New Zealand - Pants!

johncoxon 10
keely 7
bigmick 7
Snoody 6
John 6
foozbear 5
Goalie64 5
majwalrus 5
controller 4
Rutter 4

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[keely]

Honestly, and all facetiousness aside, I don't see why it's ok to be rude about technical officials but not umpires. It's part of the same attitude, "us vs. them", and how "they" are so terrible, that you hear from some players and coaches regarding umpires. Umpires and technical officials are part of the same team. We work closely together at international events particularly to provide the competitors a level playing field.

There are a few abuses as with any area of our sport. There are people who make mistakes. However, overwhelmingly, technical officials work very hard to do their best for even far less reward than umpires. They are graded on their performances and promoted and demoted on the basis of their grades and the reports authored by the TD.

I haven't umpired a single penalty stroke competition since the Ireland v Lithuania debacle where the order of stroke takers for the second round hasn't been mentioned. A terrible lesson learned.

otss, you said outright that the "Blazer Brigade" (a thoroughly derogatory term) "don't know the rules when it comes to important tings [sic] like PS comp's (ref previous WC qualifiers involving Ireland) but great on the pedantic stuff", and implied that their presence at tournaments is no more than an extravagant boondoogle. I believe that's completely unfair and have no problem in pointing that out to forum members taking pot shots while posting under pseudonyms.

Honestly, would you say what you did to redumpire's face knowing that he's an FIH technical official?

Think about it.

[otss]

I have been to a great many international tournaments and I still struggle to see why the vast majority of TD's , delegates etc are necessary. Are you saying that in all your time going to FIH tournaments you don't believe that their are people who are just riding the gravey train. Yes of course there are very hard working TD's who are doing it for the love of the sport and make great sacrifices but there are others who don't.  I struggle with those just the same as I struggle with umpires who like giving out cards and are pedantic.  Thats my opinion, I'm not goign to change that though acknowledge that they are sweeping statements and may upset others.

To suspend a manager from the sidleines for an important game with the circumstances and back ground of uniform changes is still wrong and unnescessary in my opinion.

[justin]

Correct me if I am wrong, keely (as if you need to be told ), but I assume that all the TDs are well-qualified umpires, with (fairly) recent international experience?
Hardly the 'old duffers' we used to see around a lot whose international experience was from the days when Pontius was a pilot
(Although, in such a large comp, a few 'gravy-trainers' will always sneak-through!)

As has been said, cock-ups do, inevitably, happen...especially in a tournament which is held so infrequently , and never twice in the same location. And occasionally an 'official' loses his/her 'sense of proportion'.

But, even at the Olympics, it's still only a game

BTW, it was in NZ, in the 70s, where I was, for the first and only time, given a bollocking for turning-up to iumpire 'improperly-dressed'  (IIRC....and I probably don't... umpires were, in those days, expected to wear all-white....as a new arrival from Pom-land I was unaware of this!)....it's Karmic Law!

[Wassie]

Anyone ever see that movie "Heartbreak Ridge". Remember what happened each day when the recruits rolled up in a shirt not the same as Clint Eastwood? NZ should know the rules and come prepared. This is the most important competition on the field hockey calendar not a hit in the park. What happens if you turn up to play at Wimbledon wearing other than white?

[animal]

Couldn't agree more with both Keeley and OTSS (?) TD's as a group do an increadable job in the most trying of circumstances and, at the hights that I would ascend to if I could, I'm sure there are a few that are pedantic old sods who shouldn't be there. Hockey may be just a game at any level but nationalism does contribute to the percieved importance of minor decisions that may have a major outcome. perhaps old TD's need to learn to take a step back and think about what is happenning instead of being rushed into decisions that they may well regret later. Thinking about it, maybe that is what we should all be doing!!!

ANIMAL

[ausdrexler]

I know dumb decisions get made, these people are after all only human. Still makes you wonder sometiems the logic behind some decisions, but at the end of the day the players and teams know the rules and conditions going in, so cant really complain when the Td makes a decision absed on the facts presented.

