Monday, July 05, 2010
A TIMELY ANECDOTE
THE REFEREE GETS EVEN
When their own kids compete in high school sports, it seems that all parents show up to the games, and they all are smarter, fairer and better judges than the official who is working the game They suspect that if the truth were known,
the ref is secretly in cahoots with the other team, out to get their kid,
and conspiring to make him a loser.
Of course, I myself am above that sort of thing , but even I disagreed with the ref’s decisions on occasion. Naturally, I was strongly in favor of good sportsmanship, even when there was a hint of bias on the part of a given referee. I was almost eminently judicial.
I was sort of bi-partisan when Tolland High School , where my twin sons played, had a game against Ellington where I was a teacher, and knew most of the EHS Players personally. One afternoon when Tolland and Ellington were meeting on the soccer field in Tolland, my boss at EHS told me that a personal friend of his would be refereeing the game and to try to get to say “hello,” to him. He added that the friend would be visiting our office the next week.
I can’t remember whether or not I spoke to the man, but I was a little late getting to the game and immediately joined the group of Tolland parents with whom I usually watched Tolland games. This was a spirited and vocal group which was not reluctant to keep the referee informed of the error of his ways in calling fouls against the Tolland team which could do no wrong in a home game.
One of our group was a talented rabble rouser which drew the attention of the ref to our little group on the sidelines.
To those unacquainted with the rules of soccer, the referee calling a player foul can warn the offending player verbally, or if a more harsh penalty is deemed necessary, he can issue a Yellow Card. If a player gets two yellow cards in a game, he is out of the game. In the event of what the ref sees as a very serious foul, he can issue a Red Card which means the offending player is out of the game right now. Some cards were issued, each one evoking a hostile response from our little group of critics.
Can’t remember who won, but the next day in school my boss remarked that his friend, the ref had called him at home last night to confirm his coming visit to EHS, and to tell the boss about the big mouth Tolland parents, and a particularly obnoxious One who seemed to be instigating the rest of them. I might be wrong, but I think the boss made certain inferences.
On the day of the ref’s visit, I made a hand-written sign and taped it on my office door. It said something like, SCHOOL FOR SOCCER REFEREES HERE TODAY 10:00 A.M. It was all in fun.
A few weeks later, my wife and I were attending a wedding dinner, when our beleaguered ref who also was a guest , spotted me. He cut up a red menu creating a Red Card, sneaked up to our table, and stuck the card in my face. He Red Carded me!
When their own kids compete in high school sports, it seems that all parents show up to the games, and they all are smarter, fairer and better judges than the official who is working the game They suspect that if the truth were known,
the ref is secretly in cahoots with the other team, out to get their kid,
and conspiring to make him a loser.
Of course, I myself am above that sort of thing , but even I disagreed with the ref’s decisions on occasion. Naturally, I was strongly in favor of good sportsmanship, even when there was a hint of bias on the part of a given referee. I was almost eminently judicial.
I was sort of bi-partisan when Tolland High School , where my twin sons played, had a game against Ellington where I was a teacher, and knew most of the EHS Players personally. One afternoon when Tolland and Ellington were meeting on the soccer field in Tolland, my boss at EHS told me that a personal friend of his would be refereeing the game and to try to get to say “hello,” to him. He added that the friend would be visiting our office the next week.
I can’t remember whether or not I spoke to the man, but I was a little late getting to the game and immediately joined the group of Tolland parents with whom I usually watched Tolland games. This was a spirited and vocal group which was not reluctant to keep the referee informed of the error of his ways in calling fouls against the Tolland team which could do no wrong in a home game.
One of our group was a talented rabble rouser which drew the attention of the ref to our little group on the sidelines.
To those unacquainted with the rules of soccer, the referee calling a player foul can warn the offending player verbally, or if a more harsh penalty is deemed necessary, he can issue a Yellow Card. If a player gets two yellow cards in a game, he is out of the game. In the event of what the ref sees as a very serious foul, he can issue a Red Card which means the offending player is out of the game right now. Some cards were issued, each one evoking a hostile response from our little group of critics.
Can’t remember who won, but the next day in school my boss remarked that his friend, the ref had called him at home last night to confirm his coming visit to EHS, and to tell the boss about the big mouth Tolland parents, and a particularly obnoxious One who seemed to be instigating the rest of them. I might be wrong, but I think the boss made certain inferences.
On the day of the ref’s visit, I made a hand-written sign and taped it on my office door. It said something like, SCHOOL FOR SOCCER REFEREES HERE TODAY 10:00 A.M. It was all in fun.
A few weeks later, my wife and I were attending a wedding dinner, when our beleaguered ref who also was a guest , spotted me. He cut up a red menu creating a Red Card, sneaked up to our table, and stuck the card in my face. He Red Carded me!
# posted by Noonski @ 4:31 AM 
