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thekellygreenandwhite

Hopefully in the future the referees will be wiser to Lenhart, and his performances will come back to haunt him.
- Artthiel
  
  He is said to be a chronic manipulator, kelly, and his coach complains that the refs are too hard on him. I get the gamesnmanship, but the fans’ own eyes don’t lie, especially backed by replay. It’s a blight.
RadioGuy

Flopping is something that’s been plaguing the game for years, and may do as much as anything to damage the sport’s quest for credibility with American sports fans who AREN’T into soccer. Yes, you get flopping in basketball, too, but it’s a small annoyance in a game that routinely features a combined 200 points per game. When a flop leads to the only score in a soccer game, what is a casual fan supposed to take away from that, especially when soccer proponents are trying to counter the perception that the sport is “boring” to many of these people by touting its artistry and intricacy? How do you sell a flop as being “artistic?”

Not to single out the Sounders or MLS for this because flopping happens at much higher levels of soccer elsewhere than what we get in North America, but stuff like this isn’t going to help win new converts to what IS a great sport.
- Artthiel
  
  Exactly, radio, why cheapen the the game with cheap tricks designed to manipulate? Everyone last night ended up looking foolish — Burch for being baited, Lenhart for being the perp, and the official for being had.
Brent

It is disturbing when a game is decided by who is officiating. You had the Lenhart flop leading to the game’s only goal. You had another hard foul in the box in the second half that wasn’t called, and would have likely been the equalizer. You had a red card that was retracted a few seconds later. The officials should never be the difference in a match. And yet, that’s what happened last night.

That said, the teams were pretty even on the pitch. The Sounders had their chances, and blew them. San Jose blew quite a few chances. San Jose played harder and smarter, IMHO. I feel sorry for the ref who has to spend this week thinking about how it all came down to a call he shouldn’t have made, a call he didn’t make, and a red card he got suckered into retracting. Hopefully, we pay the refs enough to become the best refs MLS can afford. They work their behinds off, too, and make just as many mistakes as the players.
- Artthiel
  
  Brent, while other sports have officiating miscalls that determine outcomes, a too-high percentage of soccer tactics are devoted to the deliberate manipulation of officiating. It’s one thing to try to get away with punching a player in a football pile-up, it’s another to deliberately commit a fraud seen by thousands in house and millions on TV. Regarding the fines, they may be disproportionate, but obviously it had no effect on Lenhart. MLS has to go Goodell on this if it wants to retain credibility with its growing audience in the U.S.
  - Brent
    
    It isn’t just the wrongful results (though the Sounders obviously didn’t deserve to win last night). It’s the growing injury list, as in another Sounder has gone onto the injury list every match so far this season. A dozen more matches, and there may be nobody left on the roster. That’s what really has to stop.
    
    It’s partially bad karma. There are more than a couple Sounders who I’ve seen get kicked in the shin, fall down, and grab their face. As a Sounders fan, I am repeatedly embarassed. Yes, the other sides do it too, and get away with it.
    
    Lenhart once played under Coach Schmid at the Crew. He played the same game then.
    
    Coach Schmid lamented that referees aren’t doing enough to protect star players, like Mauro, but when Mauro is known for some of the best acting in the MLS, he’s going to find less protection from the refs.
    
    They review films. They learn the tactics. They sometimes even notify the commissioner that some blatant and flagrant violations merit ex post facto punishments, such as happened to Flaco last week.
    
    Change starts at home. Word to Coach Schmid: I didn’t buy a season ticket to see hockey. I bought a season ticket to see the beautiful game. If someone engages in embellishment or violence, pull him out of the Starting Eleven.
    
    Show violence and embellishment the red card!
    
    And a parting plea to the ECS: That song about the firing squad may be popular around the world, but it is really in poor taste after what happened in Port Saaid. Can we give the songs promoting violence a rest, please?
Brent

Lenhart, though, is probably biting his nails more than the referee. A red card is just time off the pitch. Embellishment, as we heard last week, can come with a big, big fine, which is all the more of a punishment when the players are suffering under the yoke of a salary cap.

If you ask me, the fines should be much smaller until MLS agrees to lift the salary cap. The fines need to be in line with their pathetically small salaries.

And as long as the MLS is the only professional football league in the world with a player salary cap, it will never be taken serious by soccer fans, regardless of how good or bad the officiating is.

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