It's a weird feeling to sit outside the court, knowing that you cannot play, and watch your teammates fight their way through a match. You feel connected to them, and you try to help in any way possible, but in the end you are just another spectator hoping that the final result will be a good one.
I'm not going to go too much into the match except to say that it was a good one. With the exception of the third set, the match was almost always close. There were some really exciting rallies, and most of the credit for those has to go to Middelfart and some incredible defense, but most of all there was good energy in the gym. I think the fans could be glad for what they saw on saturday, even if it was a loss for the home team.
We can only hope that next time we play them we can match their intensity and aggressiveness. They were more hungry than we were on Saturday and it showed in the last set. But if that match was any indication, it looks like there is a whole bunch of exciting volleyball on the way after Christmas. And that's good for everybody.
What I did want to mention, and frankly I don't really care if it gets me in trouble or causes problems, was that I could not stand the head referee (I don't need to name any names) during the match. I'm not complaining that he decided the match for either team, there was no real advantage to either Middelfart or us. It was the general arrogance and obvious lack of self confidence that he displayed throughout the match that made me angry. I cannot handle it when a referee is so heavy handed and so blantantly tries to control a match.
Some examples: The match was put on pause for around 45 seconds while the referee insisted that a spectator remove themselves from behind Middelfart's bench. Sounds reasonable? Well, let's consider these few things, the spectator is an old Middelfart player who had just gotten something out of one of the coaches cars, he was RETURNING HIS KEYS! I don't think this requires a stoppage of play. Especially considering that this person after giving the keys back to the coach on the middelfart bench, took a step back against the wall and was waiting respectfully for play to resume before he made his way back to his seat. Instead of allowing this natural flow of events to occur, the referee chose to continue the stoppage in play and force this person to walk in front of the scorer's table, close to the court and then back behind our bench and over to the spectator area after that, all the while with this person looking like a mouse lost in a maze. As a player, I certainly felt good that the referee could take some time out of our match to deal with this important matter.
As was named on the Marienlyst website, Peter got a yellow card for saying "Kom nu". This was after a particularly bad call by the ref, but the "kom nu" was not directed at the referee. Peter was talking to the players, and he didn't even really say it our loud. As was also said on the site, if this is the new line for yellow cards then I think the elite division is in trouble...
My personal favorite though came a little bit later as Peter was walking along in front of our bench. I tried to make a diagram for you guys, but Blogger messed it up. So you just have to think of a regular volleyball court. I was sitting on our bench and Peter was standing just in front of it, with his head turned towards us on the bench, when he said something. Notice, I say, he said "something" because I'm not exactly sure what it was he said. He didn't say it loud enough for me to hear it and I was one meter away. There was also the fact that there was a volleyball match going on and crowd making noise, etc... which made it even harder to hear what it was he was saying. This was where the referee blew his whistle and pointed to Peter, indicating with his hands that Peter should calm down. Does this even make sense?! First of all, I can guarantee that the referee couldn't hear what Peter said. I can also guarantee that whatever it was that was said could not have been directed at the referee because Peter was looking at me, Kai and Per (who was out at the moment) on the bench when he said it. Third, I am positive that a coach is allowed to tell his players things when they are on the bench. I've thought about this about a million times since it happened and I just cannot wrap my head around it. It makes no sense. I also realize that it may seem like a small thing to someone who reads this, but I tend to think it is a big problem. If referees and players have such a huge discrepancy in the way that they see things during a match there is bound to be huge conflicts at some point. If a coach is not allowed to talk to his bench because of referee is feeling insecure then how are we going to get anything done? And insecurity is the only thing I can possibly think of for the above mentioned warning.
Here is a tip from me to the ref, don't let coaches and players scream and yell right to your face, they shouldn''t be allowed to call you names or be excessive. But, if a coach or a player wants to make fun of you in a low voice on the bench to someone right next to him, just let it happen! There is nothing you can do about it! Concentrate on whether the ball was in or out, think about if it is possible for a ball that is set without an rotation whatsoever to be called for double contact (really, try to do this at home, you can't set a ball with no spin if you double contact it, you just can't...) and just realize that the more a referee tries to wave people away with the infamous one handed backhand instead of listening to what they have to say, the more problems there are going to be. Take a backseat, let the match happen organically, let the players have some emotion and let people have fun.
Anyways, I can happily admit that most of this probably doesn't sound like much and that maybe I am being overly dramatic/sensitive. But I would argue that and say that all of these things count. I've said before that I can live with referees making mistakes, but referees who make mistakes and then act arrogantly as if no one has any right to challenge what they are saying just aren't acceptable. It takes the focus off the game where it should be.
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7 comments:
I can't help thinking that Jens Larsen would not have got a yellow card... stuff to think about
anyways - I think we just have to accept the level of ref's as it is.
hope you are back in the game soon!
/LH
Nej, hvis linien i kampen var som Jordan har skrevet, så havde Jens fået et rødt kort!!!!
Det overrasker mig egentlig at du netop denne gang bruger så meget tid på at brokke dig over dommerne. Efter kampen følte jeg faktisk at det var den kamp med færrest dommerfejl som vi endnu har spillet i denne sæson. (jeg ved godt der var et par enkelte, men jeg mener ikke man kan undgå dette uden liniedommere. Desuden blev fejlene ligelidt fordelt)
Når jeg læser din Post kan jeg dog ikke være et øjeblik uenig med dig. Godt nok opfattede jeg ikke situationen med Peters gule kort, men forventede vel bare at det var ok. Jeg oplevede også dommeren som meget streng og det var f.eks. specielt frustrerende ikke at kunne få en forklaring på hvorfor han fløjter til serv når vi ikke er klar på vores side til at modtage. Men når det så er sagt, og det også er fastslået at jeg finder de episoder du nævner tåbelige, (i hvert fald hvis din gengivning er rigtig :-) ) så gik jeg fra kampen med en følelse af at det var den bedste dommerpræstation jeg har oplevet i år. At det så nok specielt skyldes nogle meget lidt flatterende dommerpræstationer i andre kampe er jo så lidt sørgeligt...
