Basketball season is in full swing. It would appear that the annual malady known as March Madness will most likely infect February as the quest for a spot in the Big Dance no doubt will be a wild and wacky ride from here on out.
In the ACC Miami has emerged as a force currently sitting atop the standings with a perfect 6-0 record. Virginia, another surprise sits in second with a 5-2 record coming off their upset of the shorthanded N.C. State Wolfpack Tuesday night. Duke is right behind Virginia at 4-2 with the preseason favorite Wolfpack sitting at 4th with a 5-3 record losing three road games.
Which brings me to a very sore subject particularly with me right now. My annual disgust with the ACC Basketball officiating is perhaps at an all-time high. Most folks tend to focus on the fouls that get called and the disparity in free throws in favor of the ACC royalty Duke and UNC. This, in fact, is documented quite thoroughly in Mark Packer's "Infamous ACC Index Card" which is a data "The Packman" compiles on a yearly basis. Check it out here: http://www.packsmack.com/InfamousACCIndexCard/ . My big beef is not so much what gets called but the gross omissions made by the ACC finest either intended or unintentional the fouls that are obvious fouls but for whatever reason don;t get whistled. In addition, the ACC officials that want to be the show and do everything to upstage the basketball game they are sent to officiate is particularly infuriating to me as an ACC basketball fan.
To refresh every one's memory and for those who are new to my blog last year the ACC's officiating ineptitude hit a crescendo when Mr. Karl Hess, in the midst of one of many of his abysmal performances as an official, stopped a game in the RBC/PNC Arena in Raleigh and demanded former Wolfpack greats Chris Corchiani and Tom Gugliotta be removed from the arena after they expressed their personal opinion that Mr. Hess was having an off night. A couple of things were grossly wrong with this, not the least of which was that Mr. Hess grossly overstepped his bounds and became an arena security guard instead of what he was paid to do and have a fan sent out of the arena. Secondly, had Mr. Hess been as concerned with his appointed responsibility of officiating a basketball game impartially, no one would have had reason to voice any displeasure. Instead Mr. Hess and his henchmen set about on a nightly basis ruining perfectly good contests between ACC rivals. They impose their own rulebook and seek to become the show instead of doing their job and adjudicate the rules of basketball.
I have always heard that if an official does his job correctly that he goes largely unnoticed in the game. Apparently the basketball officials employed by the ACC do not subscribe to this notion as for the most part they seek to become the center of attention instead of officiating the game in the background as is their job. In a recent game at Wake Forest between the Demon Deacons and the N.C. State Wolfpack, official Teddy Valentine seemed to take great satisfaction ruling a turnover in favor of Wake Forest gleefully dancing down the side of the court as if he were auditioning for dancing with the stars, as he waved his arms and pointed toward the Wake Forest end of the court. Enough already! Mr Valentine has cost the Wolfpack in two of their 5 losses. Earlier this season he seemingly took great pleasure whistling a very, very questionable charging call on the Pack's C.J. Leslie during a key point in the Pack's loss to then #1 ranked Michigan. The phantom charging call took the momentum away from the Wolfpack and they were never able to recover. Then last week in Winston Salem Mr. Valentine got to impose his will again on a game involving the Wolfpack. His disdain for the Wolfpack was never more evident than on this night as he single-handedly took out the Pack's C.J. Leslie whistling 3 quick fouls on the Pack star effectively taking him out of the game. Then with the game on the line in the final seconds C.J. Leslie attacked the basket with the go-ahead score and was shoved into the third row of seats a Lawrence Joel Coliseum and the official on the baseline was none other than Teddy Valentine and for some strange reason in his mind the criminal assault on Leslie by the Deacons did not constitute a foul so he swallowed his whistle and the Wolfpack went on to lose.
Then last night (Tuesday, January 29) the Wolfpack was victimized yet again by three more of the ACC finest. It was bad enough for the Pack to lose the ACC's top point guard Lorenzo Brown to injury 10 minutes into the game but then the trio of goons sent to officiate the game took two points away from the Wolfpack on a travelling call that even Bruce Pearl, ESPN's game analyst said was a bad call. Strike One! Then during the second half on no less than 4 occasions C.J. Leslie tried to make a move to the basket and was ridden out of bounds by a defender only to be called for stepping on the end line. This amounts to 4 Wolfpack turnovers that should have been Virginia fouls, stopping the Pack's momentum and gift wrapping a scoring chance for Virginia.
The ESPN announce crew babbled on and on about the Virginia scoring defense having no allowed anyone to score 60 points. But the real story was the lack of rules enforcement on the Virginia team. The Cavalier defenders pushed, hammered and grabbed at the N.C. State players with impunity. Not only was C.J. Leslie abused on every attempted drive to the basket, but when he or Richard Howell or any other Pack player went to the rim they we mercilessly hammered without the benefit of a call. Strike Two! I truly believe that I could go to my local YMCA and grab four other players and go out and hold the #1 team in the land to under 60 points if I was given the advantage of not being held to the rulebook the way the officials allowed Virginia to go about mauling the Wolfpack. There were many glaring examples of the one sided enforcement of the rules but there were two examples that stood out. At the end of the first half Richard Howell was call for a foul on the Cavalier Point guard when he clearly blocked the shot, got all ball as the Cavalier point guard made a desperation shot. Then finally, the Pack's T.J. Warren was call for fouling Virginia's Joe Harris on a three point shot. Harris made a shot fake and Warren went flying past without touching him only to have Harris fire the ball into his face. Warren was called for the foul not Harris who fired the ball into Warren's face. STEEEERIKEEEE THREE!
