So what, just do what I do, deliberately don’t call touch line plays that would favor his team and just say “couldn’t see coach, get off the line and maybe I can call it next time” until he gets the picture
Yea, the crew discussed at H/T a caution. He was getting one if he did it again. Coach was better about things in the 2nd half, largely because his team was attacking the other way. Or maybe he got the message.
Tournament game this weekend - U13 boys. The whole tournament was a pretty low level of play, like travel soccer / low quality club level. I'm AR1, so I get a whole game's worth of complaints about pretty much every call and non-call in the back of my ear from the grey team's coach (who's team is getting out played from the opening kickoff). Red team up 4-0 with about 5 minutes left, one of their players take the ball to the corner flag on the team sideline and hold it up there (whether that was needed, given the circumstances of the game is a different topic ). A few seconds later, grey player manages to win the ball away cleanly and passes it up field. Next thing I hear is the grey coach screaming "Get control of the ********ing game, refs!" as he starts running down the sideline past me (to the other team's bench area). I had turned up field and was following the play, so I didn't see what happened. Apparently, the center did the same. AR2 ends up seeing the incident happen since he was down by the opposite corner flag and said it basically was 13 year old boys being 13 year old boys - a lot of pushing and flailing arms at each other. And despite (not suprisingly) the grey team coach's claims that the red player was throwing punches, AR2 said that it was the grey player who instigated the incident. End result ended up being a yellow for both team's coaches and yellows for both players involved. Grey coach probably should have gotten a red for the multiple vulgarities, but center felt that would enrage that coach further and thought that with so few minutes left (and it was that team's final game of the tournament), nothing would be gained by showing red. Assignor and tournament officials get a quick call from the field marshall and got there right at the end of the game and had some discussions with the center as well as both coaches.
I worked an adult game on a unique field Saturday. Lightning kept us in the locker room until 25 minutes before kick off. The referee and I walked out to warm up and I let out a few choice expletives as we approached from AR2s side down by the penalty area because the field was definitely lined wrong. The dimensions were approximately: field 82x65, penalty area 27x12, goal area 18x4, penalty spot 9, and center circle radius 4 yards. At that point the lines couldn't be fixed and there was a bunch of ceremony involved with the opening of this field at a church community center. I talked with the center about how to manage the game with the current field. I forgot to mention that a foul, right outside the side of the penalty area technically would result in the wall being set at the near post. I did think to myself, "With a PA so small, we probably won't have to deal with the crowd for a PK." It took less than 2 minutes to prove me wrong. I wrote up the supplemental for the field and gave it to the referee. Then I fired off an email to the assessment assignor to advise against giving assessments on that field.
Had a match yesterday where it was the last game of the season for 1 team, they had nothing to play for. U15B ... went about as well as expected. Once this team got behind 3-0 there was nothing I could do to control the game. 11 Yellows (7 for dissent, 4 for UB), 2 Reds (SFP and 2CT for dissent), both Coach and Asst. Coach got yellows, tossed four parents and then cleared the entire sideline. Holy cow. What that game needed was an adult ... when games start to go off the rails, the coach can either reign it back in or pour gasoline all over it. This guy chose the latter. I always wonder when games go south - is it me? Am I (and my crew) that bad? How do this team behave in other matches? We finally get to full time ... crew is walking off the field. Parent who was ejected in first half is there with a "Great game, boys. Too bad you had to play against the referees today!" Sigh. Yes, it was all our fault you lost 5-0.
This isn't a Bad Story per se, but I don't think it belongs in the Best Stories thread, so I guess it goes here U16 boys — a coach tossed me two identical game balls 15 minutes before game time. They felt flat so I pulled out my pump to add air. When I found the air nozzle, I noticed that the PSI range listed on these two balls was "4.35–5.8" never seen anything like that before. Checked the pressure on one of the balls out of curiosity and it was at 7 PSI, simultaneously underinflated and overinflated Brought the balls back to the coach and explained that these balls were not suitable for use in a competitive game. He was a bit incredulous, told me they used these same balls in their last game with the assignor present. All I could do was suggest that the other referees didn't notice this detail and reiterated that if I were to inflate this ball to the minimum pressure allowed in the Laws of the Game, the ball would be significantly overinflated beyond the ball's specification. Luckily they had two quality non-identical balls we could use instead, which I was able to put at 9 PSI, within both balls' manufacturer ranges and in compliance with Law 2.
