Pallard’s Weblog

What an Interesting game that was… The final score was 23 – 22 for the home side.  The Fire seemed to be the better team and jumped to a 20 – 5 lead at the end of the first half.  Things were going great Fire had control and the next thing I knew, the Wave had fought back and were winning, 22 – 20.  It came down to mental toughness.  I think the Wave really lack that attribute as after being previously warned for dissent, an other player thought he might be immune to it and took a shot at the reserve referee.  He spend 10 of the last 12 minute of the match thinking of why he shouldn’t speak to people that way.

The game finished on a rather sour note as the Wave continued their dissent with this same touch judge.  I didn’t end up red carding them for it, which I had previously threatened, but it continued in the club house afterwards.  The Wave really embarrassed themselves and sure didn’t do themselves any favors for next weekend.  I referee them for the third time in 3 weeks when the Tide from the Island come into town.  Not the best time to call the match official a cheater – especially when the kicked missed 4/5 kicks at posts.  That was a possible 9 points (3 goals and 1 penalty).

The referee manager seems to be testing us referees of late, either that or saving some money.  Bryan, from Edmonton, refereed both Tide games last weekend as they traveled north from Calgary to Edmonton and I am involved in all 4 Wave games this season – home and away.  I guess he is seeing how well we put previous matches behind us and move on to the next, not worrying about any previous incidents that may have lead to some stagnant emotions… I hope the Wave smarten up for next weekend.

I am getting ready for my next appointment, packing my kit bag and my overnight bag for a flight to Saskatchewan to referee the Wave for the second time of the season.  I am sure to pack all the Super League paper work that is required in case that my support officials, whom I have never met, may not have the appropriate documents.

This is my first time to Regina and the first time I will have seen the Prairie Fire.  I leave early Saturday morning and arrive 3 hours before kickoff.  It’ll be just enough time to shake off the cobwebs settle into the hotel and get to the match in time so, unlike last time I travelled, I don’t leave my socks at home and have to borrow a pair from the, what turned out to be, the losing side… awkward.

as for the match, I hope to accomplish a few things.  The last Super Game I refereed I really didn’t enjoy.  Considering that I am traveling so far I feel that I should make this one enjoyable – give me a reason to come back.

I will be out of town for less than 24 hours.  I fly through Edmonton so I should have enough time to get some work done between the airplane and layovers.  I just hope they don’t make me start the after match boat race with another 20 oz pint of beer after a huge feed.

Yesterday, scheduled on top of the High School Provincial Rugby Championships, there was a Super League game held in Stanley Park. I originally assumed that this was a scheduling mishap but after the game I realized it was a good idea to schedule this game so that any potential observers would be pre-occupied with the High School’s at UBC. And to the 20 unsuspecting fans, I apologize that you had to sit through that. That is 1 hour 30 minutes of your life you will never get back – at least the bar was open during the game.

“Why was this such a waste of time,” you say? The Super League is supposed to show case the best players in Canada from their respective regions… coaches are to select from the top level in the province to field their team. From this league, the Canadian coach selects players for the international side. The home side was one player short of fielding a team on Tuesday night at training. Usually a team should have a bank of players to call on and 10 potential reserves with 15 starting players for training AND GAME DAY. Thank god they dug up the washed up second division player that retired 5 years ago so they could field a team.

The players’ discipline was disgraceful. With 7 minutes remaining in the match one player decided to punch an opponent after play had ceased and then a teammate comes running in to save the day with a barrage of ‘Hay-Makers’. Needless to say, that the 4 match officials they dragged away from the quality rugby of the weekend (at UBC) got it right and ordered both players off the field, issuing the dreaded red card. Funny enough, the same player who started the brouhaha had already been sent to the sin-bin earlier for a blatant act of cynical play. I conclude with a couple thought provoking questions:

If showing the player the red card in the 20th minute of the match instead of feeling sorry for the unorganized and poorly skilled home side would the referee had saved the visiting team’s prop from a possible lengthy suspension?

If the Super League is meant to be so super, why are there second and third division players playing in the league?

Is the left hand even going to collaborate with the right hand of provincial unions so the high performance schedule isn’t like a clumsy drunk staggering for a midnight snack?

Only time will tell.