This brought to mind an incident I witnessed during a Vanderbilt at BC game back in mid February 2020:TNLAX wrote: ↑Thu Dec 02, 2021 12:54 pm I don't want to comment on any teams play, but what I have noticed for years is that some officials allow for rougher play than others. Not going to say it's good or bad, but I tend to favor protecting the athletes from serious injuries. I prefer a game that is called "tight" rather than "lose". A lot of folks would say that to many whistles ruin a game, but I think a player who is injured due to an illegal hit because refs are "letting them play" ruins the game. My two cents for the day.
I was at the game today... #1 Gabby Fornia for Vandy is 5' 3" tops. (The Vandy website doesn't list player height.) BC's Rietano is listed as 5' 7" on the website. Regardless of what their stats are listed as, Rietano was impressively bigger and taller. I was standing behind the goal when Fornia got the ball just behind goal line extended. Rietano cranked her with a couple of forceful cross checks, complete with what sounded like irritated grunts, pushing Gabby back 3 feet easily with the impact. Ref standing right there watching--didn't bat an eye. When I saw the force Rietano used and the impact it had on Fornia, I said in an indignant voice loud enough for both the players and ref who was nearby to hear, "Cross check! " (It just came out of me. I don't usually raise my voice at games.) I felt bad for Fornia. Given the disparity in size, how was she supposed to defend herself against that?
Here's how close one can stand to the action in the friendly confines of BC's lacrosse field on one end. I was standing near/behind the ACCN sign at the time. Happened right in front of me. From this picture, the positioning of Fornia and Rietano was what is displayed here (even though the BC defender pictured here is #14 Jillian Reilly.) That's almost exactly where they were when the uncarded fouls occurred.
to which njbill responded with:
Sometimes players do their own policing if their personality is such. Another game I was standing in that usual spot when the Eagles were hosting Dartmouth in 2019. Apuzzo had the ball behind goal line extended on the other side of the goal. A Green defender was getting too reckless with her stickwork on Sam and she burst out with, "What the F*CK !!" and then immediately afterward, in a gentler apologetic voice, "Sorry."
All to say--I'm in agreement with Tennessee; I would appreciate it if the games were called tighter.