I defend MLS referees on controversial PK calls. A little bit, anyway

Me defending MLS referees is like Keith Olbermann defending Glenn Beck. In other words, it’s highly improbable and outrageously rare, at the very least.

The last two MLS weekends have been full of penalty kick controversy, and many of the mug and tug shenanigans are happening the nervous, late moments of matches, when decisions are amplified because teams have little chance to overcome calls.

Here’s the first thing to remember about MLS and controversial penalty kick decisions: Major League Soccer is hardly alone in this difficult endeavor. The action moves fast and the man in the middle is burdened with tons of pressure to get things right. In fact, he must get it all right. A referee can make five difficult decisions regarding penalty kicks, then get one wrong – and that’s all everyone talks about.

In every league around the world, spot shot controversy is abundant. Look at the venerable English Premier League this weekend. Robbie Keane tumbled under Roberto Carvalho's challenge, but referee Howard Webb waved "play on," leaving much teeth gnashing among Tottenham fans and providing fodder aplenty for Monday talk around the lovingly Wonderfully ubiquitous London pubs.

So I’m going to give MLS referees some benefit of the doubt here, although clearly not all the important decisions have been correct lately in Don Garber Valley. (And by the way, there was plenty that remained wrong in MLS in Round 27 with the performance of men in the middle … but we’ll get to that later.)

On to the PK controversies:

On Friday night, San Jose’s Ryan Johnson bailed out the Colorado Rapids with his imprudent choice in stoppage time. He grabbed Drew Moor’s shoulder and slung around the Rapids defender near goal. There was a clear goal-scoring opportunity and the choice was fairly simple for referee Edvin Jurisevic. (Never mind that Jurisevic shouldn’t have been on an MLS field after his awful performance a week earlier at RFK; that’s beside the point here.)

And this notion that a referee shouldn’t make such a call in the game’s waning minutes is just silly. How about this: a player shouldn’t do something so remarkably rash in the game’s waning minutes. Decision making by players on the field is part of the sport. Johnson made a bad choice and his team suffered for it.

A week earlier, referee Jorge Gonzalez awarded Columbus a stoppage time penalty kick against Houston. This wasn’t as painfully obvious, but Houston defender Geoff Cameron did put his arm around Alejandro Moreno’s shoulder and give him a tug right in front of goal.

So, MLS refs got those right.

But what about Claudio Suarez’s shirt pull on Fredy Montero in the late moments Saturday? Referee Terry Vaughn got that one wrong. (He was also overly lenient overall, a recurring theme in MLS. Chivas USA center back Yamith Cuesta had four fouls by the 40^th minute, most on Montero. That’s the very definition of persistent infringement, but Vaughn never got on top of it. Vaughn’s permissive ways allowed Chivas to ugly up the game with fouling and liberal contact – and I don’t know about anybody else, but that’s not what I like to see when I watch my soccer.)

And speaking of wrong, Mark Geiger made a mess of the late goings inside Toyota Park on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Two players went up dangerously inside the Chicago penalty area. Somehow, Geiger adjudged that Chicago center back Wilman Conde’s dangerous, high-footed challenge was worse than Columbus super-sub striker Steven Lenhart’s dangerous karate kick. It was a poor, poor decision.

(It is a good example of balance and karma, however, as Columbus was screwed earlier this year by a very bad call from the man in the middle against the very same team, Chicago.)

A week earlier referee Ricardo Salazar was suckered by Chivas USA forward Eduardo Lillingston, the weakest man in the world, apparently. In the late going against New England, the Chivas USA striker was undone and went tumbling when brushed on the hip by goalkeeper Matt Reis’ glove. In this case, at least the bad PK decision didn’t really cost anyone points, as Chivas was ahead by a goal anyway.

All that said about referees getting some of them wrong, let me add something else to the soup: This notion that MLS referees choose to "decide the game" is dubious at very best. They make calls. Period. I don’t buy this notion that they are looking to lean a match one was or the other. Even a referee with a big ego – and most do have an ego – wants to let the players decide the match. So, perhaps a call is right or maybe it’s wrong, but I never buy the fact that some referee thinks to himself, "I had better not see so much as a shirt tug inside the penalty area after the 85^th minute, because I haven’t gotten my chance to decide a match in weeks."