The Blind Leading the Blind

Blue Devils season in review

2008-11-18T07:12:00.000-08:00

I have to say, this was the best season I have had in a long time as a player or coach. When I first got this team, like any rec coach you don't know what to expect. We had about a month to practice and put this team together. I remember our first scrimmage with another team how we danced around them and Greg and I looked at each other like we won the lottery.

We had our first game and our team really gelled as we won our first game with an exciting last minute goal by MN. We were high. Maybe too high as we decided to go up against a class 3 team. We did and while we gave them something to chew on, we did lose. Still we took it to them and I felt we could do the same on our next game.

However, that didn't happen. We played the same team again after a week bye. It was demoralizing after we warned the girls they were hungry for revenge, they got it 4-0. We actually played better against the first place team later on that day.

The following week we played the Super 8 team. We knew this was going to be the future comp team but we had the size advantage. We tied 0-0. I felt it should have been an easy win, but nobody was really shooting and if we don't shoot, we don't score.

We still we're in a good spot but the top two teams that were undefeated, we're getting so high up the ladder that first or 2nd was getting far out of our reach. We played the first place team again. They beat us 5-0. Got to a point where we put MH in goal. Her father was worried, but we had a slaughter rule. However, it had to get past 6-0 for that to happen and since they were not sure, we held them by one point. It also gave MH a GAA average of 0.0 since it wasn't an ideal position for her to be playing.

So we played the next team who hasn't had a steller season. It was a battle royal, but VH and NH did a sister act and put us in the win by 1-0.

So we played the other team tied for first. I didn't have any high expectations at this point, but I still wanted my players to give me their best effort. And they did. While we didn't win, we made the other team sweat. Sweat to the point they were worried we would kill their undefeated title. One of the other coaches was an ass. Kept going around my bench to coach until I asked the referee in a coy like fashion "Ref, is he allowed to coach over there?" Pissed him off. At the end, the score was 3-2, them but my girls were proud how they took it too them.

We faced another good team. I felt we could have beaten them. However, our defense was not playing up to par. We held them all half, dominating them. We had the first goal. The answered in stoppage time because my defense quit. Even though we tied, we could have taken them the second half, but they were demoralized. And for that we lost the match.

I wasn't happy with the team and I made them run in practice. Then I sat them down and I said, this season can be whatever you make of it. And I asked what they wanted. Most said to win. Everyone said to have fun. However, SS said the most profound thing. She said, "I wanted us to be complmented on our efforts when we do good." So that is how I appraoched the rest of the season. We had a bye so we just practiced and things seem to come together in practice. We also were making arrangements to scrimmage the class 3 team again.

So we come off our bye and play the same team again. This time they played a different team. We dominated most of the game but they answered every goal with one of their one at the most inopportune time. However we find the tie was as good as a victory as it insured we would not move down any further in the standings and we had Dublin Cup to look forward to.

Greg decided we were going to practice 3 times a week and we then got our field for a scrimage. A night game under the lights. The girls were charged up by this. Now the class 3 team thought they were going to walk over us. We thought they were going to win. However after the opening whistle, I saw something different. I saw the Blue Devils playing like a team. We had several chances that were squelched and they had chances that were either squelched by our defense or by great goalkeeping on both sides. At the end we tied 0-0, which to me was a solid victory as we took it to them. Great way to get pumped up for the Dublin Cup.

A good thing too. You see we had problems with the Tournament Director. I asked her about the format of the tournament and she told more then I wanted to know...or hear. Basically we fought to stay in 5th place for nothing. The first place team got a bye the first round. We were faced not with the cheetahs but with the Dolphins who were also undefeated. We felt screwed in that drawing. Dolphins were also feeling cheated as they felt they should have been faced with the last place team. We should have played the cheetahs the first round. But because the Super 8 coach whined about facing the top team then it was done pretty much at random.

So why was it a good thing? Because we just came off facing a class 3 team with a tie and with that kind of victory, there was no reason why we couldn't beat any team. We almost did too. We tied them in the regulation. This was even after the beginning of the 2nd half the Dolphins forward took out my keeper. I have to admit I was worried about my 2nd string even after a good performance in the goal during the scrimmage because trying to get her to give me her best effort was tough. Even to a point where I sat her down and I said, "MS, I need your best effort. Nothing less.." I must have gotten through to her because that is what she gave us, and then some. She came up big on some saves. SS, kept us in regulation with a goal mouth block. As much as I didn't want her to hang in defense, this was the one time I was not going to scold her for it. I was even more harsh on the referee then I usually am. Rememeber that forward who took out my keeper. She was still fouling and I finally broke down and yelled, "How many more fouls is she going to get to do before a card comes out?" The ref knew I was watching (yes he knows who I am) and the other team knows I was watching.

We went into overtime. Still no goal. We went into golden goal period. Unfortunately it didn't take long for the other team to score, but if I were to lose, that is the way to go. My team gave 110% out there and they never wavered. Not once. So at the end of the season, I was extremly proud of the team I had and wouldn't trade them for anyone or anything. They really came up big when they needed to.

So how did the Dolphins do? Well they walked over the other Dolphins with ease and then the championship, they out scored them 4-0. So basically there was any consolation...the Dolphins will remember how they nearly missed the championship due to the Blue Devils.

Full moon on the pitch

2008-10-16T09:30:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was a full weekend of soccer. Several weeks back I was asked to take a game on a specific date to a potentially volatile soccer match. I accepted because I know there is not many in my league who could handle this.

I'm just going to call these teams green and red for a little sake of animitity. The problem first starts with the home league. Friday mid-afternoon I had a full crew and some good referees who could assist. I felt it was a good start. Friday night I get an e-mail from that league's coordinator stating the usual song and dance about needing more referees and provided the list. I was shocked to see an AR missing from my game. I was pissed. I then discovered early the next morning that same AR on a class 4 U12 girls match? I was like, "WTF?!?!" I was pretty pissed a the referee and I was about to let him have it at the field because my game was where he was coming off but he was first to inform me he was pulled off by the coordinator. I was fuming. I spent that morning calling referees out of my little circle but knowing in the back of my head, it was a no go because they had games already.

I did the unthinkable and went to the U13 boys game next field and politely recruited a referee to AR my match. I had worked with Patrick before and I know he could handle it, but a part of me felt bad because I broke up one band to fill the other. I found out later his U13 game went well which made me feel better and he noticed my game was pretty heated.

You see I broke out with the cards already when things were getting out of hand. I had one kid in particular who did a two footed tackle, just clipped the player. I played the advantage and informed him I was coming back to him. Ball goes out of play and I issue the card. 15 minutes later a ball goes out for a green corner kick and red blasts the ball to the parking lot. I pulled the card out to caution him and noticed he looked familliar. I looked at his number and looked in my book and saw there was already a number 3. So I showed the red. Parents went ballistic. Coaches went ballistic. They kept whining and compaining for most of the first half. I heard, "let them play ref." Which I have now concluded that is code for, "Let us kick the crap out of one another." I do know this. The second half, it was much quieter.

On Sunday I did another game, U19 Boys copper...by myself! Still I felt I could handle it. After all I have done amatuer 2nd and 3rd division alone. Again it will be green vs. red (a different league). So as the play goes, red is fouling like it was out of style. 2 players are flirting with persistant infringement and one green player was getting fouled so now flirting with a team persistant infrindgement. The first card came out was from number 9 red who took part of fouling this one green player. He said, "But ref, it was my first foul of the game." I said, "Maybe, but I stated there was a pattern being noticed after the 3rd time this one player was fouled." Then a couple more players earned their own PI but the one star player was left alone after that. So I have 3 cards for red, none for green.

Second half comes around and now green is starting to get agreesive. I carded one for an reckless challenge and another for Delay restart. I figured with that, red didn't feel I was singling them out. However, I had one red player do a two handed push off the ball. I said play on and just like the day before was going to come back to caution. Well the next stoppage happened with red scored a goal, so I awarded the goal and a caution to that one red player.

16 minutes later ball moves on and in my periphial vision I just notice the same player who did an off the ball foul tripped a player. So he left me no choice but to send him off. I could have done 2 more with the PI players but I told each one of them they were on borrowed time and they got the message.

The worse part was at the end of the game after I told the coach i would write it up in a way they would give him the minimum (1 game) and we shake hands, some overzealous parent comes my way with the camera wanting to show me something. I said something short of get that *(&^ing camera out of my face and of course he accuses me of a bad attitude.

More on the DOGSO

2008-09-23T12:50:00.000-07:00

After bouncing this off with a friend, here is my problem with DOGSO in CYSA (Denying an Obvious Goalscoring Opportunity). The player gets a minimum of 2 games suspension for a foul and misconduct that doesn't phyiscally hurt the player (trip, push, hold), but if you commit serious foul play, where you can really hurt someone, the minimum suspension is 1 game. Tell me that isn't messed up?

Day of blowouts

2008-09-22T06:37:00.000-07:00

Last saturday was a busy day for me in soccer. First I had a double-header with my U10 girls team. Who decided to give us two games in one weekend was really heavy on the vino. Our first game we actually had a good first half. We were standing them up pretty well. We should have since we beat them in the last game. Somehow we fell apart in the 2nd half and we just got scored on . Our defense was really terrible. Mid-fielders couldn't get back to save our lives. Our GK was a mess. Make matters worse, and I don't blame them for our loss, but the refereeing was terrible. I had a center who couldn't blow his whistle and a real lazy AR who was way off the second to the last defender. I let Greg have a chat with them.

I put a new keeper in on the second game which was the original plan. However, again we had a good first half, even as we only let one goal in. Again our defense was flat. We got scored on again in the second half, but one of those there was nothing the keeper could have done about it. The others again I blame our defense. The refereeing was much better the second time around.

Then came my center. U17 boys. Spartans vs. B Oaks. I have to say the Spartans don't belong in this division. They were out played and out classed. I had to pull a red card on a Spartan player for a DOGSO. You know the worse part about that red? It was as they were losing 7-0. I could have turned a blind eye some may say, but the laws do not dictate you can ignore the 4 D's if the one committing it is on the losing side, none the last getting their asses handed to them. I felt bad but I had to do it. What's even worse is I have to supporting documents that say this DOGSO is a 2 game minimum suspension.

Blue Devils won their first game

2008-09-11T06:09:00.001-07:00

My team won their first game. Some people are still talking about the late heroic goal that won the game, but had I not spoke up, we would have never had that goal. So let's talk about what happened.

Before the game: Greg (the other coach) and I hashed the game. Being that we're U10 house we play with 8 players on the field instead of 11. This left us with a formation of 3-2-2 which is what I had in mind because I wanted a solid back. Greg wanted a 2-2-3 because he wanted a strong attack and he noticed that those who played it did well for scoring. So I made a deal with him. We used one of our girls as an anchor player and observed the formation of the other team. If they played a 3-2-2, then we were going to play a 2-2-3. Which is exactly what happened.

During the game: With the exception of one player who suddenly developed stage fright at the beginning, we played very well together. We got a first goal from that one anchor player we pulled from the back to the forward. We held on that lead until 20 minutes we're up and the referee blew the whistle for halftime....while we were goal bound.

I did tell myself that I was not going to play the "I'm a referee" card and for the most part I didn't have to. The referee crew knew who I was and I can tell they were intimidated. I kept my mouth shut to them until this point. I calmly walked over to the crew and I asked, "Ref, how long are the halves?"
Ref: "She said 20 minutes."
Me: "Who said?"
Ref: "She said."
Me: "Who's she? Oh, you mean ____?"
Ref: "Yeah."
I turned to walk while I pondered my options and what I had to do to right things didn't sit well, but I had my team to think about so I went back and said, "You have two options here. You can pull the team out and play the remaining 5 minutes and then play the second half 25 minutes or you can start the second half and you are now obligated to play 20 because the laws of the game mandate equal halves. But if we lose as a result of the latter decision we're going to be playing under protest. You're choice."
I turned to walk away and she said, "We..We'll play the remaining 5 minutes." Good decision!
Of course she restarted incorrectly with a kick off for us which would have been protestable itself, but I kept my mouth shut. Should have been a dropped ball.

So as a result of the decision we had a tying goal in the 20 minute from the other team. Our anchor gal came back at the final minute to give us the game winning goal. The referee went home and probably said, "Whew!"

Under Scrutiny

2008-09-08T07:56:00.000-07:00

I had a really good U17 boys match. Chris H. and Kevin T were my ARs. I have to say though I expected more out of my AR1 being that he was a grade 7 and an instructor. He really didn't help out in the subs so I had to do most myself.

During my pre-game I told my ARs that Dublin and Livermore, regardless what teams they are or age groups have a history of getting physical. So we were going to make our presence known. I would say 3 hard fouls and a yellow card in the 4th minute of the game, we put things under control where they played soccer and I didn't have to do much. It really got chippy at the last quarter of the match. I had to caution a player who took a dive. He even tried to make it convincing by confronting the player who "tripped" him and I gave him a card for his trouble. No send offs. Two yellows a piece.
On thing I don't miss from G*S*S*L is the paperwork. Name one other league professional or otherwise that has so much paperwork.

Oh the meaning of my title. Well let me put it this way. The two coaches for Dublin. My former students. Half of the team on Dublin. Former students. Several people watching from the sidelines what were parents, the BOD, or otherwise. Former students.

A little pressure to show them I practice what I preach.

The weekend in Alaska

2008-06-09T06:57:00.000-07:00

I was hoping to get more blogging time, but I was really busy and then really tired. With the sun out longer in these parts it was hard to tell when to sleep. The picture is the house all the out of state referees stayed. We had referees from Cal-North, Cal-South, Washington, and even one from Montana. Funny part about where we were staying, it felt like a "Big Brother" setting where the best referees would be the last to go. I have to say Jesse and I were the 3 and 4th place as the Husband and wife from Washington got the latest flight out of here.

Thursday night Jesse and I had an exhibition match at Dimond High School. It was a good game, not much going on. After the game we had a meeting and the locals introduced us out of staters. My favorite was when one of the head locals was telling his referees, "Don't embarrass us."
I should have listened to that advice. On Friday, John started us out with U11 boys which was an easy game. Coach was annoying as hell, but more on him later. I had my second game with U12 girls. In AK the maximum players was 8 instead of 11 for under 12 and below. This got me in trouble. SERIOUS TROUBLE. My ARs were first year referees. I gave a pre-game, but took for granted they would count the players. One team had one player extra on the field. When was this caught. If you are feeling the twist in your gut, you know it wasn't the best of times. It was shortly after the restart of the first goal the extra playered team scored. It really sucked and it didn't take long for tournament directors to catch wind of it.
At half time the score was 4-0 now. The tournament director came and I told him, I screwed up (Yes my ARs buried me, but ultimately I should have taken more caution). The losing coach came out and I told him on the spot before he can speak that I screwed up and he has every right to be upset, but we need to finish the game. He was more then understanding of the situation. Basically the score stayed the same and even if they took the one goal for sake of points. Lucky me!

Day 2 was better. It was all U19's and more my element. I did the girls center. It was as fun as usual. Only had to give one stern lecture and it was all good. The boys I did a line for Jesse and this other guy from Montana. Between the 3 of us, we had good control of the match but the games were a bit lopsided on the boys.

Also on the photo to your left is a fine example of dress and appearance. Would you take this referee seriously?

