MLS Officiating: it's shit-tastic!

That one is right up Disco's alley, because it wasn't seen by officiating crew. I don't see them changing many of the yellows since that is overriding a ref who already saw the infraction.
That's a likely outcome but will annoy me because the foul on Mata was so much worse. I understand why sports have bright line rules for things like kicking or hands to the face, but the kick was a love tap compared to the takedown on Mata.
 
That's a likely outcome but will annoy me because the foul on Mata was so much worse. I understand why sports have bright line rules for things like kicking or hands to the face, but the kick was a love tap compared to the takedown on Mata.
And that was a love tap compared to the Feilhaber career ender.
 
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That one is right up Disco's alley, because it wasn't seen by officiating crew. I don't see them changing many of the yellows since that is overriding a ref who already saw the infraction.

They can change yellows, it just takes more work from the committee

Where the referee sees an incident and does not issue a red card, the Committee will not, in general, issue a suspension, unless:

  • The play in question is, in the unanimous opinion of the Committee from all available video evidence, a clear and unequivocal red card; AND
  • The play in question is, in the unanimous opinion of the Committee, of an egregious or reckless nature, such that the Committee must act to protect player safety or the integrity of the game.
Otherwise

Where the referee does not see the incident (e.g., an off-the-ball offense) and therefore does not have the opportunity to act, the Committee will review any and all evidence and may act to discipline a player.

https://www.mlssoccer.com/league/official-rules/mls-disciplinary-committee-principles-and-parameters
 
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They can change yellows, it just takes more work from the committee

Where the referee sees an incident and does not issue a red card, the Committee will not, in general, issue a suspension, unless:

  • The play in question is, in the unanimous opinion of the Committee from all available video evidence, a clear and unequivocal red card; AND
  • The play in question is, in the unanimous opinion of the Committee, of an egregious or reckless nature, such that the Committee must act to protect player safety or the integrity of the game.
Otherwise

Where the referee does not see the incident (e.g., an off-the-ball offense) and therefore does not have the opportunity to act, the Committee will review any and all evidence and may act to discipline a player.

https://www.mlssoccer.com/league/official-rules/mls-disciplinary-committee-principles-and-parameters
That will apply to Feilhaber, likely not to Mata.
 
Petke started a trend, but Behrhalter
doesn't do Petke as well as Petke.

NO PRINTOUT NO PETKE
20170724-The18-Image-Mike-Petke-Rant.jpg
 
I don't think either set of calls was particularly bad.

You can see the Berhalter rant at the link in the tweet (not sure why it doesn't show up as a clickable video).

He complains of a DOGSO penalty/red card. He is right that it was outside the box, and I'm not sure why its a red card inside the box since the defender was going for the ball. So, it should have been a red/no penalty, but they missed the PK, so what's the big deal. He complains of another red card for hands to the face that looks sound to me.

Petke was worked up over that "foul" in the printout, which I think is not all that bad. You can take a still shot that suggests a headlock, but it's not what happened.
 
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I don't think either set of calls were particularly bad.

You can see the Berhalter rant at the link in the tweet (not sure why it doesn't show up as a clickable video).

He complains of a DOGSO penalty/red card. He is right that it was outside the box, and I'm not sure why its a red card inside the box since the defender was going for the ball. So, it should have been a red/no penalty, but they missed the PK, so what's the big deal. He complains of another red card for hands to the face that looks sound to me.

Petke was worked up over that "foul" in the printout, which I think is not all that bad. You can take a still shot that suggests a headlock, but it's not what happened.

It wasn't just a headlock. It was a "frigging headlock!"
 
Geiger qualified into the final pool for ref selection in the last 2 games of the WC, the final and third-place game. He might not get assigned, but it's an achievement to get that far. Yet he is universally reviled in his home league. This forum hates him. Almost every comment at MLS hates him. Reddit hates him. Twitter hates him, etc.

I'd be curious to get people's thoughts as to why FIFA is apparently rating him somewhat high despite his horrible reputation at home. I believe PRO rates him high as well, but let's leave PRO out of this because everyone just thinks PRO stinks as much as Geiger. To be clear, I'm not trying to suggest that the World Cup official ratings are correct and MLS fans are wrong, though if that is your opinion go ahead and say it. I'm hoping to get, rather, speculation that the rating panel looks at factors x,y z and don't give enough weight to a, b, c. Or maybe you think he has done better in the WC than he usually does. Or whatever. I've got 2 theories but I'm not sure I believe either and I'd rather see if anyone has their own before I share them.
 
Geiger qualified into the final pool for ref selection in the last 2 games of the WC, the final and third-place game. He might not get assigned, but it's an achievement to get that far. Yet he is universally reviled in his home league. This forum hates him. Almost every comment at MLS hates him. Reddit hates him. Twitter hates him, etc.

