U California

[Hilltopper]

And now for the rest of the story; the SJ was removed by the head referee for cheering for the Zips. After Akron scored he cheered.

[fknbuflobo]

Surely you jest!

For cheering? Seriously? Officials are not supposed to cheer, ever.

Weird.

[meatwad]

Before this gets out of hand all accounts point to exactly what Rasor posted on his blog. No cheering involved on the AR's part.

He was getting torched by Caleb the whole first half after Valentin got taken down hard in the corner in the first two minutes. Caleb then thought Cal was offside on their first goal (I do not believe he was). Caleb was incessantly yelling at him the whole time. After Akron scored and the AR was walking by Caleb something was said that was inaudible to others in the area. At that time the AR called the Center Official over and gave an ultimatum that either you give Porter a red card or I quit. The Center Official would not oblige so he left and took his flag with him. Something I have never seen in soccer in my life. Crazy.

I have heard this from multiple sources in multiple areas around Caleb. (Some on the bench, some in GA right by the bench, and another working the game). This is what I heard from ALL of them. The Center Official did not kick him out for blatantly missing an offside call. The AR quit on his own. These are all facts.

[Hilltopper]

All I can say is that I was told this by someone who;

1. Was at the game.

2. Is a former soccer official.

3. Is currently a Head soccer coach at a local high school.

What ever happened, it sure is a strange scenario.

[yazan07]

Here is what happened: Caleb Porter is an AK-ROWDIE. It is our job to heckle the keeper and the other players and even the ref when we feel it is neccessary. Porter decided last night that he was also going to heckle the ref. He is a ROWDIE!

[Hilltopper]

Here is an account from a local fan. He is a long standing member of Big Soccer. This looks like the best explanation so far.

http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.ph...p;postcount=277

Here's what happened:

1) The AR blew a call early in the game on an inconsequential situation where Korb was clearly fouled in Akron's defensive end by the sideline... the AR raised the flag and pointed in Cal's favor... the Center Ref, assuming the AR had simply pointed the wrong way on the obvious foul on Cal, made the correct call and gave Akron the FK... that tweaked the AR because he had, indeed, given either the foul (obstruction?) or the throw-in (assuming no foul) to Cal... how dare the lowly NCAA Center Ref over-rule the big, bad FIFA Ref...

2) A couple of missed throw-in situations on the bench-side of the field (both in Cal's defending half)... one where the ball went out when Cal had the ball and the flag was not raised... another when Akron kept the ball in-bounds but the flag was raised...

3) Cal's goal... Caleb (and the coaching staff) is not one to berate an official unless he feels he's right... if it was close, he would be much more apt to jump all over his defenders than the Center Ref or the AR... Caleb's reaction to the play leads me to believe that, at the VERY least, it was a close play (i was behind the goal so it's impossible for me to give my own opinion)... even if it's a no-doubter in your own mind, as an AR you should expect to get an earful for a while... and given the previous situations that had already occurred, Caleb's reaction seemed to say, "Now i KNOW you're trying to screw us"... additionally, the chirping had already begun between the AR and the Akron staff (Caleb included) and included versions of, "I'm a FIFA AR" and "I don't give a sh*t what your badge says" (i'll let you figure out who said what)...

4) Akron scores... after/during the celebration Caleb (and coaching staff) say something to the AR along the lines of, "We'd be up 1-0 now if you didn't have your head up your tuchus" (along with something along the lines of, "Welcome to the NCAA")... the AR asks the Center ref to come over and explains that Caleb needs disciplined... the Center ref tells him he'll talk to the coaches and proceeds to do so... when he walks back towards the field, the AR tells the Center ref that he wants Caleb thrown out (because that's what FIFA would do?)... the Center ref tells him he's talked to Caleb and he's not going to throw him out (obviously realizing the situation and giving the coach/team/game some latitude and feeling that the talking-to sufficed)... he asks the AR to get back to his place... the AR again demands that Caleb be thrown out and the Center ref reiterates that he's not going to do that... the AR says, "Either he goes or i go" and the Center ref tells him to be careful on the his way as the snow and cold has made the roads slippery... the linesman takes his flag with him (i don't know why this has been mentioned as often as it has... it's HIS flag... he should take it with him)...

