04/20/24
February 28, 2005
The men in black: unloved and under pressure.: The Times has a fairly lengthy article regarding football referees and the pressures they are under. It focuses on Premiership referee Rob Styles and contains some interesting stuff on referee's training and how they are using modern technology. It also gives an insight into Styles' rather novel take on players directing offensive comments at refs.
Great article. I found the bit about Viera interesting. If his first language is not English and he swore instantaneously, in the heat of the moment, wouldn't he have sworn in French? He made a conscious decision to speak in English, surely? I can't think of any situation, no matter how angry I was, that would merit calling someone a f****** c***. That's pretty harsh.
posted by afx237vi at 04:19 PM on February 28, 2005
Cunt is the worst word you can use in the U.S., but I've heard that its use in the U.K. is much milder.
posted by dusted at 06:26 PM on February 28, 2005
You heard wrong then for the most part dusted. It may well be used as a joking term of reference between close male friends (eg You daft c***), but it's still utterly unacceptable outside of those situations. Personally I'd have red carded the c*** if he'd said it to me. ;)
posted by squealy at 06:40 PM on February 28, 2005
Cunt is the worst word you can use in the U.S. for some reason the word just doesn't bother me. i often use "cunting fuck" as a term of endearment for a close friend.
posted by goddam at 07:19 PM on February 28, 2005
OK, I stand corrected, squealy. And you're right, Styles showed remarkable constraint in that situation. In the NBA, we've got a ref named Steve Javie. He gives out technical fouls (basically 2 techs = 1 red card) like they're after dinner mints, and he's a smug, condescending bastard to boot. I hate him with a passion. Styles seems to be the exact opposite of Javie.
posted by dusted at 08:33 PM on February 28, 2005
Footballer: Hey ref, would you penalise me for any thoughts i might have out here on the pitch? Ref: Well no, of course not... Footballer: Well then i think you're a fooking cunt!
posted by StarFucker at 11:22 PM on February 28, 2005
Styles refereed the Norwich v Man City game last night. Ironically enough he booked four players and sent one off. He missed the person he should have sent off though. Funniest thing I've seen at a football game in quite a while.
posted by squealy at 10:05 AM on March 01, 2005
I thought he missed at least one PK in Norwich's favor.
posted by billsaysthis at 04:44 PM on March 01, 2005
That Delia Smith thing was excrutiating. I reckon she'd had a few too many sherries in the hospitality lounge pre-match. A true David Brent moment.
posted by afx237vi at 06:00 PM on March 01, 2005
One thing I don't understand about football refs in Europe is the fact that they are amateurs. If your wage bill is hundreds of thousands of dollars a week, surely you can afford to pay the refs a decent salary so they can concentrate on that, and not feeding their family.
posted by sauril at 10:37 AM on March 02, 2005
No, sauril, Premiership referees are full time professional.
posted by salmacis at 06:08 PM on March 02, 2005
Though you could be forgiven for mistaking them for amateurs.
posted by squealy at 02:43 AM on March 03, 2005
Excellent article!