Twice is just as nice ...

It's Sunday, It's Soccer, It's Angry Birds - 'Nuff Said

Chuck's OUT!

FIFA Whistleblower Blazer to Quit CONCACAF Role at Year’s End

Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Chuck Blazer, the soccer official whose corruption complaints led to a senior FIFA colleague being banned for life, will step down as general secretary of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football at the end of this year.

Blazer, 66, said in a e-mailed statement that he’ll end his two-decade tenure with CONCACAF, one of soccer’s six regional confederations, on Dec. 31. He’ll continue as a member of FIFA’s executive committee and intends to “pursue other career opportunities” in the sport. ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of Bloomberg.

Kicking Back Comments: As is clear here, I am no fan of FIFA as an institution. Check however is a bright spot in an otherwise black hole. CONCACAF, and selfishly the US, are losing a tremendous advocate.

"The Great MLS Referee Database Thread"

The subject very, very, interesting thread from Big Soccer can be found here.

Here is the lede from Maniacal Clown:

I hereby declare this new thread to be where we shall discuss MLS referee assignments of years past as well as discuss and work as a community on the database I have created to keep track of all these stats.

I'm going to be posting year by year statistics gradually as I slog through the copying and pasting of SQL queries and turn it into something readable. Don't expect more than one year in one night. I might go insane if I tried to do it all at once.

What does FIFA have against the elderly and students?

Brazil, FIFA fight over 2014 World Cup

RIO DE JANEIRO -- With fewer than a thousand days to go before Brazil 2014, the 20th World Cup, there is a standoff between two heavyweights -- Dilma Rousseff and Sepp Blatter, the presidents, respectively, of Brazil and FIFA.

At the heart of the dispute are the problems of staging the World Cup in a developing economy. For FIFA, the World Cup is low-risk -- it makes its money from the sale of TV rights. Meanwhile, it makes all sorts of demands on the host nation, and in a country such as Brazil there are many competing claims on the public purse. ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of ESPN.

Kicking Back Comments: So where did my lede come from? Well in the article, you can find this:

FIFA has been anxiously waiting for Brazil to pass a law bringing into effect a legislative framework for 2014. Brazil has been in no hurry, and is unwilling to give FIFA all it wants; Brazilian law, for example, decrees that senior citizens should pay half-price for public events. Some of the country's 27 states extend the same right to students. FIFA wants no discounts.

Nice, huh. Arguably, the most vulnerable in a developing economy, and no discounts. This too from the fact that FIFA derives most if its revenue from TV royalties.


A new low? Nah, business as usual.


This one will get interesting as the days click by, and no agreement is reached.

FIFA kicks Myanmar out of WC qualifying

FIFA kicks Myanmar out of qualifying for 2018 World Cup after crowd violence

ZURICH — FIFA has kicked Myanmar out of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup as punishment for crowd violence at a 2014 qualifier in July.

Fans threw stones and water bottles onto the field during Myanamar’s game against Oman on July 28, forcing the referee to abandon the match. ...

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

Kicking Back Comments: Is FIFA too heavy handed here? Should the players be striped of an opportunity due to the negligence of the fan(atics) or National Federation?

Sad Yet Funny Commnetary

See it here, from Not Running a Hospital.

Just a High School Match?

We started discussing yesterday about a match that I refereed earlier in the week, and my field position. Just as background, this was a high school level match that wound up as a 1::1 result. Evenly played, no major headaches.

Specifically we looked at "getting off the diagonal" and how it was necessary to be near play and get into the field more. To illustrate this point we used a GPS plot of my last match, which can be accessed below:

Now, if you hit the "View Details" button, you are going to be treated to a few other things too.

First is a summary of what went on:

I was a little blown away by the distance and calories frankly. Looking a little deeper, I saw something that should be self evident for referees ...

... we don't run at one speed. And in fact we are all over the map and need to be able to go from a stop, to a sprint, in a hurry.

If you look at the speeds also, you can see the average moving speed was 4.3 MPH and the top speed was 10.9 MPH. Note also that I was walking or stopped for about 23 minutes of the match.

Another indicator of effort was my heart rate ...

... which peaked at about 189 (not the theoretical max of 178 for me [220-age]), and averaged 172bpm. Note this does not include the half time interval where it was recorded in the 120's.

So what is the take away? Be ready to RUN for 90 minutes regardless of match!

It does not matter what level it is, or what competition you are at, a referee needs to be ready. This match was a well skilled, garden variety hight school match, and I had to run 9km, which is equivalent to fullback Mauricio Sabillon from Honduras in his 2010 World Cup match (source).

While fitness in not everything, a referee needs to be ready with fitness like this, even in their own backyard to be able to handle such matches appropriately.

Whatever you do, DON'T get lulled into think "it's just a high school match."

Stuck on the Diagonal

Over the next couple of days I am going to share some thoughts on mechanics, technology, and fitness as it relates to a match I refereed the other day.