[Dave in Green]

One person's opinion on CJ Morgante from ForTheIntegrityOfSoccer.blogs.com (my bolding and underlining):

Just an update that Jair Marrufo and Baldomero Toledo are now on the FIFA list of referees. CJ Morgante, Corey Rockwell, and Adam Wienckowski are now FIFA list ARs.

Posted by: Anonymous | January 15, 2007 at 03:05 PM

Thanks for that saddening update on our new FIFAs. Jair should not be there. I don't think Baldo, either. As for the ARs. Corey Rockwell is a great guy and I am happy for him. Of any of those people, Corey deserves it. Congrats to you, Corey. I do not know Mr. Wienchowski, but I have only heard nice stuff about him personally and on the field. Congrats, Adam.

As for CJ Morgante - wow. Three years removed from knowing next to nothing about soccer, he's now a FIFA asst. referee. That's what's wrong with this program. I remember watching him referee at a tournament and he was terrible. He knew nothing about the game and I doubt he's played a day in his life. But, he can offer his expertise on all things related to running track and getting stuck in the butt by a deer antler.

Two out of five is a 40 percent success rate. Failing, as far as I am concerned. Nice work Alfie and Esse.

ForTheIntegrityOfSoccer Link

[tbozeglav]

Here's what happened:

1) The AR blew a call early in the game on an inconsequential situation where Korb was clearly fouled in Akron's defensive end by the sideline... the AR raised the flag and pointed in Cal's favor... the Center Ref, assuming the AR had simply pointed the wrong way on the obvious foul on Cal, made the correct call and gave Akron the FK... that tweaked the AR because he had, indeed, given either the foul (obstruction?) or the throw-in (assuming no foul) to Cal... how dare the lowly NCAA Center Ref over-rule the big, bad FIFA Ref...

2) A couple of missed throw-in situations on the bench-side of the field (both in Cal's defending half)... one where the ball went out when Cal had the ball and the flag was not raised... another when Akron kept the ball in-bounds but the flag was raised...

3) Cal's goal... Caleb (and the coaching staff) is not one to berate an official unless he feels he's right... if it was close, he would be much more apt to jump all over his defenders than the Center Ref or the AR... Caleb's reaction to the play leads me to believe that, at the VERY least, it was a close play (i was behind the goal so it's impossible for me to give my own opinion)... even if it's a no-doubter in your own mind, as an AR you should expect to get an earful for a while... and given the previous situations that had already occurred, Caleb's reaction seemed to say, "Now i KNOW you're trying to screw us"... additionally, the chirping had already begun between the AR and the Akron staff (Caleb included) and included versions of, "I'm a FIFA AR" and "I don't give a sh*t what your badge says" (i'll let you figure out who said what)...

4) Akron scores... after/during the celebration Caleb (and coaching staff) say something to the AR along the lines of, "We'd be up 1-0 now if you didn't have your head up your tuchus" (along with something along the lines of, "Welcome to the NCAA")... the AR asks the Center ref to come over and explains that Caleb needs disciplined... the Center ref tells him he'll talk to the coaches and proceeds to do so... when he walks back towards the field, the AR tells the Center ref that he wants Caleb thrown out (because that's what FIFA would do?)... the Center ref tells him he's talked to Caleb and he's not going to throw him out (obviously realizing the situation and giving the coach/team/game some latitude and feeling that the talking-to sufficed)... he asks the AR to get back to his place... the AR again demands that Caleb be thrown out and the Center ref reiterates that he's not going to do that... the AR says, "Either he goes or i go" and the Center ref tells him to be careful on the his way as the snow and cold has made the roads slippery... the linesman takes his flag with him (i don't know why this has been mentioned as often as it has... it's HIS flag... he should take it with him)...

I believe this to be the most accurate account based on what I have been told. It also follows the proceedings of the first half fairly well, so I would take this as being the truth. Either way, the AR removed himself from the game.

[rddallmann]

Quite a game especially given we have been used to home games where the Zips control the ball and score for most of the games. This was the first home game I've seen that didn't seem well in hand from the outset which made it that much more entertaining especially given the outcome... As they say, it's not so bad to see a team have to deal with adversity. Last year's team was composed and confident all season all the way up to Gavin's field goal in the finals.

