Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Happy Halloween

I brought my Batman costume, but since I was somewhat limping I decided not to dress up. I am going to dress up with my daughter who is going to be Wonder Woman and go trick or treating with her. no, I'm not trying to get free candy. As I look around the office, I see only one in my group who dressed up. So I don't feel so bad.

Poker tournament this weekend looks like it's going to be a blast. Still have 16 players on the guest list and one active person on the waiting list. If I have more then 12 people I am a happy camper.

Tomorrow will be the final practice for my U8 girls. I've said this before about my referee classes, for the good ones, I tend to get attached to the students. Same goes for my U8 soccer team. I know half of them since they were U6 and hoping to take them with me the next season. I have had a couple of players who have never played and have really improved. I would hate to see them go. I also need to think of making my status official and get my coaching license. May help me develop these girls to be better players. We have our final game this weekend and my goal is to have fun, secondary goal, keep from getting scored on., final goal would be to win the final match.

Monday, October 30, 2006

Sunday bloody sunday

No I didn't go to a U2 concert. However, I saw red this weekend. First game was Northwest and Folsom. Was pretty cordial in the beginning as we had a mystery of where the game cards were. I had the same two ARs in the match that morning as I did last night and while they didn't fully dress the part, they did do their part. Considering referees were a rare resource I decided not to go on my soap box on dress and appearance.

The first half was good with very little fouls and pretty much a clean game. At the final minute I called a Folsom player for offside and a second or two later he decided to kick the ball away. I booked him for delayed restart. Ended the half shortly. Second half, it was like I was reffing a different game as both came out on fire. I booked one player, number 17 for charging the keeper, but it was a reckless challenge as he did try for the ball, but nailed the keeper. Booked a couple more players for a reckless challenge here, and a dissent there. Warned a Folsom player he was looking at a Persistent Infringement on the next problem. He cleaned up his act. However 17 of Northwest wasn't so cautious so after a Folsom player cleared the ball, 17 went in for a very late tackle. I gave him the second yellow, and then said...hmmmm you look familiar, looked in my book, and by the time I pulled the red, he was off the field. Had the Northwest coach yell at me for something that may or may not have happened, and against my better judgement, I stopped the game taking the attack away from Folsom. Felt real bad about that one. It was 2-2. I gave 3 minutes of stoppage which Northwest capitalized and scored. One of the Folsom players wanted me to end the game, but the majority wanted to play it out. So I played it out and then ended the game. Losing coach commented me on a job well done. The winning coach, mister big mouth, actually apologized to me for yelling. I told him he really hurt my feelings in a sarcastic voice. He said, "I know and I feel really bad about it." So it ended in a nicer note.

My U16 girls championship match was another story. You would picture two teams nearly equal in skill. This wasn't the case. El Durado had a full team and two assistant coach. Rivercity had a team of 11 and one coach. Explaining to the Rivercity coach what would happen in the event of a tie, he said, "It's not going to end in a tie."
Ammie who was one of my ARs said, "He's awfully confident."
I took another look at the team and said, "Or he's prepared for an awaited beating."
Turned out I was right. However River City came out fighting. Literally. They were committing most of the fouls throughout the match. I nailed one for persistent infringement and one for kicking the ball away. I almost nailed another for Dissent. I just told her to zip it. Before the first goal of El Durado, the team lost two goals from offside. The coach of El Durado decided he was going to work me. After a little of this, I told him, "No more." Then El Durado got a break when a Rivercity defender put her hand up for handling the ball. No DOGSO in this one because it wasn't goal bound. I just gave the penalty kick, which she was scored on. The second goal, now Rivercity was trying to get an offside call. I told the defender at that point to zip it after she tried the dissent by talking loudly to her player how we were unfair. So my AR was either consistently right or consistently wrong. The El Durado coach decided he was going to work me some more. Big mistake. I told him he was on notice. He asked, "Am I cautioned?"
I said, "You catch on quick." Didn't have another problem with him. In fact he was pretty sporting in the second half.
Rivercity decided to pour on the attack. In the 4th minute of the second half, the El Durado goalkeeper picked up the ball from an oncoming Rivercity player. That player pulled back when she knew she was beat, but a second Rivercity player decided while the keeper was standing with ball in hand, to go in for a nice tackle, sending the keeper flying in the air, no chance of getting the ball, didn't even make an effort to avoid the keeper. My hand was in my back pocket while hitting the whistle hard. Sent her off for serious foul play. Game ended 10 minutes early because the Rivercity coach had enough after losing 6-0.