The crux of the problem is that the ACC does not hold their officials accountable for their performance on the court. Following an ACC basketball game the coaches and players face the media and answer questions about the game while down the hall the game officials are in their own little world, they shower dress and slip quietly out the door. They don't have to face the media and explain why the same charging foul that was called in the first minute of the game was not called in the last 20 seconds of the game. Why apparently a foul is not a foul at particular times during the game. There is absolutely no accountability for game officials. It is grossly unfair to the coaches who livelihood is directly effected by their performance. It is unfair to the media and fans who struggle to understand why officials make calls or interpret rules as they do.
Will the ACC ever hold the officials accountable? I doubt it. The Commissioner, John Swofford a UNC man won't do anything. Why would he do anything to alter the advantage his beloved Tar Heels get annually. Then there's the ACC Coordinator of Basketball Officials John Clougherty. Mr. Clougherty a longtime official himself isn't going to do anything to his former on-court cronies. He already showed us his true stripes by giving his buddy Karl Hess little more than a slap on the wrist with a "Public Reprimand" for his ejections of Gugliotta and Corchiani. So no the ACC officials aren't accountable for their bush league officiating. They never have and never will be, at least until there is a Commissioner that has no ties to the conference and has a backbone.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Monday, July 2, 2012
Chipper, the MLB All-Star Game & "YT" and the Charlotte Eagles Soccer
Major League Baseball's "Mid-Summer Classic" is a week away and the rosters were announced yesterday (Sunday, July 1st). As has been the custom for just about as long as I can remember the fans get to vote on the starting line-ups for the game. However, after seeing this tradtion for many, many years I have come to the conclusion that the fans voting for the starters might not be such a good thing. Especially since MLB's illustrious commissioner decreed that the All-Star game decided home field advantage for the World Series.
This year's glaring examples of the fans getting it wrong include third base for the National League where the fans voted Carlos Sandoval as the starter over the New York Mets' David Wright. Sandoval has played in a little over half the San Francisco Giants' games which is 30 less games than Wright. In his 45 games Sandoval has 6 homers and 25 rbi while hitting .300. Contrast that with Wright who in 76 games is hitting .354 with 9 homers and 50 rbi. If Sandoval is qualified to be the NL starter at third base then Chipper Jones is doubly qualified since he is in his final season. In 44 games Chipper has 6 homers, 29 rbi and is hitting .292 which is roughly the same stats as Sandoval.
One other fan faux pas on the NL side is the selection of Matt Kemp to a starting spot in the outfield. Kemp who has been on the DL for over half the season has only appeared in 36 games. And while his stats are good enough, voting an injured player to a starting spot is just plain silly. Especially when you consider that there are players like Michael Bourne and Martin Prado of the Atlanta Braves who have played in over twice as many games and have the stats to back it up. Bourne is second in the NL in hits with 100 and third in Major League Baseball in stolen bases with 22. He has hit 7 homers with 29 rbi while hitting .302 all from the leadoff spot for the Braves. Prado is the type of player that is custom made for the All-Star game in that he plays a multitude of positions. This year alone he has played left field, first base, second base and third base. In 76 games Prado is sixth in the league (8th in MLB) in hits with 95. He has 5 homers, 31 rbi and has a batting average of .321.
My big beef with the NL roster is that Chipper Jones is not on the roster. He has to rely on the "Final Fan Vote" in order to be included in an All-Star game that should have been played in his honor. Moreover, he has to go up against his teammate Michael Bourne who also deserved to be included on the roster without having to go up against Chipper for the final spot. Then you have the likes of 19 yeaqr-old rookie Bryce Harper of Washington who is also in the Final Vote Ballot. I certainly hope that fans will give Chipper his due and put him in the All-Star game in his final season.
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Over the years I have developed a passion and appreciation for the game of Futbol aka Soccer. Growing up in the 60's and 70's in the foothills of North Carolina my spring and summers were filled with baseball. At that time soccer was some game played in European countries that didn't play "real football". As my children became older and got into sports all three tried baseball or T-ball, my daughter Haley stuck with it through one season of playing machine-pitch baseball with the boys. She was the only girl in a league consisting of over 120 players. At the same time she was introduced to soccer and she switched over and became a good soccer player and later an outstanding goal keeper. My son got hooked on soccer at an early age. When he was around 1 year-old we signed him up for something called Soccer Pals at the daycare where he was enrolled. Soccer Pals was a program started by the Charlotte Eagles, a local professional soccer team here in Charlotte. In particular one of their standout players, Dustin Swinehart or Whitey as he was known ran the program. He and my son almost instantly connected and a soccer star was born.
