Just remember you saw it here first ...

... but there are some other interesting details in the blurb from Soccer America.

See them all here.

Kudos to Tom Weir (USA Today) and the Chicago Bulls

Often times I rail and whine here about the need for adults to act like adults and stop blaming a referee for their own circumstances. Tom Weir and the Chicago Bulls did exactly that ... they did not blame the referee.

In Weir's story (Did refs hose Bulls last night? Not really) he provides a thoughtful analysis of the free throw situation across the series thus far, clearly indicating that the result was "fairly predictable" that the Bulls did not get to the line that much in game 5. He actually used facts, real facts to show that:

Going into Game 4the FT tries were near even, with Miami holding a 68-67 edge. That wasn't to be expected, given that Miami was one of the NBA's best teams at getting to the line during the regular season. The Heat's 2,288 FT attempts ranked third, behind only Denver (2,429) and Oklahoma City (2,401). The Bulls ranked 11th.

Equally heartening was that the Bulls did not play "the ref card", as Weir calls it. There were several great quotes from the Bulls who, I think, had a very enlightened view of what happened.

The Bulls didn't play the ref card. Carlos Boozer told the Chicago Tribune that, "We've never been an excuse team. We're not going to start being an excuse team now. They got fouled, I guess we didn't."

Added Taj Gibson: "Whatever happens, you can't argue with the ref. They're going to make the call, so you have to keep playing. You can't hang your head and whine about the call. You have to keep playing."

It gave me great hope that there are some level heads out there that at least recognize, even if the referee is wrong, that you have to keep going. Believe me, referees reflect deeply on mistakes they made, and even ones they did not, to make things better. Having a player or coach bark at you in the press does not make things any better, or help the overall situation.

Kudos to Mr. Weir and the Bulls.

Easy as 1, 2, 3, 4 ...

There are times when the WWW is just silly. Here is an example.
I wish I had known this when I was working to become an MLS referee. =/

How to Become an MLS Official

Major League Soccer (MLS) is a soccer league for 13 top soccer teams in the United States and Canada. The group was founded in 1996 and has experienced major growth; by 2010, they hope to be made up of 16 teams. Follow these steps if you love soccer and would like to become an official in the MLS.

Difficulty:

 

Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. • 1
     Become a referee in the MLS. To become an MLS referee, you must be a National Referee in the United States Soccer Federation. You can only hold that position if you have officiated in over 500 games in a period of not less than 7 years.

See the full 4 step plan here, courtesy of eHow.com.

Wearing the black hat

The other day I was reminded of old spaghetti westerns, really most westerns where good guys wore white hats, and bad guys wore blacks hats.

As most of you know I coach a youth soccer team that Jr. is on. As part of that I work with all the players on a variety of topic and tend to things during the match like strategy (as much as their youth minds will absorb) and just general care and nurturing of players (e.g. bringing oranges and tending to minor injuries).

With memorial day weekend coming up, we played a Saturday/Sunday set to be able to take that weekend off. Saturday I was a coach and wearing the white hat, Sunday I was pressed into service as a referee and was clearly wearing the black hat.

Don't get me wrong, most of the kids on Jr's team were great and got what I was doing and in what capacity I was there. There were some however who were just outright mean at the prospect. After the match I tried to talk with them in a person to person context. They would have none of it.

I was shocked honestly that even just wearing a referee jersey changed me from approachable and helpful to shunned and suspicious.

Sometimes people forget that under the uniform (player or referee) is a person and that regardless of what color hat they wear, should deserve fundamental respect as a person.

I don't fault these kids, they are good kids and I know better, but they are learning it from somewhere. When I watch adults at these matches berating teenage players and referees however, it is no surprise that young players act the way they do, and that we are losing these young referees at a 50% rate year on year.

Paul Levy in his blog (Not Running a Hospital) summed it up nicely in his post, "Dear Coach."

Next time your out, keep in mind those little sponges are picking up everything we do as adults, and trying to mimic it in a way appropriate to them as very young kids. As you can imagine, it does not work out too well.

Just take a second and reflect before hurling that barb. You may end up saving a player or referees career in the process.

3 US Referees Selected for 2011 Gold Cup

Special thanks to Jeff for bringing this one forward.

Well folks the Gold Cup will soon be here. The tournament opens June 5th in Dallas. A schedule and tickets are available here.

In total, 15 referees and 15 assistant referees have been selected to referee in the tournament, pending successfully completing a fitness test the week prior in Dallas.

Further, our own Brian Hall in his capacity with CONCACAF is holding an Elite course in preparation for upcoming Champions League and World Cup qualification matches.

Among the list, found here, are US referees, Jair Marrufo and Baldomero Toledo, and US assistant referee Charles Morgante.

