SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Boys Varsity Soccer handballs/cussin

my whole thing with the profanity is that if there are young kids in the stands and these words are yelled out such as the F word and SOB and others then there should be a warning or at least a yellow. i mean in all the cases that ive had players in the past two weeks cuss at me the refs have been right there and not even sed watch your laungage im just saying a rule is a rule and i just think refs need to learn how to be on top of things cause i beleive the level of refereing in sc has gotten horrible if that makes sense to anybody

i personally disagree with the new harsh rules for cussing, i mean come on everyone cusses including coaches, so as for that it should not be a big deal, make a big deal out of two footed challenges and dangerous and flagrant fouls. Cussing is but a part of the game. As a player there is no way around it, the heat of the game, the passion and intensity, i mean let it go its going to happen, let's address the real problems

im not talkign about just cussing im talking about flat out yelling it out and yelling it out at someone intentionally i can handle cussing but also it doesnt make the game look good so but i understand your statement of its part of the passion of the sport and all

It could be that the severity of the rule may be causing it to backfire on itself. Those who made it a straight red-card offense were, I'm sure, trying to make sure the punishment was so severe nobody would dare to commit the crime. However, due to the intensity and passion of the game, coupled with the everyday use of certain words by most teenagers, the odds of a "slip" in a heated moment are actually pretty high. I think most officials realize this and are reluctant to impose the penalty of a straight red card for an unintentional slip of the tongue. After all, having a team play short and having a player miss additional matches because of uttering a word, while a dangerous play that could cause severe injury only results in a caution, seems pretty ridiculous when you think about it. But, the HSL rule is clear--straight red for the first offense, with no allowances for warnings. So, an official has only three choices; blatantly break the rule by issuing a caution (not really an option), go ahead and issue the red with all of the penalties associated, or "not hear" the infraction to avoid imposing a match-outcome-affecting penalty. After all, from an officiating standpoint, it's "safer" to say you didn't observe an infraction than to acknowledge you observed it and then defend why you didn't take the prescribed action.

Personally, I think it would be much more productive for the League to allow for a caution for profanity; that way the issue could be addressed--officials could let the players know they are "serious" about enforcing the rule--without jumping straight into catastrophic consequences. I think we would see much more consistent enforcement of the rule, and a yellow with a few minutes on the bench is usually sufficient to make a player conscious of his/her behavior. Persistently infringing on the rule after a caution is certainly deserving of the red, and I think very few officials would have problems of conscience issuing the penalty if they were allowed to address it as a caution beforehand. When you make the rule so harsh that few peole are willing to enforce it, though, you defeat the purpose.

Hm...just noticed I lost a couple of stars there, myself...not sure who I offended with my wild talk and crazy ideas... :-)

coach chass you make a solid point i agree a warning or something such as that would work not a straight red like you sed i think thats a lil intense yea just i mainly think there should be some acknoledgment of this going on

I don't mind a few words here are there. I do beleive when a player directs the f word at the fans and then adds the finger sign they should receive a red card. There are young kids in the fans and also Grandparents that find it very offensive.

This is like "being a little bit pregnant." You either used profanity or you did not. Once we define what profanity is, it is certainly up to the referees to enforce the rule fairly. I agree that this has not been done very well by the referees this year. We have all been the victim and the perpetrator. But, we cannot rationalize poor behavior or language by attributing it to the heat of the battle. Where do you draw the line? Some players, fans and coaches think their sole purpose is to "get in someone's head" by any means necessary, that it is their job to provoke other human beings to the point of an explosion. I see it often. I feel sorry for those people and, at the risk of sounding judgmental, I pray for those people. In 25 + years I have seen and heard it all. I don’t see where it has improved much. I try to do my part. That’s all I can do. I am saddened by some things I have witnessed, often times from parents. I don’t understand how grown people who are supposed to be role models can justify verbal harassment of teenagers. Maybe they are thinking that it is their role, their way of helping the team. How sad. We have got to teach our players that there is a better way to respond. If we do not, where will it all end? Yesterday's profanity is today's everyday language. An old poem reads, in part, "if this, the taste, continues here, what will it be another year?"
Restraint is a character trait well worth teaching and one sorely lacking today. None of us are without blame here. But all of us can do better. Think back to your last few games, games you attended or played in and ask yourself “Would my mother be proud of what I was saying or how I was behaving or playing? Would my Maker?” One day we will all have to justify our words and actions and I don’t think “in the heat of the battle” is going to get us off the hook.

"I can't define it....but I know it when I hear it."

Wayne, the point missed is that the penalty is so severe that the penalty itself leads to the infraction being overlooked--not that the infraction is unclear.
If we make speeding a capital crime punishable by death, many will slow down. However, a cop is going to think twice before pulling someone who is going 60 in a 55. As this becomes the norm, ambiguous unspoken rules will replace the clear cut law. This is an extreme analogy, but analagous nonetheless.