In Defense of Refs

In case you've been living in a hole for the last two weeks, it's World Cup time. In the US, it seems like the most watched sporting event in the world has finally come to our shores, or maybe it's just that my family has cable now so I can actually watch it. Along with the fervor of the Cup has come controversy surrounding the refs, and the US National Team was right in the thick of it (that is, up until yesterday, when we were once again bested by Ghana). It seems like every time there is a major competition for international soccer bragging rights, there is controversy over a referee's call. Just today, England was shorted a goal when the ref failed to see that the ball crossed the goal line. And don't even get me started on Koman Coulibaly. Right now, there is much debate over whether to use technology to assist the referee in making the correct call. FIFA seems firmly against it, but the cry for change grows louder with each missed call, each wrongly disallowed goal (or two). My opinion on that debate can wait for another time.

Today, I would like to speak as a former youth soccer ref and lover of the game:

Lay off the refs.

Yeah, I said it.

It's easy for us in our comfortable lounge chairs to deem something a terrible call. Ask anyone in my family, I did my fair share--more than my fair share--of complaining about the calls last Friday (and Saturday...and Sunday...and...). But coming from someone who has made a terrible call, had perfectly correct calls criticized, been called names and cursed at, I can say with full conviction that being the person with the whistle is not easy. And that was with 14 year olds. Imagine trying to make accurate calls at the speed of play at the World Cup, where the difference between a clean challenge and a hard dangerous tackle is inches. In addition we expect the ref to read the mind of the player rolling on the pitch while dealing with the sheer noise of 40,000+ screaming, vuvuzela playing fans who think they know the game better and can see events more clearly from their nose bleed seats. While we're at it, let's not forget that the ref is running just as much as the players, at least 3 miles and probably more, while expected to make perfect decisions every single time. It is not an easy job.

Compare the job of the three referees on the field in soccer (four, if you count the fourth official, but he doesn't really do much) to that of the seven on the field in American football (plus the guy in the replay booth in the college game). Granted, the sport is a bit different, and there is much more contact. But I would wager that it is just as difficult to sort out the scrum in the goal box on a corner kick or set play as it is to untangle the line of scrimmage. And refs in American football have the advantage of the replay and the flag system. They have the opportunity to take back their mistakes. It's not so with soccer. Once the whistle is blown, it's blown and it can't be taken back.

So, I say it again. Lay off the refs. They are human and make mistakes. Does FIFA need to change the way they handle the missed calls and unsavory situations? Yes. But leave the refs alone, at least during the match. They can't be blamed for FIFA's refusal to step into the 21st Century and embrace technology. Oh, and a little ref accountability wouldn't hurt.

More Reactions to NPR

I've been listening to NPR a lot lately. It's a nice break from the inane conversations I have every day at work. There's lots to like about NPR. No, not the pledge drives, although I think I would be ecstatic if Ira Glass of This American Life called me and shamed me into pledging. But I like hearing the stories. I like that the news comes in narrative form, with real people telling the stories. And I like that more often then not, it makes me think about the world outside of my microcosm.

So I was listening to an All Things Considered* story about soda in America. The story posits that children today drink too many sugary drinks, largely due to a lack of education about what those beverages do to the human body. There was even mention of children who drink soda in the morning to "get them woke up." Kind of appalling, right? When asked about water, the kid says he can't drink water, he has to have something with flavor or his digestive system acts up. Really appalling, right? So all of this I agree with. Something should be done. I'm not opposed to taking soda out of schools, it's a small step, easy to make, and would probably do a world of good (although they tried to do that when I was in high school, and if memory serves me correctly it lasted less than a year). Then the reporter asked whose responsibility it is to educate children about good eating habits. Parents? Teachers? The guy at the Quik-E-Mart? "We all bear responsibility," the interviewee said. Again, I don't necessarily disagree with this. As a teacher, it's my job to help mold my students into happy, healthy, productive young adults, whatever that entails. The problem is, how do I teach them something if they go home and their parents teach and model the exact opposite?

This highlights a more widespread problem with education today, something that I've observed by interacting with parents. Lack of parental support and involvement. The principles, concepts, and behaviors that we try to instill in students at school are undermined when they go home. The problem isn't always with teachers or the public school system, although we tend to take the blame. It starts at home. That goes for learning and nutrition.

