Soccer Refs Seek That Old-Time Feeling
With all the running around required in soccer, it’s easy to understand why there are not many old-timers wearing whistles and pulling out yellow cards.
But there are those in soccer who believe the mandatory age limit of 45 for officials is arbitrary, and want a change.
CONCACAF, the soccer ruling body for North America and the Caribbean, is asking FIFA, the world body, to abolish its age limit for referees in international games.
And FIFA is interested in improving refereeing standards after a series of disputed calls at the 2002 World Cup.
“The age limit does not make sense at a time when men are running marathons in their 60s,” said CONCACAF President Jack Warner, who is also a FIFA vice president. “We would like to see retention on the FIFA list being a matter of merit.”
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Trivia time: Who was the last Laker to lead the NBA in rebounding?
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A better target: Newsday columnist Shaun Powell thinks attorney Johnnie Cochran should make a case for more African American front-office hires in the NFL instead of head coaches.
“Forget coaches. There are only two black men holding those jobs, and I really couldn’t care less.
“Coaches have nothing except a weekly radio show, a bottle of Pepto and a four-year contract they’ll fulfill only if they’re lucky.”
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This day in football: On Oct. 22, 1950, the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Baltimore Colts, 70-27.
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Fuhgedaboudit: Bob Sansevere of the St. Paul Pioneer Press doesn’t think New York Jet quarterback Chad Pennington should celebrate his big game against the reeling Minnesota Vikings.
“Joe Namath never had as fine a day completing passes,” he wrote. “Then again, ol’ Joe Willie never got to face this Viking defense, which has more holes in it than Pussy Bonpensiero’s body after it was pumped full of lead at the end of the second season of ‘The Sopranos.’ ”
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The sky may be falling: Normally upbeat Utah Coach Rick Majerus isn’t making any early predictions for the coming basketball season.
“I don’t think I’m a pessimistic person by nature,” Majerus said. “[But] as coaches, it’s almost inherent in your personality to see difficulties ahead. Very few coaches see greatness this time of year. It doesn’t help us that way.”
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One too many: Don’t tell Carolina goalie Kevin Weekes he gave up a meaningless goal with 52.3 seconds left in the Hurricanes’ 4-1 victory over New Jersey. It would have been his first shutout for Carolina, his fifth NHL team.
“There’s no sense in swimming 95% across the Atlantic Ocean and then getting close to the shoreline and saying, ‘Forget it,’ ” Weekes said.
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Trivia answer: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 16.9, in 1975-76.
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And finally: Thomas Boswell in the Washington Post, on the parade of pitchers in Game 2 of the World Series: “When pitching coaches Bud Black and Dave Righetti visited the mound -- they did so quite often -- all they could ask was, ‘You sure you don’t want that blindfold?’ ”
