by most knowledgeable on all sides of the issue.

But now let's start taking it out of the bottle with some of Matt Cooke's history:



My question to this audience is, what is a referee to do? Do they act proactively and "eagle eye" a player like Cooke until he does something, then send him off, or even get a bit more heavy handed?

Or, do you take each match as a "clean slate" and let it build up until something happens?

Where does the league come in ... and what if there is no league per se to administer punishments. A good example may be a youth league when there are so many participants that only the most egregious are dealt with.

For me, a referee has to do their homework and first understand the key match ups, stars, and villains.

Cooke is clearly a villain based on his behavior. This also go beyond a typical "goon" employed in hockey that is there to drop the gloves in tactical situations to make a point, he seemingly tries, and has succeeded to injure other players.

With this in mind, a referee can't prejudge what is going to happen, it has to happen before a referee can act. That said, a referee can certainly make a player like Cooke feel uncomfortable by putting them, and TELLING THEM, there are under extra scrutiny, in an artful way.

From there, if such a player strays from "the line", they should receive the absolute maximum allowed under the LOTG.

Some may say this is biasing a result based on a  players history, and that is true. Think about a couple of things however.

First, is a similar tact taken with players who simulate? They are generally the same players, and they flop, match, after match, after match. Referees see the pattern, and are less inclined bite the more this happens, especially if they have been suckered for a goal or two. A referee waits for the event, and then makes a determination ... with an eye toward history.

Second, is match management. What would happen if a player was allowed time and time again to come back and take shots to injure another?

Mayhem.

Players would take matters into their own hands, and indeed may if Cooke tries something like this again in this series.

A referee will do well to protect the game from ANY who try to damage it.

On a final note, the league and team have responsibility here too, and I believe in equal parts. There has to come a point that these guys take a look at the cumulative effect of Cooke's hits, and make the courageous decision that he is there is injure, not play The Game.

Referees do not have that ability, and have to rely on incidents they witness to take action ... even severe action to protect the game.

I expect more from the league, and the team who employs such a troubled player.

Do I Have To Go Mom?

Photo Credit: USA Today

So unless you have been living under a rock for the last week or so, the controversy about Tim Thomas, Net minder for the NHL Boston Bruins, and his decision  and statements to not accept an invitation from POTUS has just not gone away.

If anyone is interested in other notable athletes that have not accepted a POTUS invitation to the WHite House, just take a look here. Also, former Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstien refused an invitation from POTUS as well, back in 2008.

To stay politically neutral, lets look at Alex Ovechkin, from the NHL Washington Capitals who refused to participate in the NHL All Star Game this year.

Without regard to politics, if put in a similar situation should a referee refuse such an invitation for an "official function?"

My answer is no, if representing yourself as a referee.

Now there is a thin line here as I am also a strong believer of the 1st Amendment to the COTUS, and the acts described above plainly fit into that category. However, if as a referee you are asked to an official function, such as an awards ceremony, you should go if at all possible.

This has nothing to do with the individual in their individual capacity, it has everything to do with you representing yourself as part of a larger team, that of US Soccer referees.

There is always time later to express your individual views, (look at Kicking Back as an example of this as I would have NEVER said most of the things when I was an active referee) but there is also a time to act as a professional and do what is best for the team, not just the individual.

I will say finally that, even if an individual chooses not to accept an invitation to an event, it should not be held against them as to refute ones deeply held personal beliefs, is not conducive to team coherence, which is critically important, especially when you are looking for that offside flag.

NEVER Touch A Youth Player

Don't believe me, ask Mike Milbury.

Milbury sought in Pee Wee altercation

Former Bruins player and coach Mike Milbury may face charges for allegedly grabbing and shaking a 12-year-old boy after a Pee Wee hockey game, according to Brookline police. The incident occurred Dec. 9 after an exhibition game between the Boston Jr. Blackhawks and the Boch Blazers at Jack Kirrane Ice Skating Rink in Larz Anderson Park. ...

See the whole article here, from the Boston Globe.

Kicking Back Comments: So let me begin by saying I am not  commenting on the case itself as it will bear itself out in the days ahead.

More relevant is the clear message that you can't put your hands on a youth player, regardless of your intent. Now, amateur and pro players are a different ball of wax, but the youth, don't do it. No matter how well intentioned, no matter how well natured, no matter what, don't do it.