Today is a small discussion about not being "stuck on the diagonal." We hear it a lot when dealing with mechanics of the Diagonal System of Control (DSC). As a referee, and an assessor, you can draw pictures and diagrams until one is blue in the face, yet it is still hard at times to visualize one's own performance in this area.

Why you do not want to be "on" the diagonal all the time is clear ... the play generally is not there and a referee needs to be close to play to best judge it, or mete out punitive actions as necessary. Nothing looks more horrible to be than a referee having to sprint 20 yards to give a cation to a player standing still.

Enter technology to help ...

Garmin, arguably the world leader in GPS technologies, makes a series of pretty amazing devices, than can be used for some pretty amazing things. I use the Edge 500 on my Cannondale Synapse as a bike computer, and it is a-m-a-z-i-n-g. Combined with Garmin Connect, it is really one of the most revolutionary pieces of equipment I own.

Now, Garmin also make another really neat toy, the 405CX, among others that combines GPS and fitness monitoring similar to the Edge 500 for cycling. I happen to wear it the other day during my match, and what did I see:


I have opened up the access so all can see, and I will get into the fitness aspects tomorrow, but for now, look at the motion track (click on Aerial for a field view).

Even better look at this plot from Google Earth:

Now, looking at this I notice a couple of things right away.

First, I had reasonable coverage of most of the field (red track).

Second, I seemed to stay out of the penalty area, and the ARs diagonals (blue lines near touch lines), unless there was a reason to be there.

Third, I seemed to be sufficiently off the diagonal to be considered not "stuck" on it.

Finally, I seemed to NOT cover the opposite corner of the JAR very well (shaded in yellow). Not true of the SAR side as I seemed to be there a fair amount.

Here is where a referee can use technology to really help their match. Next time I am out (which is next week), I will do this again (and share) and try to improve on getting into that corner.

With a tool like this, one can be aware, and understand what may need to be augmented, from match to match.

FIFA '12 Review

So here we go again. The annual iteration, the roster update, the Fifa gravy train chugs on… Except, EA Canada has never really been into the idea of making the same thing over and over again with just a serving of updated team sheets, a couple of fresh modes and a new photo of Rooney for the cover. ...

See the full review here, courtesy of The Guardian.

Kicking Back Comments: Oh yes, it shall be mine soon.

411?!?

I was cruising the net the other day and ran across Dutch Referee Blog. It's a good blog with some interesting content worth reading.

I found one article ... interesting. See 15 minute stop to check the Laws of the Game.

From the article there are a couple of things that caught my attention. First was the lede:

Referees, always make sure have the number of the FA office in your cellphone, just in case you forgot the latest changes in the football rules.

Okay, fair enough. Good to have the league office number in there so pre or post match if you need to report an incident or get a clarification about something (can that player play?) you can do so. Not a bad idea ... right?

Then this came:

The Dutch women’s match between Odysseus’91 and Wartburgia on second amateur level was stopped for at least fifteen minutes, because referee Nielen was not sure he made the right decision.

Oh no ... 

Nielen doubted and made a call to the KNVB, the Dutch FA, and after fifteen minutes he got his answer ...

WHAT!?!? Hang on coach, let me whip out my iPhone and call the league office, or better yet consult the LOTG I keep in electronic form on there.

Are you (bleeping) me?

Friends, know the LOTG and the respective rule of the competition BEFORE going into a match. While things like substitutions can generally be sorted out on the fly and corrected before an error occurs, goal - no goal decisions on penalties have to be automatic from a referee.

Yes, "getting it right" is critical by using non-traditional methods (jumbo-tron anyone?), but is not a substitute for proper preparation.

While the referee was happy about the decision, I would frankly be embarrassed that I did not go into the match knowing the black letter law about when a goal could be scored. I don't know what the league said on the topic, but I have to believe that are not completely happy either.

Speckin sie deutsch?

Every once in a while I get a mail from Proreferee.com. It's a fairly recent addition to cyberspace and one I enjoy.

They have launched a web store that carries not just US based equipment, but also equipment from other parts of the world.

I ran across the Referee Match Report Card, and thought it was pretty neat. It's only downside is that it is printed in German. Not  that I don't like German ... I just can't read it well.

I plan to order a bunch for my upcoming matches ... I just hope they come out with an English version for non-German readers like me.

FIFA Referee Byron Moreno Sentenced

Back almost a year ago, we spoke about Byron Moreno and the trouble he was in regarding his arrest for heroin possession. These stories are here for reference:

• We Report, You Decide
• The Insanity Continues
• Byron Moreno Follow Up

Well Moreno plead guilty to heroin possession and smuggling charges and sentenced to 2 1/2 years (source). This was down from a possible maximum of 10 years, and reduced further as he has apparently been a model prisoner in the federal jail in Brooklyn. One of the mitigating factors in reducing his sentence ... he created a prison soccer league.

A sad fall from grace in my opinion. World Cup referee to prison rec league organizer.

Moreno will be deported back to his native Ecuador following his sentence.