Day 3 was the best. I had a U15 boys semi final. Northern Lights were well connected from the back line to the front strikers. Alaska Rush was struggling after the first goal. It was a near perfect game except I did have to caution a Rush player for a tactical foul which was pretty damn close to be a DOGSO. Two defenders got back in time to make it just a yellow. The only goal Rush got was through my PK call where Northern lights passed the ball back and the keeper juggled it a bit too long. Lost the ball, so he tackled the player. Lucky for the keeper, the stricker was dribbling away from goal or I would have had to send him off in another DOGSO scenerio.

I also ran line for a couple of games. One was with John M. I hadn't refereed with him in years. We had fun and the girls played some hard soccer. The U15 boys final, I got Northern Lights again. They played Phoenix and while Phoenix played hard, a few of them played too hard. There was a #13 which committed most of the fouls, encroched a few times, kicked the ball away after a foul. He should have been booked, but the center, an up and coming youth, didn't have the courage. I even asked him at half time, who the trouble makers are. He said 13. However a couple more talking to was all I saw. At one point, the last 15 minutes 13 dicided to play ball, but I still thought he should have gone in the book. Now he is someone else's problem.

After the tournament we went to a party where we had all kind of Salmon and Halabout. I was stuffed, but it was a great way to end a tournament weekend. I'm flying home today in about 5 hours. Some referees weren't lucky as they had a midnight flight. Fortunately I learned from the last time I was there to get what you want.

ETA: It looks like Jesse and I are the last ones out of the house. The Washington couple left us a note saying goodbye. So my plan to win this big brother contest is to have Jesse leave first.

Touched down in Alaska.

2008-06-05T00:20:00.000-07:00

Well I'm spending my first night in Anchorage and this place I am staying at is incredable. AS I told my wife, it is basically my wet dream of a house. There are 3 levels. You enter the house in mid-level. Each room as a bathroom/shower and ethernet connection which is a must so I can write this blog.

This time I have a traveling partner, Jesse N., who is passed out at the moment from exhustion. Tomorrow night I have a center in a girls exhibition match. Supposed to be like an All-Star game with the best girls in the State of Alaska. Should be fun, but why do I get the feeling more eyes will be on me then I would care to?

I will have pictures of this house because words alone can not decribe it. Basically for a little history of the Hickle house, it used to be a mom who housed 15 kids. Lots of rooms. The bottom level is a rec room with a pool table, ping pong table, dart board. I tell you, I can run poker tournaments down here easily.

A point that was brought up on the ptich..

2008-06-02T07:12:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday was a Sunday of assessments. The game before and the game after both had assessments and if Robert F. had his way, he would be assessed as well. Robert would have probably passed his with flying colors. If there was one thing an assessor would bring up is the fact he missed Substitution flags 3 times. After that little mess up, Robert seemed to have adjusted. Only one time he restarted the game prematurely. Otherwise he was good at waiting for me to get back into position and the paperwork in my pocket. Mez. was a team I knew very well. They have gotten their fair share of red cards from me. They knew me pretty well too, even after a year absence from them. Their goalkeeper who I'm usually butting heads with over one thing over another wanted to know why I wasn't running center. I told him I was easing back into the swing of things and honestly I wasn't sure if I was CPSA ready for a center yet. I told him I came out of a full year recovery and he basically told me I was missed. Considering the guy loses it by the first 10 minutes of the game, I took that as a complement. I was expecting Mez. to shutout Con. but while Mez. dominated the game in possession, they could not finish. Con. had one true shot at goal (You ask Jim (AR2) he would have said there were 2) and that one shot counted as a goal. Con. played possession for the most part and the Mez. keeper was out a bit too much and he paid for it with a nail in the coffin 2nd goal to make it almost hard for Mez. to come back.

I felt pretty good, pretty much my old self. I believe if I impose more discipline in my training I will be ready by July/August for my assessment.

So the meaning of my title. The game before me had Bill B. He also fell on the same hard luck I did with an injury and couldn't make the requirements to maintain his grade. I went grade 8 while I choose the path of Emeritus. I saw he managed to make up his requirements to get his badge back. He also said, "The next one that complains to Jones regarding how unfair it is not to get a waiver, he will say, 'Well GP and Bill B. did it. You can too.'"

Got my State Badge in the mail.

2008-05-10T17:04:00.000-07:00

Brian S. wanted to know if I was going to frame my Emeritus badge. I'm actually considering it since I do keep my old badges. My next game is in two weeks.

Been busy these days

2008-05-01T07:17:00.000-07:00

I haven't been on the pitch since the previous entry due to my work. Been on call, will be off that detail in 2 weeks and don't have to pick it up again for another 6 weeks, thanks to an understanding partner. I'm hoping when I go back on I can still ref in the weekends. This one has been hard to pawn off due to family events taking place and..there is a reason why we alternate who get's the pager. Easy money, but can crimp your social life if you don't plan ahead.

I am going to Alaska to referee the INA K. Best part is the last time I was there I was in the works of getting my Grade 5. Now that I have it, lost it, and got it back again (I even went as far as looking up my record in USSOCCER.INFO and yes it's there). I just hope my badge comes beforehand.

I have to say it was funny being emeritus even through in the beginning it was a severe blow to my ego. The look on certain faces as they see a guy who isn't even 40 yet (I turn 39 tomorrow) wearing the E badge. The youth was in shock. A certain referee who is big on the coordinating in San Francisco's youth couldn't understand it until I told him the circumstances behind it. I still don't think it fully sunk in, but I guess I am back to being socially acceptable to him now.

The Referee scores a double hat trick...

2008-04-16T08:50:00.000-07:00

...on yellow and red cards. It was a match I expected two classy teams to be playing each other. I figure I would have a couple of players each to manage, but that was it. SFC vs. UFC. As the opening whistle hit, the first 20 minutes seemed fine. Only one caution to a SFC player for a reckless challenge.

The SFC captain was fouled twice and I gave advantage on both counts. When he was fouled again, I realized they were either trying to hurt him, intimidate him, or just piss him off. Probably the latter because he is known for losing his cool and doing something stupid. I sent him off two years ago for headbutting a player.

After the next foul, I booked the UFC player #19 for PI. He knew because he didn't say much, but the others did on his behalf. I love teamwork. 3 minutes later, a UFC player chops a SFC player from behind, possible red, went with a yellow, but it was #19 again, so he had his marching orders.

Seven minutes later, SFC decided to return the favor and kick a UFC player, challenging for the ball, which forced me to send off a SFC player with a little assistance of my AR. So by half time I already had a hat trick in yellows.

Started the second half and I was hoping they would calm down. Called a PK against UFC when he tripped a SFC player on the line of the penalty area. Yes I was 100% sure. So one player decides to protest, not the foul, but the place where the foul occurred. He said, "It was out of the box."
I said, "No it wasn't."
He replied, "yes it was."
I said, "Nice try, no it wasn't"
He said, "But referee, it was on the line."
I said, "Thank you for clarifying that. Do yourself a favor. If you are ever arrested, don't represent yourself."
So the PK was taken and SFC scored their 3rd goal as it was now 3-0, SFC and it seemed like they would win.

Here's where it hit the fan. 14 minutes in the second half, there was a hard challenge between the two players, but #10 of SFC got the worse of the challenge. I started to turn to follow play when I heard, "I'm gonna break your fucking legs!" I turned back and saw the SFC player go towards the UFC player as ball was leaving the field of play. It looked like he was gonna push, but he extended his arms and a hand partially closed struck the UFC players face. By the time I got there I managed to get between them and keep UFC players with the help of their captain from making it worse. I then sent off number 10. The two captains then shook hands.
Things mellowed out as far as my responsibilities because I think they got the clue I was not putting up with any crap. However SFC series of unfortunate events were getting worse. UFC score a couple of goals back to back. The keeper was losing it. The bad part was the keeper was trying delay tactics until he was tired of me being on him like flies on crap. After 3 seconds I was telling him to put it in play.
Still the keeper was sweating bullets, cursing his back line for player more possession and not trying to score. In poker, we call that going on TILT. Sure enough, UFC managed to get that 3rd goal in.

At the end the score was 3-3. I was filling out the send off reports and #10 came to me as I was filling his and he said, "Ref, I'm sorry for putting you in the position to send me off." We shook hands as well as the captain.

I had a second game where Dave F was going for his 5. He had a good game.

Passed my assessment...I'm back baby!

2008-03-31T06:24:00.000-07:00

I didn't want to talk too much about my assessment prior to the match because the way my year went, I didn't want to jinx anything. Now that it's over (well for catching up purposes) I can talk about it.

For those that were unaware of my situation, I'll catch you up. I had a groin strain and an achillies tendonitus. Lovely combination, let me tell you. I spent 6 months in theropy and the rest of my time was just stretching and doing a game or two to see where I was physically. Now some of you might be wondering, "Shouldn't you have gotten a medical waiver for the year?"
Well that was the master plan. If it meant I could not do any games in 2007, I would have stuck with that. However, the powers that be (names will cost you a good beer) said no medical waiver. Either I drop down to a grade 8 or go Emeritus and either case I could go back once I make up my requirements in a timely mannor. This didn't sit well with me, but I have learned over the months I was not the only one affected of this. A few other referees took a downgrade due to this (names will cost you another round).

You might say I was pissed when I learned this. I put 20 plus years in this program and I felt it turned its back on me. I was told a glimmer of hope which was to heal, then get the requirements done, and then I would be reinstated to a 5.

I was discouraged a bit but a couple of things happened. One, I wasn't going to accept a grade 8 when I actually certify people for that level. I went Emeritus, knowing I can come back in a timely mannor. However (no names third round) was talking to a novice referee and was called a professional. He said, "I'm no professional," looked right at me and pointed and I know he saw my Emeritus, turned desparately to find someone else. I'll have to thank him for motivating me like that when at the same time calling him on it.

At the assessment day, I was expecting a good crew of assistants. I know John tried to set it up like that for my benifit. However, I found out late in the game, one guy bailed out and I got a rookie I have never seen before. I wasn't too worried. In fact I almost had a "I don't give a flying ---- what happens." Reason? I'm not going national. At one time I thought I was, but I have to be honest with myself and know it's not in the cards for me. Plus I don't like where the program has been going these days. So I called yesterday my fork in the road. Either I pass it and get my 5 and a sense of accomplishment that I made a come back or I fail and remain an Emeritus (Another round for why it wouldn't be so bad tens years from now).
The game, well boys will be boys, but 5 cards I thought I settled things down, but after the game, there was a melee and I was smack in the middle of it. Managed to separate them before things got really bad.

The feedback. I have to say was not what I expected. To be honest, I am still not to my old self. He noticed that. Actually he was more worried about my health then assessing me. Was kind of somber in a way. The first thing he said to me was, "I'm here for you. I'm here to help you." Then he asked me to be frank. I told him if I was more physically fit, I would have handled some stuff better. We were in agreement of that. He asked me how long have I been back. I said this was my 3rd week. He told me I passed, but if I am not in good health, don't ask for an assessment. Better work on that.

The Major Div game was a pleasure

2008-03-17T06:55:00.000-07:00

I had two teams which have been a part of my Amateur career since year one. I'm now in my 8th year and my experience has played a good part for this game.

Guadulj. lost someone last week whom was very important to them. I noticed because everyone was getting black armband, so I asked when checking them in. They asked for a moment of silence before the kick off and I was more then happy to oblige was well as Bay City.

After the moment of silence which Guadulaj. was very grateful for my orchestrating it. Both teams at first were playing real nice. I mean there were hard challenges but nobody seemed to be out to stomp the other guy. Well that was until Guadulaj. scored first.
Then bay city decided it was time to get a bit more physical. When Guadulj. scored again it was like Bay City said, "Okay mourning period is over."

I managed to go through the first half with no cards. However after my AR gave me some information regarding the Guadulj. forward and Bay City defender going at it, I thought I was going to have my hands full in the second half. Well as far as they were concerned, I didn't have a problem. In fact the forward in question was very well behaved. On free kicks when he had to retreat he asked me if this was far enough. If only all players would be so nice. He pulled a hamstring later when I saw him landed. I went to him on stoppage and I knew he was done for the day, hence no potential problem.

However bay city was racking up on the fouling and I booked the first guy after two consecutive late fouls. I booked another after I whistled a call, he just kept plowing into the player. Then I got another PI which I could sprinkle dissent on.

After that third card, I got the game under control again and was a great way to end a Sunday. Personally, I am bummed I missed the Dublin festivities.

It's nice to know even though you have been out for 10 months...

2008-03-14T08:48:00.000-07:00

...your reputation is still intact. Did an amateur match for the first time since the injury. It was great to be back. For a 2nd division match, it was a pretty competitive match. Had to grab the game by the balls and twist early in the match.

My first card was for dissent as one player wouldn't shut up, despite my warnings to do so. Another card for a reckless challenge. Then I called a PK for an obvious trip in the Penalty area. Easy call. South city answered back in the beginning of the 2nd half. Then South City defender thought he was going to get away with a handling in the penalty area with his arm out stretched and "arming" the ball. Again, easy call. Got some protests on that one. Even after the PK was converted and scored and I wound up giving a card to the captain while Bosnia tried to delay game. One got a card for their trouble.

Overall I did fine, my AR's noted I was up with play and not bad for being 10 months out.
ARed a second match where one team was late. I'll get into some key points here.

1. I'm too young to be Emeritus so I'm keeping my graying beard.
2. You know you are getting old when a coach is saying, "I remember you from last year." and despite the unique figure, you can't rememeber where you have seen him.
3. If a game is at 3:45pm, why do you show up to a game at 3:30pm with no filled roster?
4. If a game is at 3:45pm why do the subs show up at 3:50pm expecting to play when they just had enough time to put 11 starting players (no subs around) by the time we should be kicking off? (trivia question).
5. To the guy I had a pissing contest with over getting the ball close to goal while the other was half a field away. I wouldn't yell at you if you didn't argue with me. Deal with it! You're lucky I didn't call the center to card your ass for dissent and delay restart.
6. To the subs who begged and plead to write their names in. Let this be a lesson. Get your asses on time and tell your manager/coach to do the same thing.
7. Speaking of item 6. I thought it was pretty hypocritical of the manager to yell at the subs of getting there 30 minutes before the game when he showed up 15 minutes prior to the match.

It's great to be back.

America vs. Poker gets closer to home

2008-01-19T12:17:00.000-08:00

Well across the bay actually. I'm not going to re-write the account as you can read it here:

http://www.insidebayarea.com/sanmateocountytimes/ci_7966662

As for personal accounts, I can give you two here:

http://ksnydersj.wordpress.com/2008/01/13/reno-911-the-home-game/

http://pokersoup.com/blog/pokeradical/show/san-francisco-poker-meetup-group-busted

Basically I thought it was over done. My wife asked what was with the riot gear and from reading the accounts, it sounded like one of them was using the gear to conceal his identity since he played in a game undercover (a total donk too).
Now as bad I as feel about these guys they made three mistakes:

1. They asked $5.00 for refreshments. What's the big deal? Not much when you first hear about it, but when you really think about it, a game that averages from 6 to 16 that can average about 90 bucks. Now I know I don't spend that much on refreshments. And when the game is over, where do the refreshments go? Most likely they stay at the house it was played in. Hmmm I got an average of 90 bucks to cover food and I have a lot of left overs in beer and food. Not a bad night. Add the fact I cashed out, well it makes it a great night. $5.00 doesn't sound so innocent now, does it? I'm not saying there were bad intentions in this because if one hosts a tourney and pays for food and drinks and doesn't cash out is really in the hole. The thing is you host, you can have your guest bring food or their own beverage or be prepared to foot the cost for as many as possible. Just don't ask for a kickback is the key.