For 4 years my son, Justin and Whitey were Soccer Pals. Right before Justin left the daycare Whitey gave Justin some tickets to see the Eagles in action. So Justin and I went to Waddell High School to see the Eagles play soccer. The match ended and then I was surprised to learn that this group of "professional athletes" were not the sterotypical bunch. Everyone in attendance was invited to the field to meet the players. Justin and I went down to the field to speak to Whitey and Justin asked for his autograph. Dustin Swinehart signed Justin's ball "YT" followed by a bible verse. I asked, why "YT" and he told me it was short for Whitey. After the post game meet and greet with "YT" and his mates I became a big fan. The next season our family started attending Eagles matches and learned there was also a Lady Eagles soccer team. We were hooked. We have been fans and season ticket holders since...Several years ago after I had rekindled my photography interest by shooting my kids soccer matches, I took things one step further and volunteered my services as photographer for the Eagles and Lady Eagles. Turns out they needed a photographer from time-to-time when their staff photographer, Rusty Burroughs was not available. The rest, as they say, is history.
For 5 years now I have been shooting the Eagles and Lady Eagles matches and I am very proud to say that I have many friends within the organization. This year marks the Eagles 20th Anniversary. They are one of a select few organizations that have been in existance for such a long period of time. They join the Charleston Battery and Richmond Kickers as teams celebrating their 20th year this year. Coming up on July 14th the Eagles will have a reunion of their teams from the past 20 years. Thanks to "YT", I am proud to say I have been part of the Eagles as a fan and part of the organization for half of the 20 years.
This year's glaring examples of the fans getting it wrong include third base for the National League where the fans voted Carlos Sandoval as the starter over the New York Mets' David Wright. Sandoval has played in a little over half the San Francisco Giants' games which is 30 less games than Wright. In his 45 games Sandoval has 6 homers and 25 rbi while hitting .300. Contrast that with Wright who in 76 games is hitting .354 with 9 homers and 50 rbi. If Sandoval is qualified to be the NL starter at third base then Chipper Jones is doubly qualified since he is in his final season. In 44 games Chipper has 6 homers, 29 rbi and is hitting .292 which is roughly the same stats as Sandoval. 
One other fan faux pas on the NL side is the selection of Matt Kemp to a starting spot in the outfield. Kemp who has been on the DL for over half the season has only appeared in 36 games. And while his stats are good enough, voting an injured player to a starting spot is just plain silly. Especially when you consider that there are players like Michael Bourne and Martin Prado of the Atlanta Braves who have played in over twice as many games and have the stats to back it up. Bourne is second in the NL in hits with 100 and third in Major League Baseball in stolen bases with 22. He has hit 7 homers with 29 rbi while hitting .302 all from the leadoff spot for the Braves. Prado is the type of player that is custom made for the All-Star game in that he plays a multitude of positions. This year alone he has played left field, first base, second base and third base. In 76 games Prado is sixth in the league (8th in MLB) in hits with 95. He has 5 homers, 31 rbi and has a batting average of .321.
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Justin in his #18 Eagles Jersey with "YT" & the rest of
at the Eagles at Justin's 6th Birthday Party at the
Eagles Game.
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| "YT",Dustin Swinehart in action on the field & post game |
For 5 years now I have been shooting the Eagles and Lady Eagles matches and I am very proud to say that I have many friends within the organization. This year marks the Eagles 20th Anniversary. They are one of a select few organizations that have been in existance for such a long period of time. They join the Charleston Battery and Richmond Kickers as teams celebrating their 20th year this year. Coming up on July 14th the Eagles will have a reunion of their teams from the past 20 years. Thanks to "YT", I am proud to say I have been part of the Eagles as a fan and part of the organization for half of the 20 years.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Catching Up...Soccer, Baseball and Other Stuff...
It's been a while since I sat down and made an entry here. As a matter of fact March Madness was wrapping up and my son's two soccer seasons were getting up to full song. Since my last entry baseball season is in full swing. My Atlanta Braves are holding their own in the ultra-competitive National League East. But more on the Braves later...
First I want to get a few thoughts out there about the middle school and club soccer in my area. My son's two teams had good seasons. He was elected a team captain on his middle school team. A squad which was very young as middle school teams go and it showed in a couple of critical times that cost them the game. They finished in either second or third place. No one is quite sure about the standings as the Charlotte Mecklenburg School System's Athletic Department does not post standings. Justin is a goal keeper and in his middle school season posted a fairly minuscule 0.9 goals against average in 11 games that he played in goal. He also played in the field in several of the games that were well in hand and actually scored a goal. So his last middle school season was a good one.