*Question: do you italicize radio program titles, or put it in quotes? Standby for MLA check--my handbook is still within arms reach of my desk, even though I haven't written a paper in years. Indeed, you do italicize. The episode title goes in quotes. I WIN!

Straight from the Headlines

I have news headlines from the BBC on my iGoogle page, and on occasion the headline can be taken the wrong way. Usually, this taking of things the wrong way results in some kind of funny image popping into my head. I thought I'd share what I see (sort of, in a poorly executed way). Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Valentine's Day

It's almost Valentine's Day around here, a day in which I rarely see the sky due to the large volume of whale-sized balloons floating above my head. I didn't mind Valentine's Day so much in high school; there lived a small hope inside me that at some point in time I too would be able to carry one of those ridiculous balloons around all day. College wasn't so bad either, because there were a large number of people just as bitter as I who encouraged the wearing of black t-shirts in observance of Single's Awareness Day. Here on the other end of both, I just want to take a pair of scissors to the balloons and explain ever so kindly to the giggly girls that the oh-so-sweet boys just wants to get in their pants. They shed a tear as the leaking balloons lay in piles around my feet. Alas, cutting devices are frowned upon in public high schools.*

Happy Valentine's Day.

*Hyperbole.

Thoughts on the Bail Out

It seems the whole world has been waiting with bated breath for the Congressional decision about the Wall Street bail-out. I too, despite my general disdain/lack of interest in politics (they're going to take my money no matter what party they're with), kept an eye on the iGoogle news feed. Since I know very little about the economy (I never had to take Economics), I'm not sure what to think about all of this. But here are some of the thoughts spinning around my head.

-If a CEO gets the job 17 days before the company goes under, he shouldn't get more than I make in 30 years. Just saying. Furthermore, why are CEO's still getting paid huge bucks when their patrons are finding themselves up the creek without a paddle?

-I'm generally a proponent of the government keeping its nose out of private business, but it seems like in this situation, the well being of certain private institutions translates into the well being of the American financial system. Perhaps doing something isn't such a bad idea after all. But every time I think about the whole CEO thing, it frosts me. Shouldn't there be some kind of condition in the bill that requires those billionaire CEO's to cough up a little dough? Can't the government hold them responsible for the failure of their companies? They hold everyone else responsible for bad driving by instituting fines, can't they do something similar for sucking at running a Fortune 500 Company? Instead of capping the salary, why not institute some kind of aid scale? For every yacht they sell, they get a million dollars from the government.

-Finally, I hate election years. Everyone is so bent on getting their man in office that they can't behave like adults. It's stupid.

The Boot Game

Every year, Colonial and University battle for a boot painted red and black on one side and blue and gold on the other. This game has come to be known as the Boot Game, and it is undoubtedly the one game out of every season that each team wants to win the most (except for maybe University vs. Timber Creek, but that's a newer rivalry). Six years ago, I stood on the east side of the stadium. This year, I stood on the west side looking towards the bleachers I had run up and down countless times in my high school career.

It was strange walking around to the far side of the field, greeting people in red and black. Even more strange were the cheers of, "Let's go, Colonial, let's go!" issuing from my mouth. I felt weird cheering against my Alma Mater, but at the same time, I couldn't possibly cheer against my students. After all, I don't really know anyone at UHS anymore.

I contemplated wearing my University Varsity jacket over a Colonial faculty shirt, but decided that the ribbing I would get from everyone wasn't worth it. Besides, it's September and therefore WAY too hot to wear a leather and woolen jacket.

Anyway, I walked over to the home side to watch the band. As I stood there, it struck me that I was looking, to borrow lyrics from Ragtime, "toward the future, from the past."

News Headline States Obvious

This just in, earthquakes are dangerous according to a recent scientific study. I saw this headline on my iGoogle page, and couldn't resist making fun of it for the sheer Duh Factor. "Scientists: Gigantic Earthquake Would Devastate Southern California." Really? What gave them that impression? Could it possibly be the recent natural disaster in China? Thank you, China, for showing us that we too would be screwed if a similar earthquake struck our shores. Now that we know we can do. . . almost nothing about it.

Does anyone else find that a little bit tasteless (says she as she pokes fun)? It belittles the huge amounts of loss they have experienced in China, steals focus from their suffering and places it on the potential danger to Southern California. Please, let them figure out how many people have died before you start forgetting about them.

And while I'm on the topic of the news media, do you ever get the impression that the writers assumer their readers are idiots?