I...can't.....even......Houston Dynamo 0:1 Seattle Sounders

So, there's not to say about this one, so this will be probably the shortest post ever.  Last night was a game soo ridiculous, I.....just....can't....even.  It was 90 minutes of "Ugh", "WHAT?" "How in the world!" and "ARE YOU KIDDING ME??".  In the end, it was the Dynamo's first home loss of the season as well as Seattle being the first team to find the back of the net against a 9-man side with Head Referee Rubiel Vazquez playing steadily at their side.  To quote Krystopher Scroggins from Dynamo Faithful Podcast: "The story of this game was much like Galveston Bay.  You know...it's a distinctive Houston feature, but it just kinda stinks."

The Refereeing:

I really don't like complaining about officiating or blaming losses on Refs. In his post-game press conference, Ben Olsen said "I don't think it was his best night", but it's not the first time something like this has happened with Head Referee Rubiel Vazquez at the helm.  Remember the game last year against the Sounders (May 18th -> 1-0 Sounders win) when Coco got a soft yellow in the first 10 minutes of the game, then got a second soft yellow in the first ten minutes of the second half while the Dynamo were chasing a goal?  I'll give you a guess who was the head Referee in that game. Before either Vasquez ever read for his back pocket the first 18 minutes of the game was completely dominated by whistles and was unbearably choppy. 

I have no real problem with the Bassi red-card.  There was obviously no intent behind it by Amine, and it happened so fast that Vasquez didn't even catch it in real-time.  You can even see Nicolas Lodeiro sitting on the ground and saying "You're gonna look at it right? Are you gonna look at it?" and Vasquez shaking his head "no" right after it happened. Then you see his facial expression change as the call comes down, and him going to the screen.  If you really want to know if it was a red, check out Bassi's facial expression when Vasquez communicates that he's going to the screen.  Bassi knew it was the end of his night the second it went to V.A.R.  Just two guys going after the ball, and a poorly placed cleat by Bassi, but definitely not a malicious act.  The second red that put the Dynamo to 9 men?  That was a call that was given because HH had spent a little too much time arguing with the ref.  That's never a yellow, not even if he was sitting on one.  This is what it took for the Fortress of Solitude to be broken into.  Rubiel Vasquez found the enormous golden arrow leading to the door, which also happened to be the key, and sneaky Nicolas Lodeiro found his way in.  It wasn't just that we got two reds, and that one of them was ridiculously weak, it's the amount of stuff that Vasquez let go to begin with.  If you think about it, if VAR hadn't called down, Bassi wouldn't have even gotten a foul called against him.  Go from not calling a clear red, to calling a second yellow on HH (also a phantom call at midfield in the 40th minute), to calling NOTHING against a guy grabbing Corey Baird by the face and dragging him down and it was just an inconsistent mess of a performance, and it honestly cost the Dynamo points.  There are soo many things about this league and its structure that needs to improve for the United States to make a jump to a top Soccer destination World-Wide.  Adding to that consistent low level of officiating year after year, AND that those refs continue to make appearances year after year.  There needs to be major change in the way MLS holds referees accountable, trains referees, and promotes referees.  If they put together a system training referees the with the same fire that they put towards developing players, we could see some of these referees out of here and replaced by a better level of officiating.  Don Garber recently said that the USOC wasn't the level of product that MLS wanted, but at least the officiating didn't overshadow the game.  This is something that's killing his league, he needs to act on it.

Winning Ugly is fun, not winning makes it hard to watch.

Credit to Ben Olsen, this team defends like it means it.  This team represents all the clichés that you hear coaches and pundits speak.  They fight for the badge, they give 110%, and the have turned their home into a fortress.  But I'm not going to sit here and say it's pretty.  It's not.  In fact, at times this attack is a large dose of UGLY with a pinch of some decent attacking soccer.  Spending large chunks of time sitting in a low block of 4 and barely getting the ball across midfield?  It's not exactly Must-See-TV.  It's not even the WB.  It's basically a two-hour block of Bob Ross and Mr. Rogers on PBS.  I give them full credit, they played to the final whistle, but being two men down and against fresh legs was too much for them to handle on this night.  

I'm mad, I'm watching this game for a second time and I just...can't....even.   So, on this one, I'm done.  

Thanks again for reading,

Remember to always #HoldItDown and stay #ForeverOrange.

Brian