Every American spectator sport spends more time in stoppages than in actual play. The main business reason for this is for television advertising. And this is also the main reason soccer isn't a successful spectator sport in America.
"All American spectator sports are extremely fine tuned affairs."
Christ, I know. Have you seen the NFL rulebook that changes every year on substantive matters (like the definition of a "completed pass" whether or not you're pushed out of bounds)? It's horribly overcomplicated. The NBA's rules change nearly as much. At some point during the 90's, zone defenses were illegal. And even now, fouls under the basket are ruled based upon what side of a line you're standing on.
"Officiating standards are laughable. There is an unacceptably large amount of variation between referees regarding what is and is not legal play."
Oh, you mean like the strike zone in baseball?
"Offsides should always be "tie goes to the offense". There is no compelling reason to blow extremely close plays dead because the offensive player just might have been offsides by 6 inches. FIFA should issue a "point of emphasis" stating that "ties go to the offense"."
"Ties go to the runner" isn't even a rule in baseball. The offsides rule is one of the better governed parts of the game, there being a dedicated linesman and all. It's extremely rare to see an offsides call be wrong.
"There needs to be more than one referee."
I would not be opposed to having a fifth video referee.
"Referees should train as groups and speak a common language. This is even more important for an international world championship event. This is just common sense."
As I recall, World Cup referees are all required to speak English.
"Referees should be required to make distinguishing hand signals for each call. This would greatly aid the players, the fans, and the commentators in determining exactly what the ruling was."
I've seen a lot of soccer, and this generally isn't a problem at all.
"All American spectator sports are extremely fine tuned affairs."
Christ, I know. Have you seen the NFL rulebook that changes every year on substantive matters (like the definition of a "completed pass" whether or not you're pushed out of bounds)? It's horribly overcomplicated. The NBA's rules change nearly as much. At some point during the 90's, zone defenses were illegal. And even now, fouls under the basket are ruled based upon what side of a line you're standing on.
"Officiating standards are laughable. There is an unacceptably large amount of variation between referees regarding what is and is not legal play."
Oh, you mean like the strike zone in baseball?
"Offsides should always be "tie goes to the offense". There is no compelling reason to blow extremely close plays dead because the offensive player just might have been offsides by 6 inches. FIFA should issue a "point of emphasis" stating that "ties go to the offense"."
"Ties go to the runner" isn't even a rule in baseball. The offsides rule is one of the better governed parts of the game, there being a dedicated linesman and all. It's extremely rare to see an offsides call be wrong.
"There needs to be more than one referee."
I would not be opposed to having a fifth video referee.
"Referees should train as groups and speak a common language. This is even more important for an international world championship event. This is just common sense."
As I recall, World Cup referees are all required to speak English.
"Referees should be required to make distinguishing hand signals for each call. This would greatly aid the players, the fans, and the commentators in determining exactly what the ruling was."
I've seen a lot of soccer, and this generally isn't a problem at all.