Enough talking about the Bad Ref.....

Okay...so Im kinda PO-ed once again that a pretty daft ref is taking up all theblog space and is the talking point of the Final instead of just about everything else that can be talked about.
Yes...believe me when I say this...The ref was sold a foul that in any league (except MLS which has some pretty stupid refs) in the world would have been a yellow. Any ref worth his or her wieght in beans knows that reffing a Final is a tiny bit different. You want the game to flow...you know that a quick rush of blood to the head and anyone can make a mistake and its your job to level tempers and let the Final just play...
Also...before people start quoting sections of the FIFA rules to me...trust me on this...I know the rules better than 99% of the people out there..most folks have to understand that the rules are "interpretted" by the refs...which means that yes if youre the last defender between the player and the goalie and you blatantly foul the player to stop any chances of the goal....then that...is a foul worthy of a red...BUT...If youre not sure that there wasnt contact or if contact was minimal or even...yes you as the ref didnt see it....You can brandish the yellow.
Cooler refs would have done that...yellow card out...and now you have a calmer game where the players are not so agressive.
Ive played in games...and Ive coached teams in games where the foul would have got a yellow at best....and we as players would have known that the ref is not a turkey. Cos a true sign of a crap ref is one that pulls out the red card to wield his so called "power" around. I remember the best ref Ive ever had the pleasure of knowing...who during a final came up to me and said..."Im not going to give you a yellow for the foul you just did...but if you do it again you will get a red" At the time it didint make any sense..but later I figured out that the ref wanted a good game, 11 v11 and players to know that the final was the final...there would be no excuses when he blew the final whistle. No "what if's" We all played well after that call....and if I remember correctly...there were no cards shown at that match.
Now I see the footage that shows that Falk was NOT the last defender...and the arguement is that the other defender wasnt in the line of play...so in fact Falk was the last defender. I dont agree....at the angle the play was moving the other defender could have moved diagonally into the line of play and stopped Kai....thus she was in position as the last defender...as you can see..its how the game is interpretted.
What it comes down to is a bad ref..simply put...
The one call essentially skewed the game in favor of one team. So now instead of me talking about Rampone and the job she did as captain and manager...I am talking about "what ifs" Most Sol fans will say that the first WPS Final was lost by the Sol and not won by SkyBlue. Frankly a win with one player down isnt a match...its just a win. The game would have been different if it was 11 on 11...and if SBFC won then all the Sol fans would have nothing more to say. Instead Im sitting here writing about the ref....Folks...Lets give credit where credit is due...THE SOL were the Best team in The Regular Season...and frankly are the best team in WPS. SkyBlue FC were the BEST team on the day and they played a great game to win the cup. Cheers....and If you know me...you know Im not a big fan of refs...so until technology completely gets rid of them...I'll see you at the pub.

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Comment by Supermokh on August 25, 2009 at 10:16pm: Yes, enough talking about bad referees & the linemen/womens in WPS.
IMO, WPS league overall I can say, this season is just ok, because of some bad calls by the ref & linemen/women.
Well, I can understand, this is the first year of WPS league, hope WPS do something about it, to make the league more respectable, others countries is observe the WPS league, I hope WPS do something to improve the league from every aspect (referee & linemens/womens, misconduct, etc, etc), what surprises me, is the madam commissioner's "over rule" the referee decision, in the match Freedom vs St. Louis, that involve Abby Wambach/Daniela, she should let the referee decision stay as it is.
I've done alots of searching in football magazines, I even, try google every football/soccer games reports, that involve mens & womens national teams or club level, professional & amateur tournement, like world cup championship, professional league, world club league, in every continent of the world, in any tournement or championship games, the referee, have the final say, his or her call is final, even if he or she, show yellow or red card to the players involve, either we the fans or the supporters like or don't, his or her call is final.
And the FIFA president, UEFA (union european football association), AFC (asian football confederation), CONCACAF (confederation of north, central american and carribean association football), CONMEBOL (confederacion sudamericana de futbol - south america), CAF (confederation Africaine de football) & OFC (oceania football confederation) and their committees, doesn't "over rule" any decision by the referee.
I can't find any, except in WPS league.
Can anyone prove me if I'm wrong?

I'm 50/50 with WPS league, but 100% Washington Freedom fans/supporter.
Till next season, see ya.

Comment by StarCityFan on August 25, 2009 at 2:21pm: The voting's closed, I think.

Comment by Red and Blue on August 25, 2009 at 10:43am: Branam did a fantastic job during the playoffs and during the finals. The fact that she broke up so many plays before they became an issue is a credit to her skill. Also, the presence of mind to keep the ball forward of the line when she was getting an undercut tackle was amazing. Stellar....

Go the WPS page and vote for Branam in their poll....MVP....

Comment by StarCityFan on August 25, 2009 at 6:20am: I agree that Branam should have gotten the championship MVP award over the player who just happened to score the goal. Nothing against O'Reilly, but Branam had a stellar three matches.

Comment by Supermokh on August 25, 2009 at 5:40am: All referees in the world, for national team tournement or professional clubs, have made a bad call, remember Maradona "Hand of God" World Cup 1986 Argentine vs England?
As former football/soccer player myself, one can argue like forever, but in the end of the day, the game must go on, like it or don't.
That's why, they call it .... Ref-err-ree!

Comment by Simon Allen-World Soccer Wrap on August 24, 2009 at 11:21pm: I was sitting in row B section 109 when the call was made...I "probably" had a better view than the ref....didnt look like an intentional elbow...and at best a yellow...Ive been enough games as a player and as a coach to know that bad refs use the rules to justify their decisions...good refs use the rules to beautify the game. I cant blame any one for blaming the ref though...but like i said in the poste....I wanna talk about something else...like why the goalie for sky blue didnt get the MVP...A thoroughly fabulous performance throughout the playoffs!!

Comment by Espihir on August 24, 2009 at 10:23pm: What did you miss about WPS stepping up and following the rules, especially with elbows...? BS. If the game were 11v11, Sol fans would have found something else to bitch about.

Comment by StarCityFan on August 24, 2009 at 9:03pm: You don't seem quite as up on how these things are judged as you claim to be. The US Soccer guidance on the number of defenders in a potential DOGSO is:

- Number of Defenders: not more than one defender between the foul and the goal, not counting the defender who committed the foul

This isn't an offsides call - when I look at it, I see zero defenders between the foul and the goal.

Comment by Ian Poshka on August 24, 2009 at 8:59pm: And if you look at my two postes it's telling them to stop complaining about it and suck it up!!!

Comment by Ian Poshka on August 24, 2009 at 8:58pm: If your using the picture that the people keep posting I'll tell you your Number one problem is with that. I will agree with you on the fact that its the refs interpret, and along with that I must say tho that you can't blame the ref that the sol lost. They had there chances to score some goals and they didn't. Going back to to the foul I'll say that if I was the ref or the sol player I would've done the same thing that each did, if I see a player take down another player in that situation I'd give a red; being down already and with a player going one on one with the goalie you know you've got to stop them (esp. a player that has the capability to score) as being down by 2 goals would've just killed there team compleatly.

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