Ted's Polish-Mexican Page

Do New England fans get to put up a "Ivan Gazadis: Dead To Us" banner?

I'm sure that Prairie Rose Clayton can come up with something better though.


Okay, here is the story for the three or four of you that read my soccer posts. By the way, a great deal of effort goes into writing these. Y'all could appreciate a bit more. Just saying.


Shalrie Joseph, who played in the first playoff game against Chicago Fire after an injury, was suspended for violent conduct for an incident involving him and Ivan Guerrero. It would be one thing if the referee saw something wrong, but the referee not only didn't see it as a red cardable offense, but appeared to make an advantage call in favor of the Revolution.

Despite the fact that a man who was actually on the field saw no problem, Gazadis and the league's disciplinary committee decided to mete out a one game suspension against Joseph. This means that the lynchpin of New England's defense will be unable to play in the second leg of their playoff. Se chupe.

A perusal of the event that prompted the call shows that Guerrero was grappling Joseph, and Joseph flailed around to get out of the hold. Guerrero, of course, fell like he'd been shot in the face, but was miraculously cured moments later. The referee, who was only a couple of yards away, didn't see that there was a problem, why should the league?

I could see a fine (however, no punishment was meted out to Guerrero for the holding or the theatrics), but a suspension is, in essence, a red card given by a league committee after the game. What's next? Are league committees going to make offside calls? Maybe they can retroactively re-set a free kick too?


I am not one of the Rev fans at Big Soccer who think this is some league conspiracy against the Revs. I do, however, think that certain players, rather than teams, are protected. I can't see similar actions being taken against, say, Landon Donovan or Pablo Mastroeni.


Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.