2. The skimmed off the top. Again, intentions seemed good. Skim off the top and put it towards a free-roll for a Tournament of Champions or something similar. My TOC's people just have a larger buy-in. It's still their choice if qualified to play. Granted I throw in card guards for all participants, I do this expecting nothing in return but a good night in poker.

3. This one was a "WTF" were they thinking? Last year I invited my step-brother and brother-in-law to play. Also invited a nephew who was 18. My other two nephews who were under 18 didn't get an invite because I wasn't clear of the legalities of doing so. Turns out my instincts was dead on, because after my invite which none showed, I felt they were put off by the fact I didn't invite the younger nephews. Well I'm not being charged for contributing to a delinquency of a minor either.

A local league closed up shop due to the recent events, but on the surface it doesn't look like they are doing anything illegal. My know my doors are still open.

Texas Close Em

2007-12-10T13:07:00.000-08:00

This is real, but what they did was a joke. Unfortunately most gambling laws state you can have a home poker tournament as long as the house does not get a cut. This cut would have gone to charity, but a cut is a cut.

Update on life

2007-12-06T08:02:00.001-08:00

I haven't been here since the crossroads so here's what has been going on.

1. My first game back that I haven't decided I needed more rest, was a crossroad match. It went fine, but physically I could have been better.

2. I had a second stab at it the night before thanksgiving. It was the Dublin High School Alumni vs. the High School team of today. It went well and I covered the field well according to my AR. I felt pretty good.

3. I had the fun run, survived the physical part, but it was freaking cold. I took the written and for the first time since I began refereeing, I failed. I missed it by 3, and I needed an 85. A brain fart, but some of these questions were brain teasers.

4. I had my poker tournament to end the season. Table of champions. The tournament overall went well. I didn't cash out, but it was all good there. I did have to ban someone from participating in future tournaments. He spent the evening offending some of the guests, directly and indirectly and was being a pain in the ass. I pulled him aside when he busted out. If you have a choice, it's easier to throw someone out after they bust out then while they are still in. I told him, "Look, I have rules laid out for a reason. You will abide by these rules, you will not dis me in my own home, and more importantly, you will not dis the other players. If you can't handle that, then don't play." He responded, "Then I won't play."
I left him in the cold, he came back, didn't say much and even helped me put chips away. I was still pissed at him. Then one of my players told me attempted to pull his blinds back in. Apparently I missed this. Well it was the last straw and I decided he was not going to be invited to anymore tournaments.

5. Retook the test. Got a 98. The two I got wrong were trick questions.

6. I have been working from home since Thanksgiving week. It's a nice commute.

Now that's justice

2007-10-22T14:56:00.000-07:00

http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=ap-uswomenscoach&prov=ap&type=lgns

My take: Sunil obviously doesn't want to point the deciding factor of the release but since this is Ryan's only loss, I think we all can guess why the move was made. Hoefully if this keeps Solo on the team, the girls will finally tell her she had every right to be angry. If they don't then they don't deserve to be in soccer.

Back on the pitch, but too soon

2007-10-19T07:07:00.000-07:00

I got clearance from my doctor last week, reluctantly. He told me to start slow. I figured an U12 boys class 3 match was slow enough for me not to put a lot of effort in keeping up, but fast enough so I would not die of boredom.

At the opening whistle there was a hard foul by Union City, which was met with a hard whistle from me followed by, "I don't want to see anymore of that!" For the most part I believe that and a couple other foul calls after the fact let the players know I was on top of this game. Didn't hear a c'mon ref once which is a silent complement by itself. Union city beat Dublin 7-1, but I had fun.

However a few things surrounded the game which was, in my opinion, unpleasant. So let's bring out the list:

The Dublin league and the counties surrounding it are extraordinarily protective of their fields after rain. It's been getting worse as the years go by. You have to call the rain out schedule 2 days out. I did out of instinct. The game before us got the message and played at the Dublin Sports Ground. My game, the teams did not get the message so I had to gather my crew get over to Emerald Glen. This caused the game to be late and the irony of it was the coaches of Dublin took my class last summer and heard my lecture of being on time. 30 minutes prior to the match.

I was about the start the game and the league president shows up and tells me to move the game to the other field. I told her the "problem" she stated is not a big deal and we're going to play. I also told her that to expect people to call the rainout number 2 days after it rains is unrealistic. So I'm sure she is seething, but the 8 by 10 mud hole wasn't an issue.
My physical fitness has deteriorated from being off 5-6 months and need to build it back up. Not ready for amateurs yet. Foot was sore, but it wasn't my Achilles so to speak, but the parts surrounding my ankle. Still for the Achilles sake, I'm playing it cautiously.

Another US player sells Solo out

2007-10-11T17:04:00.000-07:00

You may want to read the article first:

http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=ap-uswomen-chalupny&prov=ap&type=lgns

My take: Chalupny's response to the goalkeeper fallout should have been, "No comment!" They get "mad" because Solo threw Ryan under the bus. What the hell is Solo's teammates doing to her? First Wombach and now Chalupny. I liked these two as players, but I have no respect for either one of them. What? You're not getting your good press because you didn't win the cup so now you need press time at the expense of others. "I hope she's learned a lesson." What a hypocrite.

edited to add: Yes, the method of Solo's expression of anger was wrong. However an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. She still has every right to be pissed for the decision and so do the rest of the US.

Another one for Solo

2007-10-10T08:21:00.000-07:00

http://onmilwaukee.com/sports/articles/czaban101007.html?12943

For the record, I am siding with Solo, even though she let her emotions get the best of her infront of the TV cam. She still has every right to be pissed. Wombach and her, "I am working towords forgiving her." Well I'm working towards forgiving the US team for a shitty performance up to the 3rd place match where I saw a different team out there. At least Scurry warmed up by then.

Did Abby Wambach sell Solo out? You decide

2007-10-08T19:38:00.000-07:00

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071008/SPORTS/710080307

Happy Birthday Gabriel

2007-10-01T07:03:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Gabriel's birthday. We just had a small gathering and cake. Immediate family and grand parents. It was a nice get together. Gabriel always reminds me to enjoy every day as if it were our last. This was due to spending one month in NICU where 95% of the medical professional predicted he wouldn't make it out alive.

Hope Solo is really gone Solo in the 3rd place match

2007-10-01T06:29:00.000-07:00

Well the US, even though we didn't win the cup, managed to keep the record of not placing below 3rd. Reminds me of my hme poker games, except that record was broken this spring. They played some good ball. I wished they played like that during the other games but as someone pointed out, it's a bit unfair to compare them to team 1999.

However the controversy seems to be surrounding Hope Solo being replaced by Brianna Scurry. Then it surrounded Solo's outbursts to the media. Then it surrounded Solo's suspension from the team for the 3rd place match.

Now I believe the outburst was directed at Greg Ryan and Greg Ryan only. Scurry unfortunately got caught in the crossfire or should I say friendly fire. I believe Solo has respect for Scurry, but just failed to show it when giving the outburst. I feel Scurry may be able to read between the lines and realize she wasn't the one being attacked. I believe those two will reconsile.
Coach Ryan however is another story. It amazing he can have an impressive record and then one game screws everything up. I agree with Solo that you cannot live in the past. I just don't fully agree with the method of speaking out.

Dispite Solo's outburst I have come to admire her this year as this is the first year I got to know of her. And I understand where it came from and if I were in her shoes (does she wear a size 10?) I might have reacted the same way. Yes she had a bad game against Korea, but it was wet out there and people screw up. She has more then atoned for that one. 3 shut outs and you reward her by benching her for the Semi Finals. Crap I must say. Maybe she figured she had nothing more to lose by speaking out. Anyone ever thought of that one. Wynalda did it in 1998 when Sampson put him in the midfield vs. forward and kicked Harks off the team.

World Cup Final Recap..Beauty doesn't score goals.

2007-10-01T06:11:00.000-07:00

I have to say the better team won and I was pleased to say it was not Brazil. Why? Don't get me wrong, they play a beautiful game....when they want to. Meaning when they are not going down too easily and trying to draw a foul. And even worse yet, trying to draw out cards like they successfully did against the USA.
Germany's touches on the ball were not spectactular in comparison to Brazil, but Germany's touches counted with two goals. Beauty doesn't score goals.

The refereeing? I have to say I was surprised that Seitz was not in the middle, but then again, I'm not. There seems to be a stigmatism against the USA when it comes to World Cup finals. Esse Barharmist didn't get it in 1998. And that was after the incredible display of courage of calling a PK while most of the world booed him...until a swedish camera picked up the foul. Not 2002's Brian Hall where players who had his game stated they had very little problems with his refereeing. Not 2003 where Seitz or Hunt could have done the final. I won't go into 2006.

This austrailian referee was okay, but my only problem was she didn't use her cards enough because in the second half, things got agressive on both sides. Danilla should have gotten a red card (second caution) for that bad tackle. Verbally talking to the players only goes so far.

Still it was an entertaining game to watch and Germany did deserve it. Oh for those who ask, I wouldn't have called that PK a DOGSO because there was another German player who may have been able to contest for the ball. When it's not "Obvious" then it's not a red. I'll give the referee Kudos for that one.

The Day After

2007-09-28T08:43:00.000-07:00

So I have plenty of time to think about the game yesterday. The one thing I have to say is that USA losing and playing like crap doesn't take away the fact that Brazil did great. The scored the first two goals with 11 players on the field.

The USA team was flat from the time I saw their exhibition game against Japan at Spartan Stadium. They were flat on the opening game against Korea, but for the Korean coach to say they can take the USA on is bogus. They got both their goals with a man(woman) down. I would like to see a rematch with a full squad 90 minute game.

They were better against Sweden. Could have played better against Nigeria, but the one thing I noticed was, there was a lack of a midfield. A lot of long balls.

Quarter final I thought they got their grove back and Hope Solo regained my confidence shortly after the Korea match. For the first time I thought they stood a chance of winning the cup.

However, you have to look at the catalyst of things. When Ryan decided to change the keepers out, the team was demoralized. Solo was understandably furious. Even Scurry had doubts of this change. Her teammates were questioning the decision. Former US players and coaches questioned the change. The only one who seemed to be confident in the change was Coach Ryan himself. I will take the bet that either Ryan will step down or USSF will fire him. I like to follow the philosophy that you never change a winning team. Ryan should have had that same philosophy. But like I said, there is enough blame to go around.

Osbourne headed the ball into her own goal. It could have been Solo or Scurry and it would not change the fact we had an own goal. Of course this probably demoralizes the cold keeper Scurry while Solo watches in horror.

Then Marta scores a goal which I felt Scurry could have reached if she was warmed up enough. Problem is she hasn't played much while Solo was Juiced with 3 shutouts in a row. Again, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Then if they were not demoralized enough, Shannon Boxx gets the second yellow card. A bogus card because Christiane' took Boxx down and even celebrated when the 2nd card took place. To her credit though in the 2nd half she did perform an excellent display in footwork.

So would USA won without all these controversies? Maybe, but they still would have had a major fight in their hands because as even Lilly quoted, "They were the better team."

USA loses against Brazil

2007-09-27T15:53:00.000-07:00

What happened you might ask. Well first let's look at the 24 hours prior. I'm watching the Germany vs. Norway and it turns out Ryan makes a decision to replace Hope Solo with Brianna Scurry. This didn't fly will with the keepers, the announcers, the teams, and the fans. Except for Ryan, I don't know who favors the change.

So we're stuck with this decision and to make matters worse, Osbourn heads the ball in her own goal. I would like to believe that Scurry called her off. It could have been Solo in the goal and I think it wouldn't have change this.

Then we had another goal scored against us. Then if that was not enough demoralizing, lose Boxx to a bogus call. I would really like to know how this Swedish gal, keeps getting the assignments when she blows them one after the other.

Then they start changing the defense and not the offense.

I guess you can say there is enough blame to go around.

Quarter Final Review

2007-09-25T07:14:00.000-07:00

You're going to get a condensed version as I have watched all the games, but have not had time to jot my thoughts yet.

USA vs. England

It seemed as though USA was going to keep repeating the flatness while playing England. However, when Abby Wombach scored a goal it seemed to wake everyone in the USA and they had an explosive second half.

Germany vs. Korea

I'm not surprised by the outcome of this match. Korea was lucky tying the USA when Wombach was out getting stitched up.

Brazil and Austrailia

This was the best game of the weekend. Brazil scores, Autrialia answers. May have been a missed PK call for Austrailia but the angle was bad, I would have needed to see it from a different POV, namely the referee's. (If correctly postioned). Still Brazil won, will be playing the USA, but Austrialia was fun to watch.

Norway vs. China

Kind of good news going into the Semi finals as there isn't a stigma of playing the host nation. However the goal Norway got was a weenie goal. I challenge you all to take a look at the replay of the match. Norway midfielder passes the ball up to her forward. If you listen you will hear a whistle sound just as Norway was about to receive the ball. You will notice the chinese defender slowing down as if she thought an offside call was made. Then you will notice the Norway attacker take the ball to goal and the chinese defender realizing just a second too late that was not the referee's whistle.
I suspect it was a chinese fan that blew the whistle (and a good whistle as well). I think he was hoping to stop the attack, but it backfired and stopped the defense.

Looking forward to the Semi Finals in a couple of days.

USA still flat as they tie Korea

2007-09-11T15:10:00.000-07:00

You would think they would stay on guard as they enter the first game on asian soil, against an asian team. Wrong. They were flat. The management on the sidelines did a lousy job getting either Wombach back on the field or subbing. Wombach socred the first goal. Then gets a head injury which there is blood so she has to leave per FIFA law.
It takes well over 5 minutes to get her bandanged up and as a result they played a player down and Korea capitized on that not once, but twice. Luckly we tied it in the end, but like USA women, we take it as a loss.

The silver lining is the other two teams in the group of death also tied so it's almost a level playing field.

Japan ties England to a standstill...

2007-09-11T14:58:00.000-07:00

...and quite frankly were the better team. Now I really had no interest in either team, but Kari Seitz and Jennifer Bennett were the officials for the match so I wanted to see how well they did. Jennifer really didn't have much work to do, holding up that sub billboard.

Kari had to make what John Kennedy used to call, "the moment of truth call." It came at the final minute of stoppage time. It happened so quick that even the replay didn't do it justice, unless you are a referee and know what to look for. What was found was the England defender held #9 of Japan as she was going up for the ball. However from the angle we were looking at it could very well look like two players going up for the ball. Where's the foul? Well if you took a close look at the play you will see the English player never really attempted to play the ball but did what she set out to do; keep the Japanese player from playing the ball. In slow motion you really could see it. Again, you need to know what to look for in a hold because not all holds are obvious. If what I say is not convincing, then look at this photo for a more obvious look.

And just bare in mind...Kari didn't have the luxury of a replay. Great call Kari and great guts in making that crucial call. Yes Crucial call. Because not only England committed a foul, but then choose to do a misconduct by encroaching the ball during the free kick in a desperation Kari would call the game. However it backfired on England because this occurred after Kari blew the whistle for restart, then had to caution the player. However, it doesn't say she has to blow the whistle twice and the keeper let her guard down as Japan took their final shot to score the tying goal.

My daughter's team won their first game

2007-09-09T11:42:00.000-07:00

We pulled a San Jose Clash. New team, new name, new season, and new beginning. As the Wildcats we managed to pull in our first game what we failed to do last year. Make our plays count. Make our passes count. Make our shots count and even make sure we had the goals.

