Best story of your week - 2017

My first games of the season are tomorrow, first since before Thanksgiving. Three games, U11 and U12, one whistle. Looking forward to getting back going again.

 

It was in the teens today and there is snow on the ground. I am riding in my basement!

 

Definitely not a best story, but it happened. My shin splints turned into a tibial stress fracture and I'm gonna be sidelined for at least three months. Running around in the 4th minute of a state quarterfinal and feel it tweak. Swelled up immediately and looked like a baseball growing out my leg the next day. Reffed the entire game and another one later that day. Hopefully it heals quickly.

 

Here's hope for a speedy recovery. Needless to say continuing when you know you are injured is not a great idea. I assume if you're back out there by June there will be plenty of soccer year left?

 

I had a first ever this week...

I am refereeing at a very small town outside of the metro I live in. The school has a total population of 765 the school they played against probably has a smaller population. The game is a varsity boys match with all the small town shenanigans. Before the game the coach for the visiting team brings a player over to me. He has a bulge coming from his right ankle. It goes around his ankle and looks like the outside of his ankle has a small cast. Everything is under his sock. So the coach asks me if "can he play?" I walk over to the player and ask if I may touch it. As I touch it I ask him "is it a cast?" The player smiles and says "no not quite!" It suddenly dawns on me that this is an ankle monitor. I guess my body language shows apprehension as I look for sharp corners. The player laughs and says "its not a bomb! it doesn't have any buttons." I ask him a few more questions and let him go.
It didn't seem to pose any threat to any players or to him so I allowed it.

Didn't have a single issue with the player the whole game. His team a completely different story.

 

First games of the season for me, a tournament that was a lot of fun.

Centered a U11G game with teenage brothers for ARs. They both worked hard and did well. No cards and very few fouls.

Then was AR for three U12B games. I have only been certified 2 1/2 years, but found myself being the teacher in a game. Corner kick and the kicker runs up and bumps the ball. It rolls about two feet past the corner arc. I expected him to pick the ball up and reset it. Instead he left it there, ran up and kicked it again. I raised my flag, the teenage CR came over and I told her what happened. She said retake the corner kick and I said no, it is an indirect kick for the other team. She said "oh, that's right" and we restarted correctly. She said that was the first time she saw that. Yep. I still see stuff I never saw before.

Like my last game. I'm AR2 and tell the parents to be nice to me as I "just got certified last month and this is my first day as a referee." I was told one team's parents could be a bit rough, but they said they'd be nice. And they were. But there were three yellows in that game. I never saw three yellows in a small sided game before. A slide tackle from behind that got all ankles, a jersey pull on a breakaway slowing the attacker, and a delaying the restart when the team up by six kicked the ball off the field.

Final whistle blows and a guy behind me said "You lied to us. I can tell you've done this for years." I said "this summer will be three years, but the fans were nice to me." He laughed.

 

I had that when I was much younger. I got it from running on the beach with an uneven stride. I was in a cast for 6 weeks. I was stunned when I got the diagnoses. I had to call someone to come pick me up because I had driven myself to the doctor!

 

Probably two/three months of the pro season left if I'm lucky.

 

Passed the FIFA men's interval test this weekend in less-than-ideal conditions. Always a great feeling when you have your fitness test behind you.

 

I wonder if that would fall under equipment that requires 1/2" closed cell foam padding? Time for another NFHS rule modification!

 

Like they say, in another context, "know when to say when." I was assessing a U-16 boys game at youth regionals. R was a guy, about 24. Late in the first half, he hurts his knee, badly. He limps through the remainder of the half, which wasn't a good idea because the game was getting pretty heated. At half, he admitted that he could not continue. He became the 4th, 4th went to AR1 and AR 1, a gal who was about 18, goes in the center.

I was a little nervous about how this was going to go for her. During the first half, she was consistently lined up with the 3rd last defender! (Which she flat out denied during the debrief after the game, even though I had been moving back and forth behind her.) The game continued to be challenging during the second half (two red cards for separate incidents both signaled by AR2 for incidents less than five yards from him!). But the gal did a great job. The guy who had started the game in the center struggled physically, even as the 4th. His knee had blown up to the point that it looked like he had a baseball between his skin and his kneecap. It was that big! Of course, he was done for the tournament. And one of the more challenging assessments to write up about the AR1 to R! Inadequate performance in the first half, great job in the second half in a more challenging assignment.

The guy should have come off right away when he did his knee. This was not a game that would tolerate the referee being 30 yards behind play. And he should have gone to the medical tent right away instead of trying to tough out the second half.

 

It was interesting. I considered treating it like a cast but it was more like a bulky ankle brace on the outside of his ankle. On the inside it was like he was wearing a shinguard with the ankle protectors that little kids wear. Everything was covered by the stocking and it didn't have any sharp or pointy edges. The angle it was on his ankle he would have to, very obviously, kick an opponent for it be considered dangerous. I don't think it was going to loosen or come off either or be kicked off by an opponent without me seeing it.

 

Repped for the Groucho reference!

 

Was one of the captains named Spaulding?

 

Capt. Spaulding to you sir! Have a little respect!!

 

The other one went by the name Firefly

 

Aha..would that be @Rufusabc T Firefly. You may be in the Soup so be prepared to Duck!

 

To bring this back to soccer refereeing, in the words of Chico, "Well, who ya gonna believe? Me, or your own eyes?"

 

Eye..Eye...Capt. Spaulding! Very well done....full speed ahead!

Ps..."Remember the Maine."

 

Reading this forum is affecting me in ways I could never know. Last night I'm doing a high school game between two religiously affiliated private schools. During play I notice one of the players has an odd bulge on his ankle. I hadn't noticed it before, but it wouldn't be the first time I've missed an equipment issue. Immediately I think of Frankieboy's post. So I work my way over to the player and ask him, what's that bulge on his ankle. He laughs and says "Did you think it was an ankle monitor?". It turns out that as play started he realized he had a watch on, didn't want to run to the sideline to get rid of it, so he tucked it deep in his sock.

He said that earlier in the season they had played against a team that had a player with an ankle monitor.

 

^^^
Well that's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard.










I felt like I had to put in an appearance, kind of like you were all chanting Candyman, Candyman …

 

Finally did my first HS game of the season tonight. (I've had to give several back for various reasons.) The best story part though is that my daughter was in the center and my son and I were on the lines, and the announcer introduced us by name at the start of the game, and thanked us by name at the end.

 

This makes me smile. Maybe not as much as you and yours, but still. Congratulations.

 

Next Saturday, #2 son will be taking the Grade 8 course. I can't wait to post about his first game, nor about our first together. As the Assignor I think I can make that happen.

 

The even better part is she's getting engaged tomorrow, and she doesn't know it.