You've know you have been reffing amatuer players too long when...

you go and casually talk to an U12 boys player regarding his outburst to both ARs throughout the match (Jesse could take it, but wasn't sure on the other referee) and then an outburst towards me while others were taking shots on a goal and he's to the brink of crying. Didn't raise my voice, but I was stern. Jesse told me he thinks I made him cry. It was a good game, Mustang I had the distinct pleasure of watching them practice corner kicks the Thursday before and doing it quite well. So when it turned out I reffed them, I knew they were going to be deadly on corners which they were.

My AR assignment wasn't so much fun because I had a center I thought was too assertive and basically made enemies with the coaches. It was due to a time dispute on the program. I would have explained the same thing, but I wouldn't have been as stern about it. Basically could have been a better game. This same referee over asserted himself on another game and as one coach put it, "I've seen him referee and he is a good referee, but it's center ref, not center stage." I had to agree a little bit, but then again, I heard they were jerks and Jesse even told me the coach as an ass.

Nobody pulled a red card that day, but I know I was flirting with it on my final game on Saturday. It was Fair Oaks vs. Northwest Oaks. I booked two players on Fair Oaks in the first 5 minutes. My buddy Mike told me that he looked over at my game, saw me hit the whistle hard and pull a yellow card. Then he heard quiet from the rest of the game. Well it may have been quiet to him, but I had to stay on them to keep them from doing anything else stupid. 00 of Fair Oaks apparently had a hard time keeping his mouth shut and his teammates knew this because they were telling him to shut up. I went to him and said, "If you know what is good for you, you will shut your mouth as you already have a card." Coach took that one under advisement because he pulled both players off that I had booked. He came to me at half time and said while I was doing a good job, I got in the face of the players and that didn't defuse them. He's a ref too...blah blah blah. Rest of the game went fine and I was red card free for Saturday.

Had a few beers and pizza with the old crew I hadn't seen together in a while.

Friday, October 27, 2006

10 most embarrassing things I have done as a referee

1. I was refereeing an U16 boys match where I whistled for a trip. All of the sudden they all were laughing. Turned out I whistled a guy who tripped over his own feet.

2. In an U19 boys match in the first minute, I whistled for a tactical foul. I went to caution the player and he started yelling at me more than usual. I told him he knew he tripped the guy because he was beat and had he not, he would have definitely have scoring options. He said, "You can't send me off for that!" I looked up and I saw my yellow card turned out to be a red card. I said, "This was a test." Pulled the yellow, "This is for real." Needless to say I had control of the match for the rest of the game.

3. I showed up to a game early and decided I needed to rest my eyes. Next thing you know, the opening whistled wakes me up and my AR1 took the center because I was a no show.

4. During an assessment last year, I pulled a red card for DOGSO, but lost sight of the player who I was supposed to give it to, so I gave it to the wrong player. The other players let me know this. I looked at my AR and he was chickening out to give a caution. I knew that wasn't going to fly. Not with Kennedy standing there waiting to see what I would do next. So I held the player hostage and said, "Well either he goes, or you give me the guy who did it." That seemed to fly for everyone, except the coach who thought I was harsh. Kennedy in his usual demeanor said, "Fuck him, you made the right decision. However, how did you get the right player?" I told him how I held the team hostage and I never seen an old man wince with pain and delight at the same time.

5. Showing up late (this was my teen years) to a game because I overslept. The coordinator gave me a wake up call for the next month.

6. My very first assessment in the middle I sent off the wrong player, but managed to correct it before the game restarted with the help of the team (Do you see a pattern here?). I passed and got an excellent feedback to boost my ego, but it ended with you might want to use the same format game sheet so you don't misread your book.