The first half was a pretty hard fought battle and nobody scored the first half. We almost got scored on the first half when our first goalkeeper merely watched the ball coast on the line before she picked it up. However since we were cycling between keeper I took the first girl that expressed interest in keeping and I told her, "You see what she's doing, just waiting for the ball to come to her?"
She said, "Yeah."
I said, "Don't do it. That ball enters the box, it's yours for the taking." I was sorry I could only keep her there for one quarter because she in my opinion was the best keeper in that game. Another player who I put in the goal earlier played a close second as she was a bit weak on getting to the ball, but once she got it, she knew what to do with it. As a matter of fact she got an assist from it.
My two forwards really worked well together. Making connecting passes which resulted in a couple goals. One of my players followed up too.
It was a pretty close game, but I like to say we dominated the second half.

USA is going to have their hands full

2007-09-06T14:45:00.000-07:00

They are in the group of death like their male counterparts last year and what really sucks? Check out the video of last year's asian cup semi finals

Spoke too soon.

2007-08-16T07:21:00.000-07:00

I went home last night and did the "funky" exercise that is the most painful for my groin muscle. The other night I had a couple of beers in me so it might have dulled the pain. I didn't feel pain (I usually do) but I did have enough discomfort to know I'm not totally out of the woods. I am confident my groin strain will heal quicker then my achillies.

Marlena got to experience coach Kamal. Did a good job, but I walked into the tail end of the conversation where I heard Kamal say with a big group, it is not easy to teach a group. There were some signals crossed. Marlena seems to be having a good start this season. Damn if I didn't teach her how to sheild well. She's one of the best sheilders on my team. She's also gotten agressive which is fine. I'll give her a lot of rope on that before I tame her (don't want her to hurt anyone). Even one girl who could probably beat her in strength, is given a run for the money.

One Pain down, one pain to go.

2007-08-15T13:43:00.000-07:00

Last night I was laying in bed, watching TV with the wife. I decided since I was already in position to do an excercise fpr the groin muscle that if it stopped hurting, I could run. Well I did the exercise and it didn't hurt at all. Of course I had 2 1/2 beers in me so I'm going to try again when I get home and make sure I'm not hurting. So if this is the case, it is one pain down and one pain to go. My Achillies.

Now in my last post I was told it could take up to a year to heal. However, the physical therapist says I'm doing well, better then most. She won't say when I will heal, but I can tell it can be sooner then later. Basically doing some strength training on it.

I'm supposed to see the Sports medic in October. I'm going to see if it can be sooner. If so I can save my Grade 5 badge before I am forced into Emeritus.

In other aspects of soccer, I just completed my Grade 8 class in Dublin. I had zero failures which surpasses not one, but two instructors in the previous class. Best part is I did it all by myself. I do have to give a make up test for one who could not attend the test, so hopefully she keeps my record intact.

Mentored some new and not so new referees on the field. I have to say, I was overall impressed. I gave a lot of feedback to see if I can make them improve. Some felt better the second half and some weren't receptive.

Had my poker torunament last weekend. I took 3rd, but it's all good because my Cousin after his 3rd try, took first. He sucked me out on a straight. Still, we almost have our Table of Champions complete. Only two spots available.

Update on Refereeing and health

2007-07-31T09:16:00.000-07:00

I saw a sports medicine specialist yesterday. Let me tell you, it took a good chunk of my afternoon, most of it was waiting and constant calls to my wife for a status report because the entire family had a busy evening ahead of us.

So for a 2;30 appointment it was almost 3pm that I finally saw someone. Not a good first impression, but at least he got better. Allowed me to take my time explaining the series of events that led to where I am now. I was informed that the achillies tendonitus may take up to a year to heal. My groin strain doesn't seem so bad in the grand scheme of things. However, it may seal the window of time that it would take to get my 5, however if certain people are true to their word, it may be a minor bump and I would have to wear the badge of shame for a short while.

Funny how that works. Last night I was introduced to a Dublin Grade 8 class. He introduced my credentials and one of the cool parts is I am the highest ranking referee in the city of Dublin. It was bittersweet as I know I am in danger of losing that rank and being forced into either retirement (Emeritus or Grade 8).

The class...very sharp group. Covered a lot of material in a short time span. Need to be prepared to do a thorough review. On the upside, I can show two DVD's for good time fillers. Looks like I was correct to get that material in my hands soon.

USA WNT vs. Japan...USA wins, but flat

2007-07-29T11:19:00.000-07:00

I went to spartan stadium for the first time since the SJ Earthquakes got relocated to Houston. Spartan Stadium was a shadow of it's old self as I noticed during the National Antham that they took the bill board on the south end down. In my warped view this was just an insult to injury. In my humble opinion if the field was good enough for the WNT then it was good enough for the selfish MLS.

So we watched the game and noticed a lot of passes that seemed to have little or no direction in the first half. The USA played flat compared to the WNT in 1999.

You're probably asking why am I not comparing them to the 2003 WNT. It's because I know what went wrong there. They were demoralized by the demise of the WUSA just weeks before the WWC began. They played well, but lost their psychological edge. This year, you have a few of the old guard and a lot of newbies. Some name I recongized from the WPSL rosters I have reffed in the last 4 years.

Japan was fast, just like the Japanese team I ran line for last year. But they had a few key players. I noticed #11 of Japan and Shannon Boxx going at it a few times. Either referee Jennifer Bennet saw something and had a word with them or they just backed off on their own.

Speaking of Ms. Bennet, this was the first time I have seen her referee since she moved to California. Overall, she did a fine job, but I was a bit astonished to see she lost some basic mechanics like noticing a substitution. Wheelor had her flag up and Kari Seitz had her billboard up, but she was looking at the opposite end (Jr. AR's direction). The Jr. AR didn't mirror the substitution and I assume they were not using beeper flags. I wonder if the assessors saw that. Yes it got chippy in the end. I kind of chuckled when I holding foul in the penalty area was not called, but seconds later a handling the ball was immediately called. Either case justice was done, but the law book says, "Punish the most severe." Could be she was not in the correct "angle of view" that Bob Evans stressed over in his instructional DVD.

I'm still proud of our referee crew, being from the only country that is not allowing one referee to officiate the world cup, but two. And with my injuries, I should be able to catch most of the cup.

As for my injuries, I may recover September/October. Hopefully in time to get an assessment. They are not going to medical waiver me regardless of my medical situation. It will cost a Sam Adams or a Belhaven to get the sordid details out of me, but I promise you, it's worth every ounce of beer.

Found an old link on the web regarding MLS refereeing

2007-07-25T12:54:00.001-07:00

http://soccer-ref.quietfire.com/BobEvansPaper.html

What do you get...

2007-07-22T09:08:00.001-07:00

...when you have a coaching instructor and referee instructor sitting on a park bench together? Insight. I attended a coaching clinic. The first time I have ever done so. I have coached teams before but I have never been trained as a coach. Kamel was the instructor.

When I first met Kamal, I was refereeing his JV team. He introduced himself to me and asked for my name. I gave it to him while shaking his hand. He asked me to write it in his book. I did, thinking what is the harm. Then he asked me for his number and that was when my alarm went off. I politely said, "I'm sorry, I make it a policy not to give out my number to coaches."

So over the next few years we would cross paths over and over. I saw what he does for the Dublin league and grew a lot of respect for him. Not many coaches get that from me from a referee standpoint.

So yesterday I attended his clinic and really got to see the other side. I tell you I learned so much that I wish I had done this sooner. I wasted 2 years with my daughter as a result of my inaction.

So at the end of the class, Kamel and I were chatting and found out he was interested in getting his Grade 8 license back. He got his in 1999, but hasn't re-registered. Therefore, he had to take the entire course. I hope if he does, I'm blessed to have him as my student. I sure was blessed to be his yesterday.

3 months gone and her memory is still strong...

2007-07-22T09:06:00.000-07:00

...as if it happened yesterday. More on Carly

Bashed like Beckham

2007-07-19T06:25:00.000-07:00

Well I said it before and now it's unfolding here. Beckham has been nothing but disappointing to the long awaiting fans. The Galaxy suffered a 3-0 loss against a mexican team and is now being called a pub team (ouch!)
Beckham is nursing an ankle injury and Lalas looks like a clown in a suit for not being able to use the multi million dollar investment.

Outraged at Iraq

2007-06-20T10:41:00.000-07:00

I came home from a relatively good day. First thing my wife brings to my attention is a news report she heard about an Iraqi orphanage for special needs children was neglected by the caretakers. 24 boys, only one of them could talk. I was sick, disgusted, and mad as hell. I wanted 5 minutes with the care takers so I can kick their teeth in.

All I could do is pick up my son with special needs and hold him tight. I kept picturing him helpless like those kids. No, it's not easy dealing with special needs, but I can't imagine life without him either.

Wife gets the shock of her life.

2007-06-18T11:53:00.000-07:00

I've been dreaming of this day for years. Now it's a reality. You see I have always wanted to throw my wife a surprise party. I missed the opportunity when she turned 30 and 35 didn't seem right. So I had to do the 40.

I got her friend involved and her mother involved. Her friend set the stage for a "girls night out." I kind of felt bad because she was really stoked to go out.

Things sort of hit a snag on the way. I wanted to do it on her actual birthday. Problem was her mom was going out of town. So we agreed to do it a week earlier. Figured it would throw her off. So we figured out the food, number of guest and what not, but how to get her over to her parents house without raising suspician? That was the challenge.

Well as it turned out, days after I picked the week before, it turns out we get an invite for another party. I really had to keep it in check. But there was the girls night out and there was our way out of the party, but even the day before we were stumbling on how to get her to her folks.

Saturday morning, I sat straight up and concocted an idea. I said out loud, "I'm not going to the party."
She said, "You're what?"
"I'm not going. I just don't feel socialable."
Boy was she mad as she said, "We talked about this."
"I won't go and you can't make me. I'll watch Gabriel, but I'm not going."
We didn't talk to each other for an hour. She finally said, "I'm mad at you." I expected that.
I told her, "We'll talk about it tonight, it will all make sense then." I thought I gave away too much, but apparently not.
She finally left, came back, left again. I got her cake (Big costco hit) and any other food I needed to get for mom.
When I got there, people we're asking me, "Well if you're here, how are you going to get Paula down."
I said, "I'm going to call her about 5:15pm and say, 'I'm at your dad's fixing another computer SNAFU. Drop the kids off, I have your clothes and YOUR MAKE UP here.'" They loved the idea, especially the women. I kind of got the impression it is Taboo to mess with a woman's make up.
So she shows up and I decided to meet her at the van. I didn't give her time to think. I grabbed Gabriel and said we had to walk through the back.
She wanted to go through the garage and I said how I got chewed out for being in there so the back it was.
"So what is the computer problem," She asked.
"Just your usual, he doesn't maintain anything kind," I replied as I pulled back the slides for Paula to hear, "SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I say it was a job well done.

16 year old collapsed and died playing soccer

2007-06-11T06:23:00.000-07:00

This is 6 weeks after Carly had her heart attack and she was only 15. Really beginning to wonder if we're pushing our kids too much. Here is the article:

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/10/BAGEOQD0PS4.DTL

Laptop VS. Desktop

2007-06-10T16:00:00.000-07:00

Personally I prefer the laptop because of the freedom of mobility. I can pretty much do almost anything anywhere. However I do suggest having a desktop. Just look at it as home base for your computing. Good article.

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/29230/laptop-vs-desktop-which-is-right-for-you

A great final hand...

2007-06-08T22:35:00.000-07:00

There was 3 of us left in an 18 player tournament. Here's how it went down.

PokerStars Game #10343672524: Tournament #52405693, $1.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level IX (300/600) - 2007/06/09 - 01:28:17 (ET)Table '52405693 2' 9-max Seat #8 is the buttonSeat 5: 03grizzly (8040 in chips)
Seat 6: GPennRef (12905 in chips)
Seat 8: creatoo (6055 in chips)
03grizzly: posts the ante 50
GPennRef: posts the ante 50
creatoo: posts the ante 5
03grizzly: posts small blind 300
GPennRef: posts big blind 600*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to GPennRef [Ad Ah]
creatoo: calls 600
03grizzly: calls 300
GPennRef: raises 1200 to 1800
creatoo: raises 1200 to 3000
03grizzly: calls 2400
GPennRef: raises 1200 to 4200
creatoo: raises 1200 to 5400
03grizzly: calls 2400
GPennRef: raises 1200 to 6600
creatoo: calls 605 and is all-in
03grizzly: calls 1200*** FLOP *** [9c Qs 4h]
03grizzly: bets 1390 and is all-in
GPennRef: calls 1390*** TURN *** [9c Qs 4h] [8d]*** RIVER *** [9c Qs 4h 8d] [7s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***03grizzly: shows [Td 9s] (a pair of Nines)
GPennRef: shows [Ad Ah] (a pair of Aces)GPennRef collected 3970 from side pot
creatoo: shows [Js Ac] (high card Ace)
GPennRef collected 18165 from main pot*** SUMMARY ***Total pot 22135 Main pot 18165. Side pot 3970. Rake 0 Board [9c Qs 4h 8d 7s]
Seat 5: 03grizzly (small blind) showed [Td 9s] and lost with a pair of Nines
Seat 6: GPennRef (big blind) showed [Ad Ah] and won (22135) with a pair of Aces
Seat 8: creatoo (button) showed [Js Ac] and lost with high card Ace

And that was a great way to finish a tourney

No soccer, just poker..

2007-06-05T11:47:00.000-07:00

Been a while since I have been on. Basically have had nothing to report. Won some poker games here, lost some there. All in all, just refining my poker game.

The company I work for had me helping with the organizing of the poker game. Unfortunately things happened during game day. I had two good hands and got sucked out by crappy hands despite playing them right.

Still injured. Starting therapy in a couple of days. Hoping I can get back on the saddle by July. I didn't realize that I did referee my 10 games to fulfill my amateur requirement. I just need the maintanence.

Injuries are killing my opportunities

2007-05-21T08:38:00.000-07:00

I pulled my groin muscle and my achillies and have been resting for 3 weeks now and I don't seem to be healing any faster. It sucks getting older. I had to recind my vacation request for Alaska and I get the call that it is urgent I go, but for all the good money the spend to get us up there to referee 3-4 games a day, I know I would not give them their money's worth, so I had to respectfully decline. Also missed an opportunity to referee in Tennessee. It was funny since my goal is to try to referee in many states as possible that Tennesee came up. I'm not done with the west coast yet.

I'm hoping by mid june I am back on the saddle.

Marlena takes 1st in her debut performance

2007-05-13T13:52:00.000-07:00

The night before the match, my daughter Marlena was nervious. She was afraid that she would fall down in front of several people who came to watch her perform. My wife and I explained that many pro skaters fall and they just get right back up and perform. We saw several skaters perform before Marlena was up and we saw some fall and get right back up.

Then it was Marlena's turn. Yes she was nervious but her competition seemed to be even more nervious so she was in good company. But when she hit the ice for her turn, the only thing that went wrong was the announcer butchering her last name. She did everything good, maybe not perfect in the judges eyes (Honestly just think they look for more then just mistakes but how fluid your moves are). Even came down to the finish on the last pic on the ice which was perfect.
I was there for the final practice and her only problem was the backward switzals. I let her know it was the only thing she was sturggling with. My only suggestion was to be more fluid on the backward and not be mechanical. Looks like

she took it to heart because even those were good. Everyone enjoyed her finish.

Happy Birthday to me.

2007-05-02T06:24:00.000-07:00

Back to work...

