Monday Morning Report: Nov 30

I hope everyone had an enjoyable, safe and healthy turkey day. The only unusual this year for me is that I was hammered during the feast and promptly passed out after the pecan pie. Texting some of you during the day, I know I was not alone in my delinquency. We are such a bunch of degenerates!

Saturday's indoor game was uneventful. We played a weak opponent, and initially played down to their level. Parham was a later arrival for us, and that seem to turn things around for the offense. We ended up winning 9-2. Being the generous people that we are, we scored both of their goals for them.

Continuing the discussion I started last week about TV replay for officiating football games, I actually spent Saturday night with Ben Nelson (visiting his parents from Boston), and we had an in depth debate about the topic over left-over turkey and potatoes. Because there are few stoppage in action in football, the most sticky issue is when, in the continuity of action, the manager can challenge the rulings.

If an offsides is missed and this results in a goal, it's very easy to see how a manager can challenge this non-call, and how simple it may be to reverse the goal. But flip the coin over. What if the striker is on-side during a goal-scoring chance, and the referee mistakenly stops the action and calls an offside? How does a manager challenge that call? What do you award the correct challenge?

The "continuity of action" causes even more problems. Let's say an offsides call was missed. As I stated above, the challenge is easy if this results in a goal. But what if it only gives the attacking team a vague advantage? Say the offsides striker who eluded the referee shoots the ball. What if the ball is saved by a diving keeper, but the rebound ricochets to another attacker who was well-onsides during this sequence. And let's say that the second attacker takes advantage of the out-of-position keeper, and scores. Should that goal be challengable since the attacking "sequence" started with a missed offsides? How far can you take this? What if the goal results after 5, 10 passes following the missed offsides?

Another problematic example. If a striker handles the ball in the box, and the missed call results in a goal, it's easy to challenge and nullify the goal. This is Thierry Henry v. Ireland example. But what if a defender's handball in the box is missed, and the ball is cleared after another 5, 10 bounces, and then a counter-attack is started. Let's make it even harder. Let's say that the counter-attack results in a goal on the other end. When can the manager challenge the defender's handball missed by the ref? It should have been a PK! In this scenario, there's no stoppage in action until the goal on the other end. Is that goal then nullified because the attacking sequence started 2 minutes ago with a missed handball in the other box?

TV replay may be inevitable in football, but I'm glad there are some smart people working on its implementation.