Kari Seitz Should be Fired!

I don't care how much "experience" she has. In the biggest game of the year, the first year of the league no less, just 19 minutes into the game she pulls out a red card -- not even a yellow... -- and ejects the home team's central defender, not even giving her the benefit of the doubt... which she should have since replays show it was a bad call. A bad call that changed the entire game and awarded Sky Blue an illegitimate, tainted championship, and which literally ruined the entire inaugural season of what was looking like a great league. It now looks like amateur hour because of one official's zealous, bad call. Worse, she overlooked repeated handling violations by Branam -- I sat in full view and saw Branam repeatedly handle the ball outside the box -- as well as an O'Reilly tackle from behind on Miyama that would have been a card AND a PK in any other game.

Seitz is a disgrace. She showed unfathomably bad judgment. Fans should let WPS officials knows that they will not be back next year if Seitz has anything to do with officiating in this league.

Almost as bad and illegitimizing was the decision by WPS officials to overlap their playoffs with the European Cup. With the absence of Bompastor, Aluko and Abilly, Sky Blue have proven nothing but their ability to beat teams with one hand tied behind their backs -- and in the case of the Sol, after the red card -- both hands tied behind their back.

What a disgrace. Fix this mess, WPS. You blew it this year.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by bandit02 on August 22, 2009 at 9:52pm: 100% Agree.

Seitz was an embarrassment not just to the WPS, but to soccer. In a fledgling league, she turned many people, including me, off to what otherwise was a terrific start. She showed incredibly poor judgment throughout and should never be allowed to officiate a playoff game again. I was also at the game, and Wade Major is completely correct on his observations.

Sky Blue deserved to win, and I'm very happy for them. But this victory is tainted by the ridiculous, unfair, and, honestly, apparently corrupt officiating that completely took the Sol out of the game for most of the remainder. I was planning on buying season tickets next year, but now I'm not so sure. If Seitz is not reprimanded or fired, I'm done with this charade. I'll simply watch college soccer.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Kelly Hirsutis on August 22, 2009 at 10:10pm: It is not a judgement call. Falk tripped her, and as the last defender, a Red Card had to be shown. Ref had no choice.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Wade Major on August 22, 2009 at 11:33pm: Watch the replays. It was not a trip. Falk didn't touch her. Their heels clacked - it was incidental contact. It happens all the time. It's just that most players don't fall down like Kai does. She's always falling, and usually because she's so kamikaze she loses her balance. It's her own damn fault. The ref has surely seen her play enough to know this. And Falk was not the last defender - Cox had passed them laterally to the rear. I was directly lateral with them at the sideline. It was clear. But the ref's assistant on that side of the field was also a screaming idiot. She was never lateral with the ball and was always looking downfield whenever Branam handled the ball outside the box, missing fouls and off-side calls repeatedly. It was a fiasco. The ref did have a choice. The ref always has a choice. You simply don't do it. Especially in a championship game. On the other hand, "tackling from behind" is supposed to be a mandatory yellow, but when O'Reilly barreled into Miyama FROM BEHIND and IN THE BOX... no card? No PK? Sorry, Seitz used her discretion in both cases -- badly. And wrongly. She screwed up. She's toast. She must not be permitted to return to this league. She singlehandedly destroyed what others worked hard to build up. And she ruined a championship game for thousands of paying fans. She's a disgrace.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by JR Salazar on August 23, 2009 at 5:07am: Hello, I venture into the blogs with Sky Blue faithful agreeing that as per the rules, Falk had to be sent off because she was the last defender and she prevented the scoring opportunity, and now on the forums, I have people saying that this was the worst time for Seitz to destroy the match,

I do agree that Seitz did not have a good game, but it's not because of the red card (Falk was going to have that coming her way), but for the other infractions committed by Sky Blue FC's players that she chose to overlook. That's what I'm not happy about. I have to wonder if Tonya's message of "the quality of officiating is improving" is mere lip service meant to give us false hope that it is improving.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Milan on August 23, 2009 at 9:40am: This ref should not be in the middle of any more games involving WPS. That was a yellow at worst. And I agree that LA Sol should have had a penalty kick.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by bandit02 on August 23, 2009 at 10:44am: No, the ref always has a choice. Unless the ref is absolutely sure that the Falk either hit Kai with her elbow (which the replays showed conclusively did not happen) or intentionally tripped her when Kai had a clear path to the goal (which is arguable at best), there should not be a game-changing red card given. Red cards are game-changers and game-ruiners. There must be a blatant intentional penalty to give one. Seitz used poor judgment and it ruined the game and the season in many respects. Sky Blue's play did not give them this victory; the ref's poor judgment did.

