One thing that I envy about high level referees is the aplomb that they have sometimes when dishing out justice. Don't you love it when you see a fellow referee blow his whistle for a hard foul, run over to avoid any confrontations, and then with little fanfare or excitement, they show the perpetrator a yellow, without so much as scowl on his face?
For me, it is hard to contain the emotion sometimes when things like that happen and you just get rolled into the excitement of the situation. It is hard to be in the 85th minute of a hard fought 1-1 match when a foul is called and you run over full of emotion, because you saw the foul, you see the potential for problems, because you have to separate the fouler from the foulee and his or her teammates, and yet when you show the yellow, do it in a matter that does not show much emotion. It is hard, frankly, for me to do that since everything leading up to that call is full of emotion.
Next time you see an EPL match or if it happens to be a Howard Webb match center, take a look at how he shows a yellow or a red. It is matter of fact, that is it. Slow and methodical. When I normally show a yellow, I am angry (relatively speaking). When Howard Webb shows a yellow, he is slightly disappointed. Normally that does a great job of dissipating the situation and letting tempers simmer down.
I mention this because this past weekend, I was an AR for a high level D1 match. Late in the game with red in control in terms of the score, a red player commits a foul on the other side of the field and receives a yellow. Goes on and on with dissent but the center does not give him a red, which I was fine with, these are big kids, let them blow off a little steam. Play resumes and it comes towards my side. Same player is running to save the ball from going out to touch but the ball then crosses the line. Well beyond the touch line, the player, probably still fuming about the other call, kicks the ball even farther, over the short fence and to where the parents were stilling on a hill. So I waggle (wiggle?) my flag, call the center over (who does not come all the way over) and pat my shirt pocket indicating that he deserved a yellow. He showed him the yellow, but then it took him another couple of seconds to realize he needed to show him the red as well. In all this time, the kid was beside himself, clapping hysterically and yelling that all we wanted was to show him a red, kind of lost it. It was hard to contain myself too since emotions were running high. I just need to think of Howard Webb and see it his way. I am not angry at the situation, I am disappointed I have to show you this card. Perhaps that will help me keep my cool during those tense moments.