2007-05-01T06:28:00.000-07:00

Very good games on Sunday

2007-04-30T20:22:00.000-07:00

After a day of refereeing 5 games on Saturday, in the Comstock Shootout, I was pretty beat. For that I was less enthused about signing up for more games then the championship match I had scheduled on Sunday. As it turned out, I got an extra game earlier.

The morning after I decided to sleep in. My buddy I traveled with wanted to sleep in. I slinked in around 10am and decided to do a 10:40 match. It was told to me that these two teams don't like each other. I was hoping it wasn't going to be like the previous day. 5 minutes in the match a called a penalty kick for a mistimed tackle. They were deverting away from the goal so no red for a DOGSO. After that call, it was physical, but they knew I wasn't screwing around so game control wasn't an issue.

Second game was two Idaho teams. It was funny because they are both in the same league and they came all this way to NV just to play each other in the U16 finals. No big controversy.

My center in the U19 girls final was fun. It was the North Lake Tahoe team vs. the South Lake Tahoe team. It was a hard fought match, but I called minimal fouls just to let them know I was still there. The S. Lake tahoe team was subbing more then my liking so I added two minutes and made that decision before the regulation ended. Before the regulation time ended, one goal scored by the losing team to narrow it to 2-1. I know my ARs were nervious when I indicated there would be two minutes left in the match. No goal resulted. But it was a good end to a weekend away from home.

A near perfect game surrounded by crap.

2007-04-28T18:43:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in my hotel room writing this after refereeing 5 games. I'm getting too old for this. I''m over at the Comstock Shootout, which is a tournament in Carson City NV. I have been doing this tournament for a number of years (except for one year I missed) and usually what is more enjoyable is the friendships I maintain and the new friends I make.

Game number 1. Los Vegas vs. South Shore.
Los Vegas pretty much took charge of the game with possession of the ball. They scored one early goal. They were the more physical team, but both teams had their fair share of fouls. For the most part, it was a good game. Then here's where it hit the fan. I called a passback, because it was played by a defender and the keeper had time to decide to pick up the ball. I called it and the keeper was pissed. I should have booked her for dissent, but I let it go. Nothing came as a result. But I notice LV was kicking the ball a little far out then normal. There were also some injuries so with a 1-0 differential, I added time. Two minutes to be exact. Well in the final minute of regulation, South Shore scored the equalizer. This apparently pissed off LV. Then in the final minute of extra time, the scored again. Coach and keeper wanted to "ask me a question". Truth is they wanted a pissing match where I said, "This conversation is over."

I found out I had LV again and demanded to be removed, moved to another game, whatnot. After 2 hours of debating they moved me to another center in an U19. I had South Shore. I really don't like to see the same teams but this was the lesser of two evils. And it also was a near perfect match. I only called two fouls and one offside. The only problem is RSU, the losing team's coach, wanted stoppage for chasing the ball, but with a 4-0 match, I wasn't going to go there. Especially since I knew they lost their first match and are most likely out of contention of playoffs. But since the coach mildly complained about that, well I'll take that imperfection as there is no such thing as a perfect game.
My last game I was an AR. Coaches on both sides were jackasses. Apparently according to Tim S., my travel buddy, the spectators were just as bad. Didn't know the first thing of offside.

Well I'm headed to the Fandango for a buffet and hopefully to get in a Texas Hold Em game.

Poker night tomorrow

2007-04-20T07:09:00.000-07:00

And I am barely holding a table together. Some people are wonder if I am doing something funny with the cards. Can't say I blame them. Just take a look at my site for the results and you will see I have cashed out of my home game every time.

I promise you I have not rigged the deck in any way, shape, or form. I always start with a brand new deck in hopes of keeping the integrity of the game. As a matter of fact I invite someone else to bring a deck of cards. Anything to preserve the integrity of the game. I may just experiement tomorrow.

Problem is I don't know how not to play. Meaning on my last game, I was experimenting with a few things and I had a calling station who beat me with a 3-4 offsuit. When I saw that hand, I tightened up my play and wound up winning.

In a home poker forum when people evaluated my blinds structure, their only problem was in the big tourneys I use the $1.00 unneccessarly. Since I have built up my chips, I can take the ones out of the big games. I also noted I didn't use the minimum blind rule. Nobody, except for 1 member in passing said anything and I was ready to get hammered for it.

The one thing they did mention was that perhaps I out class most of the players. I play on average 2 games a night online. I read up on the game. A lot of these guys are not that obsessive.

As poor of a turnout that may happen, I kind of hope I don't blow everyone out of the water.

In Memory of A Fallen Star

2007-04-18T07:39:00.000-07:00

When I first met Carly my wife and I were in our first year of dating. She was 4 and my first impression of her was, "Here is a kid that is going to grow up and be somebody." She spoke very intelligently for a 4 year old. I knew this was contributed by the fact both her parents were educators.

Unfortunately for everyone that knew her, I was half right. She never finished growing up, but she was definitely somebody special for the short time she was here.

Deja Vu

2007-04-16T07:23:00.000-07:00

Before I go into that one, you may want to read the previous post. Woke up Sunday morning and could barely walk, my calf hurt like a mother f---er. Some Icy Hot, Motrin and just walking it off made it feel better. Jesse and I decided to ride up together despite the fact I had a double header and Jesse was scheduled for one game.

We arrived at the polo fields and had this overwhelming need to hit the head. As I was just going, a certain National Referee called me over in the manner of "Here boy!" His first mistake. I was scheduled to AR for him on my second game. He wanted me to take his center. There were a few reasons I wouldn't do this for him. One, I'm injured and by all rights I shouldn't even do lines that day. Two, one team I issued a red which is still fresh in their mind. I told him I barely had enough for my AR spots and my calf was sore, and my groin muscle was nagging. He said he had a nagging, not excruciating pain. He had a pro match he wanted to save himself for. He tried, but I bottom lined it for him. I made it clear I was not taking any centers. He asked me if I was handicapped. His second mistake. I just replied, "Look who's talking." It's not the first time he pulled this crap. Last year he was scheduled to be in Alaska and he missed his flight which caused an uproar in the car rental department, not to mention money spent down the drain. There are also rumors he does crap like show up to MLS matches in less then 30 minutes. Needless to say, I don't respect him. Great referee, but not who I would call a respectable referee.

So Jesse decided to do back to back centers. I felt bad for Jesse. The first game was Sons of Italy and SF Celtic. Turned out to be a good game, and Jesse had the teams well under control despite the complaints from the Italy coach.

The second game, I'm not going to name teams, but call them Red and Black. This is the same Red team I had a month ago in the middle. Jesse kept things pretty much under control for doing back to back games. Late in the first half Jesse pulls his first yellow. Unfortunately I couldn't tell if it was #10 Red or #6 Black. A minute passed and Jesse shows #10 the yellow then the red card. I guess it was # 10. I couple minutes passed and then I thought wait a minute! That's the same guy I sent off a month ago. The deja vu was in my match he got a yellow, and then got his second yellow in the next minute, just like Jesse's. Apparently it was still fresh in their minds because the other AR mentioned one of the teams asked Jesse, "Did you guys talk about us prior to the team?" as they realized I was the one who sent #10 off earlier.
Second half, Red got a goal despite playing with 10 players and the Black team was demoralized. Red scored another goal and Black was basically "dead man walking". According to Jesse I was adequate enough for him, but he said he noticed I was limping the second half of the second game.
Even though the WCYWS policy makes the referee who issued a red buy the beer, I broke the rules and insisted on treating.

Limped my way through a CPSA match

2007-04-16T06:36:00.000-07:00

I'll get to the meaning of the title in a moment but I would like to start at the beginning. Saturday night I had a center on a CPSA match. That alone gets me nervous. Now add the fact these are the top two teams where I have a history with one of them (not the best kind), who can be very volatile and add the fact that I have one AR I can't completely trust, well let's just say my wife told me, "Honey, I love you but I wouldn't want to be ya."

So the game was at Shorty Garcia (I nickname it Shorty McShort Short). My 2nd time there but the first time I actual got to referee the match. Very nice field, but to me, it seemed rather small in length. It was easy to keep up with play and trust me that was another challenge. You see I am currently nursing a calf injury. 600mg of Motrin 4 hours prior to the game and then just before the game and I was doing fine.

My plan prior to the game. Show up an hour prior (I never understand the referees who show up less then 30 minutes). Pray that the "kid" scheduled to be AR2 shows up before AR1. Then use every legit excuse in the book to put AR2 to AR1 and AR1 to AR2. Why you ask? Because I had a heads up from the big man who assigns my games that he was confrontational in a previous game and to keep an eye on him (though I wonder what he was doing assigned to this match to begin with). Shows up with stripped socks after I took a leap of faith when the 30 minute mark hit to put on logos. I asked him if he had logos, he said no and "What is the big fucking deal?"

I explained to him we have to look alike. So I take off my logos to put on stripes. Then he starts swearing regarding my switch. Nothing makes him happy.

Well as it turns out AR1 shows up slightly less then 30 minutes prior. Dammit to hell! AR2 shows up just when we were about to check in the teams. He informs me he was in a car accident and is shook up and didn't want AR1. I had two evils and decided against my best judgement to leave things as it was. AR1 decides to be proactive and check in the other team and I sent AR2 to make sure AR1 stays out of trouble.

So I hit the opening whistle and Red seemed to be in rare form as the fouls happened. Green was playing good ball, but was getting hacked quite a bit. Then the cards come out flying. Their captain told me to "be fair". I got annoyed with that comment and I looked him right in the eye and said, "You calling me a cheat? No, really, are you calling me a cheat?" He didn't want anything more to do with me at that point. The fouls were 75% Red and 25% Green as a rough estimate. I was able to keep up with play until they decided long ball was cool play. Fortunately it didn't happen all the time, but the field was short enough that it was a punt, to the forward who tries to score.

So how was AR1? He didn't bury me completely but he started to make a spectacle of himself. He called me over because defense was giving him a hard time and was swearing at him, but didn't give me specific numbers. He kept repeating like an insulted drunk and finally I said, "I got it." twice. I went to the Green and said, "Please don't swear at my AR1."
One Green defender said, "We weren't"
I said, "I'm not saying you did, I'm not saying you didn't, just don't do it."
He smiled and said, "Fair enough."

At half time the assistant coach came up and demanded I deal with the spectators. Now it could be the stress of the importance of this game, in combo with a rogue AR1, and the pain in my calf nagging a bit, I didn't take to kind to his way of asking. I called him on his rudeness and I said, it's a fair request, but ask me, don't demand me. Him being the ass said, let me remind you we pay you guys. My response to that was, "Let's go earn our money then." My friend Jesse told me it would have been a great opportunity to ask for a raise.

So I went to the Red coach first and asked him to move his spectators to the other side. He took this as a good time to tell me what I am missing and how much I suck. I said, "Fine but my request still stands and I will not start the half until you comply." I went to the Green head coach and made the same request. Now mind you the green coach called me an idiot when I may have missed a foul (he may have been right about the missed foul to be honest with you and myself). He told me who is staff was and asked if he can keep his daughter with him. I said no problem as I'm a dad and would be reluctant as well. I said help me out and I'll ignore the idiot remark. He rolled his head like he realized he was caught and shook my hand and said, "Fair enough."

Unfortunately they were slow on the compliance so I looked at a few shivering players on either side and said, "Hmmmmmmm." I went to one of the players and said, "Feels like hell froze over, huh?"
He said, "Yeah, can we get this game started?"
I said sure, "As soon as your spectators move to the other side." Players couldn't help me any faster then that.

The second half was much like the first, but Green managed to earn 3 bookings to almost catch up with Red. Red still thought I was unfair. By all rights I could have sent a couple of them home for all the dissent they gave me (at least 3 had a card already). But I managed to finish and nobody was sent home prematurely.

Raising a special needs child

2007-04-11T21:41:00.000-07:00

I read this article and it hit me as if I wrote it myself.

For the record....Gabriel is doing fine. Best way to describe it is, his therapists set goals and he meets them far sooner then expected.

Viewing Perspectives.

2007-04-03T10:16:00.000-07:00

Saturday night I spent time with a friend. He was disappointed, no upset about the performance from his son at State Cup. So I stood there patiently listening to him telling how upset he was that he spent all this money on his boy, only realizing now he may not have the drive to continue the sport.

After my games on Sunday I spent time with my fellow referees. One of them I learned teaches a coaching clinic. One of the thing he sees is there are plenty of coaches that took the course 10-15 years ago, but never come back for a refreasher. Sounds like several referees I know. Another ref works in the CYSA office and said something profound: The city leagues are giving so much attention and money to the division one program and the players who play for the city, are not even from the city. Having my daughter in Division 4, that really doesn't sit well.

I read a blog where the parents were really getting into the "spirit" of things in a State Cup match. I have a feeling it was not only for winning, but about the investment the parents made in winning things like State Cup and regionals. Or how so much money goes to the technical directors whom the player sees not nearly enough. But to the TD's defense, there's only one of him.

To the parents who invest that much money in the player, need to know this: You can shell out thousands of dollars, have the best trainers, coaches, and what not. However, when it comes down to it, there are two teams, and one winner. Which means there is one loser who invested a lot of money just to lose. That's alot of pressure to put on your kid.

Broke the Red Card Streak

2007-04-02T10:40:00.000-07:00

And it was about time. I was getting sick of those send off reports. Mind you there were a couple of yellows and it took most of my personality to keep one of them in the match. That and it took took even more skill to keep one player from doing something stupid as it turned out he got off of a red card suspension....because of me. Their captian decided to inform me he would write a letter regarding my performance. Hope he spells my name right. I hate it when the screw up the spelling. Anyway he confronted me after the game regarding the caution. He thought it was for dissent. It was for delay of game, but I also told him his constant bitching didn't help his case.
Doing my next game I was AR. The white captain complained about an offside I called. And I informed him he was there the whole frigging (yes exact words) time. He told me to watch my language. Frigging? Dude! If he was overly sensitive on that one, then to stay away from me after the game. He hasn't heard anything yet.
Ended the day with a beer, pizza (been eating too much of that), and a winning game of poker.

Another one bites the dust..

2007-03-26T07:29:00.000-07:00

..make that two. I was refereeing a Major Division match. I'm just going to call them red and green. I anticipated a problem between these two teams but for 40 minutes things seem to be going well. Then at the 41st minute I had a green play after he knew he lost the challenge, tackle a red player from behind, chopping a player from behind (both legs in the air chopping the back of the opponents legs). So I sent him off with the red card. Unfortunately that is where hell broke loose. At half time the green captain came to me and told me how unfair that call was.

Then in the second half, despite the Penalty Kick for the green, which was blown with a great save by the red keeper, the green captain still didn't know when to quit. When he brought up the red card situation, I informed him, he was not to continue about that. He then shouts, "Hey guys, we can't talk to the referee about fairness." At that time, I let him know he well deserved this yellow (without going into the 3 P's of dissent which by then he reached all three).

I thought by then things were calming down, I tightened the calls a bit. Then a red was fouled. My AR had the best view. Flagged it, I whistled it. I went to the AR to ask what he saw. He said, "green fouled, but then #10 on the red retaliated with an elbow. I would give him a caution." I cautioned him a minute earlier for kicking the ball away after being called offside. I gave him his second caution (it could have been a straight red). In 20/20 hindsight, I should have given green his caution for grabbing a jersey. I was just told my AR initially he held the red. Had I known it was a jersey pull at the time, I would have given him a yellow and some justice would have been done.