[braxer001]

Keely - Chill out - i'm talking about TD's and the Blazer brigade not umpires

I don't think this is a better approach otss 

[Su*x]

stop winding keely up!
 

our club has decided that if people want to wear skins under their t-shirts because of the cold that the skins must be the same colour as their outer t shirt!
so when we're playing in blue must wear blue skins, and when in white, must wear white skins...
seemed daft to me (and i am on the management committee!)
but some of the older management said it would look unprofessional to not have matching colours...

defo bureocracy gone mad at our colour!
you would think they would prefer to have players who are warm and not getting hypothermia, than matching clothes?

[braxer001]

The Federation here has a similar rule. Almost all shirts these days are short sleeved, so when - during winter - you wear longsleeved ones under the regular shirt, the sleeves have to be the same colour.

[The Doctor]

Ken Read, the TD in question in this situation is incidentally an experienced barrister and QC in Hobart, Australia (and a former international GK, having played in the net for Australia at the very first champions trophy).  Although he would be the first person to admit he enjoys being involved in the international tournaments, I can promise you that if he wanted a "gravy train", he'd be much better off staying at home and doing his normal job.  No TD would make such a decision lightly knowing full well ramifications of it.  However....

To me, the situation here is clear:
1) This is the premier hockey competition in the world
2) All umpires, ball boys  and most importantly players are expected to be professional
3) There are rules to govern this, including uniforms
4) If there are no punishments when the rules are broken, there is no point having the rules
5) The team broke the rule, were warned, broke the rule again, were punished.  Yes, they may not have had time to change the uniform, but given that this wasn't stated in the defence (they stated that he didn't have alternative colour undershorts to wear) I doubt whether that was really the issue.  
6) The punishment was mild.  When this kind of thing happens in some sports the teams get fined thousands of dollars

I don't think the same standard should necessarily apply to club competitions as the Olympics!  Incidentally, I can confirm that the TD in question wears skins under his shorts when he plays, but then, his club wears black shorts, so I guess that would be ok.  I can also promise you that he will be getting a lot of jokes about this for the next four years or so from his team mates....

[philthy]

Rules is rules folks

It's like school uniform rules - they tell you tuck your shirt in, you don't tuck it in, you get caught again, you get detention! (or i did anyway!) Seems an over-reaction to something petty... but rules is rules!

[The Doctor]

And then the Germans did it too!  Actually his decision in the german case was quite funny, to paraphrase "I don't understand why you people can't follow simple instructions, if you keep doing this clearly I'm going to have to just beat some sense into you..."

[redumpire]

Honestly, would you say what you did to redumpire's face knowing that he's an FIH technical official?

You've promoted me there K:  I'm on the EHF technical list, not the FIH one; but thanks for fighting my corner while I was away.

otss, next time I've given up four or five days of my annual leave (that I could have spent with my family), paid a share of my transportation costs, and endured sharing a room in a budget hotel in the industrial outskirts of an Eastern European town with a complete stranger (who snores like a b*stard thus limiting me to no more than 3 or 4 hours sleep on any given night), so that I can play my part in helping 8 hockey teams benefit from a well-organised, well-run tournament, I'll be sure to remember that I'm "swanning around at your expense", "staying in a flash hotel", and that I "don't know the rules", despite 20 years of umpiring, 14 at English National League level and eventual promotion to the FIH Indoor panel.  Please be careful with sweeping generalisations.  They're often inaccurate.

Doctor, great posts.  Thank you.

[Grumpy]

I actually took  a team to a European tournament. We followed all the rules and phoned to check with the TD the colours that we and the opposition had to play in.
Opposition turned up in a different colour, said the one that they had asked to play in was still wet.
My team was told to change. I and my manager had ensured the kit was washed and dried over night, and both teams stayed in the same hotel.

I had to send one of the bench in a taxi to get our change kit. He arrived late and we got fined.
Rules are rules but only applied to the small nations, and that has been my experience.
It was asad episode but will never be forgotten by all involved.

The official in charge was rude and offensive, i have never trusted an official at an European tournament since.
We always now bring two full change kits.

[redumpire]

i have never trusted an official at an European tournament since.

Well I hope that I'll be able to gain your trust if we're ever at a tournament together Grumpy.