His club year has been a real roller coaster affair as he and his teammates fashioned a 17-16-7 record, scoring 61 goals while allowing 58. Justin posted 15 clean sheets (shutouts) for the year while allowing a 1.48 goals per game average. His team started out the year last August by reaching the finals of the Dick's Invitational tournament here in Charlotte and followed that by making the semifinals of the Furniture City Classic in High Point, NC. Their regular season in the NCYSA Classic A West division saw them finish in the middle of the pack in a 10 team league. During the winter they managed a top 4 finish in their indoor soccer league and finished the indoor campaign as tournament finalists.
The Spring portion of their year began in early February with two tournament championships. The first was a Championship in the Adidas Classic in Charlotte, followed by a Championship in the Cobb Classic Soccer tournament in Atlanta, GA. The weather for the Cobb Classic in Atlanta felt more like we were playing north of the Arctic Circle than in the sunny south. We battled subfreezing temperatures all weekend including a Saturday where the temperature was well below freezing along with winds that were howling around 30 mph at times creating a wind chill factor which never climbed above 24 degrees. That alone made for a challenging tournament let alone the tough competition they had to face. Nonetheless the good guys prevailed and captured their second championship in as many tournaments. The Spring regular season in the NCYSA Classic A Western div had it's share of surprises as well. Some of which were the unpleasant type.
In the Spring season there was an unfortunate incident that was totally preventable where one player from the Porter Ridge Athletic Association committed a foul on a breakaway and instead of sending the offending player off as specified in the FIFA rules of soccer the referee called the foul awarded the penalty kick but allowed the player to stay in the game. The referee's failure to adhere to the rules of soccer led to the same player instigating a fight in the closing minutes of the match. The fight led to one of Justin's teammates who was defending another teammate in the melee getting a concussion and a red card. As if losing a key member of the team to a red card and very serious injury wasn't bad enough the team had to face a premier team that had been relegated to the Classic A division. This team had obviously reloaded with some of the better players in their club and were cruising through the Classic A division proving that they really didn't belong in the league...Once their leading scorer returned from the injury Justin's team regained some of the form that got them two championships earlier in the Spring and they managed a very respectable mid-pack finish in the standings. Their position in the standings gave them the 13th seed in the N.C. Kepner Presidents Cup tournament. They failed to make the quarterfinals by 1 point in the standings but finish the tournament with a 2-1-0 record. All-in-all a very respectable showing for a team who by all accounts had a difficult time putting together two or three passes the previous year.
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As of May 22, 2012 the Atlanta Braves have a record of 26-18 and stand one half a game out of first place behind of all teams the Washington Nationals. The Braves have been very good offensively this season they currently rank 2nd in the National League in Runs Scored and 7th in the Major leagues in batting average. Pitching has been a bit up and down this season but the return of Tim Hudson has helped. The youngsters in the rotation have pitched well but have had some rough outings. The Braves are on pace to win 96 game this year which should be good enough to make the playoffs barring a repeat of last September's collapse.
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One other soccer note. Justin is currently in the midst of the annual grind known as CSA soccer tryouts. For those who are not familiar with the club soccer scene every year player assessments are completed, tryouts are held and team rosters are formalized. This year Justin got the best evaluation he has ever gotten. The CSA Director of Coaching for Goalkeepers told us that out of 112 goalkeepers in CSA Justin was the most improved goalkeeper in the club! Needless to say right now I am one proud soccer Dad.
We will see how everything comes out as far as team placement in the next couple of days but either way, he is going to be playing at a high level in the coming season.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
The Wolfpack's On the Right Track
Thanks to the work of Head Coach Mark Gottfried and his coaching staff the N.C. State Wolfpack returned to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2005. The success in the NCAA tournament excited all the Wolfpack fans and rekindled memories of the late great Jim Valvano and the 1983 Cardiac Pack.
Gottfried took over the Wolfpack basketball program last April and proceeded to assemble a first class coaching staff led by former UNC Charlotte head coach Bobby Lutz. Then he gathered his players and got them all to buy into his philosophy and set out to instill confidence into a team that had struggled mightily for quite some time.
He succeeded and Gottfried guided his team to a 24-13 record and a trip to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. He has also assembled one of the top recruiting classes in the nation that includes, T.J. Warren, Rodney Purvis and Tyler Lewis. If these recruits live up to their advanced billing the future is really bright for the Wolfpack.
At any rate, Mark Gottfried has Wolfpack nation believing and dreaming again. This season got Wolfpack nation fired up again and created more interest, enthusiasm and buzz than the past several years combined...
THANK YOU, MARK GOTTFRIED AND THE N.C. STATE WOLFPACK FOR THE GREAT 2011-2012!
GO PACK!
Gottfried took over the Wolfpack basketball program last April and proceeded to assemble a first class coaching staff led by former UNC Charlotte head coach Bobby Lutz. Then he gathered his players and got them all to buy into his philosophy and set out to instill confidence into a team that had struggled mightily for quite some time.
He succeeded and Gottfried guided his team to a 24-13 record and a trip to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. He has also assembled one of the top recruiting classes in the nation that includes, T.J. Warren, Rodney Purvis and Tyler Lewis. If these recruits live up to their advanced billing the future is really bright for the Wolfpack.
