2022 NCAA Tournament

[LonnyJ]

Hate to be the negative guy here, but this is the worst officiated game I have seen in 30 years playing/watching this sport.

Truly terrible from the get go (and i have zero horse in the race).

Bummer cuz game isn't over yet but it feels invalidated to me.

What is the ejection ratio / offensive ratio in the 4th q. Clear the refs huddled up before the Q and said they'd give Cal some chances.

‘Huddled up …?’
You sure that would stand up to ANY scrutiny? Silly comment.

[2plyBathingSuit]

I concur. The best team won today. Papa, Valera and Weinberg were lights out. If USC were the better team they wouldn't have let them back into the game regardless of "bad reffing". But, unfortunately there are those who want to blame the refs for letting that happen. Oh well, some things never change around here.

[UberPolo]

Congratulations to the Cal Bears
They managed to win despite the refs, and great play from the Trojans

[SwimCoach]

usc played pretty close to perfect while Bears received subpar efforts from their 2nd and 3rd options.

Really? Valera had 4 goals, an assist, 2 steals, drew 2 exclusions and played sold defense. Subpar?

[SwimCoach]

Hate to be the negative guy here, but this is the worst officiated game I have seen in 30 years playing/watching this sport.

Truly terrible from the get go (and i have zero horse in the race).

Bummer cuz game isn't over yet but it feels invalidated to me.

What is the ejection ratio / offensive ratio in the 4th q. Clear the refs huddled up before the Q and said they'd give Cal some chances.

OK, I hear everyone complaining about the refs. Were they bad for USC or for Cal? LOL.

I would love to see a Water Pol planet poll.

Judging by the comments, it seems like all of the pundits were watching two different games.

[butterybarin10]

usc played pretty close to perfect while Bears received subpar efforts from their 2nd and 3rd options.

Really? Valera had 4 goals, an assist, 2 steals, drew 2 exclusions and played sold defense. Subpar?

Casabella and Deely defiantly played subpar for their usual standard. Didn’t matter though in the end. Can’t believe Valera is just a sophomore.

[slim]

Hate to be the negative guy here, but this is the worst officiated game I have seen in 30 years playing/watching this sport.

Truly terrible from the get go (and i have zero horse in the race).

Bummer cuz game isn't over yet but it feels invalidated to me.

What is the ejection ratio / offensive ratio in the 4th q. Clear the refs huddled up before the Q and said they'd give Cal some chances.

OK, I hear everyone complaining about the refs. Were they bad for USC or for Cal? LOL.

I would love to see a Water Pol planet poll.

Judging by the comments, it seems like all of the pundits were watching two different games.

Think this was my gripe. Refs were just bad period - for both sides. Almost made it unwatchable for me and many other ex high level players who watched it with me.

I also believe the “better” team still won, but the problem was it so hard to be a fan of the game because of the reffing. Constantly wanting to inject themselves. Imagine being a causal / new fan and watching this game - impossible to follow. Tough look for the sport.

As far as someone else calling my comment on the refs “huddling up” silly - clearly not a big polo guy. The refs communicate throughout the quarter and “huddle up” after every quarter to make sure they’re on the same page. In an environment like this, it’s through their headsets. Obviously they aren’t actively trying to screw a team, but in our sport, subconscious bias comes into play, especially during a game on the verge of a blowout - it’s my least favorite part of the game.

[studenbodyleft]

What a legendary performance by Papa. Even as a SC fan you gotta acknowledge it

As a fun historical thought experiment, where does Papa rank in the list of greats in say the 2000s?

I can only remember Erdelyi and Hallock being as dominant

[Alan Cima]

Did someone understand where the illegal entry was on 6:4?

I was sitting at the other end, so may not have seen it exactly, but it looked like there was a USC player ejected, who swam to the box and stayed there, then another player was ejected, who started swimming towards the box and then a substitute came off the bench and went into the box. USC gained possession of the ball and both the first excluded player and the substitute entered the field of play, but the second excluded player had not yet reached the box. Since USC was on offense by then it was an exclusion and not a penalty.

[LonnyJ]

Hate to be the negative guy here, but this is the worst officiated game I have seen in 30 years playing/watching this sport.

Truly terrible from the get go (and i have zero horse in the race).

Bummer cuz game isn't over yet but it feels invalidated to me.

What is the ejection ratio / offensive ratio in the 4th q. Clear the refs huddled up before the Q and said they'd give Cal some chances.