7. In AZ I did a reverse diagonal because the field was so muddy that on the normal AR spot, they would have lost their footing. As a result, you tend to lose yourself on the field. When I did, I got in the way of a player taking a shot, before I was able to move, it glanced off my foot which fooled the keeper and it went in the goal. Only one defender caught on, looked at me, and just patted me in the back in a don't sweat it kind of way. Fortunately it didn't affect the outcome of the game.

8. Did an AR on a CPSA match where I went to take position and turned out I took position on the edge of the penalty area vs. the touch line. The center referee let me know this and players gave me grief for most of the game.

9. Got in the way of a player running full on, and he knocked me several feet. Game was a bit boring anyway, so I provided a little entertainment to the spectators.

10. And finally and most recent grade 5 upgrade, I was prepping for the game, reach down to tie my boots and turned out I noticed a string hanging out. When I reached for it is when I noticed that I had a hold in my short at the crotch area. Trying not to show my anxiety I looked through my bag for an extra pair. Didn't pack one. So I tried not to show my anxiety. When I was told I reeked in experience my thought was you have no idea. I told my assistants after the assessor left.

Wow I actually reached 10. I'm sure there are others, but those were the highlights of my not so great moments in sports.

Monday, October 23, 2006

Weekends are made for fun

I spent Saturday at a very nice wedding. I got a kick out of the preist as I thought this was going to be a long dragged out catholic wedding. I was happy to see this was not the case. I loved the preist's sense of humor.
After the wedding and by the time we got to the reception at an Italian Club in Oakland, it was nice. I noted the choice of beer was either Bud Light or Peroni. Anyone that knows the beer snob of me, knows which one I choose. It was good to see some of the family again. I was beat at the afterparty. Thank goodness my wife was on the same wagon as me, though she seemed to be in better form than me.
Spent sunday sleeping most of the morning away. I can't recall the last time I did that. Got a new toshiba laptop which I pick up today. Have I mentioned I love best buy. They pretty much tailored to my needs vs me really having to negotiate much. I was really impressed. I was pressed for time as I had a game at 5pm. They held the stuff for me until near closing which we rang everything up and they wanted to set me up so I would pick it up in the afternoon today. I looked at the competitor, CompUSA (aka Compuke-essy) and they couldn't even get a better deal. Most cases boys and girls, I'm not keen in buying an extended warranty, but in Best Buy's case they have been more then exceptional with my last computer. Price is not bad either. Highly recommend. After 3 years, you are on your own. The extended warranty is a bit much after that.
Between negotiating the price and making the purchase, I reffed an U15 boys match. It was Danville and Ballistic. Ballistic only had 11 players whereas Danville had mega subs. I feel had we been doing FIFA substitutions, Ballistic would have had the better hand. I had an unfortunate ending where I had to send a player off for a second yellow. The first yellow, I could have very well sent him off technically because it was an elbow. I cautioned him and advised him of this fact. 4 minutes later he takes out the same guy off the ball. He basically sent himself off at this point. Danville was winning by two. Had I been the coach, I would have pulled him out for the rest of the game because he is a good player and would like to save him for next week. I did pad the report at the end stating he left with no incident and the benches and players behaved exceptionally well. I basically sold the red card to all but one spectator who came to me and said the player took a dive. I knew better and just wished him a good evening.

Friday, October 20, 2006

Take care of your legs. You only got one set.

I reffed a game Wednsday night and while the game was good (meaning I didn't have to card anyone) in the first 10 minutes of the game, I was experiencing knee pain. A little pain usually doesn't bug me, but it tended to get worse as the game went by. I still out ran my AR's. One of them was just old and his wheels are where I don't want my wheels to be. The other is pretty inexperienced and I admit, when I beat him to the goal line, I looked at him and waved in a way that should say, "Get your ass to the goal line."
The next morning I paid the price. I would sit down for a while (I do tech support so I am at a desk most of the 8 hours). When I get up and walk around my knee was stiff and hurt like hell to move. Paula mentioned I played soccer last week and played hard, might have put more stress on the knee then it's used to. Today so far, I'm not feeling the pain. I almost pulled out of my game on Sunday, but I think I'm going to stick it out. I have a good AR on my line so if I go down, I know he can take over. Just don't want to be injured for the Halloween tournament, but it has influenced my decision on doing high school.
At work a coworker told me to take tylonal. Most cases I would take something, but I remember my Chiropractor's words. The pill just dulls the pain and masks the true problem. It doesn't cure the main problem and opens yourself to more. Needless to say I didn't take anything. I am back on the Glucosamine religiously (should have been anyway).
Tonight I'm going to a rehearsal dinner because my daughter is the flower girl for a cousin's wedding. Should be a good time. I just feel like until the actual wedding I'm going to feel rushed.
Have I ever mentioned what a great wife I have? (hi Paula) She is pretty mechanically inclined around the house to put the average guy (in this case I'm below average) to shame. Had a water leak outside and she basically solved the problem herself. I was just good for money and grunt work, but she did take the time to teach me a couple things so on my own, I may be able to do this myself this time. Yes it's true, she does better at the homeimproving then me. I've stepped it up a little since I've known her but if she were yoda she would tell me, "Jedi you are not."