At any rate, Mark Gottfried has Wolfpack nation believing and dreaming again. This season got Wolfpack nation fired up again and created more interest, enthusiasm and buzz than the past several years combined...
THANK YOU, MARK GOTTFRIED AND THE N.C. STATE WOLFPACK FOR THE GREAT 2011-2012!
GO PACK!
They Let Em Play Just A Little TOO MUCH...
The storybook run by Mark Gottfried and the N.C. State Wolfpack came to a nightmarish ending last night at the hands of the three man officiating crew of Michael Stephens, Brian O'Connell and Greg Nixon...These fine officials took the "Let 'Em Play" theory to new levels of roughness. Apparently in the Big East, MAAC, PAC 12, Big Sky and West Coast conferences the type of basketball played is more along the line of basket-BRAWL.
The game featured the action of a hockey game, rugby match or wrestling match. At times it certainly bore no resemblance to a basketball game. Much less a basketball game at level we would expect to see in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament. This officiating crew would allow the physicality of criminal assault to proceed for long stretches of action only to be punctuated by a foul call that would leave you scratching your head and wondering," how could they call that foul after letting someone get murdered on the other end of the floor." More times than not the Kansas JayHawks were the beneficiaries of the officiating inconsistency. That's not to say that the calls weren't horrible both ways but the Kansas big men were allowed to do things to the Wolfpack big men that is illegal in the majority of the 50 states and 8-10 times it wasn't called. This was especially true for Kansas 7 footer Jeff Withey who was credited with 11 blocks in the game. Over half of his blocks would have resulted in foul calls had even the worst ACC crew been calling the game. Hell I could block 11 shots in a game if I was given Carte Blanche that Mr. Withey was last night...
I know all you non-Wolfpackers out there are saying "State had their chances in the closing minutes to pull it out but turned it over and the referees had nothing to do with those". Well that may be true, but if you saddle the main cog in a team's game plan with 4 fouls early and he has to sit for 70 percent of the second half you have effectively changed the game...State's C.J. Leslie was relegated to the bench for much of the second half due to picking up his 4th foul less than 2 minutes into the half and he still led the Wolfpack with 18 points. Had he been given the same free reign privileges as KU's Mr. Withey he could have played the whole second half and scored 30 points and N.C. State probably wins the game as the Wolfpack managed to keep it close without Leslie in the game.
This brings me to the closing minutes of the game and one of my major pet peeves...That is the referees radically changing the way they call a game in the closing minutes of a game. Somehow this practice continues to plague college basketball. I do not know why the powers-that-be in college basketball allow referees to change the rulebook for the last minutes of a game but they do...
The only thing that I can figure is the clowns in the striped shirts have been given the directive to let the players decide the game. I have to call BULLSHIT on this one...It needs to stop for the integrity of the game. The N.C. State Wolfpack was victimized more than once this year by this practice. For no apparent reason a foul that has been called for 39 minutes in a basketball game ceases to be a foul in the final minute. You need look no farther than the final 15 seconds of the ACC tournament game when the UNC Tar Heels' Kendall Marshall runs over N.C. State's Alex Johnson to make the game winning shot. Marshall's charge that wasn't called had been called nearly a dozen times in the games first 39 minutes...
Friday night in their Sweet Sixteen game vs Kansas, N.C. State was victimized again. C.J. Leslie drove to the basket in the final 30 seconds and was fouled no less than three times by several different players including Mr. Withey, but there was no foul called and Kansas got the ball and went the other way.
The last time I checked there is not a separate section in the rulebook for the final minute of the game...This business of changing the way the game is called in the final minute of a game MUST BE STOPPED.
The game featured the action of a hockey game, rugby match or wrestling match. At times it certainly bore no resemblance to a basketball game. Much less a basketball game at level we would expect to see in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament. This officiating crew would allow the physicality of criminal assault to proceed for long stretches of action only to be punctuated by a foul call that would leave you scratching your head and wondering," how could they call that foul after letting someone get murdered on the other end of the floor." More times than not the Kansas JayHawks were the beneficiaries of the officiating inconsistency. That's not to say that the calls weren't horrible both ways but the Kansas big men were allowed to do things to the Wolfpack big men that is illegal in the majority of the 50 states and 8-10 times it wasn't called. This was especially true for Kansas 7 footer Jeff Withey who was credited with 11 blocks in the game. Over half of his blocks would have resulted in foul calls had even the worst ACC crew been calling the game. Hell I could block 11 shots in a game if I was given Carte Blanche that Mr. Withey was last night...
I know all you non-Wolfpackers out there are saying "State had their chances in the closing minutes to pull it out but turned it over and the referees had nothing to do with those". Well that may be true, but if you saddle the main cog in a team's game plan with 4 fouls early and he has to sit for 70 percent of the second half you have effectively changed the game...State's C.J. Leslie was relegated to the bench for much of the second half due to picking up his 4th foul less than 2 minutes into the half and he still led the Wolfpack with 18 points. Had he been given the same free reign privileges as KU's Mr. Withey he could have played the whole second half and scored 30 points and N.C. State probably wins the game as the Wolfpack managed to keep it close without Leslie in the game.
