BY JOSEPH STASZEWSKI
I want to applaud the referee in St. Anthony's 2-1 win over Chaminade last night.
He did one of the best jobs I have seen in awhile in keeping the players in line and taking control of a physical game early. The beginning of the first half featured plenty of aggressive tackling, hard hits to try to gain possession of loose balls and of course plenty of pushing.
The referee had none of it. With most of the hard hits he'd pull the player to aside and explain to them why he called the foul. He never even reached for a yellow card after reprimanding the player for his actions. He was like a police office pulling you over for speeding, but not giving you a ticket, just a stern warning that sunk in.
I know if I was played he would have made my scared to be too aggressive, especially a second time.
He kept preaching fairness to the players during the game and was on top of the spotting of every free kick and every throw in, making sure neither team gained even the slightest advantage.
A St. Anthony's player kick a ball further out of bounds with Chaminade trailing 2-1 and time running down. The referee stopped him for a second and told him they had talked about fairness and not to delay the game.
Officiating like it ought to be.
(Extra Credit -- Where does the phrasing and theme of the headline for this blog stem from? You may have to be a bit older to get it.)