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Happy hump day updates

This is just an update of a few things that have been going on.

Work....Still on call. Should be a nice check this next month. Downside is I have to replace a laptop. I can't get a reasonable price to repair it without just saying, "Well we should upgrade for an extra 150 and then another 200 for a 3 year service agreement. It just makes more sense.

I tried calling Butch. He has disconnected his phones all over the grid. I know someone mentioned he may have a gambling issue as well as others, but I know he may have a tough time gambling his favorite way thanks to Goerge W. Bush. I got my money from Partypoker. After 8 months I only made a 30 dollar profit on top of the 50 dollar profit when I pulled out of Pacific Poker. Thanks Bush, you *&^%ing A$$hole!. As if the war wasn't bad enough. A friend of mine can't pull his funds because he is below the 50 dollar minimum. Hey Partypoker.. How about making an exception.

Soccer... Half of my girls are getting the passing down. The other half are just doing their own thing. They are going to be in a wake up call in the line up this weekend. Refereed an U19 boys last night. One of the teams has been a handful, not because of the coach, but just the attitudes. One particular player, last I saw him was flirting with a red card. When I saw him again last night he came off of a red card suspension, thanks to his teammates for announcing that. I pretty much shadowed him most of the first half and realized he wasn't going to be a problem. The only chap who was, quieted down when I took him to my neutral corner and offered him my whistle. Coach got a clue and pulled him out. Otherwise it was an easy match. My knee was giving me a little trouble. Felt it this morning. I think it's time to get religious on the glucosamine again. Maybe a maintanence trip to my chiropractor. Good thing all my upgrading is done. It is influencing my decision not to do high school this winter.

Marlena's social calendar is full with all the activities she is doing. She has soccer, DI, and Ice Skating. Two of the three is coming to an end soon. School seems to be going well for her as long as she stays focus.

Gabriel learned to do a bicycle kick with a balloon with my help. He's been in a good mood and I look forward to his smiles when I get home.

The Mrs. and I are looking forward to a little down time soon as I go on sabbatical soon.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Laptop on crack held hostage

If I ever want to see it healthy again I need to be prepared to pay the max of 449.00 and that is if they don't have to go through Toshiba. I asked what it would cost. They said they didn't know, but for 40 bucks diagnostic fee, they can find out how much it is going to break me should I decide not to go through with it. Well I made some phone calls and turns out the part is 469.00. This is without the labor charge. If I have these guys do it, then I'm looking at 80 bucks in labor. For an extra two hundred I can get the upgrades and warranty. Kind of a touch decision because I really liked my laptop before it went on crack. Going to try another place and see if I can get a better deal.

Monday, October 16, 2006

End of the road for my journey to grade 5

Well I took the test and passed with 90%. Now people who know I have been refereeing for a long time will say, "Well you're an instructor and been doing this for a long time. Of course you are going to pass." What they don't know is USSF is rewording the tests to keep the long time State referees like myself from coasting years after year without studying. This would be true for me, but last year I got a rude awakening as I scored below 90% for the first time with an 84% Fortunately all I needed was a 75% but I never have scored below 90 on any given test until last year. That was a good thing because had I coasted this year, I know for sure I would not score about an 85 to get my grade 5. To be honest there was a point I looked at the questions and asked on several occasions, "What the hell?"

