Kick ball caught up to another eagles team?
Of course, I was one of the ones that picked the Eagles to be there later in the tournament so I am going to speak for the Eagles against this low blow. (and NO! I am not affiliated with the Eagles.)
In one of the Eagles games, the opponent's defender literally grabbed a ball that was heading towards the net. Ref's call? Play on! If the right call, and a subsequent PK was made, then the Eagles would be playing again next weekend. And you would not have been able to leave this low blow message anonymously.
I have no doubt that there were 10 similar plays/calls throughout the weekend that separated teams coming in 1st place, 2nd place, and going home. It is just the nature of the beast. I honestly spent the whole year thanking as many refs as I can after games. I have to admit, I had a hard time holding in my frustrations this weekend. I know it is a tough job. But I think a little more diligence (too many refs watch the action from far away), guts (I know we don't want them deciding the game, but just make an obvious call), and communication (signal and communicate what the call was. Most sidelines have a Spanish translator so we can go bilingual. My team can do seven languages.) would make a big difference.
Based on what I see, the difference between the teams were small and are getting smaller. Even in one of the games that I watched, you look at the final score and you'd think it was a blow out. Well, in actuality, it was a 3-2 game until about the last 12 minutes.
Lots of good teams and great players playing good soccer this past weekend. I can't wait for the next weekend. I hope everyone brings their A game so more good soccer happens.