Times Picayune isn't the greatest

[M Unit]

espnrefugee said:

This is all they could write up about one of the greatest games ever played?

www.nola.com/sports/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-28/116962437698400.xml&coll=1

Check out my in-depth, unabridged summary (one person's perspective) of this sick game in the "Fontainebleau vs. St. Paul's" thread if you dare! I think it does the game more justice, although I would've pared it down more and made it more reader-friendly if I knew it was to be in an article format. (It would tell the story more rather than mostly dry minute-to-minute stats.)

M Unit

[dbeasely17]

While the article does mention how right fullback Phil Gilles went down, it doesn’t really say how important it was to the Wolves. Fontainebleau’s first goal was scored while St. Paul’s was trying to get the ref to halt play. St. Paul’s had cleared the ball upfield several times, but could not get it out of bounds. Fontainebleau kept attacking, rather than giving up the attack for the injured player. They won a corner and quickly took it while Gilles was still off of the field. Fontainebleau’s first goal came with only 10 St. Paul’s players on the field.

Their second goal, a minute later, came on a through ball right past the substituted fullback who was presumably still cold. He was subbed off immediately and the defender who came in was beat roughly six minutes later in a one-on-one situation. Brannon simply faked right, defender bit and slipped up, Brannon took it back left and beat the diving St. Paul’s keeper. The fourth goal also started from the right fullback’s position. The injury not withstanding, it was still one of the best games of the year.

As a St. Paul’s fan I ran across two points of contention with the reffing. Play was halted late in the game when Hickman went down with an ankle injury while St. Paul’s had possession. Gilles had clearly gone down and crawled off the field in the mud, but play was not stopped. Secondly, the Fontainebleau keeper illegally handled the ball twice in the box. After making the save, he put the ball down, pulled up his shinguards and picked the ball back up again. The second time he did it the entire St. Paul’s side was up at arms because the Assistant Referee raised the flag to indicate the infraction, but then lowered it when the keeper punted it and the Center Referee turned upfield to follow play. The Assistant should have stuck to his call. I believe that would have resulted in an indirect free kick for St. Paul’s right at about the 17 yard line.

Other than that, this was definitely one of the most exciting high school games that I have been to in a while.

[lakeview]

Tammy is ok. Her husband is the baseball coach at St Pauls, so she usually writes about the wolves.

[taxyman12]

dbeasely17 said:

While the article does mention how right fullback Phil Gilles went down, it doesn’t really say how important it was to the Wolves. Fontainebleau’s first goal was scored while St. Paul’s was trying to get the ref to halt play. St. Paul’s had cleared the ball upfield several times, but could not get it out of bounds. Fontainebleau kept attacking, rather than giving up the attack for the injured player. They won a corner and quickly took it while Gilles was still off of the field. Fontainebleau’s first goal came with only 10 St. Paul’s players on the field.

Their second goal, a minute later, came on a through ball right past the substituted fullback who was presumably still cold. He was subbed off immediately and the defender who came in was beat roughly six minutes later in a one-on-one situation. Brannon simply faked right, defender bit and slipped up, Brannon took it back left and beat the diving St. Paul’s keeper. The fourth goal also started from the right fullback’s position. The injury not withstanding, it was still one of the best games of the year.

As a St. Paul’s fan I ran across two points of contention with the reffing. Play was halted late in the game when Hickman went down with an ankle injury while St. Paul’s had possession. Gilles had clearly gone down and crawled off the field in the mud, but play was not stopped. Secondly, the Fontainebleau keeper illegally handled the ball twice in the box. After making the save, he put the ball down, pulled up his shinguards and picked the ball back up again. The second time he did it the entire St. Paul’s side was up at arms because the Assistant Referee raised the flag to indicate the infraction, but then lowered it when the keeper punted it and the Center Referee turned upfield to follow play. The Assistant should have stuck to his call. I believe that would have resulted in an indirect free kick for St. Paul’s right at about the 17 yard line.

Other than that, this was definitely one of the most exciting high school games that I have been to in a while.

What do you mean "other than that"? You made excuses for 3 of the five goals that fhs scored, and I notice your only points of contention involve calls that did not go sps' way. Agreed that illegal handling should have been called, but how about the wrestling takedown that the sps keeper pulled on an fhs attacker on the far side of the field? There were missed calls on both sides...let's give credit where credit is due.

[PutMeInCoach2]

here is a question? When an official misses calls both ways, is it a good called game because he fairly called it, or is it a bad officiated game, just wondering.

[reggin]

no news paper is great unless they have a reporter there who know the game of soccer and can report and not make mistakes

[d1d5fan]

yes i agree with the 2 miss calls about the keeper. there were also very close calls for offsides against fhs. one would have brooks 1vs 1 with keeper,and another one fhs put in the net, but it was called back. he looked even with the defender when the ball was played, but i didnt have the best view i was on the other side of the bleachers

[defendermom]

when the refs call bad on both sides it's still bad officiating it just makes it easier to tolerate.

[L4S]

if bad calls are made then it is bad officiating...what players and coaches look for is consistency.

[chelsea007]

I heard that a particular ref was used for that match and if it was, then he is usually very good. We had a well reffed game at MHS. We lost, but the match was well officiated. All refs are going to miss a few, so I agree, consistancy is key. I wasn't at the game (obviously), but it sounds like he was fairly consistant so if that the case then the play on the field must have decided it. Either way, it sounded like a great match between two very good teams. Coach Inman.

[snowbird]

ecb4 said:

if bad calls are made then it is bad officiating...what players and coaches look for is consistency.

EXACTLY RIGHT!!!!.....a bad ref is not bad if he makes his bad calls consitent to the play of both teams! Call it tight and allow no contact, or call it loose and allow alot of contact...JUST BE CONSISTENT SO THE PLAYERS KNOW WHAT'S ACCEPTABLE AND WHAT'S NOT! I think most players and coaches would agree with this.

Most of the times I don't disagree with the refs calls; I just want them to be consistent in all areas of the field. Ex....some refs allow alot in the midfld 1/3, but tighten up in the defensive 1/3 (regarding handballs....etc..)......just be consistent EVEN IF WHAT IS CONSISTENT IS BAD!

OK...don't get me wrong...poor ability of a ref is unacceptible. However, faced with the prospect of a bad/inconsistent ref....I would rather have a bad/consistent ref. I think most would agree to that lesser of 2 evils?

[Bish]

Who cares?

[lakeview]

fhs fan, don't worry about Bish. He's the renowned class clown for Laprepsoccer.com