It's farily easy to review incidents from professional sports leagues that record and televise their games. It is however, more difficult in the minor leagues, as more often than not, the only video being taken is by the home team's AV person. However, in the modern age, we have video cameras on our smartphones that are in some cases every bit as good as standard movie film. And the teams are beginning to use it to their advantage. This week we received three recorded incidents, including one submission of multiple fouls by a particular player. The video really helped us put the incidents into context. For example, the player who committed multiple fouls appeared to actually be running around the field trying to cause a fight. He is seen multiple times instigating a reaction from an opponent. We even caught one incident missed by the referree because of our ability to slow down the footage in a real-time play.
We may well be able to incorporate the use of video next season in our red card reporting. This week, as usual, we had quite a few red cards. There were the usual red flags for violent conduct, abusive language, and multiple yellows. However, one event has caused quite a lot of controversy. We had one player physically attack an official. The dicipline committee (myself included) consider this act so henious, that we want to use it to set an example to the rest of the league. The player is currently suspended indefinately, while we review and discuss the situation. Now, normally we'd expect some pushback from a team's ownership whenever we suspend a player for more than a game or two. Not this time. The owner of this player's particular team is less than enamoured with his play, and has no plans to bring the player back next year. He's admitted to us in confidence that because of his feelings about the player's future, he's supportive of our idea to suspend the player for the remainder of the season.
Here's where it gets sticky. The owner doesn't want the head coach to know that he's behind us. Predictably, the head coach was livid when he found out we were planning to suspend his player for the rest of the season, and he's making quite a fuss about it. At this point, the commissioner of the league is involved, and he's communicating directly with the head coach. This is a very sensitive situation, and we've got to be very careful in regards to our communication between our committee and the team. This past Friday, our local Chamber of Commerce hosted "Impact Jax" an exposition of area young professionals giving back to the community. The company that I work for happens to sell into the non-profit space, so my Director of Marketing and I attended. As luck would have it, the Jacksonville Armada had a booth at the event, so I stopped by and introduced myself. We got to talking about the league, the previous and upcoming games, and the success of the Armada. Then I broached the subject of clean play within the league. Just as i I'd suspected, the Armada were (politely) critical about the subject. As I spoke with these two gentlemen, I complimented them on their clean play, and mentioned that if every team followed their lead, my job would be a lot easier. That's when an idea dawned on me. I asked the gentlemen if they could get me a meeting with Mark Frisch, the team's Owner and and CEO. My goal is to convince Mark to speak at our next league owner's meeting (coming up this offseason). I want him to speak on the benefits of clean play, how it's helped the Armada gain legitimacy in Jacksonville, and how that translates to ticket sales and sponsorship dollars. This, I believe could inspire other owners to clean up their act.
I spent a lot of time this week on the research project that Paul Scott asked me for last week. I've gone through all of the supplemental reports and created a spread sheet of all of the red cards since game 1 of the season, and sorted them by team. This gives us a snapshot of which teams are primary offenders, which was the initial point. However, additionally, this gives us an idea of who the cleanest teams in the league are as well. The cleanest team so far this season, by far is the Jacksonville Armada, with on only one red card all season. And that red card was for receiving 2 yellow cards (not a big deal). No violent conduct, and no abusive language towards officials.
I had what I feel was very productive call with Ricardo Campos last week. He works with me here, and is in charge of a variety of reports, as well as weighing in on red cards each week. He and I talked for nearly two hours, discussing the issue of clean play, major violators, possible solutions, etc. We then discussed the burden of reporting, and ways to make the system more efficient. He's taking my recommendations to Jeff Thiffault, the leagues managing director. According to Paul, Jeff is desperate to get player and coach behavior under control. He's afraid this league is in danger of becoming "just another beer league". This leads me back to my findings on the Armada. The Jacksonville Armada are a well run organization, with attendance levels that have reached over 14,000. Here in Jacksonville, they're considered a legitimate sports franchise, and thus enjoy some great business sponsor relationships. These guys are far from beer league players. However, if the NPSL continues resemble a less than professional league, the Armada are sure to leave for a better one. Red cards were flying this week, as teams moved towards the playoffs. One would think that given the importance of participation in post season play, players would be cautious not be be dismissed, as the dismissal results in at least a one game suspension. Logically, I came into the week thinking that players would be on their best behavior. Logic did not rule the day.
We had 8 red cards, which isn't an increase, but it certainly isn't admirable. My fellow league officials are just as surprised as I am, as these continued dismissals have us shaking our collective heads. This week, adding to the fray is a coach that followed an official all the way out of the stadium yelling obcenities at him after the game. Seriously, what is wrong with people? These aren't million dollar careers on the line. Coaches don't get paid. Player's don't get paid. Referrees make about $100 per game. Why is everyone so angry? |