OK, I hear everyone complaining about the refs. Were they bad for USC or for Cal? LOL.

I would love to see a Water Pol planet poll.

Judging by the comments, it seems like all of the pundits were watching two different games.

Think this was my gripe. Refs were just bad period - for both sides. Almost made it unwatchable for me and many other ex high level players who watched it with me.

I also believe the “better” team still won, but the problem was it so hard to be a fan of the game because of the reffing. Constantly wanting to inject themselves. Imagine being a causal / new fan and watching this game - impossible to follow. Tough look for the sport.

As far as someone else calling my comment on the refs “huddling up” silly - clearly not a big polo guy. The refs communicate throughout the quarter and “huddle up” after every quarter to make sure they’re on the same page. In an environment like this, it’s through their headsets. Obviously they aren’t actively trying to screw a team, but in our sport, subconscious bias comes into play, especially during a game on the verge of a blowout - it’s my least favorite part of the game.

News flash Slim … the majority of the users of WPP were prolific players in their youth. Could you see the game live from high atop the perch you sit? When you’re done sudsing up your own nuts about being a high level player, go back and look at your original comments. You didn’t mince words with your indictment about the refs conspiring to ‘give Cal some chances.’ You sound like the Alex Jones of WPP. Silly comment followed up with a dopey attempt to spin it.
Other than that, I’m sure you’re a good dude and a riot to drink beers with.

[madone]

Monumental collapse by sc. inexcusable to give up 5 straight in the fourth. Seemingly no attempts to extend possessions and get the clock running. Papa was unreal, yet they allowed some scores for him that defied logic and effort. The dry entry pass goal and the rebound goal should’ve been stopped.

The illegal entry cost them a goal and is an error that should never occur in a game at this level. The ref made the right call and the second excluded player was nowhere near the ejection area. Couldn’t hear, but it didn’t appear that anyone on the bench was trying to get them into the box or yelling at the guy who went it until it was too late. That’s an age-group level mistake.

Lastly, why does Ash shoot the ball. Have they told him not to? One goal on Three attempts in the game. Let the man shoot on at least one of those 6/5 situations.

That’s the stuff nightmares are made of.

Great comback by cal. Legendary. They’ll be partying in Berkeley! Congratulations to them!

[madone]

Why does Ash Not shoot the ball? Excuse the typo.

[bennykovacs]

I concur. The best team won today. Papa, Valera and Weinberg were lights out. If USC were the better team they wouldn't have let them back into the game regardless of "bad reffing". But, unfortunately there are those who want to blame the refs for letting that happen. Oh well, some things never change around here.

I thought Weinberg didn’t play well and Cal played as poorly as I’ve seen them play until the 4th quarter. Way too many whistles. SC had Cal where they wanted them, but Papa is incredible. SC peaked at the right time.

[ephpolo]

usc played pretty close to perfect while Bears received subpar efforts from their 2nd and 3rd options.

Really? Valera had 4 goals, an assist, 2 steals, drew 2 exclusions and played sold defense. Subpar?

Casabella and Deely defiantly played subpar for their usual standard. Didn’t matter though in the end. Can’t believe Valera is just a sophomore.

I'm not sure I'd put Deely and Casabella in the 2nd and 3rd options category--they are among Cal's top 4 or 5 scorers, I think. And both played big roles in the 4th quarter comeback.

Those two Deely feeds to Papa for redirect scores were pretty nifty.

As for all the referee whining, it is endemic in our sport. It's mostly fed by partisans either watching the game on a video screen or from the stands where their view is very different from what the referee saw.

I've got to say that the illegal substitution call that gave the ball back to Cal with another exclusion in the 4th quarter was both sharp and gutsy. I'd like to know what exactly happened there. My guess is the sub left the penalty box without the excluded player and sub both in the penalty area with heads above water? But I did not hear anything about a protest of that call from Pintaric, so I'm guessing it was the right call. Good work by the referee to notice that detail in the middle of two exclusions and at least one substitution.

[ephpolo]

Did someone understand where the illegal entry was on 6:4?

I was sitting at the other end, so may not have seen it exactly, but it looked like there was a USC player ejected, who swam to the box and stayed there, then another player was ejected, who started swimming towards the box and then a substitute came off the bench and went into the box. USC gained possession of the ball and both the first excluded player and the substitute entered the field of play, but the second excluded player had not yet reached the box. Since USC was on offense by then it was an exclusion and not a penalty.

Thanks, Alan. I missed this in the thread before my last comment.