Don Garber Can Shove John Spencer’s Suspension/Fine Up His Ass

Major League Soccer had to fine John Spencer (one match, $2000) for his scathing post-match comments about referee Abbey Okulajalast week, but that doesn’t mean they did anything right…not does it mean I have to like it.

I begrudgingly accept that the league has to punish a coach for making heated comments about a referee, that happens in every sport. Instead of trying to resolve the obvious problems though, they are doing nothing other than making speeches at press conferences and blowing smoke up everyone’s ass about how they’ve “told” referees to focus on this and that.

I don’t give a shit how hard it is to referee a professional soccer match, that doesn’t excuse a referee doing a lousy job. Plenty of people work jobs that are hard, but if they screw up they have to fix the problem or lose their job. That’s how the real world works, but sadly, reality doesn’t seem to apply to the USSF referees.

Spencer’s frustration is the first public boiling over of the undoubtedly simmering discontent with the state of officiating in MLS. The referee’s being “trained” and provided by the US Soccer Federation are shit, less than shit and while Don Garber and the rest of MLS stand by and let stars fall victim to season-ending tackles or cost teams points, can we blame a coach for finally losing his cool? Not at all.

I’m honestly surprised it didn’t happen sooner, but John Spencer fiery disposition lends itself to being the first to snap. Go back and listen to what Spencer said, he’s completely 100% correct. Okulaja is an out of shape disgrace that has ruined more than his fair share of MLS matches. If not for Terry Vaughn he’d easily be the worst referee in MLS, but lucky for him, Vaughan is just a little bit more incompetent.

There is a simple fact about USSF referees…they don’t have a fucking clue what they are doing.

Spencer also made the important point that while coaches and players are held accountable for their performance, the referees in MLS are allowed to make game changing mistakes and walk away without having to explain themselves or be held accountable for their actions. How come these officials are never held responsible for any of the blatant fuck-ups they make? If did as many stupid things as these idiots do at my job, I’d of been fired a long time ago.

So why the continued sad state of officiating? Surely it’s not because MLS and USSF don’t care about the quality of officiating, but it sure feels like it. It’s not like this is a bad stretch of matches, this is a systematic problem that has been happening for seasons. Referees like Okulaja, Michael Kennedy, Ricardo Salazar and Vaughn are pathetic excuses for professional officials who week in and week out damage the integrity of the game and are allowed to come back the next week to do it all over again.

John Spencer’s comments shouldn’t surprise anyone and I hope they will not be the last. Since Don Garber seems content to pretend nothing is wrong when fans and the media complain, it might take coaches and players standing up for things to finally change. Sadly, if anyone does stand up we can expect more fines and suspensions while referees continue to go unpunished.

So until Garber and MLS put their foot down and demand the USSF fixes their officiating problem, I have a simple message for Garber about his fine and suspension of John Spencer:

Shove it up your ass.