The Post game wasn't so much fun as he wanted to confront me. After saying "What a fucking horrible call." I replied with, "Can I quote you on that on my send off report so you can get a few more Sundays off?"

When you are friends with the enemy...

2007-03-23T06:37:00.000-07:00

...you tend to look in a diffrent perspective, even when you don't agree. Still confused with the title? I'm just mulling over how to make more sense of it. Again I leave names and some details out just because I don't want anyone figuring out who it is.

I was seeing a friend that I hadn't seen since november and we were catching up. His son played on a high school team last winter. I asked how that went? He said he did fine. Then he asked me if I reffed high school. I said "No, I took the high school season off to fully recover from my injuries."

Now here's where a good conversation went bad. He said, "The referees out there sucked. They were terrible." Now I am used to hearing that from one degree to another so usually it doesn't phase me anymore. Then he had to go and say, "I enjoy harrasssing the referee because they suck so much!" My first thought was WTF? This guy actually got off on giving the referees a hard time. Unfortunately I was a captive audience literally so I had to endure this. So I finally said what many referees have said before, "Well then....You should sign up as a referee and then you can show them how it's done." I never seen anyone shut up so fast.

The rest of the conversation was pretty stutter-stepped and well after watching a game and trying some of my indoor photography out I decided my camera sucks on action shots in a gym. Out of 100 shots, I managed to get 4 decent (and I say that too loosely) shots. We were able to talk about how well the team we were watching spank the other team.

Everyone has a natural tendency of wanted to be liked by many people as possible. As a referee, you tend to make that tough, because what you do, if you have any friendships on the sidelines, you tend to put those aside and do your job, no matter how wrong you may seem in the eyes of your friends. I usually, for the close friends, tend not to do their games for I like to still be invited to things. I certainly will not so any relative's games, with the one exception I made with the blessing of the assignor, to referee my nephew's game, well two of them, one on each team. It's still talked about around the family get togethers.

Problem is as a former player, a coach, and a referee, the lines tend to get blurred from time to time. I do have a reputation of being tough, but fair most of the time, so usually the coaches I get are more than supportive of my calls, even when they disagree.

Getting back to the harrassing referees. Last year when I finished the high school season I was having a conversation with a friend of mine (a referee of course) and he was telling me he was done doing high school. He just got his grade 5 as well and his response was he was tired of dealing with the parents on the sidelines. Can't says I blame him. An ex-National referee that same year did the NCS semi-final and was subjected to an angry mob. Now he no longer wants any part of high school soccer. Still think it's okay to harrass the referee for the fun of it? Still think it's part of the game?

And Justice for all.

2007-03-22T10:07:00.000-07:00

You may have remembered my post regarding "Referee with sailors mouth". Well turns out the coach who accused the referee got a 2 match suspension for his part.

My thoughts? My use of harsh language is reserved for those cases where I would feel I would get through to a guy vs. carding him. Of course you won't hear it from me in a youth match because....well it's youth.

However, if you have to use harsh language, then you would be hyppocritical for carding someone for nearly the same thing. Something to think about. I hope the big wigs in the MLS have read the article.

It was a happy St. Patties

2007-03-19T08:12:00.000-07:00

Saturday was fun as my daughter was in the Dublin Parade for her school. I have really grown to like getting involved in my kids activities. Before it was just going through the motions for her sake because I didn't have that support growing up, but these days I tend to make it interesting enough to not count the minutes that it's over. Perhaps it could be my daughter takes great pride that both her parents are involved. Of course anything I do, my wife does 10 times better...well most of the time. I make a great weenie.
After the parade, we hit the fair and I had my fair share of Guinness. Marlena got to go on the bundgy ride which was cool to watch. My friend's daughter made the most of her time on it and did even some forward flips.

Sunday the family decided to go back, but I was sunned out due to Saturday and then refereeing on Sunday. I ran line both my games where it was a miracle I didn't get lynched.

Game 1: The center I ran line with showed up less then 30 minutes prior to the game. I was tempted to take the center from him, but I was not mentally prepared to run the middle. Prior to the game we were checking the teams in and the center was demanding they tuck their shirts in and jewelry. Mind you I have no problem with what he wanted, but I had a problem with the way he demanded. It was like, "Let's piss off two Latin teams before we kick off." I'm just going to call them Red vs. Blue. So we're about to kick off, he decides to do the pre-game. He wants to talk about throw ins. WTF? I had to look at my game card to make sure we were doing Major Division and not U12 girls. Then he wanted to change me from AR2 to AR1. I said no because I had an AR1 assignment next game. That was translated to: No I am not going to stand close to the benches of two teams you pissed off before kick off. When that torture was over I went to my line. It took 3 minutes to get them pissed at the center. That was one foul per minute. The comment was, 'You do a great job checking our jewelry and making sure our shirts are tucked in but you can't call worth Sh--!" Basically was having trouble controlling the game. Surprising that hardly anyone tried anything in front of me. Could it be my rep is growing in this league. I have been noticing.

Game #2 I thought I was going to work with my buddy Norm. I was disappointed where he was replaced by another guy where I would rather have a root canal. As usual he was unorganized. Late checking teams in. I checked Black in and ran into their captain who remembered me. Asked me if I was doing the center. I said, nope, I'm a line. He was disappointed. He was complaining that the good referees are getting lines while the centers are not good. I took this as a complement for 1 of 2 things. One, it's the 3rd straight week I have received such a complement. Two, the guy who paid me the complement was a guy I sent off last year for head butting another player, ironically from the team they were playing in this game.

As the game went on here's where it "jumped the shark" (hi honey). I saw a push from behind. I flagged it. It was 2 feet in front of me. I pointed one way. The center pointed another way. He was 25 yards away. He accused the "fouled" player of diving. He added more insult to the player by saying, "You're lucky I don't give you a yellow card." My thoughts: If he dove and "fooled" me, but was caught by the center, I think it warrants a yellow card. What sucked was at half time, I wasn't even going to talk about it. He came to me and said, "I saw that he was pushed but he embellished the fall." I'm thinking hmmm....he was pushed. Isn't pushing a foul? I just responded by saying if you felt he was diving, he sure fooled me and he should have gotten a card for it. I walked away disgusted. The other AR who befriended me first thing since he was new, said my call was correct.
Well second half it wasn't too bad until the center called a PK. I can't say it was a good call or bad call. According to AR2 it was a good call. Before the PK the White was beating the Black 3-1. Black took the PK and made it 3-2. Then the forward and GK were fighting over getting the ball out of the net. If it were me I would have been the first one to the ball to prevent anything.
So while the center was now taking care of that, I had to deal with the White coach who said, "Why you give Penalty?" I told him to get back to his side and that I didn't even want to have a conversation with him. He said, after slumping like a kid who grabbed his toys and went him, "Neither do I!"
Was still bitching even after they won.

My favorite scene in the movie Rounders

2007-03-15T09:40:00.001-07:00

Sunday's game

2007-03-13T08:32:00.000-07:00

Had a good AR assignment at Boxer Stadium this weekend. Two good San Francisco teams played each other to a 2-2 tie. The center, Mauricio was good as he always is. Every time I work with him, it's always a pleasure. Could be we're both Italians too. :-) While on weekend #2 of a 4 month layoff Maurico had better comments on my line then I did for myself. I still felt like I was shaking the rust off. He said I was flying up and down the line. I know my knowledge kept me a float. I felt good in the end. Game was in control for most occasion as I did watch Mauricio's back on at least 3 occasions. One was cautioning a player for leaving the field. Only my 2nd one in my long career.

I was comfortable as I knew players on both sides. One of the players who used to play for the A league Seals, was wondering when I was going to get a center at Boxer. I told him it was hinted I would get an assignment this season. He was hoping it would be sooner then later. I thought that was a nice complement. On the other team, I recognized a player who was a strong youth referee up a Sacramento. Took him a while to remember me because I had less facial hair the last time he saw me. It wasn't until I reminded him of a center he did for an U17 boys game where a fight broke out and he got physical with the players when separating him. I gave him a pep talk on how that could have went against him, but was entertaining to watch (yes I can be a sadist).

The third and final thing that made it interesting, the other AR is from Southern California. He has done Amateurs there and told me he would be doing 3 games a Sunday, whereas up here people are happy to get one AR assignment. My lesson for those who are complaining about the AR assignments. If you are bored with the AR assignments you are getting, then you are not challenged enough in the AR level and should do whatever it take to get to a level where you feel challenged, unless you're a National doing MLS, and then well...there's little hope for you.

Dealing with Dissent

2007-03-07T21:41:00.000-08:00

I read a nice blog regarding dealing with dissent. It's NISOA, so just so we're clear: In USSF/FIFA you do not show the coach a card. Here is the article.

GP is back on the pitch...

2007-03-05T05:46:00.000-08:00

...and I haven't missed a beat since I was gone. Okay that is not entirely true but as far as game management and control, I gave myself an A. For covering the field, I gave myself a C. Obviously I need to get back in the full swing of things but I was off for 4 months which is the longest I have taken off from soccer.

The game was a Major Division and I knew both teams pretty well since I have done both since they were in First Division. I took control of the match early, calling the hard and getting unfair advantage. I had great assistants, Brian S. and Craig S. which bailed me out a few times. Unfortunately I had to pull my first caution in the 41st minute for a tactical foul. Any closer to the goal and it would have warranted a send off, but in my opinion, he wasn't close enough to the goal. Had that been the case, I would have sent him off. Red had no problem when I explained my logic for just a yellow.

In the second half Red and Blue decided to play a little more physical but clean for the most part and when I had to step in, it was accepted by most. Then by the 72nd minute I whistled a guy for taking a player down with both hands. While debating on cautioning him, he took the ball and spiked it away (just think of your typical kicking the ball away in frustration). I told him, his last action made my card issued an easy decision.

Just when I thought that was all the cards i was going to get at the 86th minute, my ball spiking friend decided that if he loses a challenge when he fights for the ball, he's going to kick the player. I didn't see it, but I heard the very familliar thud. My AR, Brian saw it and was giving me the high sign to caution. It was an easy red. Craig saw it and asked me why I just didn't do a straight red. I spent the next 10 seconds pondering, but found it was just easier to give the yellow, then red. He was gone none the less and both sides accepted that.

In the end, I felt good, but I know I left room for improvement. According to my wife, I got out of there in record time dispite having to write a send off report.

In other news, Gabriel is doing fine. In the past week I could have sworn he did is first word. I was helping him up the stairs and by the time I got him to the top he said, "Heeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyy!!" Then he started crying. I wonder where he got that from (hi honey).

Marlena in the last week has made me proud. Her homework was done in record time and I think she for the first time discovered that if she does her homework for the week early, she can enjoy the weekend better. She also had Destination Imagination. She's been at this since almost the beginning of school. I have to confess, in the middle of it, I hated it. I hated the time it was taking, not for us parents to take her and back, but how much it was taking from her schoolwork. However watching her perform with the skit, I couldn't have been more proud. I was also told by the DI advisor for her group that Marlena went from an "easy going with the crowd" person to insisting to everyone a way something should be done. She didn't win the crowd over, but she stood her ground and that I told her is the makings of a good referee. Never the less I was proud to hear that story about her. It was a good saturday.

Vista sucks

2007-03-02T13:54:00.000-08:00

Message to anyone considering upgrading to Vista. Don't... Wait until at least a year for them to get rid of bugs and for your peripheral manufacturers to update the drivers. You'll be glad you waited. If you decide not to wait because you are one of those dudes that has to have the latest and greatest of everything, you heard it here first

Busy Saturday, spent sunday recovering.

2007-02-26T12:06:00.000-08:00

My Saturday started with a trip to San Bruno to attend a soccer clinic for Referees. I got to listen to Chris Strickland speak and he provided very good insight on how much more involve an Assistant Referee can get to help control the game. It was good because I can reflect back to the days where I would at times, withdraw from supporting the referee when I could get a lot of flack and no protection from the center. And there were times I would get involved and hope the center had my back.

Moral of the story: Centers take care of your ARs and your ARs will take care of you. Especially when they make a call to save your butt.

Then we had Abe Rameriz give us a testing tool on what to do with a certain play. Call a foul, yellow card, red card, no card, no foul. I did okay. There were quite a few disagreements.

After the clinic I went home and prepped for the poker party. Had 13 players. Took first which has me 4/5 games where I have won. The good about that? My bankroll has increased. Bad news is people may not ever want to come back because I tend to win most of my games (the one I did lose, I took 2nd place). At first it was just my friend Rudy complaining. Then another, and then another.
Most people stayed for the loser table and when it was announced that I won I kind of heard groans. Kind of made me wish I broke even or even busted out. There were many times I thought I was going to bust out, though I was confident I was going to the final table. It went down to a final table of 7 and two guys, who are both friends, were on life support.
As it went down to 5, things got interesting. I thought I was dead when I went all in with pocket 6's and ran into pocket Q's But I had more chips. But I got him back when i went for a 3 way all in with doug and Marty. I caught a straight and sent him packing. Then Mark and I did a dance for a while, but then I managed to over come him, and then Marty. Then Jeff, who has been the silent sleeper decides to go heads up with me. He picked the wrong time to say all in because I had pocket kings with a king that hit the flop. Needless to say he was down to change and he decided to concede.

Another good night of poker.

2007-02-16T09:01:00.000-08:00

So I was playing last night and had 18 players. I'm starting to get out of my poker slump I was in the last couple of month. Did the cards change? No, but the way I play, I'm back in my own game.

The opening hand was disappointing for me. You see I was on the button and I had pocket 7's. I was debating on doing the all-in or do the raise dance. Well one raised, then the other went all in. When the cards were turned up, the All-in guy had pocket 5's. That pissed me off, then I saw the pocket 9's and I started to feel better knowing I wouldn't have gone in with the best hand. Then the flop came out. A 7 hit the board and I was pissed because I would have had a set. Neither one hit theirs.

Instead of getting mad I just played my game. With a little luck, some good cards, and a lot of patience paid off. When we were down to the money, the chip leader was bullying. I noticed he was going all in far too much. I was SB at the time and decided to call with a K-6. No raise before the flop. A Q-6-3 showed up. Everyone checked. Another 3 showed up. I bet. I was called by the chip lead. Then a 5 showed. I bet. He went all in. I debated it thinking he's been going all-in far too many time. I smelled a bluff and I called. He had a 7-2. He was pissed. Couldn't believe I called that, but I knew he was bluffing so I called..

After a few more rounds it was just him and me. The final hand was I had pocket 8's. I was going to slow play, but he called All-in. I called. He showed pocket 5's. I thought I was going to win the hand but the 5 came out at the turn. That's poker and nothing no matter how good of a starting hand is for sure. I was happy with 2nd.

Never a dull moment in poker

2007-02-13T06:40:00.000-08:00

During the US port law drought, I have had to use other means to play. I have discovered Poker Academy through a post at homepokertourney.com. For the most part it has great reviews, but I wasn't willing to spend 120 bucks for it. I did discover they had a standard version which I decided to download a couple weeks back. I'm glad I did.
I did try the Pro version and after dabbling with the two, it turns out I wasn't going to miss the Pro features. So for 19.95 I downloaded and paid for the standard. It has nice bots which has different charactoristics. I have made my homegame simulations based on my games.
If that wasn't enough, they have PA online where you get to play for play money. Now on the surface that would seem boring if you have played with play money, but later graduated for real money accounts. This one is different though. Let me count the ways.