Reffed an U19 girls match where the Dublin coach warned me that it may get physical. It didn't get as physical as expected and when it did start, I was in their faces. Managed with 2 cards, one for UB and the other for PI. We had champagne at the end of the day.

The Cheetah girls played well. We held on to a 1-0 lead for so long and then defense lost focus so the other team could equalize. Game ended 1-1 but finally they were passing and spread out. I tell you after practice I didn't think it sunk in, but I was glad to see that it did.

In other news I'm in mourning as my laptop got a crack in the LCD monitor. Getting estimates on repairs. Hoping it's not too expensive or I am going to need to shop for a new laptop.

Well congress decided online poker is illegal and that jackass we call our president of the US signed off on it, making it law. Bastard! I went to play on Friday and found the news. My friend Paul told me he could not get his funds out. But his balance I think was under 50 bucks. I made an attempt and it seems like I will get my funds soon. Looking forward to it since I can't bet anymore.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

What do I know about Butch?

For those who have not been in CK (Calorieking) would be slightly clueless to this blog. However there are whom I call the wayward Ckers (former member and at this rate soon to be former) who will get the gist of what I am talking about.

A couple of years back I went down to Disneyland area. A former member and employee of Calorieking and I decided with another member who has a guide dog named Frosty to meet at a Dave and Busters. There were drinks involved and you know how liquid courage loosens the tongue. She told me that CK were making plans to phase Butch out. Apparently they did a slow process of this as it took nearly two years to complete this task.

I wasn't sure what to do with the info or how much weight was involved in the info, but from what I have been reading, Butch finally left an opening to a long standing fight and CK took the shot they needed to take. Hopefully Butch is playing Texas Hold Em somewhere and making more millions then I have made. He will be missed. I have debated on keeping my membership or not. Now that he's gone, it has influenced my decision. You see I know enough to do this on my own. The CK forums which used to be filled with good information are now padded with useless junk so they can make their ranking to royalty.

I'm sure there is a lot more and I'm getting bit by bit information. Perhaps the best thing to do for a friend at this time is to pick up the phone can give the man a call and see how he is holding up.

Team Ronaldo goes undefeated

Okay I know what you are asking. Who the hell is team Ronaldo. Well it turns out my local soccer league whom I coach my daughter hosted a coaches tournament. Basically the games lasted 25 minutes (not halves) and then you basically do a round robin with 3 of the other teams.

First game, was probably my best game. I decided it would be better if I came out as a sub. Turned out to work for the best. Shortly after I came off the bench, I battled for the ball, won it, dribbled it down, passed to the midfielder who passed back, I fed it up to my striker whom put it in. I said, "How about that? Our first goal came off an assist from me." That was short lived as when we were on the defense, a center forward was unmarked and as a result we got scored on. First game ended 1-1. According to several other, it should have been 3-1 but we got two goals called back due to offside.

Second game, we dominated the game, not getting scored on, but also getting an early goal. My performance out there was pretty crappy as my first slide tackle in almost 2 decades. Needless to say, it was still good.





3rd game turned out to be a do or die for us. We got scored on twice. It seemed like our chances of taking the crown were slim. The game was pretty physical. Then we got a goal from an angle shot. Then our esteemed captain ripped one 30 yards out. We tied that match. Since everyone else had tied and lost one, we took the crown with a win and two ties.

Games were close and the people who came to cheer us on had fun. I'm sore from not playing for nearly 5 years and using muscles I hadn't used in a while. Should make the fun run this sunday more bearable.

Monday, October 09, 2006

OMG Gabriel turned his head last night.

To bring you up to speed, after Gabriel got his shunt put in, for 3 weeks they kept him on one side. After a few days of this I voiced concerns. I was concerned his neck would not be limber. I was right. It's been a year and Gabriel has finally got the neck strength to turn his head. Which is good. Yes, we celebrate what seems to be the smallest things because the more he does, the better chance he has at a normal life.

