Comments on: Boys Soccer: Playoff Picture, Rankings, Standings, Stats

By: Cokito

Cokito — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 08:24:23 +0000

@viewsfromthebox, I suggest we discuss this over a cup of coffee… Sundays are good days for me.

By: Cokito

Cokito — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 08:19:02 +0000

@EBALDad, Interesting point you make. You know how to push my buttons

In my previous posts about the long throwers, I believe I was referring to a preference in terms of the way the game is played: I would not typically go watch a game that was based on long throws, unless I really have to, but I would go out and watch a technical team play, with a lot of pleasure. I see this as a question of taste, based indeed on my personal experience of the game (the games I played and the games I watched since I was a little kid.) Nothing more than that. On the other hand, when I talk about cultural prejudice, I mean something much darker than that.

And yes, bring on the playoffs!

By: Viewsfromthebox

Viewsfromthebox — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 08:17:04 +0000

@cokito Cultural prejudices? Where’s that coming from? From my experience stalling is not a cultural thing. I have seen plenty of teams of all races, creeds and colors play the stall game. I do not appreciate the time wasting tactics, it is frustrating and ruins the game in my opinion. It also has nothing to do with losing or blaming, simply observed behavior. I overheard and saw many behaviors that clearly indicate directives from the coach to waste time, not perception, reality. The fact that the referee added time is good on him and has nothing to do with the tactics. I think the Richmond team is talented and have the respect for their players. They deserved to win because no matter the refereeing or whatever else they scored more goals. I didn’t write anything to the contrary.

By: mudhen

mudhen — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 06:56:15 +0000

The different associations are alloted a certain number of games predicated on the number of teams they represent. The games are NOT necessarily in their respective groups. From there,it gets weird. The assignors of the groups seem to go this way; first round games go to the “soldiers” of a given group-those who work many games over the course of a (the) year-s without a lot of complaints, while the second rounds go to the more experienced crews. The semis and finals are generally given to those refs who have high USSF rank(think state 6 or higher) and the A.R.’s are chosen among the more experienced, but lower rank referees (gr. 7). HOWEVER… sometimes the assignor gives himself a final or semi whether he is qualified or not. This is not a problem in EBAL or EBISOA, but other groups are not so innocent. This USUALLY is not a problem, as the final games are played hard but clean by the teams,but assignors should always use the best they have, and that is rarely them.

By: EBALDad

EBALDad — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 06:27:54 +0000

agreed Cokito
I think that should also extend to NOT denegrating a different style of playing the world’s most popular sport in a manner different from what one might appreciate. e.g. teams using the strength of their height and possibly someone being able to throw the ball in from the sidelines a great distance.

ALL playing styles should be respected = NO CULTURAL PREJUDICE

Bring on the playoffs!

By: Cokito

Cokito — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 05:59:48 +0000

@viewsfromthebox, the Richmond players are not coached to stall in every way possible. I believe you are referring to the injuries in the second half to 2 Richmond players. One of these injuries was serious enough that the player did not return in the game, and the other one looked bad at first but involved more pain than actual damage. One Berkeley player appeared to be hurt as well, and was taken out in the second half on the RHS cart. When this happens, the referee adds time to the game. On Monday the referee added 5+ minutes to the game to compensate for the treatment of the injured players, plus any additional delays, which seems fair.

The particular Richmond lineup on Monday featured 3 freshmen and 2 sophomores, due to injuries, while Berkeley, it seems, is an older, bigger team. Therefore it was more likely for Richmond players to be hurt when there was strong physical contact.

Learn to lose with class rather than fall down into cultural prejudices, blame the other team’s perceived behavior, the officiating crew, or whatever else.

By: Neal

Neal — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 05:50:28 +0000

@George I was at the Alameda – Berkeley game as well and that’s where the scrappy reference came from for me. I thought Berkeley was the more talented squad but Alameda played them tough on lovely Thompson field. No quit in those boys.

BOD seems to be rounding into form as the playoffs near. Great to see. Always a quality program. Fun parents too.

By: Cokito

Cokito — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 05:04:09 +0000

Matt, Could you shed some light on the way the referees are assigned to NCS playoff games? The process does not seem to be as transparent as it ought to be. I have seen the following situation several times. Team A, from league L1, hosts a playoff game vs. Team B from League L2. The referees assigned to the game are from league L2. I am not necessarily questioning the objectivity of these referees, but at best, it seems inappropriate and questionable to assign referees from L2, rather than some referees from a different league than L1 or L2, or from league L1 (because team A has actually earned the right to play at home.) I know that players, parents and fans in our community were shocked when they learned that this actually happened repeatedly in NCS semi-finals where our school was involved. I could put names on those teams and leagues, but I think it would muddy the waters, rather than help understand how these referees are assigned.

By: Viewsfromthebox

Viewsfromthebox — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 04:59:55 +0000

What an improvement at Bishop O’Dowd since the first time Berkeley played them at O’Dowd. I guess missing a few starters mattered! Credit the Dragons with a good effort at Berkeley Friday. Overall the game was a played hard and the result fair. I was impressed with the sportsmanship of both teams. Hard play but no hard feelings from my vantage point.

I want to mention after the extreme, over the top, stall tactics we saw at Richmond Monday it was good to see Berkeley not employ those same tricks. I don’t blame the Richmond players they were clearly coached to stall in every way possible. The Yellowjackets playing with a one goal lead for much of the second half, jogged throw-ins back to the sideline, made sure there was an extra ball near the goalbox, when a player went down they got up asap. The goalie only had the ball a couple times but when he did it was put back into play in a timely manner. It wasn’t until later I even realized how much it wasn’t an issue. There were a bunch of vocal O’Dowd parents there, but I didn’t hear any complaints about the Jackets sportsmanship. Good job by both teams.

By: Cokito

Cokito — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 04:36:10 +0000

@George, I agree Alameda is a quality team. So is the program. The Ayllon brothers have been doing a very good job with it for the least few years. I also like that they try to play soccer, rather than the lambda HS game.