Word: ref
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...Those were the events surrounding the Portuguese team after their Euro 2000 semifinal defeat at the hands of France. They gave us a graphic replay during their 0-1 loss to Korea at Inchon last week. After Argentine ref Angel Sanchez sent off forward Joao Pinto in the first half, he was set upon by Portuguese players, including their captain Fernando Couto. Sanchez says he was punched in the stomach by Pinto. The TV cameras missed it in the melee, but FIFA has its own more conclusive video of the incident...
...There should, for instance, be a system of fines and other penalties for losing coaches who accuse referees of incompetence, or worse. The most egregious example of this sort of scapegoating came last week, when Italy's Giovanni Trapattoni blamed Ecuadorean ref Byron Moreno for the Azzuri's inglorious defeat by South Korea. In addition to questioning Moreno's professional abilities, Trapattoni suggested obliquely that the official was ordered by FIFA to ensure a Korean victory so that one of the two host nations would remain in the tournament...
...Dallas Mavericks has made something of a side career out of taunting game officials, but rather than recoiling from the resulting fines, he thrives on the publicity they bring. Two weeks ago, he was fined a record $500,000 for claiming he wouldn't hire the league's top ref to "manage a Dairy Queen." The expected media miasma followed, and this time Dairy Queen decided to horn in on the action. With mock indignation, the chain invited Cuban to spend a day dishing ice cream to see just how challenging it could be. So last week, surrounded by television...
...league coach) assaulted a nine-year-old player. In 2000, a Staten Island, N.Y., father broke the nose of his 10-year-old's coach with a hockey stick. And it ain't just tes-tosterone: In 1999 a Virginia soccer mom was fined after attacking a referee; the ref was 14. Americans don't generate the headlines Europeans do (HUNDREDS CRUSHED IN SOCCER RIOT!), and given the tens of millions of parents who cheer on their kids, the number of sports-psychosis cases is low. But we can still fret when adults go nuts over what should be only...
...vexed at the violence he saw on the rink that he confronted the man who had volunteered as referee, Michael Costin (6 ft., 156 lbs.), for allowing it. Costin snapped back, "That's hockey." The two men scuffled, and Junta left the arena. He returned and repeatedly whacked the ref, knocking him out, as the children, including Junta's son and three of Costin's, watched in horror. The force of the blows ruptured an artery in Costin's neck, resulting in a severe brain hemorrhage. He fell into a coma and died the next...