This brings me to the closing minutes of the game and one of my major pet peeves...That is the referees radically changing the way they call a game in the closing minutes of a game. Somehow this practice continues to plague college basketball. I do not know why the powers-that-be in college basketball allow referees to change the rulebook for the last minutes of a game but they do...
The only thing that I can figure is the clowns in the striped shirts have been given the directive to let the players decide the game. I have to call BULLSHIT on this one...It needs to stop for the integrity of the game. The N.C. State Wolfpack was victimized more than once this year by this practice. For no apparent reason a foul that has been called for 39 minutes in a basketball game ceases to be a foul in the final minute. You need look no farther than the final 15 seconds of the ACC tournament game when the UNC Tar Heels' Kendall Marshall runs over N.C. State's Alex Johnson to make the game winning shot. Marshall's charge that wasn't called had been called nearly a dozen times in the games first 39 minutes...
Friday night in their Sweet Sixteen game vs Kansas, N.C. State was victimized again. C.J. Leslie drove to the basket in the final 30 seconds and was fouled no less than three times by several different players including Mr. Withey, but there was no foul called and Kansas got the ball and went the other way.
The last time I checked there is not a separate section in the rulebook for the final minute of the game...This business of changing the way the game is called in the final minute of a game MUST BE STOPPED.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Soccer Promotion, Relegation, Official Incompetency & the Resulting Mess
In case you missed my initial entry in this blog, I am a very proud soccer Dad. As such I tend to get caught up in my son's games and sometimes take great exception to officials rulings or lack thereof on the field especially when my son's team is not being treated fairly.
The governing body of youth soccer in North Carolina is the North Carolina Youth Soccer Association. Understandably the NCYSA preaches fairness and making the experience enjoyable for all the youth soccer players in the state to cultivate the love of the sport of soccer. Ironically, it is the NCYSA that continually creates situations, ignores participants parents and employs inept officials to work their sanctioned games which flies in the face of fairness and developing a love of the game. There have been two obvious examples of this that I have encountered personally in the last week.
The first is was a game official that due to his gross ineptitude, not only allowed a soccer match to degenerate into a fist fight, but by his ignorance of the rules of soccer and failure to apply and enforce rules properly led to the aforementioned fight.
In soccer there are seven offenses that are suppose to result in an automatic Red Card and disqualification from the match. These include the excessive use of force or brutality against an opponent when challenging for the ball. Violent conduct is also a red card offense. Red cards are also awarded for fouling a player and denying them a clear goal-scoring opportunity, or the deliberate use of the hand to prevent a goal-scoring opportunity. Also if a player receives two yellow cards during a soccer game, an automatic red card is given.
In this case a player on my son's team was heading to the goal on a clear scoring opportunity when a defender from the opposing team grabbed the attacking player and dragged him to the ground. This was an obvious foul which was called by the referee who awarded my son's team a penalty kick. However, the referee failed to issue the red card as called for in the rules of soccer and allowed the defender to stay in the match. My son's teammate converted the PK and gave his team a 2-1 lead. Less than two minutes later on another breakaway scoring opportunity for my son's team, the same defender made a blatant attempt to trip the attacker and pushed him as he got by and went on to score. AS everyone was heading back up the field after the goal the defender and attacker exchanged words and the altercation resulted in a melee in which one of my son's teammates was hit in the face by an opposing player who was picked up and thrown by one of the parents from the other team. The player who got hit in the face ended up getting a red card because he came in to defend his teammate but far worse he suffered a serious concussion.
And all this because the referee failed to do his job on several different fronts...Not the least of which was to send the player off when he committed the first foul which by rule should have resulted in the disqualification of the offending player at that time. Secondly he was oblivious to the situation following the goal which led to the fight and finally he blatantly ignored the assistant referee who had a ring-side seat as he tried to give the referee an accurate and unbiased account of what had transpired. There is absolutely no excuse for the ignorance and ineptitude of this official. Furthermore he submitted a game report to the NCYSA which was a complete work of fiction, no doubt to cover his own negligent ignorance of the rules...
So I would ask how is it that the NCYSA wants to foster an environment of fair play and love of the game when the officials assigned to the matches either don't know the rules of soccer or blatantly ignore the rule book...
The second example is a result of NCYSA's policy of promotion and relegation of teams based on their performance from one season to another. For those of you who are not familiar with this practice it is ultimately an attempt to keep the different divisions equitable as far as competition is concerned. There are 4 boys divisions in the NCYSA Spring season, Region 3 Premier, Premier, Classic A (First Division) and Classic B (Second Division). Unfortunately the relegation part of the equation can be very counter productive and create a less than favorable situation in a division. This is especially true when a team gets relegated (demoted) from Premier to the Classic A or First Division. It is a bigger problem when the team that gets relegated (demoted) is not deserving of the demotion. For instance when a team plays 11 matches and has 2 wins, 7 losses and 2 ties in the Premier division plays competitively but gets demoted because they finish in the bottom two in the division.