Best of luck to them all.

Legal or not?

Take a look at the video clip below, or here.

Legal under the LOTG?

If yes, no problem.
If no, misconducts? Restart?

Please share your comments below.

There's an app for that

The other day we spoke about concussion awareness.

One of our readers (Thanks Frenchie) brought forward an app that can help detect a concussion before bringing such a person to a medical professional to evaluate. Please note, no application is a substitute for a qualified medical opinion, except for the EMH program on Star Trek Voyager. But if you have one of those this whole thing is probably a moot point.

Take a peek ... it's free, and it takes up very little space (~9M) on your device.

It can be found here on iTunes.

Concussion Awareness

Kicking Back Comments: It is important for a referee to know the signs of a concussion in the event they run across a player who may have suffered one. Please note, referees are generally not Medical Doctors, and if they are, they can not successfully discharge both duties.

If there is doubt, ANY DOUBT that a player is injured, have them evaluated by a coach or trainer as soon as possible (i.e. stop the game). As I have said before, always err on the side of safety and no one can fault you.

See the good essay below from friend of THE game, and avid blogger, Paul Levy for a perspective from a youth soccer coach.

Really? A Concussion?

This is an essay written by Aub Harden, a fellow Under-14 soccer coach. It has an important message. Concussions are not just the province of professional football players, and they are not always obvious.

It’s Monday morning and we’ve just received a call with the verdict: "Yes, your daughter definitely has a concussion from her soccer game on Saturday."

Really? A concussion? ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of Not Running a Hospital

Open for debate

Fifa TV Debate: Add Your Support To Campaign

Sky News viewers are being urged to back a campaign for a televised debate between the two candidates for Fifa president.

The current chief of football's world governing body, Sepp Blatter, is still to respond to an invitation to take part in the head-to-head.

He received our invitation 46 days ago, but has yet to give a 'yes' or 'no' - despite growing support for the televised discussion.

When pressed for his answer last Wednesday, a spokesman for the 75-year-old responded by email to say: "We are still in (the) planning process and I will assure you to come back to you shortly." ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of Sky News.

Kicking Backs Comments: Well it's not a national football federation that is bringing some pressure, but having Sky News pushing on you is no small thing. I'll bet FIFA is not happy about this one. I'm waiting to hear from @FakeSepp on the matter. I doubt we will here from the real McCoy, unless it's "Bones" McCoy of Star Trek fame.

Deny and make counter allegations

FIFA executive committee member Worawi plans legal action over bribery accusations

BANGKOK, Thailand — FIFA executive committee member Worawi Makudi says he will file charges against former English Football Association chief David Triesman for making bribery accusations.

Worawi, also head of the Football Association of Thailand, has denied Triesman’s accusations that he demanded the television rights to a proposed Thailand-England friendly in exchange for supporting England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup. ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of the Washington Post.

Kicking Back Comments: You had to see this one coming. In my opinion, the one thing some of these FIFA execs like more than money and power, is their pride. I am predicting that this suit will go nowhere. It is just a way to create more confusion to distract us from watching an organization circling the drain.

There way be a couple of problems with the FA's stand against FIFA however. First, the FA itself is bogged down in corruption charges. Second, the FA alone can not change FIFA, it needs help. An interesting article is here that discusses these points.

Is there another brave national organization in the world willing to do the right thing? The time is now, as the FIFA presidential elections approaches. 

You know it's bad when ...

... The Economist is picking up on how corrupt FIFA is. Check out this article, it is certainly worth the read! Personally, I think they are onto something as it would certainly make the process more transparent.

Time to blow the whistle and put the right to host the World Cup on eBay

May 12th 2011 | from the print edition

WHEN it comes to long, rancorous and pointless rows, few things are in the same league as the world’s favourite sport. (Note to American readers: we speak of the game you call soccer.) Arguments rage for days—decades—after the final whistle. Was the ball over the goal-line? (Note to German readers: maybe not at Wembley in 1966, yes in Bloemfontein in 2010.) Was that sending-off deserved, or a gross miscarriage of justice? Was the referee brilliant, blind or bribed? ...

See the full article here, courtesy of The Economist.

Read and Reflect

U.S. Club Soccer has changed radically in 10 years

This year marks the 10th anniversary of U.S. Club Soccer, which since gaining U.S. Soccer Federation membership in 2001 has served as an alternative to U.S. Youth Soccer. We spoke with U.S. Club Soccer chairman Phil Wright about the past, present and future of the organization that now has member clubs and leagues in 50 states, runs national and state cup competitions, a player identification program (id2) and the girls Elite Clubs National League (ECNL).

SOCCER AMERICA: I’ve heard it said that U.S. Club Soccer’s aim is to drive U.S. Youth Soccer out of business. …

See the whole article here, courtesy of Soccer America.

