I must confess, as a typical American, I knew far more about "American" style football than I did soccer. In fact, I new almost nothing about the sport that is so popular around the globe. In fact, I often thought of soccer as quite refined, no contact, ultra strategic, and gentlemanly, more like a mixture of basketball and golf. How wrong I was! Soccer, at least at the lower levels such as the NPSL is a heated contest between bitter rivals that often makes American football look tame by comparison.
This week the red cards were flying as various players and coaches got so caught up in the moment that they earned themselves suspensions. First, the Dallas City vs Liverpool match, essentially turned into an all out brawl as four red flags were handed out, to four different players. Three cards were for violent conduct (one where a player actually left the bench to run onto the field and attack an opponent) and one was for receiving two yellow cards for "unsafe" play. Now, I've heard the term "soccer hooligans" thrown around in the past, and I assumed it was merely a term of endearment reserved for the sport's sometimes rowdy fan base, but now I'm fairly certain the hooligans are, in fact, on the field.
It isn't just the players who are losing control. This week we had to suspend three coaches. The first two were for insulting/degrading an official. The third was a coach we had suspended last week, who was caught coaching up his players, after being specifically told pre-game that he could only participate in the stands as a fan.
This week we go from one match per week for each team, to two. I have a feeling the red card team will be incredibly busy.
This week the red cards were flying as various players and coaches got so caught up in the moment that they earned themselves suspensions. First, the Dallas City vs Liverpool match, essentially turned into an all out brawl as four red flags were handed out, to four different players. Three cards were for violent conduct (one where a player actually left the bench to run onto the field and attack an opponent) and one was for receiving two yellow cards for "unsafe" play. Now, I've heard the term "soccer hooligans" thrown around in the past, and I assumed it was merely a term of endearment reserved for the sport's sometimes rowdy fan base, but now I'm fairly certain the hooligans are, in fact, on the field.
It isn't just the players who are losing control. This week we had to suspend three coaches. The first two were for insulting/degrading an official. The third was a coach we had suspended last week, who was caught coaching up his players, after being specifically told pre-game that he could only participate in the stands as a fan.
This week we go from one match per week for each team, to two. I have a feeling the red card team will be incredibly busy.