Quick Review: Terry Vaughn had 3 Assists in Sounders 2-2 Draw at Dallas

Just watched the highlights. Rough!

Can someone let me know why Keller subbed out?

for ignoring Hurtado’s flattening of a Dallas player that started the possession that led to Zak’s goal.

to see only a handful of people in that beautiful stadium.

Apart from the two points we were about to receive I’m sad that Montero’s AMAZING free kick will be hardly talked about because the officiating took the spotlight. I also thought Estrada fit in fairly well with his first regular season start. Too bad no one will be interested in talking about them.

On the other hand, we’re on eight points after five games, which is pacing for 48 points. That’s not a Supporters’ Shield pace, but it’s probably a playoff pace, and in the end that’s what really matters.

I am interested in hearing what Paul “Unfair Advantage” Tamberino will have to say about this one. I get the feeling that he’s going to try to say that the ref made exactly the right call. Which just diminish the credibility of refereeing in MLS.

if these things really do ‘even out’ (which I generally don’t buy), I wouldn’t want to be in Dallas’ shoes at the end of the season. They’re near the bottom of the table now, but 2 of their points (vs us and vs Columbus) came on bad last-second calls that allowed them to get a tie in stoppage. Without those bad calls going their way, they’d be down there almost with DCU, with only 1 point.

   I have become disheartened by the attempts of the Referees to grasp a hold on the players and a touch on the pace of the league.. Perhaps the intensity is too much and the High energy is confusing to quite a few, somewhat seasoned officials…First and Foremost, I want to say that I am Postive about the officiating in the MLS. But we can all take a step forward in the reality of a need for impeccable officiating! I would hope that after 10 years of experience in the FIFA realm that a seasoned veteran referee would be able to decyfer a desperate attempt on the Dallas player who had no chance on the play and with the dive maneuver that was inexcusable.The official didnt really see it! He was tired..Lame.. A serious thought should be given to a sideline ruling with possible replay review! Is this so off track and should it be demanded to make the right thing happen..This has been a long time coming and We (Football players/coaches/referees) should make the move toward a good game! Foul replays are inevitable when the game is on the line, it should be standard practice..

Three points would have been sweet, but I’m honestly not too worked up by the call. Yes, it was a bad call, but I tend to think these things even out over the course of a season. Last week we got a sweet goal late in stoppage time off a non-call. See, now we’re karmically even?

Vaughn was random and didn’t call a good game, by any means, but he could have just as easily called a PK earlier on Evans handball in the box and he let that go. Conversely, Levesque or Montero could have buried their 2nd half chances and put us up a goal or two. We had chances to win this game, but we left it to fate. And our fate seems to be the fair result to me.

We’ll make the playoffs. We may event still contend for the Shield. It’s all good.

On PK at end of game…
"Whether I get one minute or twenty, my job as a sub is to come in and make it happen, help the team salvage the goal. The ball was bouncing around and I settled down on the tackle and the ball got through and I got a PK out of it. We had ten minutes when I got in. I was focusing as hard as I could to make it happen."

Do you notice he doesn’t say that he was fouled? He just says that he got a PK out of it?

And we all know they have the capabilities of playing badly, they will NEVER, EVER have as bad a game as Vaughn did last night. The League has to make some sort of a statement on that call. It was embarrassing.

via mls-rumors.net

"In my last post, I mentioned that I would discuss officiating in a future blog. After reading your feedback and witnessing the many recent discussions about referees in MLS and other sports leagues, I decided to address the topic this week.

As most of you know, based on FIFA rules, the national associations (U.S. Soccer and the Canadian Soccer Association in MLS’ case) assign referees for League matches. Dr. Joe Machnik oversees officiating for MLS, working closely with our Director of Player Programs, Alfonso Mondelo. Alfonso was the head coach of two MLS teams and played professionally in Spain. Joe has been associated with the sport for more than 40 years as a player, professional and college coach, athletic director and professional administrator. He has been involved with officiating for decades and has numerous awards for his service to the sport in this area. In addition to managing our officiating, Joe oversees the MLS Disciplinary Committee, is a FIFA and CONCACAF Match Commissioner and works closely with the USSF and CSA on a variety of officiating programs.

