July 26, 2004
THE GAME ITSELF IS A SNORE, BUT MAN, THOSE PENALTY SHOOTOUTS...
Soccer referee wanted for shooting coach, players (Fox SportsWorld, July 26th, 2004)
Police were searching Monday for a referee accused of fatally shooting a coach on the field in a dispute during a weekend soccer game.Two players from the visiting Marcelle team were injured during the attack Saturday in the Eastern Cape coastal town of Kenton-on-Sea, police spokeswoman Mali Govender said. She declined to identify the suspect or the victims.
"The referee awarded a penalty against the visiting team during a friendly match and then players stormed the field," Govender said. "It looks as if the referee had the firearm on his person and fired at the players first before hitting the coach in the chest."
The coach from Ekuphumuleni died at the scene, she said. The referee fled.
Posted by Peter Burnet at July 26, 2004 2:33 PM
Didn't you get the memo? They want to get a little more action going on the field. They want to make it more exciting.
Posted by: pchuck at July 26, 2004 2:40 PMUsually its the fans.
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at July 26, 2004 3:12 PMHere we go again. Three weeks without a good soccer bashing story or comment is about all OJ can stand.
Posted by: John Resnick at July 26, 2004 3:19 PMJohn:
That was me. I would have respected your sensibilities if you had been magnanimous enough to put in a few good words for hockey when I offered you a mutual non-aggression pact a few months back, but you couldn't rein it in, could you? What goes around comes around.
BTW, Greek wife here, so much heart-stopping excitement last month, but the game was still a snore.
Posted by: Peter B at July 26, 2004 3:30 PMSoccer fans are like communists. A soccer bashing story consists of a factual recitation of something that happened at a recent soccer game. Just like red-baiting was the sin of revealing that avowed communits were, ta-da, communists.
Same thing both ways. Truth hurts.
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at July 26, 2004 4:05 PMPeter: Ah, you indeed. So I snapped your olive branch like a . . . well, like a crazed hockey player. Doesn't that count for something?
Et tu, Robert?
Posted by: John Resnick at July 26, 2004 5:30 PMJohn:
"So I snapped your olive branch like a . . . well, like a crazed hockey player. Doesn't that count for something?"
As any self-respecting, crazed hockey player would say: No.
When have I ever extended an olive branch to soccer?
When my son was a wee sprout, he "played" soccer. I.E. the kids all chased the ball around the field. One sunday I took him to a MLS game. It was the same thing bigger field, bigger players (none of them my kid), just as dull, no neighbors to chat with to pass the time.
My son quit playing soccer when he turned 10 (he is 17 now) and I haven't watched a game since then. haven't missed it.
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at July 26, 2004 11:18 PM