So this team gets relegated to the Classic A (first division) and then proceeds to dominate teams to the tune of 17-0 in 4 matches. The team clearly doesn't belong in the Classic A division. They belong in the Premier division. But for the teams that are fighting and clawing for every win in the Classic A division they have to be subjected to the drubbings by this team that doesn't belong it their division. To make things worse this team I saw yesterday has no since of sportsmanship or decency. Yesterday with their match clearly in hand at 4-0 they continue to attack. And even with the score at 6-0 in the final minutes of the match they continue to score on a goal, a diving header off a cross, that if the match had been close or in doubt would have been spectacular. Instead it was an unnecessary display of poor sportsmanship in a rout...
This match was of absolutely no benefit to anyone involved. Except maybe the parents of the demoted premier team who seemed to revel in their sons' lack of sportsmanship and decorum and displayed no sportsmanship themselves...
Bottom line is if the NCYSA is so hellbent on making sure that no one complain and doing all this in the name of good sportsmanship they should quit protecting their officials and get off their collective asses and find some officials that at least know the rule book and have the spine to call a match by the rule book and take control of matches. Then they should examine the relegations and promotions a little more closely and not create these incredibly obvious mismatch situations. Then they might find that all they don't have to threaten and "clamp down" at all...and everyone will enjoy their soccer a bit more...
The governing body of youth soccer in North Carolina is the North Carolina Youth Soccer Association. Understandably the NCYSA preaches fairness and making the experience enjoyable for all the youth soccer players in the state to cultivate the love of the sport of soccer. Ironically, it is the NCYSA that continually creates situations, ignores participants parents and employs inept officials to work their sanctioned games which flies in the face of fairness and developing a love of the game. There have been two obvious examples of this that I have encountered personally in the last week.
The first is was a game official that due to his gross ineptitude, not only allowed a soccer match to degenerate into a fist fight, but by his ignorance of the rules of soccer and failure to apply and enforce rules properly led to the aforementioned fight.
In soccer there are seven offenses that are suppose to result in an automatic Red Card and disqualification from the match. These include the excessive use of force or brutality against an opponent when challenging for the ball. Violent conduct is also a red card offense. Red cards are also awarded for fouling a player and denying them a clear goal-scoring opportunity, or the deliberate use of the hand to prevent a goal-scoring opportunity. Also if a player receives two yellow cards during a soccer game, an automatic red card is given.
In this case a player on my son's team was heading to the goal on a clear scoring opportunity when a defender from the opposing team grabbed the attacking player and dragged him to the ground. This was an obvious foul which was called by the referee who awarded my son's team a penalty kick. However, the referee failed to issue the red card as called for in the rules of soccer and allowed the defender to stay in the match. My son's teammate converted the PK and gave his team a 2-1 lead. Less than two minutes later on another breakaway scoring opportunity for my son's team, the same defender made a blatant attempt to trip the attacker and pushed him as he got by and went on to score. AS everyone was heading back up the field after the goal the defender and attacker exchanged words and the altercation resulted in a melee in which one of my son's teammates was hit in the face by an opposing player who was picked up and thrown by one of the parents from the other team. The player who got hit in the face ended up getting a red card because he came in to defend his teammate but far worse he suffered a serious concussion.
And all this because the referee failed to do his job on several different fronts...Not the least of which was to send the player off when he committed the first foul which by rule should have resulted in the disqualification of the offending player at that time. Secondly he was oblivious to the situation following the goal which led to the fight and finally he blatantly ignored the assistant referee who had a ring-side seat as he tried to give the referee an accurate and unbiased account of what had transpired. There is absolutely no excuse for the ignorance and ineptitude of this official. Furthermore he submitted a game report to the NCYSA which was a complete work of fiction, no doubt to cover his own negligent ignorance of the rules...
So I would ask how is it that the NCYSA wants to foster an environment of fair play and love of the game when the officials assigned to the matches either don't know the rules of soccer or blatantly ignore the rule book...
The second example is a result of NCYSA's policy of promotion and relegation of teams based on their performance from one season to another. For those of you who are not familiar with this practice it is ultimately an attempt to keep the different divisions equitable as far as competition is concerned. There are 4 boys divisions in the NCYSA Spring season, Region 3 Premier, Premier, Classic A (First Division) and Classic B (Second Division). Unfortunately the relegation part of the equation can be very counter productive and create a less than favorable situation in a division. This is especially true when a team gets relegated (demoted) from Premier to the Classic A or First Division. It is a bigger problem when the team that gets relegated (demoted) is not deserving of the demotion. For instance when a team plays 11 matches and has 2 wins, 7 losses and 2 ties in the Premier division plays competitively but gets demoted because they finish in the bottom two in the division.