Marlena's soccer game was a disaster. Two people had a bright idea to widen the goals, which one puts less integrity on the center bar which could and has been a potential danger. I voiced this, but being that I am the ASS coach, with a State Referee credential, I was not heard. As a result, nobody got hurt (hopefully nobody in the following games did either), but we got out scored by a long shot. 5-0. We didn't even get a shot on goal. The players played, but not as a team. The good note is we don't have to set up the rest of the season so hopefully I don't need to have this discussion again. It could have been a closer match had they left the goals the way it should have been.

I had a good U19 Boys D3 match. I had good assistants which helped too. But first the pregame. My friend Jesse was doing the center and I had to take a close look at him because he called me Saturday to see if I could take his CPSA game. Since I gave the day to my Oncall partner, I couldn't leave my post unmanned, so I had to decline. Truth is I had my heart set on being a bit lazy with the family (hi honey) so it was an easy decision to make even before I realized I truely was unavailable. Back to the story on hand. I saw he was barely keeping up. But I was releived because I realized I had 3 referees for my game. His center was a disaster because three players needed to go to the hospital. Two on head injuries and one for a cut. The irony of that one was they called an anbulance for the head injuries but both were driven to the hospital by the time the bus got here, but the 3rd player it was pretty convient. Dr. Allen made a huge mistake in the game. He was going to take the player to the hospital but he was the only credentialed coach so if he left, the game was abandoned. Problem was he showed up 3 minute later hoping to resolve his match and half the players on the other team have left.

I get to my boys match and it was a pretty physical game. I kept them under enough control not to kill each other. There was some taunting going on which I stepped in and dealt with on two occasions. Both with cards. Some foul language. Boys will be boys, but here where it started to be an issue. Goal was scored against the white team and the keeper let out an outburst of "You have got to be fucking kidding me!" I couldn't imagine what he had a problem with besides being scored on so I looked at my AR and he didn't seem phased. I could only guess he was upset because he defenders left him high and dry. That said I let it go with a verbal talking. The second incident, was the player on the other team who said, "You watch your fucking mouth." Okay now it's personal, but not a send off, so I put him in the book. This didn't sit well with the coach, so he talked to me and asked me to talk to the players. I told him it depended on the content and context. Second half was pretty busy with cards, but I did get the keeper for another taunting incident, so I have been consistant. At the end of the match, the both of the losing coaches said at the end of the match on two different occasions, it was the best reffed match they had all season. That made me feel good.

Just read Bob Evans piece of Dissent in the MLS. Before you read his, you may want to take a look at the article it is referred to. The title was appropiate, "MLS plays the crying game"

Friday, October 06, 2006

How do you know when you are over tired?

When you show up to the soccer field 45 minutes prior to the match so you decide since you don't see any teams yet, you recline back your carseat to "rest your eyes". Next thing you know the opening whistle wakes you up and you realize you slept through the pre-game.
Never in my years as a referee have I done anything like this. I'm always a stickler for being on time, 30 minutes prior. Was I embarrased? You bet your ass I was. I quickly got the rest of my uniform on and ran like hell to the field to take the flag from the club linesman and resume my duties as an AR (I had the center). As a result I felt I missed out on a good game as it was two rival clubs. Vernon, who took the center, did a fine job. He just needs to get more comfortable with his game. Even as I write this, I'm still embarrassed. Last time I overslept through a soccer game, I was 15 years old.
The week oncall has been quiet. Not one phone call this week on either one of use (two of us are on call). I've been reluctant to take games because of this. It not like I need the money now since I'm making more for just being on stand by. Maybe I need to start talking about quality games only and not so much quanity.
In other news I'm an outraged parent. It appears in livermore some jackass is leaving pipe bombs around that explode when someone picks them up, placing our kids in immediate danger. I personally would like 5 minutes with that jackass.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Is it just me or has today's youth gotten worse

You know I read somewhere that when it comes to the newer generation, the morals tend to go south. It could be true. I had my girls practice and it was brought to my attention that one of my girls spat on another. There was taunting. If you are just tuning into my life, these are U8 girls. Did Rudy and I lecture them? You bet we did!!! I particularrly told them they were lucky there was not a referee at the game. If there were, there would be one player sitting out a couple games and others with yellow cards under their belts. I'm on day two of the oncall biz for the company I work for. I like getting paid to kick back and wait for a call to come in. Actually I'm hoping I don't get a call.

