Texas Close Em

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

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

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

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.

1. 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.
2. 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

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

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

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

Happy Birthday Gabriel

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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...

...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

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

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.

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.

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

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.