More on the referees

Hmm, “more on” — if you blend those two words together, it sounds a lot like another word that is sometimes used to describe a referee.

Actually,  while it might be momentarily satisfying to denigrate the referees, we do have some kind words for them. Specifically, we’re talking about U.S. Soccer’s ongoing training and review program for referees, the U.S. Soccer Referee Week in Review. Basically, the head honchos of the federation’s referee training program, Paul Tamberino and Brian Hall, review the previous week’s MLS matches and provide feedback and direction for their crews’ education.

Yes — even though it’s hard to believe at times, the referees’ performances are being reviewed on a weekly basis. What’s more impressive is that these communiques are public — if a ref screws up, they say so openly. It’s a nice bit of transparency and provides some insight into how the whole referee system works in this country. The latest edition, which discusses matches played from Sept. 25–28, is available here.

Ironically, something in this week’s review may have inadvertently contributed to the mistaken perception that Francisco Lima blocked Blake Wagner’s cross with his arm, a call that gave Dallas the penalty kick that tied the game.  One of the topics covered at some length this week is how to spot a hand ball. “A key determinant in deciding if a handling offence occurred or not is found in the referee’s answer to the following question:  Did the player make himself bigger?”

“Making yourself bigger,” we are told, involves the following:

This refers to the placement of the arm(s)/hand(s) of the defending player at the time the ball is played by the opponent.  Should an arm/hand be in a position that takes away space from the team with the ball and the ball contacts the arm/hand, the referee should interpret this contact as handling.  Referees should interpret this action as the defender “deliberately” putting his arm/hand in a position in order to reduce the options of the opponent (like spreading your arms wide to take away the passing lane of an attacker).

At first glance, that all sounds pretty reasonable if you’re trying to spot an intentional handball. As we now know, though, it’s not perfect. If a ball is coming towards your midsection — say, your side, or even Francisco Lima’s side — you’ll raise your arm so that the ball hits your torso and not your arm. If the referee is standing in a place this can’t be seen clearly, it would look like you were “making yourself bigger” and trying to block the ball with your hand, when you were actually trying to move your hand out of the way so you could block the ball with your body — or even Francisco Lima’s body.

In any case, Thursday night’s referee, Abby Okulaja, got at least two calls wrong — Duilio Davino should have seen red for his intentional handball to deny a goal-scoring opportunity and Lima’s block should have resulted in no action at all. And if U.S. Soccer’s Referee Week in Review is functioning properly, we’ll read about them there a week from now.

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If you’re looking for a great way to spend some time tonight, consider joining the Soccer Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Club Quake, and the San Jose Earthquakes for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night Walk in Palo Alto. Earthquakes players Ryan Cochrane and Kelly Gray, members of the team’s front office, and a bunch of your fellow Earthquakes fans will be taking part. You can find full details here.

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We have a couple media items to pass along today:

-  Elliott Almond of the Mercury News talks with Earthquakes coach Frank Yallop, who notes that “the enormity of (Okulaja’s) decisions cost us a game.”

- The Jamaica Observer takes note of Ryan Johnson’s goal Thursday night.  They make no mention of Okulaja’s disdain for The Book of Rules, however.