Seitz has been terrible in every game I have seen her in. The other two playoff games were officiated much better. She's a disgrace and needs to be fired.

Kelly Hirsutis said:
It is not a judgement call. Falk tripped her, and as the last defender, a Red Card had to be shown. Ref had no choice.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Milan on August 23, 2009 at 2:58pm: I agree with bandit02. Seitz did not have to give that red. There was no intent to by Faulk to hit Kai in the head, at all. Faulk was just running and Kai tripped over her basically and even acted a little.
You better be sure about a red card in this type of game. Everything players have worked for for the entire season can be wiped out by one referee call. She made a bad call. Period. And ruined the whole season. Like I said I'm not for or against either team, I just want the game to be fair and not slanted to one team or another.
SBFC won with an unfair advantage.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rhonda Krafchin on August 23, 2009 at 3:52pm: I was obviously watching a different match than you. Regarding the Red card: I watched that replay a good dozen times from different views and it was clear that Falk lifted her arm, (her elbow was above her shoulder), put it into Kai's back and shoved. There was clear contact on the upper body. I hate to see a Red card in an important game like that, but the rules state that if the last defender interferes with a goal-scoring chance like that, automatic Red. Seitz did not have a choice! No, there is not always wiggle room when something is blatant. I do think it's a bad rule; I wish they would instead have a yellow and a PK like they do in hockey. It allows the offensive team the opportunity that was missed by a dirty play, but does not penalize one team for the entire game.

As for O'Reilly's tackle on Miyama, O'Reilly clearly got the ball first. That is a legal tackle. She did not go for Miyama's legs. This play oddly enough reminded me of the PK that Sol got in their final game against the Breakers when Alex Scott and Marta went hard for the ball in the box. Marta banged off Scott's rock-solid body and they both went down. In the 90th minute, the ref called a PK on Marta falling over her own feet.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Wade Major on August 23, 2009 at 4:30pm: I repeat... no matter how many times you watched it and think you know what you saw, the professional analysts have concluded that there was NO SHOVE. Falk's elbow did not make any contact with Kai. Falk is SIX FEET TALL. She was trying to keep her big lanky body free of Kai while marking her tightly. You can see clearly it's the contact at their feet -- the only contact -- that caused Kai, who is notoriously imbalanced, to fall. And she was NOT the last defender. Cox was the last lateral defender at the moment the alleged foul occurred, a point which the linesman/woman should have seen and communicated to Seitz, whose back was to Cox. But because the woman at the sideline was watching birds or something, she also missed it. And as to the O'Reilly tackle -- getting the ball first is irrelevant. She tackled from behind. FIFA rules -- the same ones you're so rigid on about the red card -- indicate "ANY TACKLE FROM BEHIND" is an automatic yellow card. Even if you're playing the ball. You are FORBIDDEN from tackling from behind, EVEN IF YOU ARE PLAYING THE BALL. Got it? Seitz blew it. End of story.

Rhonda Krafchin said:
I was obviously watching a different match than you. Regarding the Red card: I watched that replay a good dozen times from different views and it was clear that Falk lifted her arm, (her elbow was above her shoulder), put it into Kai's back and shoved. There was clear contact on the upper body. I hate to see a Red card in an important game like that, but the rules state that if the last defender interferes with a goal-scoring chance like that, automatic Red. Seitz did not have a choice! No, there is not always wiggle room when something is blatant. I do think it's a bad rule; I wish they would instead have a yellow and a PK like they do in hockey. It allows the offensive team the opportunity that was missed by a dirty play, but does not penalize one team for the entire game.

