Date:         Sat, 12 May 2007 19:08:44 -0500
Reply-To:     Discussion of Topics for Soccer Referees
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Sender:       Discussion of Topics for Soccer Referees
              <[log in to unmask]>
From:         Shawn Carroll <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      Re: "Omigod!" is my Co-pilot (verbose)
In-Reply-To:  <[log in to unmask]>
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Having been that ref, the interval sucks.  I was missing calls,
screwing up calls, and being a perfect example of why players hate
refs so much.  I was out of my depth, and it showed.  I hated that
game.  My AR's helped out where they could and the game ended w/o
major incident, but I had lost my nerve.  I phonied up an ankle
injury, and replaced the AR on my next game and ran home.

It unnerved so much that I took last year off refereeing to decide if
I really wanted to do this.  I'm back refereeing, but not doing the
level of games I once did.

Not much else could have been done for this situation.  I screwed up,
I knew it, the AR's knew it, they helped me out and we got through.

-- 
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Perl Programmer
Soccer Referee


On 5/10/07, Tom Walker <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> And what was the halftime interval like?  Did you or the other AR dare ask any questions?
>
> T
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [log in to unmask]
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Thu, 10 May 2007 8:44 AM
> Subject: "Omigod!" is my Co-pilot (verbose)
>
>
> And just what do you do when you find yourself as AR on a game at a
> relatively high level and you figure out a few minutes into the match that
> not only are the spectators right in their loud comments that your CR is
> making strange calls - you yourself have no idea what he is seeing or what
> he is going to do next.   Drawn like a moth to the flame, you can't help but
> get distracted from your AR duties as you watch with morbid fascination to
> see what hole gets dug next.
>
> Some time ago I was such a hapless AR (begging forgiveness from the heavens
> if  I had ever caused similar distress to my AR's when I was in the center.)
> The situation: A quirky approach to the game.  In his own world. Poor foul
> recognition.  Phantom fouls.  Obsessiveness about ball spots for FK's way
> deep in defense (even after the AR had told a defender a close enough spot
> was OK).  Missed flags so the AR's had to judge how long (comparatively) to
> leave unanswered flags up for various types of signals. Typical that day -
> early in the game in front of me, a defender fell of his own accord as he
> attempted to tackle an attacker in the box.  Immediately thereafter, the
> attacker was taken out in a clear foul from behind by a second defender in
> the box. As I looked up at the CR to see if he had seen it, he whistled and
> called a foul on the attacker for the first incident (the non-foul), and
> sprinted back to midfield.   The whole game went this way.  Aaaaaugggh!
> I'm on this team!
>
> Strategies, anyone?
>
> Tempting though it was to throw him under the bus and start "asserting" my
> read on calls from the line (my ego had noted that there was a decent crowd
> and sophisticated coaches), I resolved, right or wrong, to do what I could
> to buttress the CR's credibility so the game did not devolve into a swirling
> flush to the sewer, with three doomed little referee heads bobbing in the
> vortex. I needed to support calls I didn't entirely agree with, while still
> trying to help him get it right.  Since he was quick to signal most out of
> play without eye contact with me anyway, I slowed my flag slightly so that I
> would mirror his calls and not contradict them. I tried to be noisy on my
> flags. I quickly entered the field with a verbal "I'll spot it" for DFK's in
> my quadrant so he could clear from potential dissent, but I made eye contact
> with the CR before approving any FK spot (once bitten  . . .)  I did the
> thumbs up signal and even verbalized "good call" on close calls in my area.
> I talked to players so they would engage me not him.   At the half, I tried
> to suggest areas for second half focus without being overtly negative. I
> tuned out the sideline commentary.   Long day.  I don't think the game
> result was altered, but it was deeply unsatisfying.
>
> This was an evaluated but not assessed game.  I guess I was "lucky" (?)
> since the evaluator literally unloaded on our team and did not ask me what I
> thought. I bit my tongue and went on, but visited with the powers-that-be
> later to voice my concerns.
>
> Question 1
>
> What do you do from the line to help the game if you have a (1) struggling
> or (2) "lost" CR?
>
> Question 2
>
> If you are being (1) assessed or (2) evaluated as AR, how candid should you
> be as to your concerns in the post-game?
>
> Bill Liedtke
> OKC OK 07
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