Errmm.....as if I couldn't get anymore pissed off today.......
....I see an article in Newsweek that really just almost put me over the edge!
After having a meeting with my boss, Bill Lumbergh, where I was directed to take a sign down from inside my cubicle that stated "A 'yes' vote tomorrow equals less health coverage for your family the day after."
I had put up said sign inside my cubicle for tomorrow's union vote on switching from a four-year contract (that just ended July 1st) to a kowtow two-year contract. Said meeting with Lumbergh did not go well, with Bill ordering me to take the sign down and me consequently expressing my opinion about being forced to take my sign down by saying "This is Bullshit!" and prematurely ending said meeting immediately after that statement by walking out of our "talk".........
......this was followed by losing a double-header on the softball diamond.....
....and then I see this article.
Now, I had first heard about this in The Buffalo News about four months ago, and I was rather shocked. I had refereed high school soccer for a game or two in my past (in Buffalo from 1988 thru to 1992 and again for a season in 2003, then in Denver in 2004, then in Portland in 2005 - licensed to officiate high school soccer in three states)!
Going purely from my personal experiences, I find a great deal of the things that The Buffalo News reported to be suspect at best.
I remember officiating my first Lackawanna match at Lackawanna in 1989. I saw a whole bunch of Arabic-looking students on the pitch. I had asked a European-American player "Where'd these guys all come from?" meaning what country specifically.......
..........he shrugged his shoulders and stated to me in a rather nonplussed manner: "Lackawanna".....and joined his teammates in their pre-match warmups.
I had refereed several of Abdul's teams representing Lackawanna High School, on all levels, Freshman, Junior Varsity and Varsity, in the period from '89 to '92. I had never so much as thrown a card at any player his programs.
Of course, that was back the glory days of the Western New York Soccer Officials Association (the quasi-union that organised and scheduled referees in the Buffalo area) when it was run by Robert Miske and Patrick Kane (may The Creator rest his soul).
I had mistakenly moved back to Western New York for a year in 2003, and, not being able to locate employment that paid over $6.00/hr., I had decided to go back to refereeing The Beautiful Game!
I could tell you stories about the new "leadership" of the Soccer Officials Association I had encountered in 2003 that would make your head spin......corruption, Goomba-ism, egos, etc. (I mean, one of the guys in charge of the W.N.Y.S.O.A. had actually tossed our coach [Sal DeRosa] out of an indoor match I was goalkeeping in. Coach DeRosa is a guy who had won a championship [and Coach of the Year award] in the old North American Soccer League, besting teams like the Dallas Tornado, New York Cosmos, and others! The ref that tossed him runs a goddamm liquor store)!!!
A lot of observations were made by this blog during that 2003 season.....one that I found rather troubling is preferential treatment I had noticed given on the pitch to certain schools. Usually, these were rural schools that either did not have an American Football program, or had one that was, shall we say, less than stellar, and fielded sides that were about 95% European-American composition (e.g. -Holland, East Aurora, North Collins, and a few others).
Needless to say, especially in the post 9/11 era, Lackawanna was not one of these programs! Hell, I officiated a match between Holland and East Aurora (two of the darlings) that almost ended in a riot between fans of both clubs! I'd seen Buffalo Bills-Miami Dolphins matches that were far more civil......
Errrmm.......where was The Buffalo News on that one?
All in all, this Newsweek article is a very objective piece, and fairly well-written. The only thing that took me aback were the extremely ignorant comments that Newsweek attributed to John Kramer. During my one-season return to the Western New York Soccer Officials Association in 2003, John was Treasurer of the Association, and I had found him to be a level-headed, reasonable and kind individual.....one of the very few shining stars in what had deteriorated into a rather dodgy organisation.
I'm having doubts as to whether THAT was indeed what John was exactly quoted as saying.....I mean, this IS national media....sensationalism sells magazines.
Wake me up when it's all over.....
