Bad calls, or just the way it crumbles, matchwise?

University of Oklahoma football fans in my state are in a tizzy over the Sooners' 1-point loss to the Oregon Ducks on Saturday. Yes, I know, I'd be pretty pissed off if I lost a game to waterfowl as well, but it beats losing to a drink mixer, I suppose. Anyway, practically the whole state is screaming Robbed Robbed Robbed over bad officiating that led to the controversial win. Now some of the officials who made the bad calls are getting one-game suspensions and OU is calling for the game to be stricken from the books for both teams.

As a soccer fan, I'm basically sitting back thinking, "Good luck with that." In my experience, it seems that it's never the team vs. team in any given game, but it's usually the teams and fans vs. the officials. We're always kvetching away at them. Are you blind? we cry, that was/wasn't a red/yellow card offense, that was/wasn't a foul, that was/wasn't worth a PK, and heaven's above, they were/weren't offsides! And yet, if the ref didn't see it, or conversely, if that's the way he thought he saw it, then that's the way it goes down, no matter what the instant replay says. Complain all you want, and that'll get ya booked. I wonder, though, how many suspensions of officials of this type, if any, have been served up in MLS or USMNT history? I recall that there were many complaints after the US/Italy game in July for the sheer number of bookings the US took, with some comment that the official who handed them out might not officiate again. So what's the score with that? And, do you have an opinion on the OU/Ducks results?

And thanks to the anonymous comment on my last post, I'm inspired to begin a Beckham Watch. Just when do we think Becks will grace MLS with his presence? The clock seems to be ticking. I still don't see him here anytime soon, not next season at least.

And I DID get to see the Chicago-DC game on Sunday on ESPN, and don't you love how this game isn't called on account of rain? Manly men, that's what they are. I was surely disappointed with the results on both sides -- didn't seem like anything could get started -- but it was nice to see it on my TV, which I haven't been able to do since June.