I got online today to try to find out what happened with the ref that was ejected and appreciate the accounts here - the most recent seemingly the most reasonable. From what I saw on the opposite side of the field just before halftime, I could swear I saw the center ref make the grandstand "otta here" gesture the same way an ump would eject a player or coach in baseball. That said, I spent most of the game and extra time right where the Cal player would have been called offsides for the first goal. The ball was served from about midfield and from what I could see he was well onsides. Valentin and Meves also made zero claim of it being offside (though that may be how they are coached). The hard foul/out of bounds play earlier (that seemed to be the start of the trouble between the referees) was also right in front of me and it appeared to me that while the contact was hard it was no harder than several other plays up to that point that had not been called. It seemed to me that maybe the center judge was trying to get control when in reality from that point on the calls seemed very inconsistent.

Here is the final shot (Kofi) from my vantage point.

I'm also curious to hear if anyone has an explanation for the call made by the center judge (standing at the top of the box) I believe in the 2nd overtime calling the ball over the endline in the NW corner, again overrulling the side judge.

[RootforRoo44]

Here's what happened:

1) The AR blew a call early in the game on an inconsequential situation where Korb was clearly fouled in Akron's defensive end by the sideline... the AR raised the flag and pointed in Cal's favor... the Center Ref, assuming the AR had simply pointed the wrong way on the obvious foul on Cal, made the correct call and gave Akron the FK... that tweaked the AR because he had, indeed, given either the foul (obstruction?) or the throw-in (assuming no foul) to Cal... how dare the lowly NCAA Center Ref over-rule the big, bad FIFA Ref...

2) A couple of missed throw-in situations on the bench-side of the field (both in Cal's defending half)... one where the ball went out when Cal had the ball and the flag was not raised... another when Akron kept the ball in-bounds but the flag was raised...

3) Cal's goal... Caleb (and the coaching staff) is not one to berate an official unless he feels he's right... if it was close, he would be much more apt to jump all over his defenders than the Center Ref or the AR... Caleb's reaction to the play leads me to believe that, at the VERY least, it was a close play (i was behind the goal so it's impossible for me to give my own opinion)... even if it's a no-doubter in your own mind, as an AR you should expect to get an earful for a while... and given the previous situations that had already occurred, Caleb's reaction seemed to say, "Now i KNOW you're trying to screw us"... additionally, the chirping had already begun between the AR and the Akron staff (Caleb included) and included versions of, "I'm a FIFA AR" and "I don't give a sh*t what your badge says" (i'll let you figure out who said what)...

4) Akron scores... after/during the celebration Caleb (and coaching staff) say something to the AR along the lines of, "We'd be up 1-0 now if you didn't have your head up your tuchus" (along with something along the lines of, "Welcome to the NCAA")... the AR asks the Center ref to come over and explains that Caleb needs disciplined... the Center ref tells him he'll talk to the coaches and proceeds to do so... when he walks back towards the field, the AR tells the Center ref that he wants Caleb thrown out (because that's what FIFA would do?)... the Center ref tells him he's talked to Caleb and he's not going to throw him out (obviously realizing the situation and giving the coach/team/game some latitude and feeling that the talking-to sufficed)... he asks the AR to get back to his place... the AR again demands that Caleb be thrown out and the Center ref reiterates that he's not going to do that... the AR says, "Either he goes or i go" and the Center ref tells him to be careful on the his way as the snow and cold has made the roads slippery... the linesman takes his flag with him (i don't know why this has been mentioned as often as it has... it's HIS flag... he should take it with him)...

I believe this to be the most accurate account based on what I have been told. It also follows the proceedings of the first half fairly well, so I would take this as being the truth. Either way, the AR removed himself from the game.

OK, I wanted to ask someone who was closer than the Akron bench (all i spoke to last night). So I went 21st century on this and facebook messaged a few Cal players who were on the bench and had this happen directly in front of them. Two have responded so far.

They both confirmed the "ultimatum" story that Morgante told Dhima (head official) that it was "Porter or him". Dhima said something along the lines of "have a nice evening".

Pretty awesome.

[RootforRoo44]

Highlights back up.

Yeah but they took out the ending part that had the last PK by Kofi! It was awesome!