-E-
....I see an article in Newsweek that really just almost put me over the edge!
After having a meeting with my boss, Bill Lumbergh, where I was directed to take a sign down from inside my cubicle that stated "A 'yes' vote tomorrow equals less health coverage for your family the day after."
I had put up said sign inside my cubicle for tomorrow's union vote on switching from a four-year contract (that just ended July 1st) to a kowtow two-year contract. Said meeting with Lumbergh did not go well, with Bill ordering me to take the sign down and me consequently expressing my opinion about being forced to take my sign down by saying "This is Bullshit!" and prematurely ending said meeting immediately after that statement by walking out of our "talk".........
......this was followed by losing a double-header on the softball diamond.....
(Hafta stop living vicariously through Bill Lee books)
....and then I see this article.
Now, I had first heard about this in The Buffalo News about four months ago, and I was rather shocked. I had refereed high school soccer for a game or two in my past (in Buffalo from 1988 thru to 1992 and again for a season in 2003, then in Denver in 2004, then in Portland in 2005 - licensed to officiate high school soccer in three states)!
Going purely from my personal experiences, I find a great deal of the things that The Buffalo News reported to be suspect at best.
I remember officiating my first Lackawanna match at Lackawanna in 1989. I saw a whole bunch of Arabic-looking students on the pitch. I had asked a European-American player "Where'd these guys all come from?" meaning what country specifically.......
..........he shrugged his shoulders and stated to me in a rather nonplussed manner: "Lackawanna".....and joined his teammates in their pre-match warmups.
I had refereed several of Abdul's teams representing Lackawanna High School, on all levels, Freshman, Junior Varsity and Varsity, in the period from '89 to '92. I had never so much as thrown a card at any player his programs.
Of course, that was back the glory days of the Western New York Soccer Officials Association (the quasi-union that organised and scheduled referees in the Buffalo area) when it was run by Robert Miske and Patrick Kane (may The Creator rest his soul).
I had mistakenly moved back to Western New York for a year in 2003, and, not being able to locate employment that paid over $6.00/hr., I had decided to go back to refereeing The Beautiful Game!
I could tell you stories about the new "leadership" of the Soccer Officials Association I had encountered in 2003 that would make your head spin......corruption, Goomba-ism, egos, etc. (I mean, one of the guys in charge of the W.N.Y.S.O.A. had actually tossed our coach [Sal DeRosa] out of an indoor match I was goalkeeping in. Coach DeRosa is a guy who had won a championship [and Coach of the Year award] in the old North American Soccer League, besting teams like the Dallas Tornado, New York Cosmos, and others! The ref that tossed him runs a goddamm liquor store)!!!
A lot of observations were made by this blog during that 2003 season.....one that I found rather troubling is preferential treatment I had noticed given on the pitch to certain schools. Usually, these were rural schools that either did not have an American Football program, or had one that was, shall we say, less than stellar, and fielded sides that were about 95% European-American composition (e.g. -Holland, East Aurora, North Collins, and a few others).
Needless to say, especially in the post 9/11 era, Lackawanna was not one of these programs! Hell, I officiated a match between Holland and East Aurora (two of the darlings) that almost ended in a riot between fans of both clubs! I'd seen Buffalo Bills-Miami Dolphins matches that were far more civil......
Errrmm.......where was The Buffalo News on that one?
All in all, this Newsweek article is a very objective piece, and fairly well-written. The only thing that took me aback were the extremely ignorant comments that Newsweek attributed to John Kramer. During my one-season return to the Western New York Soccer Officials Association in 2003, John was Treasurer of the Association, and I had found him to be a level-headed, reasonable and kind individual.....one of the very few shining stars in what had deteriorated into a rather dodgy organisation.
I'm having doubts as to whether THAT was indeed what John was exactly quoted as saying.....I mean, this IS national media....sensationalism sells magazines.
Wake me up when it's all over.....
-E-
posted by CN250 at 10:41 PM
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