Real Salt Lake Falls 2-1 to Houston on Penalty Kicks
By: Rocky Cole | April 2nd, 2010
Mr. Bill - Famous Actor From Saturday Night Live
I remember watching classic Saturday Night Live when I was back in high school. It was the John Belushi and Chevy Chase era. (Yes, I know this dates me.) One of the recurring skits had the claymation character of “Mister Bill” constantly getting squashed by “Mister Hand”. Bill would be happily going about his business and out of nowhere Mister Hand would show up and Bill would squeal, “Oh Nooooo!!!!” -then squash. Of course, the next week Mister Bill would be back to normal and going happily about his life.
This memory of Mister Bill comes to mind today because last night I kind of felt as if Jamison Olave was Mister Bill and the referee was Mister Hand. Olave, playing the aggressive style that he usually does, picked up two penalties in the box within the early minutes of the second period. Both penalties occurred within a three minute span and both resulted in Brad Davis scores. Nick Rimando picked the correct side on both PKs, but Davis’s style of taking kicks is to blast them past the keeper. Rimando had no real chance of making the stop.
Jamison Olave
I think that it was “Oh No, Mister Olave!” Both “alleged” penalties were iffy the way that I saw them. After looking at them several times I still think that, but you know what, stuff happens in soccer. It is just a shame that marginal calls can effect the outcome of a match but it will happen now and then. For the most part the refs get it right, but then there are those other times.
Now as I write this, I realize that there are lots of Houston fans that will see what happened in that game a different way. No problem. Things even out. Even though Real Salt Lake lost the game on two penalty kicks does not negate the fact that RSL dominated play in the first half and most of the second half. That is a great indicator of the team’s character and potential this year.
So don’t feel bad Mister Olave. Rest this week and get “un-squished” and get back out on the pitch and do your job the way you’ve always done it. Things will even out.
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Comments
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The problem is he does this all the time. He has a habit of making terrible mental mistakes that cost the game. Yes, the calls where definitely questionable, but why in the world is he slide tackling in that circumstance? Even if the call isn’t made it is a bad defensive decision.
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Lets call it like it is. First off why does Jason feel obligated to mess with a good lineup everytime he is on the damn road. Quit screwing with things. Second off, given the lineup, we had no holding midfield. the score should have been 4 nil, our back was open all night. Third, Olave needs to be told to stay on his feet, quit these silly tackles and build some confidence on his feet. This has become a routine, every time Olave marks up I hold my breath that he won’t get a card. He is a liability at this point. Jason needs to pull his head out and quit thinking he is creative by tweaking the lineup. Ridiculous.
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Good points, but before we get too harsh on Olave, take a look at Michael Lewis’s article on the calls that is linked on my wrap up of the game at http://www.soccerhype.com. Olave definitely has a track record and maybe that makes him a card target, especially in the area. His other option would have been McKenzie, I suppose. He played okay in San Jose, but I’ve not seen him enough. As far as being outplayed last night, we’ll have to disagree on that one. I think Beckerman controlled the midfield and the pace of play. I was wondering why he kept Findley out too at the start. I figure it was because he was banged up from the SJ opener, but then why bring him in at all? Stay tuned for next week’s lineup, I suppose.
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