Men jeg må trods alt sige at jeg bliver mere frustreret over for mange rigtig dårlige kendelser end en streng attitude.
...Funch
Funch,
Yeah, I should have made that more clear, I actually didn't find the refereeing to be bad. I thought it was an okay performance.
Where we definitely don't agree is that I absolutely cannot stand it when a referee acts in such an arrogant and repressive way. Like you said, he blew the whistle while you guys were definitely not ready, and then when you tried to ask him about it he just waved you away like you must be crazy for even questioning his decision. I don't know, there is something inside of me that snaps when I see that kind of thing.
But yeah, just to be clear, I didn't think that there were too many poor calls and they definitely did not have an effect on the outcome of the match. The yellow card was a joke though, that much I have to say...
Jeg er faktisk af den modsatte opfattelse end Mette - som tidligere skrev at Jens ville få rødt kort - det tror jeg ikke.
Jeg er enig med Funch omkring at dommeren faktisk var rimelig i denne kamp - dog med et par enkelte udfald. (som da dommeren ville have ham manden væk bag middelfart bænken...)
Men hvor går grænsen - eks. er det blevet sådan at hver gang en anden end hæveren hæver bolden - så står trænere og enkelte spillere på den anden side og kalder et dobbeltslag...
Måske var det noget af det dommeren reagerede på da Peter fik sit gule kort?? Måske have Peter kommenteret for mange kendelser? (Jeg siger ikke han kommenterede mere end os andre - men det kan være dommeren holder mere øje med ham)
Det tegner til at blive et spændende slutspil med mange gode kampe - det glæder jeg mig til!!
/LH
Hej.
I have read your comments with interest. As a young ref, I am very keen on listening to how the players want us (refs) to act. As far as I'm concerned, Jens didn't get the sanctions he deserved. I have wittnessed him jumping up and down 20 cm away from a 2.ref, yelling: "Var jeg i nettet dér"? Actually he did it twice, without any sanction. If I had been a ref in that game, I think a red card would have been the right respond to that action.
Off course we have, as refs, to close our ears to many things. And my philosophy is that, we only have to sanction with a yellow card, when its strictly nescesarry.
We know that we'll make mistakes and bad calls, and when we do that, we are not supposed to sanction with a yellow card as well. In my world, I have to give the players space to post their unsatisfaction with a call, if I know with myself, that it might could have been called otherwise.
The other case that you mention, is where a spectator i situated at Middelfarts bench. If you go by the rules:
4.1 TEAM COMPOSITION
4.1.1 A team may consist of a maximum of 12 players, one coach, one assistant coach, one trainer and one medical doctor.
4.2.2 Only the team members are permitted to sit on the bench during the match and to participate in the warm-up session.
The ref is in a difficult situation here. If he let this incident pass, and the opponent team protests, then what? His only answer would be: ”I didn’t act according to the rules.” And then there could be a lot of discussion, which rules you are to follow, and which rules you are not to follow. In 2.div and 1.div where I make my calls these days, I don’t follow this rule very strictly, though when you have a descent amount of spectators, you are to promote the sport as the rules describe. In this case I have a philosophy too: ”If the spectator acts as an ass. coach or even as head coach no. 2, I ask him/ her to leave the bench immidiatly, because in this situation, the team gets an advantage of the spectator’s location. But if you have to descide whether the spectator is interacting with the game in such a way, that it shouldn’t be allowed, you’ll probably loose some focus from the game, and therefore I think it’s best for the ref and for the teams also, that spectator is removed, so the game has the ref’s full attention.
I agree on that fact that a few refs let their temper loose, when they’re not supposed to. If you are a good ref, you are not to let you temper get away, just because a player is excited. You must never be mad and angry, because you’ll never get anywhere with an angry attitude.
Mads Olsen
DT - dommer
Hi Mads,
I appreciate your comments. It is great to hear something from a referee's point of view. Always interesting to hear something other than just players'.
I definitely understand what you mean with the referee being in a hard position and I hadn't really thought about what would happen if someone protested. But if you would have been there to see it I think you would agree that this person was clearly not doing anything wrong. The first whistle was enough to make him step back and show everyone that he was going back to his seat. It was the continued insistance of the referee that I thought was weird. The guy was clearly leaving from behind the bench he just wanted to wait until play resumed so he could do it without everyone staring at him. Instead the referee continued to whistle and focus on him until he was forced to walk in front of the scorer's table and in front of everyone. I just felt it was excessive and kind of odd.
It is funny that you bring up Jens because I definitely know what you mean. And I think it is funny because in my experience it always seems like the most blatant stuff that Jens did didn't get a yellow card. On the other hand, I saw him get yellow cards for doing very little. It was like a lot of referees were prepared for him to be crazy so they would let that go, but then there would be certain refs who seemed like they were just hoping to give someone a yellow card. I personally have only gotten one card in my entire life and that was on the fanta tour for pretty much doing nothing. So as far as I'm concerned, yellow cards have never really made a lot of sense to me. I don't know exactly what my point has been here, but maybe someone can figure it out for me.
In any case, thanks for the input. I think it is important that referees and players start to understand each other better and the more we hear from referees the easier that will be.
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