Kicking Back Comments: So lets think about this for a second ... Here is an excellent example of how THE game has changed over just the last 10 years. Do we as referees believe that we have adapted to that change? Is this change that we as referees need to worry about (e.g. organizational changes for youth soccer)? Has the refereeing organizational world kept up, or exceeded its mandate making sure its population is well cared for?

Granted some goals are different between the two entities, but the root of the question remains ...

Do US Soccer referees get what they need to evolve with THE game?

FIFA ... Corruption ... Again ... I'm Shocked ... LOL

Special thanks to Dr. Rice for bringing this one forward.

Six From FIFA Are Accused in Bribery Case

Soccer’s world governing body, which has little international oversight and has long faced charges of corruption, found itself embattled again Tuesday when six of its top officials were accused of participating in a bribery scandal related to bids for the 2018 and the 2022 World Cups.

The news was particularly embarrassing and perhaps threatening for FIFA’s president, Sepp Blatter. Though not accused of corruption himself, Blatter faces re-election next month as his reputation continues to suffer and the organization he runs continues to be plagued with accusations of illicit behavior. ...

See the rest of the story here, courtesy of the NYT.

Kicking Back Comments: I sure hope someone wakes up and takes some action in June for the FIFA presidential elections. We have gone past silly, into ludicrous. Reminds me of that bit from SpaceBalls. A clip showing how silly ludicrous speed is, can be found below and here. Please draw your own conclusions about art imitating FIFA life.

Home Depot Center to host MLS Cup 2011

The Galaxy has played in Major League Soccer's championship event five times, successfully claiming the MLS Cup twice, but never in front of a home crowd. The team will have another shot at it this year as the MLS Cup 2011 will be take place at Home Depot Center on Nov. 20, the league announced Tuesday.

"We are extremely pleased to be able to once again host MLS Cup, our league's most important game, in the premier soccer stadium in this country, the Home Depot Center," Galaxy President Tom Payne said. "We would like nothing more than to be playing in MLS Cup 2011 at home in front of our fans." ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of the LA Times.

Kicking Back Comments: Well the venue is set ... any bets on who the referees are going to be? I have some thoughts ...

Change FIFA ...

Special thanks from Kicking Back to Jeff for bringing this one forward.

An interesting read and full of self evident truths. Very passionate for sure, and clear that there are folks around the world that are done with FIFA in its current form. Misguided in some of their other posts (e.g. Barack Obama can force change in FIFA and the World's game), but good reads regardless, as some points are spot on (e.g. Nike and Adidas rule the world).


Take a few minutes and decide for yourselves and remember folks, like here, it is an opinion piece.

THE MOMENT OF TRUTH
March 29th, 2011

ChangeFIFA Calls On FIFA And Its’ Members To Live By Their Own Credo Of “Fair Play” And Give Legendary Football Player, Elias Figueroa, The Opportunity To Run For FIFA President

Washington, D.C., U.S.A. – Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - ChangeFIFA has asked football legend, Elias Figueroa, 64, to run for President of FIFA and now calls on FIFA and its’ Members to live by their own self-professed credo of “Fair Play” and allow Mr. Figueroa to run for President.

According to FIFA’s own Fair Play Code, opponents are a necessary part of every competition and should be given the same rights and respected. It states: “Winning is without value if victory has been achieved unfairly…Fair play always has its reward, even when the game is lost. Playing fair earns respect, while cheating only brings shame…Without opponents there can be no game. Everyone has the same rights, including the right to be respected.” ...

See the whole article here, courtesy of Change FIFA.

Is there an MLS team in the house?

Rongen out as U.S. U-20 coach

When the U.S. men's Under-20 national team failed to qualify for the U-20 World Cup for the first time in seven tries, and with one of the best collections of talent in recent memory, head coach Thomas Rongen was at the top of those facing blame for the failure.

That failure has cost Rongen his job. After 10 years at the helm of the Under-20 team, Rongen has been relieved of his duties, U.S. Soccer confirmed to FOX Soccer on Thursday.

There is no timetable on finding a replacement, but former U.S. national team star Tab Ramos is handling head coaching duties on a U.S. Under-20 team trip to France later this month. Ramos is not the interim head coach, though he could conceivably be considered a candidate to replace Rongen. ...

See the full story here, courtesy of ESPN.

Kicking Back Comments:

I wish Thomas well. We have dealt with each other before and he has always struck me as a classy guy. It did remind me however ... There are times that coaches get particularly animated. Sometimes it is because they have a bee in their bonnet about something completely unrelated to the game at hand. Sometimes they are upset about something inside the field for that day. Sometimes they are concerned for their job and the match you are refereeing can make a difference.

