I don't have a ton to say about this - I just liked the article, and sometimes this blog is just about games and shouldn't have a "point" behind them. Or maybe the point is that, I'm a referee, I still enjoy the games, even the ones I get hurt in (although thankfully minor in this one). Click to continue reading...

It's often said that Law 18 is "Common Sense" (and you'll hear about that law being abused later in this series) - and I'm particularly proud in how I exercised it in this situation in the first game of this article. Like many things, there are unwritten rules to any sport, and one of them in soccer is, if you go after the ball right after you score, you will piss off the other team. Click to continue reading...

Despite this being a blog about me - I actually try not to toot my own horn too much. But I just liked this article - it restated the purpose this blog very nicely. And let's face it, it is a bit of a big deal that I'm still writing this thing five years later - I've had emails from players telling me that the game from a ref's perspective is something they never thought of before, and countless other referees email in and thank me for repeating situations that are similar to ones they've had. Click to continue reading...

Just a quick reminder - in order to while away the time while the snow is falling, I'm about to start reprinting the ten best articles of the year. If there was anything that grabbed you as a good one during this calendar year, let me know and I'll consider adding it to the list. Click to continue reading...

I can't say I didn't expect it - nor can I say it's a huge disappointment, but it turns out that I only did a pair of high school games for the fall. Part of the reason is pretty simple: the season is very compressed, lasting just two months, and even then sometimes you get games played in sub-freezing weather and snow - and when I tweaked my knee and pulled myself out for three weeks, there went more than half of it already. Click to continue reading...

After my last game, I felt a little twinge in my knee and decided to take a break. I don't want to screw up my knee at any time, but certainly not over high schools games (which I tolerate at best, loathe at worst). So my hiatus ended up being nearly three weeks; and my second high school game of the year was one team's final home game. Click to continue reading...