You are playing with like minded players who are trying to improve their game. Yes you have your guys who are stupid enough to go all-in with 7-2 unsuited, but they are far few.
In the poker sites like PokerStars, Pokerroom, or PartyPoker, you automatically get 1000 of play money. You can refill as much as you want, although PokerStars has improved on this. PA has it that you have to earn PAX (PA money). You can't sit in a ring game or sit n go on the fly? You have to start with the freerolls and earn your PAX that way. Once you earn some, you can play the other games.
Just because you can earn money in Freerolls, doesn't mean you can stay in freerolls. That's right folks, they have a cap on your PAX. Once you earn 50 PAX or more, you are kicked out of the freerolls until your balance goes below 50. Are you beginning to understand why I am having so much fun?

Now again it doesn't mean you have WTF moments? Take last night for instance. I was playing in a freeroll (getting close to the 50PAX cap). Out of 21 players I placed 2nd. When it was down to 4 of us, we were a bit looser with our all ins. I did go all in on a low pocket pair. Was called with an A-5. He caught his ace on the flop and I was chasing my card. Still had money to do damage. I went all in and I had an AQ while he had pocket 5's. All I had to do was catch an Ace or Queen. I didn't. Now I was 200 left. Blinds were so high that I was forced all in on a 10-5 unsuited. Caught my 10 with a KK on the board. Managed to triple my winnings. On my next hand I had a Q-8 but I didn't want to go in so I folded. Then the next hand was one for the books. I had the button with 200 and change (they had antes in this game). The 3 other players decided to go ALL-in. Seeing the possibility of at least placing 3rd instead of 4th, I decided to fold. Well the man with the monster chip lead won that hand and I took second with 200 and change.

A Referee with a sailor's mouth

2007-02-12T08:02:00.000-08:00

That may be a bit of an exaggeration or is it? In the USA I have been "raised" to believe that the Laws of the Game should be used as a guideline and not as black and white. I was also shown the way the book is flexible and we should be flexible with the book. That works to a point.

There is a story where a referee is being investigated for swearing at his players. Apparently the short story is he told the players to f-off after the game. Now I personally don't condone that action should it be true. However, I have been on plenty of game where the swearing has been at my direction for me to be lient with that player (perhaps a yellow vs a red).

I will be following this story for I am interested in the outcome. If the referee is reprimended for swearing (in morality sense he should be if guilty), then it's going to open a can of worms to the players all over the world. If a player told me to f-off (I'm thinking like I'm doing the amatuers, not youth), I may think twice about being lient and just send him off. I know in youth I have the mind set that if I don't take it from my own kid, I will not take it from someone elses.
I have been guilty as a referee of flirting with swear bomb. Now I haven't said anything like f-off to the player, but I have been guilty of saying, "Knock this sh-t off!" or "This bullsh-t needs to stop." Strong? Yes. Would you hear that from me in a high school match where language is watched closesly among players? No. In a youth game? U19's perhaps once in a great while.
Only once I have been called on it and looking back they were right because they never said it to me first, therefore, what right would I have to say it back.
If the outcome of this hearing makes the referee tighten his language skills, then perhaps, it will force us to tighten the language skills of the players.

Being sick blows chunks

2007-02-07T13:27:00.000-08:00

I spent the entire weekend in bed watching monk reruns. Missed the instructor clinic which I feel bad about. If this means I don't teach this year then my wife will enjoy the time off. I recall a certain instuctor who was not at the clinic, but teach none the less.

Poker cheating methods.

2007-01-29T10:18:00.000-08:00

Have I mentioned how much I can't stand poker cheats.

Did I take too much of a break?

2007-01-25T07:07:00.000-08:00

As you viewers have probably noticed I have not been on the pitch since early November. One would think I miss it. It could be that I have been on call during my absence I have trouble stepping on the field knowing someone could be trying to get a hold of me. Partially why I took the entire high school season off. The other reason was to make sure my legs healed up so I was 100% when I stepped on the field.

By the beginning of march I'll probably be turning in my easy money pager as someone else wants to jump on the money train. So I can referee pretty much without a conscience.

Why am I not celebrating? I sure was celebrating when I got my 5, but it was like since I came back from the absense almost a decade ago, I pushed to upgrade every other year and then of course the higher the grade, the more tough it was. The Grade 5 was my greatest accomplishment for the simple fact I had fun on the way and never gave up. Now I have the year coming up and I said I was going to guage the next couple of years to see what my level of assignments was before I decided if I was going to go for my National badge or just reside as a grade 5 until I couldn't do it anymore and go emeritus. Emeritus, that is a scary thought. There is only one younger then me that went Emeritus and there are several in their 40's and 50's that are still holding on to that State badge. Some grade 5's.

Hmmm perhaps I should have done more research

2007-01-24T10:14:00.000-08:00

I'm referring to Direct TV. The nice part is we have our DVR and it works like a charm. What I didn't realize was they use phone lines, but it's not to clear what for except when they want to contact us or PPV. The guy shows up, pretty much leaves messes everywhere he goes, but then again we are shifting things around for Paula's new sewing center (which is coming out quite nicely). Things seem to come together 5 hours later and then I notice on my modem, the lights are not in proper sequence indicating a problem. Turns out I have new phone lines that are unflitered. Pretty much resolved the issue.
Now I'm called this morning that our downstars TV wigged out. I'm hoping this isn't a making of a comcast commercial.

In other news, I went to my local comic shop a day early (I was thinking yesterday was already wednsday). The guy that had to leave was there and asked me "So are you here to lose again?" I smiled, Jim had his laugh about me showing up a day earlier. Then I mentioned I would not be there the next couple of weekends. He said, "Oh we have had games postponed for months." sigh

If there was one reminder, this should be it. Always have a set of rules when you host a tournament. I have my house rules, and if there isn't something covered by my house rules, and we can't come to the good of the game (wow you think I was talking soccer), then we have Robert's Rules of Poker to fall back on.
Works for me.

Comcast...You're Fired!!!!

2007-01-23T07:01:00.000-08:00

We decided after much debate to switch to Direct TV. As it turns out, we're not really saving a whole chunk of change but we are getting some features we didn't get with Comcast. We are getting two DVRs installed where we can record shows on the fly. No more stacks of video tapes. Our book shelves in our room will look like bookshelves. We can record two shows at the same time while watching one show we previously recorded. Is that cool or what? It also means my wife will not be night after night setting VCRs. One thing we will miss is In demand that comcast did have. Now we didn't do the premium channels but we did get some good movies. However we will get Starz for free for one year.

In other news I haven't talked about my family much as to what has been going on. Paula is going to get her sewing room. She has big plans. Marlena has been improving on her Ice Skating. She is having fun in the process which is the most important thing. I mean if it's not fun, why do it. That was the pep talk I gave her when I told her how long it took me to get my 5. Basically 5-6 years. She has levels she needs to go through. Sometimes she breezes through them and sometimes she needs to repeat. Repeating a session on the ice seems to be the norm though which I think takes a little pressure off of Marlena and just opened it for me to just ask, "Hey, are you having a good time?" She said yes. That was all I had to say on the subject.
Gabriel's head is in the 70th percentile. I can see the dumbfounded faces asking, "Is that good?" Yes it's good. He contineus to go the right direction. His new thing is to yank his glasses and throw them across the room. We call that attitude!

I have clinics coming up next month. There is one on Feb 3-4th. One is for the instructors/assessors and now assigners. The other is for the rest of the referee world. If it's like last year, it will be the same stuff. As least they got this one right. Have the instructor clinc first and the rest last. I only have to show up for one. Which is good because I really didn't want to give my entire weekend up. We have the SFSFL clinic the same day as my poker night. Still it's a better deal.

Jaded in poker

2007-01-21T17:15:00.000-08:00

I was playing a 5 dollar buy-in. There was 4 of us left and I was on the short stack. One of the guys who was really low had to leave. He pulled his all in for the last hurrah. I had a good starting hand and I decided to call. Unfortunately I got another caller. One the flop I was in the lead and then I drowned on the river card.

Not the reason I was jaded. I was still in the game, but this dude now tripled up. Then he took out someone who beat me in a previous all-in. Now he quadrupled. Now he really had to leave. If you read your general poker rules, anyone who has to leave can do so, and his stack will be blinded out. The suspended the game until "another time"

Hmmm just when was the other time supposed to happen? Next week? Hmmm I'm busy. No really I am. The following weekend? No, I am also busy.

See why I am jaded?

When I see the host wednsday for my dose in comics, I will inform him to blind me out. Perhaps he will get a clue.

Helping a host at a poker tourney

2007-01-16T09:23:00.000-08:00

I found this site www.homepokertourney.com and while it's not really a place to play good poker advice (well there is some), it's an excellent resource for organizing a home poker game.

I've been organizing poker games at my home for 2 years and every time I do, I learn a lesson in some shape for form like I have said in a previous post. I did find an interesting post which talks about helping the host.

Some key things to remember when hosting a tournament:

In many cases you may know more about poker then the one who doesn't. If you don't know as much, you're going to have a tough time hosting.
Make sure you have enough chips. I can't stress this enough. My very first poker game was a ring game and I had 300 chips between 7 players. Needless to say I treaded water with a 5 dollar buy-in with a 5 dollar re-buy. In my next game I had more chips now totaling 800, but pay particular attention to the weight of the chips. 11.5g gives the feel of a real casino. I had 8g chips. They were playable, but a couple of people noticed. It wasn't until last year I upgraded my chips. Now I have 850 chips that are 11g which is good for a 16 player tournament. I haven't felt the need to go beyond this. I still use the 8g chips for my side ring game on tournaments.
Have food for the players to snack on. You can either designate a list where people can pick off and bring something or do it yourself. I usually have things for my guests. I will stock beer, but I always say BYOB so they don't expect it. This is going to bring me to number 4.
Do not expect your guests to chip in. Meaning, take a buck or two from guests. This can be construed to making a profit for playing in a "home casino" which can be illegal, definitely in California. People offer to drop money, especially when they won. I don't expect this and usually turn them down like an Uncle who took third did. Basically he doubled his buy in and wanted to give me the profit. I didn't feel comfortable with it because he was giving me his winnings. I was going to get my money back and then some (I took first, but even if I took second, I would have made money)
Finally you should be hosting because of the love of the game.

However if you do get invited to a game, people tend to leave the house once they are eliminated (which hosting a side ring game would keep them around). What would be nice to help the host would be to help pick up beer bottle which are laid out around the house. I swear I was picking up beer bottles for two weeks, I would stumble on to odd places like land mines after my last game. You can also help out with changing out smaller chips with big one as the blinds go up. You can player permanent dealer. Just little things to make the game go smooth.

Beckham signs with LA Galaxy

2007-01-11T13:13:00.000-08:00

Since the MLS has lifted the salery cap, things have gotten interesting. The most interesting thing that has happened is Beckham signing up. As on article it was calling instead of Bend it like Beckham it was called spending it like Beckham.

One of my concerns is MLS is following the old cliche', those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. NASL went into a spending spree and not many years later, went bankrupt. It pretty much caused us not to have quality soccer for nearly a decade.

Of course financial discipline is not the only thing MLS needs to do to get their act together. They need to be more accordance to FIFA. They tried their marketing BS like the shootout and letting star players get away with murder.

It's true. It seems that when a referee for example goes national and has MLS opportunities they need to conform to MLS, not USSF, but MLS or forget about refereeing that league. I seen two cases of this first hand.
I won't name names, but the first time I was on the AR spot and noticed a few players that were playing out of control. A few cards I felt should have been given and the goalkeeper for one team, I swear he was on something like PCP because he was complaining but not making a lot of sense. When I asked why he let so much go, he said, "He needed to cater to the fans who want to see action." I had my opinion on that statment but since I was new in the division I was AR in, I bit my tongue.
Years later I was on the line for another National Referee. Another one who didn't clamp down on dissent and let things go, including potential cards. I was not a vetren now and didn't hold my tongue too much. When he said he should have giving that one player a second yellow for the reckless challenge I said "It should have came sooner" as the guy was heckling me most of the game. He also let a goalkeeper come out to challenge me after I saved the referee's butt in a PK call and later finding out almost cautioned the wrong man. I didn't get that card until after he was scored on he said something in spanish in regards to my mother.

Back to the MLS, the question lies to: Are we signing up a quality player or are we getting a used farrari which has some problems that will haunt him and the MLS? He's had a fair share of injuries over the year. His performance in the world cup was sub-par with just a free kick.

If this doesn't work out we'll never see the San Jose Earthquakes again. Why? Becuase the MLS will be bankrupt.

Home Poker Games

2007-01-10T12:19:00.000-08:00

If you ever want to throw a home poker game don't do like I first did and just throw one on the fly with knowing the minimum. If you did like I did, you would find yourself in a world of trouble. Drinking more than my fair share of beer didn't help matters as it made my temper fly when someone was being an ass.

On my next ring game I got a little smarter. I didn't drink so much alcohol. Not only I doubled, but everyone had fun.

When I threw my first home tournament, it was after Thanksgiving. It was basically friends and family tournament. That one ran smoother but one lesson I learned was posting rules on late players, and players who invite others without so much as asking the host if there is a seat available as one did. However in the grand scheme of things, the good side, bigger pot. Down side of having 9 players on a 8 player table is one doesn't get a rack and it's crowded.

Since people had a great time with that one I held a tournament after mulling it over with my office. Had 12 people which was a good turn out. Evite is good for these kind of invites. You can get your yes, no, and maybes. You can even tell if someone has even read the invite. Two drawbacks is not everyone is email savvy and there are those who don't even have email (shocking I know). You can limit the amount of guests (you don't want 20 showing up when you are prepared for 16). You can also control whether or not they can invite guests or not. I recommend you control this aspect because I tend not to play poker with anyone I don't know. Just follow the if a friend is a friend of an initial invite then it should be good enough for you. I read though one guy who runs tournaments said if there was cheating involved and it was a friend of a friend, he would cut the stranger's thumbs off and the person who brought him.

You also want to control the time it starts. I will say, no game starts at a certain time on the dot unless you are playing the WSOP. So what to do? Request people show up at 7pm but the game starts no later than 8pm and stress to them that they may lose their seat or playing rights by showing late. More on that later.

Another problem was the game went slow. Be aware on how the blinds are set. If you want to give a large sum of money ( I did 1200) then make it so the blinds are sizable by the 3rd hour. Otherwise it will take a while and my first game of hold em ended at 2am. I now do 1000 and I keep the blinds small in the beginning but make dramatic jumps in the end..

My next game was my birthday. We only had 7 players. Not certain what happened there but it was fun none the less. However that was due to a last minute add on and a last minute drop out. The add on was a pleasant surprise but soured by a cancellation. Not so big pot. But people still had fun.

In August I did another and I had 7 (seemed to be my lucky number). I nearly had a cancelation but thanks to my stern lecture on how this affects everyone, I got her to show. I added a re-buy option in this game which increased the pot. It was used quite a bit as there were 3 re-buys. I cut down the amount of money and as a result, the game ended in a decent hour. By the way, if you have a laptop, for timer purposes I go to www.pokerroom.com. There is a poker timer software which organizes the time and blinds schedule. It's a great piece of software and it's free. It also makes your tournament look professional as I have had nothing but great comments on my timer and it automatically restarts vs. a kitchen timer which dings. You can pause if need be.
Lesson Learned: Need to clamp down on flaky people and not count on them. If they reserve a seat and don't show then there should be consquences for that. I don't me never invite him, but make it known it's frowned upon.