As for O'Reilly's tackle on Miyama, O'Reilly clearly got the ball first. That is a legal tackle. She did not go for Miyama's legs. This play oddly enough reminded me of the PK that Sol got in their final game against the Breakers when Alex Scott and Marta went hard for the ball in the box. Marta banged off Scott's rock-solid body and they both went down. In the 90th minute, the ref called a PK on Marta falling over her own feet.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mike Doban on August 23, 2009 at 5:04pm: Yes, Rhonda, you were watching a different match. Seitz botched the foul on O'Reilly, and the red card call on Falk was the action of a novice official unable to think through the situation. It was early in a championship game and the foul was not as blatent as you insist it was. Seitz is a weak official, and she set back the WPS immeasurably in terms of legitimacy.

Wade Major said:
I repeat... no matter how many times you watched it and think you know what you saw, the professional analysts have concluded that there was NO SHOVE. Falk's elbow did not make any contact with Kai. Falk is SIX FEET TALL. She was trying to keep her big lanky body free of Kai while marking her tightly. You can see clearly it's the contact at their feet -- the only contact -- that caused Kai, who is notoriously imbalanced, to fall. And she was NOT the last defender. Cox was the last lateral defender at the moment the alleged foul occurred, a point which the linesman/woman should have seen and communicated to Seitz, whose back was to Cox. But because the woman at the sideline was watching birds or something, she also missed it. And as to the O'Reilly tackle -- getting the ball first is irrelevant. She tackled from behind. FIFA rules -- the same ones you're so rigid on about the red card -- indicate "ANY TACKLE FROM BEHIND" is an automatic yellow card. Even if you're playing the ball. You are FORBIDDEN from tackling from behind, EVEN IF YOU ARE PLAYING THE BALL. Got it? Seitz blew it. End of story.

Rhonda Krafchin said:
I was obviously watching a different match than you. Regarding the Red card: I watched that replay a good dozen times from different views and it was clear that Falk lifted her arm, (her elbow was above her shoulder), put it into Kai's back and shoved. There was clear contact on the upper body. I hate to see a Red card in an important game like that, but the rules state that if the last defender interferes with a goal-scoring chance like that, automatic Red. Seitz did not have a choice! No, there is not always wiggle room when something is blatant. I do think it's a bad rule; I wish they would instead have a yellow and a PK like they do in hockey. It allows the offensive team the opportunity that was missed by a dirty play, but does not penalize one team for the entire game.

As for O'Reilly's tackle on Miyama, O'Reilly clearly got the ball first. That is a legal tackle. She did not go for Miyama's legs. This play oddly enough reminded me of the PK that Sol got in their final game against the Breakers when Alex Scott and Marta went hard for the ball in the box. Marta banged off Scott's rock-solid body and they both went down. In the 90th minute, the ref called a PK on Marta falling over her own feet.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Wade Major on August 23, 2009 at 5:42pm: Nobody can judge that the outcome would or wouldn't have been different. Red cards completely change games. They ruin games. In a championship of any sport, you give the players the benefit of the doubt to get out their butterflies and typically hold your cards for repeated and flagrant violations. And did you watch the game? Let's go with your definition: "Only if the tackler endangers the defendee..." Did you not see Miyama get completely airborne and nearly land on her neck? It was the single most dangerous rear slide-tackle I've seen all season. I adore O'Reilly as a player most of the time, but that was a much more dangerous and desperate foul than anything the ref could have perceived on Falk's part. Tackles like that can cause players to break their necks. It's why they're forbidden.

Katy Jones said:
I've had a quick flick through the FIFA handbook and I can't find anything referencing all behing tackles will earn a card. Only if the tackler endangers the defendee does it become cautionable. Can you point to a reference? I was using this link http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/federation/81/42/36/la...

You seem quite a pissed Sol fan. A lot of the concensus was that regardless of the sending off and lack of a card for HAO the outcome still wouldn't be different.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Katy Jones on August 23, 2009 at 5:59pm: I think you over-exaggerate this somewhat. You make it sound like she's was about to fly into orbit. It's not like HAO went in with studs up deliberately to take out the legs of Miyama. She did get to the ball first and I didn't think it looked all that dangerous, no more so than other legal tackles I have seen and been on the receiving end of! Maybe the definition of dangerous is entirely subjective in which case the decision lies with the ref.; ▶ Reply to This