We are all well aware that officiating in every league is a tough job. That’s the nature of sports. Whether it is the UEFA Champions League semifinals or the NBA Playoffs (or many other examples that exist in recent sporting events throughout the world), officials are faced with making decisions that often affect the outcome of games, but never as much as players and coaches. That, too, is the nature of sports.

Other professional sports leagues and events have incorporated technology into the officiating decision-making process. Whether you are a fan of the NFL’s Challenge and Review System or tennis’ Hawk-Eye automated line-calling mechanism, technology in certain sports does assist with ensuring the correct call is made. However, FIFA has been very clear that technology is not expected to play a role in officiating decisions for professional soccer.

While many fans do not agree with all referee decisions made on the field, we believe the vast majority of MLS matches are well officiated. It’s impossible to think that any job that requires judgment, angles and split-second decision-making will be perfect. The MLS Department of Officiating Services, USSF/CSA, and a group of independent assessors review every MLS game. Also, all of our club coaching staffs submit postgame referee reviews. You would be surprised that many of the most controversial decisions are usually correct. Unlike many broadcasters and fans, we, along with the USSF and CSA, have the benefit of postgame video review using a multitude of camera angles from a variety of broadcast feeds.

A detailed overview of MLS’ relationship with the USSF and CSA can be found at MLSnet.com and I also encourage you to check out U.S. Soccer’s Referee Week in Review, a transparent review of the key decisions that take place each week. I believe USSF’s Week in Review is unique in the sport and is a credit to the Federation’s commitment to the area.

That’s not to say that every decision is right or every game is well officiated. But it is much better than many people think. Not because I am saying it … but because the video review proves it.

I’d like to make another important point. Clearly, in recent weeks there have been too many MLS games with multiple yellow cards and in some instances red cards. We often hear phrases like "the referee is a good player manager" or the "referee is losing control" of the game. Well, the responsibility of managing or controlling the game does not just fall upon our referees; it also is the responsibility of our players and coaches.

Our game officials undergo intense training, rigorous review and are committed to the sport. They deserve the respect of our players, coaches, fans and teams.

Like all other aspects of our business, we are always looking to get better. Many programs are already in place to continue the improvement of our officiating program. This year U.S. Soccer and the CSA introduced referee headsets, providing better communications between the referee and assistant referees. U.S. Soccer expanded its instructional format this year to include two camps for MLS referees, one during preseason and one at the All-Star break. Also in 2009, MLS instituted a bonus structure which rewards referees for consistently good performances.

Moving forward, there are other areas we will discuss with U.S. Soccer and the CSA to address the continued improvement of our officiating program. A few examples include:

• More full-time referees. It was a bold statement by U.S. Soccer when they hired four full-time referees in 2007. Since then we have added two more teams and we will add three more by 2011 with Philadelphia, Vancouver and Portland. We would need to add four more full-time referees by 2011 just to maintain the percentage of games officiated by full-time referees when the program was started. It would be smart to continue to increase the number of full-time referees as we expand.

• Better working conditions for younger referees. There are 150,000 registered referees in the U.S., but many quit due to sideline abuse, lack of a pro career path and poor compensation. We need to provide more incentives for younger referees to develop and desire a career as a professional referee.

• International referee program. This program would feature international referees working with U.S. and Canadian officials in MLS and SUM games. We had a similar program years ago and it is a subject that we will revisit with the USSF and CSA.

Finally, MLS used to have an incentive program for former MLS players to move into the referee ranks. In other sports leagues, former players (the NBA’s Leon Wood and Haywoode Workman, the NFL’s Chad Brown and former NHL referee Paul Stewart are examples) have gone on to become successful referees. Unfortunately no former player signed up for the MLS program and it was discontinued. We may revisit a program that will provide better incentives to our former players to enter into a career as a referee. Any former MLS player who wishes to pursue officiating should definitely give me a call."

We are showing ourselves to be quite a handful on the road. Two points from two games, sure, but 4 goals in two games, and both games we led until the final seconds. I’ll take two goals on the road and the lead in the final seconds in every away game of the year. We’ll end up winning a lot more than we tie.