Do Over Harold

It makes sense why this is here, I promise.

 

My mom played softball growing up. Nothing super competitive, but rec league stuff. She enjoyed it and was pretty good, but this isn't a story about her softball prowess. 

She told me stories of an umpire in her town that had a reputation of not always paying attention to the game and regularly missing calls. I don't mean he got the calls wrong. I mean he just didn't see them at all. I'm not sure what he was paying attention to (obviously I wasn't born yet), but apparently it wasn't the game.

Rather than make the call and just go with it, he did what every kid does when they are on the playground and you can't agree on the call. He just called a "do over." Yep, just replay the whole thing  like the first event never happened.

He did this often enough that he had the nickname "Do Over Harold" and while I'm sure Harold was a fine gentleman in all other aspects of his life and likely has since departed our earthly realm, his legacy lives on as the umpire who routinely had players just redo something he missed.

In oddly related news, Tormenta's Austin Pack appeared to make a save on a Luis Gil penalty kick in the 51st minute, but unless you were watching, it appears this never actually happened. No record of it happening is listed on the USL Match Center description of the game. 

But it happened. Pack dove to his left and blocked Gil's shot and it was then cleared away by the Tormenta defense. But then the ghost of Do Over Harold came to Spokane. Yellow Cards were issued to Pack, Spokane's Jalen Christer and Tormenta's Gabriel Cabral and the official pointed back to the penalty spot.

You remember the scene in Robin Hood: Men in Tights, where Robin misses in the archery contest but it turns out he gets another shot? Apparently it was like that. For reasons never fully explained, Spokane got another shot. 

It's possible Yaniv Bazini was called for a foul as the teams scrambled for the rebound, but that is not indicated in the game log on the leagues's website. And the announcer for the game didn't seem to fully know either as he never addressed it, either in the immediate aftermath or later in the game. 

Tormenta's press release after the game says Pack was called for being off his line on Gil's first attempt and thus the second attempt was granted. 

On his second attempt, Gil buried the penalty kick to turn a 1-0 Tormenta lead into a 1-1 tie and that's how the game would end.

Tormenta had taken the lead midway through the first half when Niall Reid-Stephen scored on a highlight-reel free kick, curving a free kick from 25 yards out over the wall into the upper 90, leaving no chance for a save from Spokane's goalkeeper. It was Reid-Stephen's 10th goal in the last 10 games and 13th on the year.

Spokane nearly took the lead in the 64th minute. Pack came out off his line but was unable to corral the ball. It was able to get to a Spokane player on the far post with essentially an open net. However, Makel Rasheed positioned himself in the middle of the goal as the last line of defense and the shot was directed right at him. He was able to head the shot away and Tormenta would clear it away. 

Reid-Stephen nearly came away with a game winner in stoppage time, A nifty touch got him free along the left side deep in the penalty area, his shot appeared to be deflected by the goalkeeper and hit off the crossbar, but Tormenta wasn't able to put away the rebound and just a few seconds later, the official whistled for the end of the game.

The draw snaps Tormenta's club-record six game winning streak but still leaves them in prime position to clinch a playoff spot.  They are currently in 7th with 39 points, two points ahead of Charlotte in the 8th spot and four points clear of Madison who sit just outside the playoffs in 9th place.

Tormenta returns to action Saturday with their final road game of the regular season when they take on Greenville. The Triumph are clinging to slim playoff chances as they sit at 32 points with two games left. They need two wins and some help to make it to the post season.