I'd be curious to get people's thoughts as to why FIFA is apparently rating him somewhat high despite his horrible reputation at home. I believe PRO rates him high as well, but let's leave PRO out of this because everyone just thinks PRO stinks as much as Geiger. To be clear, I'm not trying to suggest that the World Cup official ratings are correct and MLS fans are wrong, though if that is your opinion go ahead and say it. I'm hoping to get, rather, speculation that the rating panel looks at factors x,y z and don't give enough weight to a, b, c. Or maybe you think he has done better in the WC than he usually does. Or whatever. I've got 2 theories but I'm not sure I believe either and I'd rather see if anyone has their own before I share them.
I've been wondering how he continues to get such important games at the WC. I saw there was even a petition for a replay between Colombia and England due to some missed/horrible calls on his part. I don't think I've seen another ref/game get a petition, or at least one big enough to be reported by a few news spots.

He sucks, but for some reason unbeknownst to me he continues to get put high up somewhere in FIFA ref rankings. Maybe his mom paid off FIFA so her son can go out and run around next to Messi, Kane, Modric, & Co.
 
Geiger qualified into the final pool for ref selection in the last 2 games of the WC, the final and third-place game. He might not get assigned, but it's an achievement to get that far. Yet he is universally reviled in his home league. This forum hates him. Almost every comment at MLS hates him. Reddit hates him. Twitter hates him, etc.

I'd be curious to get people's thoughts as to why FIFA is apparently rating him somewhat high despite his horrible reputation at home. I believe PRO rates him high as well, but let's leave PRO out of this because everyone just thinks PRO stinks as much as Geiger. To be clear, I'm not trying to suggest that the World Cup official ratings are correct and MLS fans are wrong, though if that is your opinion go ahead and say it. I'm hoping to get, rather, speculation that the rating panel looks at factors x,y z and don't give enough weight to a, b, c. Or maybe you think he has done better in the WC than he usually does. Or whatever. I've got 2 theories but I'm not sure I believe either and I'd rather see if anyone has their own before I share them.

Geiger really fucked up the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup semi-finals between Mexico and Panama in Atlanta where he gave Mexico two penalties that would not have stood if VAR were implemented...

Mexico end up winning the tournament and then beat the U.S. in the CONCACAF Cup (winners of the 2013 and 2015 Gold Cup) to qualify for the Confederations Cup.

U.S. miss out on opportunity to play in that tournament and then fail to qualify for the World Cup.

Now everything after the ellipses is conjecture because the U.S. would have had to face either Panama or Jamaica whoever would have won that final if Geiger called that initial game correct.

But there are times that he gets big calls wrong. VAR has helped but before VAR he was bad in some key moments.
 
Geiger qualified into the final pool for ref selection in the last 2 games of the WC, the final and third-place game. He might not get assigned, but it's an achievement to get that far. Yet he is universally reviled in his home league. This forum hates him. Almost every comment at MLS hates him. Reddit hates him. Twitter hates him, etc.

I'd be curious to get people's thoughts as to why FIFA is apparently rating him somewhat high despite his horrible reputation at home. I believe PRO rates him high as well, but let's leave PRO out of this because everyone just thinks PRO stinks as much as Geiger. To be clear, I'm not trying to suggest that the World Cup official ratings are correct and MLS fans are wrong, though if that is your opinion go ahead and say it. I'm hoping to get, rather, speculation that the rating panel looks at factors x,y z and don't give enough weight to a, b, c. Or maybe you think he has done better in the WC than he usually does. Or whatever. I've got 2 theories but I'm not sure I believe either and I'd rather see if anyone has their own before I share them.
A few thoughts:

Just like us, where we raise/lower our game to our competition, Geiger raises/lowers his officiating to the level he’s working. In MLS, all of the refs/linesmen are lower quality and except for the true stars, many players play a rough/tumble CONCACAF style of soccer that he’s familiar with.

At the WC, universally the players are all better and it’s easier to officiate a smoother match.

He may care more about the WC because he wants to perform well and be recognized, whereas PRO is so bad he’s got job security forever.

WC VAR actually knows what they’re doing

WC ref org has better Pre-match prep for the refs than MLS/PRO
 
I've been wondering how he continues to get such important games at the WC. I saw there was even a petition for a replay between Colombia and England due to some missed/horrible calls on his part. I don't think I've seen another ref/game get a petition, or at least one big enough to be reported by a few news spots.

He sucks, but for some reason unbeknownst to me he continues to get put high up somewhere in FIFA ref rankings. Maybe his mom paid off FIFA so her son can go out and run around next to Messi, Kane, Modric, & Co.
I didn't watch that game very intently, so I cannot truly comment on the quality of his decision making there, but I will say this....

Regardless of how sound his officiating was, I feel pretty damn certain that if there was going to be any ref where this kind of outrage was displayed, it would be an American one. Similar to how Bob Bradley was ripped in the UK for stupid items (field vs pitch, etc.), most of the rest of the world (and especially in such events as the World Cup, you get a lot more of the less knowledgeable folks commenting more) is willing to jump on an American that had an influence, because of the history of where soccer has stood in our country (behind basketball, football, baseball, and even hockey).
 
Once upon a time, Baldomero Toledo was walking down the street, when out came two young boys and kicked a balldomero at his balldomeros. It hurt so much, that he started to bawldomero. He bawldomero'd so much, that all of his hair fell out, and subsequently he became bald-omero. After that, he went on to become an MLS referee where he was so bad, that people started calling him a baldomero fraud.
The end.

-Written by me, thought up by me while waiting for my microwave to ding.