Monday, October 02, 2006

A very good weekend overall

First thing I want to mention that I was pleased to announce that I was able to get my sabbatical approved for the week of Thanksgiving and the Thursday and Friday Prior. I was so stoked, I couldn't wait to tell my wife. My daughter was equally stoked. I think we're going to try a mini romantic getaway in either Capitola or Sausalito. Both sound good.

On Saturday my son turned a year old. It truly was a celebration, I hate to sound story book like, but you ask anyone at the party that knew of the ordeal we went through would say this is a joyous occasion. Especially if you told me two weeks after he was born and brought back to Walnut Creek that he was going to make it to his first birthday, I wouldn't have believed it, but I can honestly say faith was a lot more stronger than science because science said he wasn't going to. Well if Gabriel could speak he would say, "Screw you to science." And I wouldn't put him in time out for it either for I would share that feeling. He was a happy boy that day. He was especially popular with the girls. All week last week I heard comments on the eyelashes. Even here at work I heard it (I recently put up recent pics of him). Anyway it was a good turn out and everyone seemed to have had fun.

It's also my Dad's first day of retirement. I think I'm still in shock because I cannot image him not working. However, his company still loves him and wanted to retain him for something better then just being a tailor. Looks like he may be doing workshops. I think it would be good for him. It sounds like he can take time off whenever he needed to. Hopefully this would be good. He just seemed happier then in a long time.

I reffed a game on Saturday morning. Should have been cakewalk but a few things happened that made it less fun. The coach for Dublin is a friend of mine. That made it tough because when I took the game, I didn't think it would have been his, but the self assigning said I had to contact coordinator to get the assignment which means they didn't want just anyone doing it. The second part was a called a PK in the first 2 minutes of the match. I didn't want to and when I saw the foul I had a "did that just happen?" moment when I saw my AR put the flag up, there was no more questioning about it. My friend of course shouted at him to let me make all the calls. I could have booked him there, but I choose to let it go, it didn't seem to phase him. I called a penalty kick in his favor 2 minutes later. They missed. Actually they kicked it straight to the keeper. That made him mad even more. I can tell the U16 team didn't have much respect for him. 35 minutes and 6 more goals later a seventh goal was scored and my friend thought he was offside. It looked pretty close that I had to give it to my AR to make the call which he kept the flag down. Well my friend went ballistic and was yelling at my AR. I had it at that point and ran straight to him. I said, "You need to stay off my AR." He proceeded to argue and I cut him off. I said, "you leave my assistants alone." Then he started to talk again and I said, "You are the only coach on the roster. If I send you home, this game no longer continues." While that shut him up, I heard a light round of applause for my actions. Apparently I wasn't the only one who was tired of it.
At half time I had my own problems. I had a father and son team. The son was a grade 8. The father was a grade 9 and judging the fact he wore a 2007 badge I knew he doesn't even have a year's worth of experience. It showed on the line as he was not with the second to the last defender and he didn't follow all balls to the goal line. This caused a lot of problems. There was a shot on goal which hit the post. I saw it, everyone saw it. My friend said, it hit the back of the net. Anyway, it would have been easier to sell with him on the goal line. There was another occasion where he should have been on the line. Fortunately I was close enough to sell anything to the players. So I ripped him up and down and didn't even go into the fact they arrived 5 minutes before kick off. The young ref had the proper dress and appearance. The elder didn't and he wore long pants. I asked him if he had shorts on. He first said yes. I asked him to remove the sweat pants and he refused. I said you have shorts on? He recanted his statement. I knew the shit would roll downhill.
Anyway, 11 goals later, I had to call back the one goal Dublin did put in the net. He was offside and it looked that way before my AR raised the flag. He rose it and I hated to call the goal back, but I did.

At the end, I filled my game card and my friend was waiting for me. I shook his hand and said, "No hard feelings?" He said, "Nah, I was out of line and we both had a job to do. You could have let us have that goal."
I said, "I really hurt to pull that one out."
All in all I'm glad it ended the way it did, because I had to see my friend later that day at my son's party. I found out my Cheetah Girls tied with the other team 1-1 and it was a hard fought game. I was sorry I missed it, but at the same time, my Son's party was important.