Gods in Stripes

Heading to Chur In the Swiss Alps

Tomorrow I have the opportunity to do something I have never done in over 25 years of coaching, watch a game from the stands of a team I am coaching. Yes, I have the ignominious distinction of being suspended for one game by the Swiss Football Federation after being ejected from last weeks game. Many of you are probably saying, it's about time . . . especially my friends who have refereed games that I have coached. I admit I can be more than passionate on the sidelines and protective of my players.

The Universal Sign!

Last weekend was no different.Against the Winterthur Warriors one of my players was ejected after being hit after the whistle standing near the pile and as he backed up slapped the opposing player on the face mask to push him back and create space. Both players recovered and patted each other on the back realizing that both incidents were not intentional or in anger. As they were walking away the official behind them threw his flag and then the head official motioned that our player had been kicked out of the game. I heard later that both players were ejected but I am still not sure of that fact as I never got an explanation. I do know that between the junior game before ours and our game this official ejected 5 people for sure and if the Warrior player was also ejected that would make 6. I am sure that must be an American football record regardless of which number you use.
In my case I walked onto the field to try to get the Head officials attention and asked him to come and explain why my player had been ejected. In the USA this is common protocol. If there is a controversial call or an ejection the officials will come to the sideline to explain to the coaches what is going on thereby alleviating the inevitable yelling from the coaches for an explanation. In Europe that is not the case. In fact here in Switzerland the head of officials has reportedly instructed his charges that they are" gods with stripes on!"

Discussing strategy with  Graham

Well my god on the field that day threw a flag on me for being on the field. I accepted that and told him, "Ok so you have had your fun and thrown the flag, now would you please come and talk to me, that's all I am asking!" At this point he gave me the big thumb and ejected me from the game. In all honesty I had not used a swear word during the altercation nor denigrated his mother in any way, I simply asked for an opportunity to know what they had seen that I hadn't that warranted an ejection of my player. As coaches sometimes we need to know these things so that I can discipline a player. In fact just moments before I had benched one of our players who had been too mouthy and was threatened by the officials. So it is not always my defending my players, I know they do and say dumb things at times but I need to know that and that is where as a coach I want to be able to work with the officials.

In the hail at Winterthur

However, when the official will not work with me then I become pissy! When they act like the game is about them I become furious. When this God with stripes on ejected me the gloves were off and I admit freely that I used every word in my vocabulary in multiple languages to express my displeasure with him as I left the field.
I am not proud of that and understand that it is a flaw in my character that allows me to become so immersed in a game that I lose my temper. As a Christian coach and someone who talks of character building to his players it is my Achilles tendon, my weakness. I feel so horrible after the encounter and  it affects me for days later. I feel like a total failure and a fraud. It is hard even now to write about this here a week later, but unfortunately it is part of my coaching persona that I need to continually work on and harness. I have to ask forgiveness from God, my fellow coaches and my players and I usually try to apologize to the officials as well.

Gladiators on D

Reflecting on it this week, I have had many reactions internally. One is understanding that I am not the only coach who experiences this phenomenon and I dare say I am not the worst I have been around either. I have been on the sidelines when coaches have berated the officials so badly that if they were a wall the paint would have melted off. I also realized that this reaction is not with every official, there are some I really enjoy working with and have great respect for, even if they do throw the occasional flag on me for getting out of order . . . you know who you are! LOL! I also realized how different things are here in Europe in regards to officials and coaches.
For those of you who have not had the opportunity to see an American football game here across the pond I will try to elaborate on some of those differences. Please understand though that each official is unique and there are some I have run across in the US who may feel more at home in Europe.

Biel Jets vs. Basel Gladiators coin flip

The first thing to understand is that in the US there is continual interaction between coaches and officials during the game incuding joking, banter, and at times heated discussions. Officials there understand that they are there to not be noticed. Their responsibility is to make sure the game is played safely and that it is played fairly. The reality that everyone realizes is that, even at the NFL level, if they wanted to referees could probably call a penalty on every play, but that would be counterproductive to the game and the experience for the fans and players. So it is understood that infractions are called to keep the game under control and if a foul impacts the outcome of the play. For instance if an o-lineman holds slightly on the opposite side of the field on a player who will never make a play on the ball carrier it is best to let it go unless it endangered that players health.  Conversely if the holding occurred at the point of attack it clearly has an impact on the defensive players ability to make a play and needs to be called.

Gladiators Purple Haze D

Here in Europe, things are different. Because of the influence of soccer on the mentality here the referee  is viewed as god, all knowing, all seeing, and all powerful. Managers and coaches must be seen on the sidelines but not heard from as good obedient children. Above all they must never question an officials decision because that would be tantamount to heresy. After all who are we to question the ruling of god, even if we know the rules better . . . oops did I say that? Watch out for the lightning strike!

Love officials who will talk. 

The problem is that officials don't understand that what they see needs to be communicated to the sidelines for our digestion and use in correction of players. When officials take the time to come over and explain something briefly it is much easier to deal with. I can understand what they saw and perceive as the penalty. I may not agree all of the time but their attempt to treat me as a human being and not just a pawn in their game makes a difference. We have a saying back home, "if you want respect you must give it!" The officials here demand respect but seem unwilling to give any back.

Wondering what the call was?

The other quirk of American football in Europe is that the officials, being gods, seem to think that the fans come to see them throw yellow laundry on the field and that part of their duty is to make sure that games are even. I have no other explanation for the fact that the best teams in Europe are usually the most penalized. In Finland the top four teams are always the ones with the highest penalty yardage, that is a rarity in the sport in the US. When there are over 200 yards of penalties on a winning team, which occurs regularly, something strange is happening.  This draws out games, negates exciting plays and in general confuses and turns off the fans. I have heard more than one coach in Europe comment that the thing holding back the game from a popularity perspective is the referees and their propensity for throwing flags.  Our referees last week found a solution to that however as they just shortened the game on their own volition after flagging us for over 200 yards.

At exactly two hours after the game started they blew the final whistle and since they did not allow the time to be displayed on the scoreboard but kept it on the field they were able to do so. Each team had only 37 offensive plays for the game, whereas we are usually running 56-60 plays per game. My best guess is that they had an important barbeque to get to and being gods could determine what was best for the game. Unfortunately, we were trying to get young players into the game for experience and they got shortchanged, but I guess that is better for the game, right? Who am I to question? Well at the time I couldn't anyway because I was already watching from the stands . . . where I will be again this week as our team faces the #2 ranked team in Europe, the Calanda Broncos. Pass the popcorn so I can watch the yellow hankies!

Enjoy the view from the stands coach!