of course i’m looking forward to the break. it’s about time. and maybe i will stop coughing.
anders frisk is looking forward to his break as well. it’s too bad death threats forced him to retire from his job as a respected international referee. people who make those threats seriously harm my love for the game. and the people who harass and disrespect referees, fans, players, and managers (jose mourinho, anyone?) disrespect the game as well. it is one thing to disagree with and comment on decisions, but it is another thing to accuse the referee of bias or corruption without any clear evidence. the decision of a referee should be respected.
having been a referee myself, i can say that people should be allowed to say what they want to. but i think we need some kind of penalty for bringing the game into disrepute, like they have in mls and other sports. (for once, our american leagues set a decent example for the rest of the world rather than struggling to catch up.) it was strange to see a bunch of idiot guys take an intramural match so seriously, considering there was no prize for winning, and that the only really good reason to be out there was to enjoy yourself. and i would say the same about the arse parents who take their children’s sporting performances just as seriously, the parents who get into fistfights and harangue the match officials of those schoolboy games just like mourinho and other managers.
to those idiots: you take the fun out of the game. it’s just a game.