April 18, 2013 by Charlie Eisenhood in Livewire, Opinion with 9 comments
I really like the idea of yellow cards, or some more clear mechanism to dissuade cheating, intentional fouling, etc. This actually brings me back to a topic from very early in the college season: the T-Town Spike.
At the T-Town Throwdown, Alabama’s Chris Browning got open deep and caught the score as his defender, Central Florida’s Brawley Adams, made a needless bid into Browning’s back after the catch. Upset about the play, Browning spiked the disc on Adams as he walked away as tempers flared on both teams.
I’m not trying to rekindle a debate about this particular incident, but I think it’s interesting to consider how the situation would have played out with observers with the power to give a yellow card.
Both players would have been immediately “put in the book,” in soccer parlance, for the hard foul and the subsequent spike. What I like about the yellow card is that it doesn’t cast blame or attack the character of the player. It simply says: that’s against the rules, do it again and you’re gone.
Having that yellow card then follow you around the tournament (and possibly throughout the season) would be an additional benefit.
We have to have better enforcement of rules by observers. And we need to have more games observed whenever possible.
It’s simply not enough to give out toothless TMFs and PMFs, particularly since observers are reluctant to give them.
