MISL Officiating

[toepoker]

The officiating at the StL vs KC game on 12/26/03 was an absolute disgrace. I live in KC, I was at the game, the Comets won, and I'm still boiling. The 10-9 final was in no way indicative of how the match went. Kansas City dominated the match from start to finish. I would wager that St. Louis spent at least 10 minutes of the match trying to get the ball out of their own end. I would estimate that the Comets had at least 30 steals. Who to thank for this debacle? No other that Ron "I'm 150 feet from the action, but I'll call the foul" Corey. Every time the Comets lead swelled to three, good 'ole Ron would narrow the margin. The irony is that after Ron made sure the game was tied, it was one of his typical non-calls on a flagrant offense that allowed the Comets to score the winning goal. Anthony Maher of KC, with his back to the goal, was being held like there was no tomorrow. Ron, of course, didn't see anything. No problem - Maher spun and cracked a shot over the shoulder of the guy holding him and scored a highlight reel goal past Brat, er, Brett Phillips. One of best goals of the season, so far.

Until the league does something about the horrendous offciating, and they could if they really WANTED to, this league will never, ever, be taken seriously. Not now, not ever, NEVER! Fact is, the league doesn't WANT anything done about it. Why? Because they would rather have lopsided matches turned in to nail-biters. And the only way that happens is when officials decide the outcome. (So to speak.)

You all know what I'm trying to say. It's been commented on to death, I know. But after sitting through 19 indoor seasons, I STILL go ballistic when I am "treated" to "creative officiating" - all for the sake of "exciting, nail-biting action". Oh, puh-lease!

:x

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[Richard Heintz]

I've seen enough on t.v. so far to realize that the officiating in the MISL leaves a lot to be desired. I was elated to hear of Herb Silva becoming Director of Officials a few years ago, hoping he would be able to turn things around much as he did in the original version of the MISL.

The problem isn't Herb, it's the clowns on the field. This is a disgrace to officials everywhere in the world. It's too bad that the referees from the original league are too old to do it all again. At least back then we all had the referees we loved to hate, but now, we hate them all.

It's too bad that Herb has a bunch of nothing to work with. Maybe if they had to learn from the likes of Bill Maxwell, Gino D'Ippolito, and Marty Templin in addition to Mr. Silva, the officials in this league would get a clue on how to call a good, fair match.