Ted's Polish-Mexican Page

Near the end of the Tucson Roller Derby championship match between the Furious Truckstop Waitresses and Vice Squad, there was an incident that I was standing in the wrong place to see. Apparently, Vice Squad's Barbicide had an illegal contact with FTW's Fisti Cuffs. The incident descended into Fisti Cuffs jumping on Barbicide and pumelling her. I didn't know she had it in her.

Since what she did was considered a "major penalty" and she had had several of them, Barbicide was ejected from the match, while Fisti Cuffs had to sit out for some time for her penalty as well. During that jam, the entire on-track squad of FTW had to ride the pine, save for, if I remember right, All Night Dinah. This should have left Vice Squad with a huge scoring opporitunity, but they were only able to get five points during the jam.

Over on TRD's e-mail list, some fans were furious about the refereeing. Oddly though, the objections seemed to come from Vice Squad fans who were angry about the initial ejection. It looked to me like FTW took the most heat from the referees in that particular jam, it's just that Vice Squad was unable to capitalize.



There were some complaints about the referees in general. Including one complaint that the referees are biased because of relationships with the players. I don't buy that one, mostly because I have not seen any bias toward one player or the other.

The only trouble I see is that with the number of new referees, there have been times that the refereeing crew has been as a whole inexperienced. One match this year had a crew of referees that were almost entirely new. This happened because of the natural turnover in the referee pool. These are, after all, volunteers.

As a fan that attended the Dust Devil tournament back in February, I can tell you that the quality of refereeing surpasses that of the other leagues. For example, I saw one indcident where a referee attempted to engage some rowdy fans that were jeering her. This is a rookie mistake, and an incident of poor game management that I would never see even the most inexperienced referee make in this league.

I don't go to the Sunday night scrimages the way that I used to, but I would often see the referees there. This indicated a level of understanding of their responsiblities. Its more than about knowing the jot and tittle of the rules, it also is becoming familiar with the styles of individuals and teams. Interestingly, one of the referees for my soccer league was at the last bout and she talked about doing this even with our piddly footy league. For example, she figured out my style and she watches for certain things from me so she can judge things like intent. Not that she lets me get away with anything (she sure doesn't) or that she comes down any harder on me (it seems like it sometimes). I'm hoping that this sort of thing is still emphasized among the TRD referees.



The funny thing was that the same weekend this happened, there was a gridiron match between Oklahoma and Oregon. These are referees that only work part time, but are probably better trained and have more game experience than TRD refs. They also even have the advantage of instant replay to review. Guess what? People are still grousing about a single call two weeks later.

In some ways, this is a good thing for TRD. We have a fan base that is getting more sophisticated about the sport. If you are mad about the refereeing, you are not someone who is just checking out the "chicks in skirts." Fans that are passionate enough to complain about the refereeing are fans that are committed to the sport.


I don't have any complaints about the refereeing or the concession stands for that matter. Sight lines, that I have a complaint about...



Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.

So, I was playing the final game of the season over at Bladeworld. The sweat rolled down my face and stung my eyes. I thought to myself, "I really shouldn't be using Monoxodyl before I play soccer..."

Then I thought, if I'm using Monoxodyl, should I still be playing soccer?


Speaking of soccer, I watched a bit of a game between Calcio Catania and Messina. One player, with the very italian name of Guiseppi Mascara, was yellow carded early on for "simulation." For you who don't follow the intricacies of FIFA directives, that means playing like he was actually hit even though no one was anywhere near him. Nice to see the Italian league cracking down on such things. Italian soccer players have spent generations honing this skill though, it will be difficult for them to change tactics now.

Later, with his team down a goal, he scored, then took off his shirt. This is a second yellow card...so he was kicked out of the game only for being stupid. Messina and Catania ended the game in a 2-2 draw.


Typical of American sportscasters, FIFA's order that shirt-removing players be carded is termed the "Brandi Chastain Rule." The rule came out years after Chastain's famous celebration and had nothing to do with her. I can't recall anybody complaining that Chastain took off her shirt, least of all me.


There is a new captain on Law and Order: Criminal Intent played by Eric Bogosian. Bogosian is enormously talented, and has appeared on Law and Order before as a defense attorney. But, I have a real hard time seeing the guy as a career cop.


I heard the new Bon Jovi song, "Who Says You Can't Go Home?", on the radio last night. It sounded a heck of a lot like the Sidewinders. Very scary.


Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.