As a referee, we need to be empathetic to the fact that coaches are paid at the higher levels, even the club level, and their continued employment often is contingent on what a team's win-loss record is. While not the fault of a referee if the ball does not roll the right way that day, it does have an impact, a real life impact, on the paid staff.

This is not to imply that a referee need do anything more than what they are to manage a match, except be aware that someones livelihood may depend on the results. Yes it is a game, but for some, it is also a job they feed their family with.

Whistle ... check. Flipping coin ... check. Hazmat suit ... check.

Contamination closes soccer field
Tests at Salem's McGrath Park reveal lead and cadmium

SALEM — The discovery of contaminated soil has forced the city to shut down part of McGrath Park, the main field used by Salem Youth Soccer.

Soil tests done for a construction project revealed "elevated levels" of two metals, lead and cadmium, at the lower field at McGrath Park, according to Jason Silva, chief administrative aide to Mayor Kim Driscoll.

The upper field will remain in use since tests there did not reveal a problem. ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of the Salem News.

Kicking Back Comments: This is a little spooky (all puns intended related to Salem MA rich occult history) as the metals found can cause serious health issues. Kudos to the town for taking such immediate steps to restrict access to the kiddies and helping them find a new field.

I wonder how many local towns are going to subtly do a soil test now looking for issues such as these?

That's it !!??!!

So apparently FIFA is "giving in" and is set to adopt goal line technology for the 2012-2013 season as reported here by Guardian.

There were some funny things in this article:

Fifa has recognised the shortcomings of the previous testing environment and, in a tender document circulated on April 20, stated: "The tests will be conducted in two phases at a football stadium selected by the respective technology providers, in consultation with Fifa."

How were these tested previously? Not in a football stadium? The engineer in me is coming out and really wondering what happed here the first time around that somehow the testing would not be accurate?

This next line was hilarious.

To proceed to the second round, technologies must demonstrate a minimum of 90% accuracy in recognising whether both a static or a moving ball is across the line.

90%. That's it !!??!!

Frankly, what a joke. While I don't have a hard number, anecdotally if referees had a 10% margin for error on this stuff they would get in deep, deep trouble.

That is an outrageous and unacceptable number! For all the whining that has been done about referees missing crucial goal line calls, and the solution ...

We will get it right 9 out of every 10 times at least ... please.

Give me a live referee 10 out of 10 times.

Massachusetts 2011 Appointments to the Region I Tournaments

One of the most exciting things for me in my young career as a referee was to travel to matches in different states, see different teams, and work with other referees.

As we approach the thrust of the Spring 2011 season there are several young referees who have distinguished themselves to earn the privilege to attend some of the most prestigious youth tournaments in this part of the country, and may earn the opportunity while there, to go even further.

Please join me in congratulating all the referees below for their upcoming appointments.

President's Cup (May 27-30, 2011 - Saratoga Springs, NY):

Jordan Cavaco
Cory Cloutier
Mike Filios
Ron Judd
Aaron Lewinter
Max Perkins
David Rixham
Eric Schreiber
Kristin Sundberg
Brian Trischitta
Matthew Visconti

ODP Region I Tournament - (June 10-12, 2011 - Rider University, NJ):

Kenneth Koopmans
Anthony Brossi
Corson Fidler
Nicholas Grimard
Aaron Lewinter
Cara Pember
Max Perkins
Jo-Ellen Rowley
Kristin Sundberg
Brian Trischitta
Sarah Wooley

Alternates:

Matthew Visconti

Danielle Kaminski

David Rixham

Region I Championships - (June 30 - July 5, 2011 - Huntington, WV):

Anthony Brossi
Cory Cloutier
Michael Dee
Nathanael Dewhurst
Randall Kelley
Kenneth Koopmans
Nelson Machado
Jennine Regan
Peter Ries
Eric Schreiber
Kristin Sundberg
Alex Wallach-Hanson

Alternates:

DJ Corey

Sarah Wooley

Danielle Kaminski

Aaron Lewinter

CONMEBOL to back Blatter

CONMEBOL to back Blatter

South America's confederation (CONMEBOL) will back Sepp Blatter in the upcoming FIFA Presidential campaign against rival Mohamed Bin Hammam.

Blatter's recent criticism of the organisation of World Cup 2014 to be held in Brazil saw suggestions that he would not be a popular choice in South America, but Argentina football chief Julio Grondona told the CONMEBOL executive board he was in no doubt as to who he would be voting for next month. ...

See the whole article here courtesy of ESPN.

Kicking Back Comments: Interesting if true. I also wonder if this was a way for Brazil to get FIFA off its back regarding the upcoming World Cup. A promise for a vote in exchange for some silence?

We will see next month ...