What a crock

Previously on Kicking Back we have discussed the age restriction that FIFA panel members have to live by. In short, you may referee until age 45, after that, you are retired from the panel. Keep in mind the history as well, that this age is down from 50 years old, not too long ago.

Well there are a couple of things that continue to make be believe that this decision for such highly trained athletes (i.e. the referees and ARs) is nonsense.

First, admittedly is my bias as I start to approach that age of mandatory retirement. Granted I may be having a Logan's Run moment, but I digress.

Second, is my genuine belief that fitness alone does not make a good referee. Or to say it a different way, fitness is not the only concern in such a realm. Now granted, fitness is critical, but it is not the end all be all in controlling a match. A referee can survive with slightly sub-par fitness (relative to a Cooper or BIP test) and do just fine. Lets face it no one is "on" 100% of the time. In fact, if you look at it from a sports science perspective, it can take anywhere from 10 to 21 days for an athlete to peak in fitness level, far more than the interval between matches.

Third, and this is really what spurred this whole thing, is Diana Nyad. Here is a woman who is swimming between Cuba and Florida. That's 103 miles. Yikes! (As a personal aside I have been toying with doing some sprint triathlons and even the 1/4 swim is too much for me) By the way, did I mention she had not swam at all in some 30 years?

And oh yeah, she's 62.

Still think 45 is the right age for retirement?

I don't.

Listen, I know the science, after the mid 30's for a variety of reasons I won't bore you with here, fitness declines and can't be recovered. But this is as individual as the athlete themselves. To make such a sweeping generalization about everyone that 45 is it, may be a convenient application of Pareto Efficiency, but does not reflect the reality that referees need a component of life experience to manage such high level matches. Take a look at the ages of referees in World Cup Finals: In hovers right around 40 in recent history, and has been as old as 54 (George Reader in 1950).

One can not reasonably make the argument that a person is fit at 45, and 45 + 1 day they are not.

If a referee is not fit, release them, if they are however, don't prohibit them from competing if the only thing they have "against" them is their age.

There is a compelling argument the other way however that is tough to dispel, and can be found here from UEFA.

Welcome to the pros

Check out this post from Not Running A Hospital.

Who says being a pro is all that. Not me.

This picture, to me, reflects more of the reality of being "in the show" than any hyped movie or commercial.

Official Sports - HACKED!

In this age, information is king. Hacking is a daily occurrence and rarely a day goes by when I don't read about, or experience first hand, the result of such an attack. (Here is an example of very recent event.) In fact, a small part of my day job is to manage the performance of some ethical (or white hat) hacking to improve our own products.

As most no doubt are aware, Official Sports International has been a staple supplier to the referee community for some time now. They currently have relationships with US Soccer, USASA, and NISOA to name a few. For a period of time, they were also the uniform supplier to MLS referees. I can say my discriminating tastes have me wearing only OSI equipment whenever I can.

It is sad to say that OSI was a target of hacking, and as such, crippled the OSI site for some time. In fact, the eCommerse portion of the site is down, and will apparently remain down indefinitely while and investigation is being conducted.

I share this for a couple of reasons.

First is to share general goings on in the referee world. Also however is to get the word out to any who have not heard, as based on the info from the OSI site, not all who may have had data potentially compromised may have been notified electronically.

For me, OSI is treating this very seriously, and like their high quality products, is backing up their service with a discount and credit monitoring to affected customers. This is better service than most companies I have dealt with, even some of the very big ones.

Kudos to OSI for making good on a bad situation.

Welcome Back

Well friends, it has been a crazy few weeks. Between finishing my vacation and having a bunch of stories coming out of that, to the nightmare of hurricane Irene and the destruction it left (including some to one of my computers), and a couple of personal bumps in the road has made my recent time ... lets say ... interesting.

Before I start with a substantive post however, with everything that has gone on recently, it was a humbling reminder of how small and fragile we are as a species.

A very interesting reminder of this can also be found here, and below:



None the less, I am here, mostly whole, and back at it just in time, or maybe a bit late, for the start of the fall season. So enough of the small talk, let's get to it.

No power still ... and it will be a while ... but while we wait ...

Check out this post from JAFO: After the Batteries Die, because boy howdy, they are dead after 4 days without power =)

Programming Note - Lights Out

Due to Hurricane Irene and the resulting power outages, Kicking Back will have no new content for a day or two as we pick up the pieces.

As soon as we can, well be back at it again.

Thanks for reading.

Lightning Strikes Again

N. Korea women out of World Cup for deer gland doping

ZURICH (AP) – FIFA banned North Korea from the 2015 Women's World Cup after five players tested positive for steroids from traditional musk deer gland therapy at the tournament last month.

FIFA on Thursday imposed bans of up to 18 months on all five players, who North Korean officials said were treated with traditional therapy after being struck by lightning at a pre-tournament training camp. ...

See the whole story here, from USA Today.

Kicking Back Comments: This FIFA doc who is responsible for this stuff is no joke. Check out his CV here.