Revolution midfield enforcer Shalrie Joseph is out for the regular season after he injured his hand in a fracas at a local bar.

Apparently, so the story goes, he was trying to break up a fight between Revolution players and some other drunks at the bar. He fell and cut his hand on some broken glass. Wait, Shalrie was trying to break up a fight? Man, that is not what we pay you for.


This sucks for a number of reasons. For one, this was shaping up to be the best season ever, then Daniel Hernandez and Marshall Leonard were injured for the season a few months back. That, plus the team missed Avery John and Clint Dempsey for some crucial weeks due to the world cup. Now Pat Noonan is injured too. The team had a string of draws that could have easilly been wins. I wonder if this is the last real shot at the championship for a while. They'll make the playoffs, but they look to lose enough players in the off season that I smell 1997 all over again.


Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.

I'm already tired of your new mascot, Fudgems. Time to move on.


Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.

Not sure what exactly this proves, but I'll take it.


Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.

As you all no doubt know, the Tucson Sidewinders swept the Round Rock Express 3-0 for the Pacific Coast League title. Now, the Sidewinders get to play, of all people, the Toledo Mud Hens for the Triple-A championship in what is called the Bricktown Showdown. The game will be shown Tuesday at 4:00 PM on ESPN 2.

The Sidewinders are expected to start Pitcher Micah Owings, who had a 10-0(!) record this season since being promoted from the Tennessee Smokies.


Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.

A clever but not-quite-borne-out-by-the-results sign discarded after the game.

I thought about this, what if "pink" was indeed, the new "suck"?

• "Dude, did you see that band that opened for Love Mound? Man, did they pink."
• "I used to like John McCain, but he totally pinks now."
• "I had to bring my ShopVac back to Ace. It wasn't getting enough pinktion."

My last chance to take a picture of Fisti Cuffs in FTW Pink, here with her sister. I have her beau to thank for my ability to go to the match in the first place.


There are a couple of "exhibitions" planned. One will be an intersquad match for the travel team. But in the meantime, I have come up with a list, because all of the cool bloggers do this:

Things to Say to Get You Thrown out of a TRD Match,
and possibly your ass kicked as well:

• "But banked track leagues are cooler."
• "Why don't they wear roller blades?"
• "I heard it's all fake."
• "It's just chicks on skates hitting each other, right?"
  
• "Go Texas!"
• "Ya know, those chicks in the Phoenix league are hotter."
• Anything with the word "chicks" said with no hint of irony.
  
• "I miss Moscow Minx."

Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.

Actual dialogue with one of my students today:

Him: Can you get sick from eating chicken all the time?
Me: Well, there are diseases you can get when chicken isn't cooked properly.
Him: Oh, well, nothing will happen to me. All the chicken I eat comes from McDonald's.

I only caught part of the Real Salt Lake - Colorado Rapids "Rocky Mountain Cup" contest. It looks like I missed the good part.

The game apparently degenerated into a yellow card fest. But the good part came at the end, after Colorado won 1-0. Colorado players taunted the Real Salt Lake fans, which included pre-teens as part of their "Youth Soccer Night." Former Tucson Amigo Pablo Mastroeni took off his shirt, waved it at the fans, then stuffed it in his pants and patted it down. I don't know what that means, but he was born in Argentina so who knows?

Mastroeni then got into a confrontation with Dave Checketts, the owner of Real Salt Lake. And get this...the altercation was broken up by...uh...wait for it...

Clint Mathis!

Clint Mathis!

Dude, when Mathis is telling you to tone it down...there is a problem. Some of y'all may remember that Mastroeni was the one that got ejected in our tight world cup match against Italy a few months back.

The league has taken no action against Mastroeni yet, but no doubt will. There is probably too much good footage to go through over and over again. I was just mad that it isn't up on YouTube yet. Mastroeni went too far, but there was plenty of ugliness that game, which seemed to start when Scott Garlick earned a yellow card ("Bringing the game into disrepute") kicked the ball at a group of Rapids players who were headed back to the center circle after scoring a goal.

Everyone on the Rapids should get a grip. Geez, you beat Real Salt Lake.


Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.

Had it not been for that ill-fated trip in Iowa, Buddy Holly would be 70 today. Crickets drummer Jerry Allison turned 67 last Thursday.


Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.

Sign up at O'Malley's, local drunk-fest watering hole, this weekend:

Welcome BYU Fans!

Maybe that's supposed to be irony? Or taunting?