Ashley Vickers of Dochester was given a red card in the 70th minute of a match tied 1-1 against Havant & Waterlooville (sweet name) resulting in his team losing 3-1. His crime? Vickers tackled a man who had run onto the field in a Borat-inspired mankini and was running circles through the players while security personal stumbled around in pursuit. Vickers took it upon himself to help security remove the man so the game could be restarted. As a result he was given a red card for committing a violent act on the field.
Now admittedly that's no soft tackle but at the same time that's a pretty pathetic statement by the referee about the conduct expected of soccer players. This is the type of thing that will prevent soccer from ever being successful in the US. There is an inherent "wussification" in the sport that is a real turnoff to the American sports fan. I understand the desire to limit violence and keep the sport "gentlemanly" but at what cost?
I don't remember any umpire ejected the Left Fielder after his take down of a Red-Man in a game against the Phillies last fall.
No comments:
Post a Comment