It may be for all the right reasons such as to help a player up, to break up a fight, to attend to an injury. DON'T DO IT.

One time, you are going to run into a crazy parent who will, regardless of your intent, demonize you and press charges calling it a battery (you have to make contact for a battery, an assault is just putting someone in fear of being touched), just don't do it.

Keep in mind too, everyone has a smart phone, everyone has a camera, and will collect "evidence" that will be used against you, and your insurance company in a court if law, a tort action, or just to make you miserable. DON'T DO IT.

As sad as it makes me to say that, it continues to be clear that people are not looking at the big picture of one person trying to help another, but what "harm" has come to their child.

Save yourself the trouble, and don't touch a youth player, ever.


Need a video example ... take a look immediately below. Listen to the comments from the stands too.

On a side note with the case, the Brookline PD did not do themselves any favors in commenting. From the article:

"Brookline police captain Thomas Keaveney said that with four children that have played sports, it doesn’t surprise him to receive reports a former professional hockey player getting involved in an alleged assault.

“I’ve seen a lot of irresponsible things done by adults and Mike Milbury is no different in my mind,’’ said Keaveney."

Now if I am Milbury's lawyer I am bring this front and center about bias toward his client that the Brookline PD has. Now in his playing days he was no angel as you can see below where he beat up a fan with a shoe at MSG, but you know what, that is a long way from what he is being accused of, so please BPD and others of the same mindset, throttle back a bit and give the man his day.

BTW, great vintage hockey clip. Classic stuff.

Not so illusive after all

So for anyone who has been following hockey recently, the other night we were treated to an event so rare, it defies reality ... a perfect game for the referees.

On Friday, May 27th 2011, Referees Dan O'Halloran, Stephen Walkom, Kelly Sutherland, and Linesmen: Steve Miller, Pierre Racicot, and Jean Morin officiated a pro hockey game with exactly zero penalty minutes. Outstanding.

See the full box score here, courtesy of USA Today.

How did they do it? Here is an opinion.

They didn't really do anything except recognize why the players were there.

To play.

Basically they got and kept the heck out of the way and quietly managed the game to allow the players to play.

That's all the players really wanted.

You see, here to me is the strongest case of all that the referees have very little to do with the outcome of a game, how many fouls occur, or if a players gets injured.

If the players want to play, the game takes care of itself.

Don't believe me? Take a look here for the following quotes from the NESN article.

"I don't think I've ever been in a game where there's been no penalties, but I think that was the best way to go. The refs did a great job of just letting us play and letting the best team win."

"I mean, they complained before Game 6 about the referees and we had some words about it before this game. I'm happy they let us play. I don't feel like it was a dirty game at all. Maybe there was one or two calls that they could have made, but it was great that they let us play and play to the finish. It's just fitting with how the series has gone that the game went the way that it did and it ended off the way that it did."

"I think the refs realized the situation and wanted the players to decide the game," Kelly said. "That's the way it should have been, especially a Game 7."

Here is one end of the spectrum of respect and understanding for referees. I will show you the other in a day or two, straight out of the MLS.

Bye Bye NHL? MLS to take the #4 Spot in US Sports?

Major League Soccer is Poised to Overtake the NHL as the 4th Most Popular Professional Sports League in the U.S.

As data from the 2010 Census emerges, the cultural demographic of the U.S. population is shifting. It’s only a matter of time until our sports landscape catches up.

For the better part of half a century, U.S. professional sports have been dominated by the four major professional sports leagues: the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League. ...

See the full story here, courtesy of Fox News Latino.

Kicking Back Comments: An interesting article but not really an apples to apples comparison. It would appear Ms. Ortiz conclusions are based largely on the 2010 census data. There are some key points she left out.

First while she compared head to head average game attendance with MLS and NHL, she neglects to account for at least two variables. First, each NHL team plays about twice as many games as an MLS team. Second, there are about twice as many NHL teams as MLS teams. If you account for both of these factors, NHL average per game attendance would be 4x MLS average attendance.

That aside, the individual market numbers are interesting and are more apples to apples as are the general trends of increasing attendance for MLS, and decreasing attendance for the NHL.

All and all this is a feel good piece for MLS which continues to expand in its 16th year, and a feel good piece for Latinos who themselves saw growth as a demographic in the 2010 census.

Both are great things for THE game.