On my Novemeber game in many aspects, it was the best ran tournament I have had yet. We had 15. We would have had 16 but a last minute cancelation blew that. This time I had poker rules. Very important and it's a miracle that I survived this long without them. Have them posted in the room and given to the players prior to the game so they know what they are walking into. If they choose not to read them and then say "I didn't know that." then you have something to fall back on. Willful ignorance is not an excuse.

Few examples are in my game in betting, you just have to meet the minimum blind (or all-in) to play and you can bet any amount after that big or small. In other games, they enforce the minimum bet. There are pros and cons to this.
Pro for not enforcing the minimum raise amount is the game is more lax, people are having fun without the intensity of meeting this and that. Many have stated this. However I read in some published home poker rule that if you announce Raise, but don't (you put in the minimum bet for just a call) then what is the minimum? So before my next game either I have have a clause for people that does this or I have to enforce the minimum bet. Problem is it's not posted and in my first poker game, I had one cutthroat player on table 2 (I was on table 1) who was enforcing it. Worked to his advantage too. See the problem? Nobody hemmed or hawwed but it could have been worse.

Another recent problem was dealing. People were having an issue on how some were burning the cards. Maybe cheating. However, I may need to state all burn cards on the table, face down, no peaking.

If you need good poker advice go to www.homepoker.com. This has made things simple.

Blatter is a buffoon.

2007-01-08T10:02:00.000-08:00

I know it may be bad politics for posting this, but since I am never going FIFA, I can care less. Basically I read that Blatter apologizes to the Italian team for not being there to present the World Cup trophy himself like FIFA Presidents are supposed to. That didn't sound to be as his reason for not going.
It seems in the opening game he got boos and whistles for well....being Blatter. And because of this he was afraid he was going to get boos and whistles for this one too. Well Mr. Blatter, you know what the referees have to endure when the set foot on the pitch and to bitch about them doing this or not doing this, it's easier said to do the right then, then to do the right thing.

I wonder if the jackass ever apologized to Valentin Ivanov . The russian Referee who booked 16 yellows and 4 reds (coincidently doubled my last game of 2006).
If you look in his Bio, he has no referee experience. It would explain some of the stupidity behind his comments. Remember the the game where Grahm Poll and his english squad was on and gave 3 yellows to one player before sending him off? Blatter wanted the forth and fifth officail (USA referees) to run on the field and yell stop to the center. Apparetnly Stott had his hands full with the bench and I don't know where Lawery was at the time. But again, it's easier to say what the right call is and harder to make the right call.

It's amazing...

2007-01-08T06:50:00.000-08:00

..after ten years of doing technical support that the same habits have still taken place. People do not do enough research on product before purchasing them to do the things they want them to do. They see a cheap price and it's buy now and damn the consequences later.

If you are reading this, my suggestion if you are buying any kind of computer equipment is to do your research on it and the system you are adding too. Write a list of your requirements and then your secondary desires. When you look at this piece of equipment whether it be a scanner, hard drive, printer, software, see if it will do this.

Example, I can tell you Adobe Acrobat Standard will create PDFs for you, but will not let you create fillable forms like Adobe Acrobat Professional does. But people expect them to.

Then their pissed they can't return the opened product. Do your research beforehand, it will save you headaches later on.

Outted first for the first time

2007-01-06T20:42:00.000-08:00

Played poker at my local comic shop and I went all in on pocket 6's and walked into kings. I had a better chance of hitting a straight. Need to use my head more.

Got offered to referee in a Tournament in Las Vegas

2007-01-05T10:11:00.000-08:00

It would be a nice opportunity to work on my Texas Hold em skills, but after a few hours of considering it, I did promise I would take time off to help my wife with her sewing room (Since Gabe was born I no longer have a full fledged bat-cave). I bought her this cool, but collapsible sewing table for her embroidery machine and sewing machine. She's got plans, I'm excited about her plans enough to help her see this through. More excited then a trip to LV.
Since I have reffed in the State of NV already it would not be new to me (if you didn't know, my goal is to referee a soccer game in as many states as I can).

Back to normal

2007-01-03T09:01:00.000-08:00

Well today is the first day I have set foot in the office since before xmas eve. It's been busy as the company I work for decided that January 2nd was also going to be considered a holiday. Because of this we are flooded today.
Xmas holiday was good. I really couldn't complain except I was sick for most of it. My wife spoiled me with good presents. I managed to come through with my "something romantic" which was nice, funny, and on the side we both could joke about in the process leading to xmas morning. I know she didn't see her presant coming, but observing her the following days, I know she was pleased.

Happy New Year 2007

2006-12-31T23:20:00.000-08:00

My resolution? To have a better year then 2006.

Merry Christmas

2006-12-24T12:22:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone has a merry xmas and happy new year. Here is a clip of my daughter ice skating.

Filling in for Batman and Robin

2006-12-22T09:57:00.000-08:00

You know for a multi-millionare, Brucie was too cheap to give us costumes.

The hanging out of the GP's

2006-12-21T10:19:00.000-08:00

Just us boys hanging out.

I hate Xmas shopping

2006-12-20T06:44:00.000-08:00

Now don't get me wrong...I like buying presents for my wife, kids, and anyone else that is on the list. What I can't stand is the stuff surrounding it. Example I went to pay for a couple presents and these days most are smart to ask for my ID. Taking for granted they can read the "Please see California driver's license." Well the clerk looked like he wanted to see ID after looking at the back of my credit card. So taking cue, I showed my ID. Not a problem. Then I asked him, "You were going to ask me, weren't you?"

Clerk: "Huh?"
Me: "You were going to ask for my ID, right?"
Clerk: "Well, uh, you don't look like a guy who would engage in credit card fraud."
Me: "Umm what does a guy who engages in credit card fraud look like?"
Clerk: "uhhhhhhhhhhh"
Me: "Dude, to put it short, I got burned a few years back because someone didn't do their job. Now I don't shop there."

This was Macy's back in the year 2000 when I lost my debit card somehow and it took 3 hours to realize that I had and them 3 hours to make, not one, but two big purchases in Macy's. Basically had to swear on my family's life they were not my charges and I even contacted Macy's loss prevention to reprimand the two clerks that charged my account without checking ID.

Then you have the crowded malls. You have the sales, long lines. Basically I am done unless something catches my eye for the wife or kids.

Had a good christmas party/

2006-12-16T22:32:00.000-08:00

Stayed at the Sante Clare in San Jose. Bueatiful hotel.. As a coworker said this morning though, "Free booze get me into trouble."

Just when you think a certain coach is a win at all costs...

2006-12-14T09:15:00.000-08:00

...that coach surprises you. Basically was just told a story by a fellow referee who ran as AR for a soccer match. I don't want to give specific details since I am getting this second hand, but there is a point to this story.

Basically a team we'll just call Red, is on the attack and Blue is defending. Ball sails over to the Blue keeper which should be easy to pick up, which he does. Red is on full momentum, with slight hopes of getting the ball before the keeper. Keeper has the ball in hands, and then as the Red forward runs by, the keeper throws an elbow to the Red forward hitting him in the mouth.
The center referee decides to be nice and award a penalty and give the keeper a yellow card. Red converts a goal as a result and it's the only goal of the match. Awfully nice of the referee to give a PK and a yellow card.
The coach of the Blue team saw the AR offsite the next day by just chance and the coach said he suspended the keeper for 6 games and the school is reviewing the incident to see if he can be pulled from the team. Basically the coach finished the referee's job for him.
Now one may read this and say, "Justice is served." And I agree, it was. However, it was the referee's responsibility to administer the justice to being with. Deliberate elbows in the mouth are serious and need to be taken as such. Had the referee given the red card with the PK like he should have, maybe the coach wouldn't have felt inclined to take action on his own.
What is the point of the story? Am I giving kudos to the coach? Yes, I do give the kudos to the coach for trying to make a slightly correct much more politically correct that if I stepped in the middle, did my best and called a fair game, I would be confident he wouldn't give me too much grief for my efforts. However, the referee thought he was doing the keeper a favor by not sending the player off, and now instead of nature taking its course with a red card suspension, and have a chance of returning to the game, he now risks losing out the entire season. And it's his last year in the league.
We have heard of stories where the MLS has stepped in when an incident happens out of the referee's view (or worse in the referee's view) and dole out their harsh punishment even if the referee didn't issue a red card.

In summary, things can happen due to referees calling stuff such as a PK and a Red card. A team gets a goal most likely and a player gets suspended. However, you do nothing because you are trying to be nice then you may think you are avoiding a bad situation, where in contrast, you made a bad situation worse.

US Soccer is taking a turn for the worst

2006-12-10T12:19:00.000-08:00

It turns out that Bob Bradley will be the US MNT interim head coach. This was shortly after Jurgon Klingsman turned down the position, even though geographically it would have been a dream job for him. The man lives in Southern California where the Home Depot Stadium is. I guess USSF is still pinching their pennies to bring in a man who brought Germany in the Semi Finals and was a top player back in the 1994 world cup.

So the main question is will Bob Bradley get the job. My vibes are telling me it's not that great of a move. This is a guy who has been known to lose it more than Arena did in his tenure of the MNT. I do know for California referees, two of them, both FIFA at the time have given Bradley his walking papers. In an international setting, he's going to run in to much less tolerant referees.

What I wish is for Klingsman to reconsider taking the position. He would be much better in the running then Bradley.

Day of struggling

2006-12-05T20:58:00.000-08:00

It seemed like everything I did today was a struggle. Tried to put together a scanner and it was a struggle. Tried to take a test and it was a struggle. Tried to solved all of other people's technical issues and it was a struggle.

On the flip side of things, my darling daughter has been doing great in school. I got three spelling tests handed to me, two of them she scored a perfect paper and got a 90% on the other. Nice to know the extra help we have given her has paid off.

USSF registration is fast this year

2006-12-04T20:18:00.000-08:00

I thought it was amazingly fast when they got my referee license in about a month's time of submitting the paperwork, doing the check vs. the new referee registration electronically. I was afraid my upgrading paperwork would slip through the cracks. Turns out my instincts were correct because the www.d3refs.com web page now suggests registering this way for grade 7 and higher since we have additional paperwork to turn in. Well with my instructors license there was no paperwork involved with the reg form so I decided to give the electronics a try. As it turns out I got my license for 2007 in even half the time. Looks like there is a lot of improvement on the process to get it out in such a timely fashion.

Spent the better part of my day tearing down a scanner and bring it back up. Not really what I wanted to spend the day doing, but maybe the first hour or two was worth while. The rest I don't know about. I have to do the same tomorrow while chasing a call down to make sure he is up and running even though I think it's his program doing the problem because it works on another system.

For fun and entertainment my sister sent me this

Winning streak finally shot down

2006-12-03T11:11:00.000-08:00

Well after a few tournaments where I have walked away with cash, it turned out last friday I finally got the boot with no cash. Placed 4th out of 9th and what got me the boot was I went all in on pocket 8's knowing that one player was left. As it turned out, she had pocket Aces and I never hit my card.

Find myself missing an old passion.

2006-12-01T08:51:00.000-08:00

No, not an old girlfriend. I've been finding myself more and more missing my old passion for fencing. I fenced in De Anza College . When I first took it, it was more of a "hey this could be fun to do between classes."

I remember my first instructor, Elmer Gates. He was an old gentleman from Indiana. You could tell from the way he says Italian (He pronounces it Eye-talian). I remember slow learning the first class. That was because we were spending much of our time learning the footwork. A lot of it without the foil. So it was no surprise when I was at the class I was screwing up the parries. I remember he stepped in to help me on many occasion.

When we got into bouting, I found myself wanting to be a director (they now call them referees). By then I was getting the hang of the fencing. Then I was so stoked, I wanted to fence in the summer and then in the fall. Then I was taking fencing every quarter by the fall, I was a teacher's aid for the beginning class. Even bought my own mask, foil, and jacket.

I then was started to get bored with the class because I wasn't learning anything new. But then a friend I made in the class found a maestro who was teaching at nights at my old high school. I decided I was going to take a few classes. His name is John DeCesare. He was an interesting fellow. Gave me a few finer points in fencing which was different with Gates and a few new moves that I hadn't learned before.

It was then that I started competing. I took second in my first competition. Then there was the De Anza/West Valley fencing bash twice a year. I made some friends there. I also placed 2nd on the inaugural and first from there on out until I left.

Thing was I was also refereeing soccer and it got to a point one of them had to go. I chose the refereeing. See my post of how I became a referee for details. Problem is when you get to the pinnacle of a course, then you can only tune up what you know.

I then moved a bit up north after Gates retired. Before Gates retired, they needed a successor. Unfortunately I didn't have a degree or I could have taught the class easily. So it went to a rookie. She did one smart thing and take individual lessons from Connie Yu. Her daughter Jennifer, placed very well in National Competitions. I went to seek a new fencing place. I found Sword Play Fencing Academy. I actually discovered it during my college years as I was competing in the amateur level. It was a nice set up I remembered and the host, George Platt was pretty cool. I decided that was going to be my stomping ground where it could gear me up for better fencing and competitions.
At that point I had a wake up call. My competing in college was nothing compared to SPF and USFA competitions. There were kids who were better then me. It was discouraging, but after a while I just rolled with it and tried to be the best I could be. Before I hung up the equipment I did finally get ranked. By now the rank is gone since it lasts 4 years from last competition where you would earn the ranking.
What prompted me to write this was I was in Fullerton visiting my wife's family and my nephew and I were playing with light sabres a little aggressively and then it just brought back memories. As my nephew was wailing away with his sabre, it took little effort to parry his and then my daughter's at the same time. I was once told by old timers, fencing is like riding a bike. Once you get back on, you don't forget how to ride. I didn't believe it until that day.

Letter to a soccer parent

2006-11-29T14:28:00.000-08:00

I was surfing the web blogs for some new material and this letter caught my eye. I took the name of the individual that wrote it, but I back up every word that is written here:

"Dear Soccer Parent:

I meant to say something to you Saturday. There you were at Skypark in Scotts Valley, watching the 1:00 PM game on Field #3. I had just finishedworking a couple matches as a center referee on the adjacent field. I letmyself be in too much of a hurry-- trying to get on with my day, so we didn'tget a chance to chat.I think that the game you were watching was an Under 11 boys game. Thereferee had apparently award a penalty kick that was being taken at theopposite end of the field -- nearly 100 yards away from where you werestanding.The first thing that I noticed, even from that distance, was that the centerreferee on the match looked only five or six years older than the playersaround him. Unfortunately, that didn't surprise me. For all the parentsthat come out to watch a Saturday morning soccer game, very few get involvedwith officiating. These games are dependent on a relatively small poolofficials who receive a little bit of training and typically get assigned tothe highest level of soccer game that matches their experience. They don'tget every call right, but every one I've run into tries very hard to do so.I was thinking about the maturity of that young referee. He has to use hisbest judgment in a situation where a number of adults will disagree withhim. I can't imagine that would be a comfortable situation for any youngboy or girl. I could just imagine how tough that would be if that refereeknows any of the parents around that field, as a neighbor, or maybe even ateacher -- how difficult would that be! Maybe that's why for all therecruiting of young referees that gets done Santa Cruz County, there isstill a growing deficit of officials, meaning we lose a lot of new officialsand the remaining ones must work more and more games.Anyway, I'm disappointed in myself that I didn't come over for a word withyou. I hope the Positive Coaching Alliance hasn't had the opportunity to visityour club because if they have, there's probably a team full of parentsembarrassed to be at the same game with you.By the way, the next time I hear you say, "Ref, you suck" to a human beinghalf your age, I'll stop by to let you know how gutless and pathetic youappear to me.

Signed....

The Referee