So this team gets relegated to the Classic A (first division) and then proceeds to dominate teams to the tune of 17-0 in 4 matches. The team clearly doesn't belong in the Classic A division. They belong in the Premier division. But for the teams that are fighting and clawing for every win in the Classic A division they have to be subjected to the drubbings by this team that doesn't belong it their division. To make things worse this team I saw yesterday has no since of sportsmanship or decency. Yesterday with their match clearly in hand at 4-0 they continue to attack. And even with the score at 6-0 in the final minutes of the match they continue to score on a goal, a diving header off a cross, that if the match had been close or in doubt would have been spectacular. Instead it was an unnecessary display of poor sportsmanship in a rout...
This match was of absolutely no benefit to anyone involved. Except maybe the parents of the demoted premier team who seemed to revel in their sons' lack of sportsmanship and decorum and displayed no sportsmanship themselves...
Bottom line is if the NCYSA is so hellbent on making sure that no one complain and doing all this in the name of good sportsmanship they should quit protecting their officials and get off their collective asses and find some officials that at least know the rule book and have the spine to call a match by the rule book and take control of matches. Then they should examine the relegations and promotions a little more closely and not create these incredibly obvious mismatch situations. Then they might find that all they don't have to threaten and "clamp down" at all...and everyone will enjoy their soccer a bit more...
Friday, March 16, 2012
March Madness - Day 1 - UNC-A Robbed
It wasn't the invasion of the Hessian Army but UNC-Asheville was victimized by incompetent officiating in their bid for the ultimate NCAA Tournament upset, a 16 beating a 1 seed. Instead the Syracuse Orangemen with the benefit of the officiating gaffs escaped their second round game with the Bulldogs with a 72-65 win.
Along with the usual tick-tack fouls that usually favor the top seeds there were two egregious officiating fubars that cost UNC-A, included a missed goal tending call early in the second half and the big one with 34 seconds left and Syracuse up by three Syracuse guard Brandon Triche fumbled an inbounds pass that went out of bounds near the UNC-Asheville bench. Inexplicably, the official watching the play from 10 feet away ruled that the ball went off a UNC-A player. The UNC-A player, Jaron Lane was no where close to the ball as it went out of bounds...
John Adams, NCAA director of men's basketball officiating, acknowledged the mistake.
"I'm not going to alibi for the gentlemen in the game," he said. "When you see this call, it's either a foul or you give it to the other team that didn't knock the ball out of bounds. He didn't get it right."
UNC-A didn't exactly make the most of their opportunities but were certainly not given a fair chance due to the gaffs...
Post game one of the UNC-A players accurately summed it up saying "somtimes you have to play everyone in the building"...It's unfortunate but true...UNC-A head coach Eddie Biedenbach told reporters he thought his squad was the better team on Thursday.
Postgame Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim decided rail on the academic issues and pretty much make an ass out of himself as if he didn't already have enough problems. When told of Biedenbach's assertion that the Bulldogs were the better team Thursday night, Boeheim predictably responded. "That's what they make scoreboards for."
In other action, the VCU Rams continued their winning ways in the Big Dance that they started last year as they upset 5th seeded Wichita State 62-59...
11th seeded Colorado survived a late game surge by 5th seed UNLV to upset the Runnin' Rebels 68-64. The Buffalo's were up by over 20 points ant one time in the game before UNLV rallied in the closing minutes...
For now it's time for day 2 and the ACC teams are in action today...So now I getting ready for the N.C. State Wolfpack's lunch date with San Diego State...GO WOLFPACK!
Along with the usual tick-tack fouls that usually favor the top seeds there were two egregious officiating fubars that cost UNC-A, included a missed goal tending call early in the second half and the big one with 34 seconds left and Syracuse up by three Syracuse guard Brandon Triche fumbled an inbounds pass that went out of bounds near the UNC-Asheville bench. Inexplicably, the official watching the play from 10 feet away ruled that the ball went off a UNC-A player. The UNC-A player, Jaron Lane was no where close to the ball as it went out of bounds...
John Adams, NCAA director of men's basketball officiating, acknowledged the mistake.
"I'm not going to alibi for the gentlemen in the game," he said. "When you see this call, it's either a foul or you give it to the other team that didn't knock the ball out of bounds. He didn't get it right."
UNC-A didn't exactly make the most of their opportunities but were certainly not given a fair chance due to the gaffs...
Post game one of the UNC-A players accurately summed it up saying "somtimes you have to play everyone in the building"...It's unfortunate but true...UNC-A head coach Eddie Biedenbach told reporters he thought his squad was the better team on Thursday.
Postgame Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim decided rail on the academic issues and pretty much make an ass out of himself as if he didn't already have enough problems. When told of Biedenbach's assertion that the Bulldogs were the better team Thursday night, Boeheim predictably responded. "That's what they make scoreboards for."
In other action, the VCU Rams continued their winning ways in the Big Dance that they started last year as they upset 5th seeded Wichita State 62-59...
11th seeded Colorado survived a late game surge by 5th seed UNLV to upset the Runnin' Rebels 68-64. The Buffalo's were up by over 20 points ant one time in the game before UNLV rallied in the closing minutes...
For now it's time for day 2 and the ACC teams are in action today...So now I getting ready for the N.C. State Wolfpack's lunch date with San Diego State...GO WOLFPACK!
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