RaceBoarder
Waiting for the Snow to fly...
I guess this is the first time I've seen things escalate to the level the did at such a high stakes match.
From what I've been trained on, basically when the benches clear like that, and you have players getting into it with each other, you basically take a step back (literally, so you can establish a wide view and see more of what's happening) and just start writing down numbers of those who are being aggressors. Other officials should be doing the same. After things have run their course, all officials meet and discuss what they saw.
I understand "Talking players back from the ledge" to keep them in a game of this magnitude, but this seemed to be a lot of extracurricular BS going on. And it was specifically started because a player fired a "frustration shot" directly into a bench area. Under the general premise of Baseball, Football, or Basketball, at minimum, the player doing that is DQed from the game for being a moron who did a monumentally stupid inciting incident.
Like Sparty mentioned above, Soccer seems to allow much more theatrics among the players when it comes to talking with the ref about stuff. Practically every North American sport directs it's officials/crews to prevent a "gang bang" in each and every situation where one comes about. All conversations are one-on-one with the Referee/Lead/Calling Official and the rest of the crew specifically steps in to peel off those who try and join that conversation. Could be as simple as walking the person who wants to jump in away as you "talk them down" or as harsh as a DQ/Ejection. Soccer seems to have zero ability to deal with this.
I fully understand and appreciate a Center Ref's ability to use Preventative Officiating and their voice to manage a game. They are clearly masters of that craft most of the time. But that seems to be their only defense and when it goes off the rails, there is no recourse like is often seen in Baseball, Football, Basketball, etc.