Are you sure the recommended pressure wasn't listed in hectotorrs? 4.35-5.8 hTorr = 8.4-11.2 PSI (Disclosure: No, I've never seen a ball labeled in hTorr's. Yes, I scoured the 'net to find any pressure unit that came remotely close )
Law 2 specifies that the pressure must equal "0.6-1.1 atmosphere...." So even in atmospheres, that's still under. Did a huge high school level track meet Friday and Saturday. I'm officiating long jump/triple jump. Athlete asks how far the takeoff boards are from the sand pit. "They're at nine and 11 meters." "How far is that in regular?" Remember when Jimmy Carter decided that the most important problem the government could solve was changing the United States to the metric system?
Those aren't a small amount to be off! Was this at least natural turf so it could be re-painted easily or was it artificial with permanent lines?
It would have been nice if he'd succeeded, but then we'd have to learn to walk off 9.15 meters instead of 10 yards.
It is artificial, hence why I sent the email. I don't want some poor ref trying to upgrade get to the field, realize they didn't get around to painting lines and immediately be behind on the game.
A story I heard, probably having been posted here. When a team complained about where 10 yards was, ref replied, "Oh, they changed that. It's 9.15 meters now." Team accepted it, because who the heck knows how big a meter is?
I had a girl this weekend ask me for her 10 yards. I'm standing next to her and look at the players in the wall and say, "Looks pretty close to 10 yards to me", but since she asked, I stepped it off - pretty much exactly 10 yards. I looked back at the girl and gave her a smug smile. She laughed.
Did anyone see what happened with Aaron Boone yesterday? Gets ejected at a ridiculous career rate for dissent. 4 pitches into the game, already gets a warning for dissent. Then a fan directly behind the dugout yells something at the umpire, umpire thinks it’s coming from Boone or the dugout staff, and he throws him out despite Boone not saying a word. You guys ever had a situation like this in a game, or how would you respond if the coach is adamant he didn’t say anything? You giving him the benefit of the doubt?
Ha, I've used this one since about 2005. "Ref, that's not 10 yards!". "Nah, they changed it to 9.15 meters a while ago. You didn't know?"
Don't be a D ick to the umpires all the time and you get the benefit of the doubt..... nobody came to help the boy who cried wolf when the wolf really showed up. When you've been thrown out for arguing 99 times already, it's really hard to blame someone else on the 100th.
I had a situation in a high school game once with a coach who was impossible to deal with (he once got a card 15 seconds into a game). His behavior also caused the substitutes to chime in on calls. I was working that side, and a sub got overly excited about a call. I had my back to the bench and had no idea who it was. So, I asked. I was not going to card the kid, but I was just going to tell him no more. No one fessed up. So, I carded the coach. It was his 4th, which carries a suspension and a meeting with the AD and then a meeting with the Principal.
In the case of Aaron Boone, it was a guy in the stands yelling, not anyone in their dugout, but I understand your point. I think we've all had situations where a player or coach tells you someone said something inappropriate, but without hearing it yourself, there's not a lot you can do. We had a 'he said / she said' situation over the weekend at the tournament I was working. One of the players went to our center during the game and said that parents from the other team were saying insulting things toward him. Neither the AR2 or the center had heard anything specific, so after the game, the center mentioned it to the coach of the team who's parents were supposedly saying something and he said he would go have a talk with all his parents. Supposedly, one of the parents said that the player "started it" by saying something to one of them and they were only responding back. Why any of this needs to happen in a U13 game, is beyond me.
Boone created his own reputation and it's well-earned. My statement is to say that if Boone hadn't created his reputation like he already has, then this "guess" doesn't happen. And let's not forget that Boone was just warned. How is he so angry about balls & strikes 5 pitches into the game?
One of the most fundamental rules of baseball is that you can't argue balls and strikes. No warnings, just a straight ejection the first time. Everybody in MLB knows that, which only makes it clear that Mr. Boone has anger management issues. I am reminded of the World Cup match, I think back in the 80's, in which the referee sent off a player "for the look in his eye." I'm sure the umpire said something to his boss like "It was Boone. Of course I'm going to think it was him who said it."