But that is really smart since it is very possible we could find ourselves in PK's once or twice next weekend. Usually most players tend to just specialize doing one thing with thier PK's (i.e. I think Nanchoff has gone to the same place evey time and last night it was stopped). You don't want to give the opposition any extra scouting. Speaking of which, UNC has gone to PK's a few times in the tournament, anyone know if there is any video of them?

Good thinking, though I wonder if Cal had noticed that Nanchoff went to the right post on every PK in his career?

I can't remember exactly but didn't he go left last night? Figures that it would be blocked.

[GoZips]

Here is what happened: Caleb Porter is an AK-ROWDIE. It is our job to heckle the keeper and the other players and even the ref when we feel it is neccessary. Porter decided last night that he was also going to heckle the ref. He is a ROWDIE!

God bless Caleb Porter and the rest of the AK-Rowdies.

[ZachTheZip]

Quite a game especially given we have been used to home games where the Zips control the ball and score for most of the games. This was the first home game I've seen that didn't seem well in hand from the outset which made it that much more entertaining especially given the outcome... As they say, it's not so bad to see a team have to deal with adversity. Last year's team was composed and confident all season all the way up to Gavin's field goal in the finals.

I got online today to try to find out what happened with the ref that was ejected and appreciate the accounts here - the most recent seemingly the most reasonable. From what I saw on the opposite side of the field just before halftime, I could swear I saw the center ref make the grandstand "otta here" gesture the same way an ump would eject a player or coach in baseball. That said, I spent most of the game and extra time right where the Cal player would have been called offsides for the first goal. The ball was served from about midfield and from what I could see he was well onsides. Valentin and Meves also made zero claim of it being offside (though that may be how they are coached). The hard foul/out of bounds play earlier (that seemed to be the start of the trouble between the referees) was also right in front of me and it appeared to me that while the contact was hard it was no harder than several other plays up to that point that had not been called. It seemed to me that maybe the center judge was trying to get control when in reality from that point on the calls seemed very inconsistent.

Here is the final shot (Kofi) from my vantage point.

I'm also curious to hear if anyone has an explanation for the call made by the center judge (standing at the top of the box) I believe in the 2nd overtime calling the ball over the endline in the NW corner, again overrulling the side judge.

Thanks for checking in.

Thanks especially for the video of the Kofi shot.

I agree that having the team be forced to fight to the bitter end in this game could pay off heading into the college cup. It sends a message that things aren't going to be a breeze like the regular season. They have to step up their game for one final weekend. Maybe change up tactics slightly, because well-coached teams are starting to figure out how to mitigate our strengths.

[MDZip]

RootforRoos blog has been noticed on the Big Soccer Board.

[bisbee]

GO ZIPS

[tbozeglav]

RootforRoos blog has been noticed on the Big Soccer Board.

Attempted to read that thread. Couldnt take it by the end of the page. One giant piss-fest over there.

[Dr Z]

So I went 21st century on this and facebook messaged a few Cal players who were on the bench and had this happen directly in front of them. Two have responded so far.

Can you ask them if they will be doing any more music

[jem101]

So I went 21st century on this and facebook messaged a few Cal players who were on the bench and had this happen directly in front of them. Two have responded so far.

Can you ask them if they will be doing any more music

Michigan has a

too.

[Dr Z]

Michigan has a

too.

No way Zips lose to those guys after watching that. Zips 1, UM 0.

[jem101]

No one has mentioned this, so I assume no news is good news. However, is Nanchoff physically 100%? I believe that in OT he went down and appeared to have pulled something. He ended up coming out for PKs, but I was wondering if he would be fit to play on Friday. I truly believe that his absence last year at the College Cup cost us a national championship. He's a pivotal part of our attack.

[tpsjugglerdude]

No one has mentioned this, so I assume no news is good news. However, is Nanchoff physically 100%? I believe that in OT he went down and appeared to have pulled something. He ended up coming out for PKs, but I was wondering if he would be fit to play on Friday. I truly believe that his absence last year at the College Cup cost us a national championship. He's a pivotal part of our attack.

I think Ampai's absence from the Cup last year cost us.

[UA Fan]

Sarkodie made the game winner in I think, inning six, after Caldwell missed a potential game winner the previous Akron shot.

On to Santa Barbara. I believe that we have won!!!!!!!!!!!! I believe the job is not done!!!!

How big was this game in the end...in the cold...so glad it was at home !