KeithHamilton

Riverdale 0 Tullahoma 5

Tullahoma 0 Chattanooga Christian 1 Riverdale 0 Shelbyville 3

Webb School 5 Cascade 1

York 1 Boyd 1 Tullahoma 4 Shelbyville 1 [Edited by KeithHamilton on 9-20-02 5:30A]

Cornersville 1 Marshall County 4

Lebanon 0 Oakland 4

Tullahoma 2 Lincoln County 0 Cookeville 3 Oakland 2

Flyer, Was the ref just kidding around with his son because in select soccer cards can only be given to players. In High School you can card the coach(es) but in select you can not even do that. You can warn or eject a coach or spectator(s), but not give them cards. So, the only thing that I can think was going on was that the guy was just joking around. If it was serious, then it was a misapplication of the rules.

Lawrence County 0 Tullahoma 10

Scout, no sarcasm. We have many young and inexperienced refs who are eagerly trying to help out but are tenative or do not know the rules and the game. "Bless their hearts ..." they are trying and we try to put older more experienced refs with them to encourage and coach them but we are needed for the "tougher" games and that leaves the young guys to have to "root hog or die." We need more knowledgeable people who have a good sense of fairness and ethics who can help instruct these young people. As the sport grows and more players move on past their playing days, hopefully we will see more young knowledgeable people get involved. Until then, we make do with what we have.

Scout, how do you KNOW what my attitude is? Since when did you develop the ability to read someone's mind and heart? I am sincere when I asked two people who challenge what refs are doing, who seem to have a reasonable understanding of the game, and who have the high ethical standards that you and redrage have to step up and lend a hand and not just sit back and criticize. Why are you slamming me for my attitude? I believe that if all a person can do is criticize others and not try to help, really help, to change things that they see are wrong that the best thing for them to do is not say anything at all. That is just my philosophy about things in life. I do not believe in criticizing my government and then not try to help make the changes that I think should be made. I get involved. I do not criticize others who are trying to make a difference without doing something (more than just shooting my mouth off) to actually try and help. We need more good people to help ref. Tonight I was supposed to call a game at seven. Instead I had to go to another game at 5:00 because the ref that was supposed to go to that game had to go somewhere else in fill in where we were short. Then he had a hour drive to get to the game we had at 7:00 in another city. This is typical of what we have to do all the time. There is nothing wrong with my attitude and I do not believe you have the right or the ability to slap me when all I am doing is challenging you to get involved and try to help. If all you want to do is run your mouth and run other people down, then you are not the ethical person you make yourself out to be. That is just my opinion. "In the opinion of the referee ...." (Law 5)

Scout and Redrage, We need more knowledgeable, competent, and highly credible people like you calling the games. Why don't the two of you get in touch with the assigner in your area and complete the necessary requirements for becoming a certified ref? Seriously, we have a shortage in many areas and many times we have so many games to cover that we do not have enough refs to cover the games. Sometimes we have to do an early game in one town and then drive like crazy to get to another town just to be able to cover all the games we have to cover on a given day. Sometimes we have so many games to cover that we can only send one ref and generally we try to let the coaches know that is going to happen. However, there are times when one of us gets sick or has something else unexpectedly to happen and we do not have a back up we can call on to help out. So, you would be doing everyone a favor if you two would become refs. With your vision and knowledge of the game you two would be a great resource for the other refs who need to be taught how to do it right.

Coffee County 6 Warren County 0 Franklin County 2 Tullahoma 5 [Edited by KeithHamilton on 8-30-02 3:33A]

OK, I'll bite and give my two cents worth. Are there incompetent refs? Yes. Are there refs who call "questionable" games that has all the appearance of being "home cooking?" Yes. I have been assigned to work with refs who after the game was over with I wish that I had not worked with and did not want to work with again. Not because they were incompent but because they did things during the game and made calls that not only did I disagree with but gave me reason to wonder about their honesty. On the other hand, there are some fans, players, and coaches who would probably tell you that I am a terrible referee. One of the biggest things I try to focus on is to call an "even" game. As a coach, the biggest thing that I expect out of the refs is fairness. Now, having said all that about myself and my fellow refs (Hope I did not go too far in violating the code of conduct since I did not name names or point out a specific ref in a specific situation.) Let's talk about the fans, players, and coaches. I have dealt with great people and most of my experiences have been positive. Last night's game at Smyrna against Riverdale there was a few typical crowd and coaches reactions to some of the calls in the game, but both coaches overall demeanor was courteous and respectful. We received several "good job" comments from the crowd as we left and also from some of the players. Overall, that was fairly typical of what I have experienced as a ref. In other words, I enjoyed calling the game at Smyrna. However, I have on a few occassions experienced some very bad situations as well. Most of the times it has to do with respect oo the lack thereof on the part of the players. Their parents and their coaches many times by their actions and words encourage the bad behavior from the kids. When that happens we have to step in and take control and if that means ejecting people, then so be it. Let me be the first to say that when that happens that such is the last thing that I want to do. I do not enjoy calling a game in that kind of situation and I hate having to write the report to the State office about what happened. It hurts the game that I love when players, etc. do something stupid to get themselves ejected. It makes soccer look like a sport for a bunch of spoiled uncontroled brats and the game out of control. So, to enforce the rules and to protect the integrity of a sport that I love, I will enforce the rules of the game in as fair a manner as possible. But I will have no problem in ejecting anyone that is at a soccer game to do something other than play, coach, or just watch the game. For what ever it is worth ....

Riverdale 0 Smyrna 3 Warren County 1 Franklin County 1 [Edited by KeithHamilton on 8-27-02 10:35P]

Huntland 0 Marshall County 5 Columbia 1 Tullahoma 6

Tullahoma 3 Warren County 1

The game at Warren County today with Tullahoma is at 6:00 for the Varsity followed by a short game of 40 minutes with the JV instead of the original scheduled time of 5:00 and 7:00.

Tullahoma 2 Smyrna 1

Since I cannot get the score board to work right, then I will post the score from the one game I saw tonight. At Warren County 8 verses Cumberland County 1. If anyone else has any scores and wants to post them here until the score board is working right, then I would appreciate it.