Its one of my biggest pet peeves in football and it happens all over the world and it happens often. Moreover, it makes the game a little less beautiful. I call it the "deliberate handball swindle." A player, believing hes been fouled, grabs the ball while falling to the ground, forcing the referee into making a decision in the players favour. As a long suffering observer of CONCACAF, Ill cynically assume that this technique originated in Central America and spread like a disease to the rest of the world. Unfortunately, FIFA has allowed the plague to fester...until recently it seems. More and more, we are seeing officials make the correct decision, by giving a free kick in the other direction, while brandishing the yellow card that is automatically awarded for intentionally handling the ball. Unfortunately for Whitecaps fans, it was a Vancouver player that fell victim to that modern interpretation and, because Mattias Laba was already in the book, it was an indisputable sending off in the Whitecaps 2-1 loss to Colorado Rapids on Saturday. Was Laba pulled back by Nick Labrocca in the 77th minute and might a foul have been awarded? Yes. But there were a full two steamboats between Laba tumbling to the ground and the Argentine midfielder grabbing the ball. Enough time for the referee to blow his whistle, which he didnt, and enough time for Laba to consider the circumstances - already on a yellow with his team leading by a goal. Perhaps in his home country, in front of a huge crowd, a referee might have caved to the con and we see that all the time. I sympathize with officials who are constantly being put in a position of having to interpret deceit. So for the good of the game, Im glad Ionnis Stavridis construed the law the way he did and I hope his contemporaries in the game consistently follow suit and react the same way in similar circumstances. There is part of me, though, that also wonders whether in this instance, if the referee knew right away that Laba was already on a yellow for a belligerent foul just 23 minutes earlier ,as there seemed to be hesitation between him showing the secnd yellow and then the red. If referees themselves strive for anonymity and the desire to let players decide games, then, upon reflection, perhaps Mr. Stavridis might have secretly wished he had just awarded a foul to Nick Labrocca and not influenced the game to that degree. But it doesnt change the fundamental issue - grabbing the ball to force a referee into a ruling falls under the same category as diving or, as its now known, “simulation." Its cheating plain and simple and if the Whitecaps truly want to live by their slogan “Our All, Our Honour”, maybe they need to learn from this incident and encourage players to think twice about employing one of the games most notorious swindles. Authentic Hockey Jerseys . -- A lawyer for the fiancee of former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez asked a judge Friday to throw out perjury charges, saying Shayanna Jenkins did not wilfully lie as she was bombarded with 1,630 questions over two days before a grand jury. Custom Hockey Jerseys .S.-Portugal game on June 22 in the Amazonian jungle city of Manaus. FIFPro, the international soccer players union, had pressed FIFA to avoid the earliest kickoffs in the hottest and most humid weather. https://www.fakehockeyjerseys.com/. -- The Orlando Magic have made no secret that the future of their franchise will depend on how well they can develop their young players. Fake Hockey Jerseys . Carreno Busta broke his opponent five times in the match, but also lost his serve three times in the second set before prevailing in the tiebreaker. Both players struggled with their first serve, as Carreno Busta landed just 51 per cent of his to 47 per cent for Kukushkin. Cheap Hockey Jerseys . Mauer drove in two runs before leaving with an injury, Eduardo Nunez homered and the Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 10-2 on Tuesday night.As a deadlock in CFL labour negotiations stretched through this past week and so much rhetoric and brinkmanship made a work stoppage seem unavoidable, it was surprising when sources confirmed to TSN that progress in talks between the CFL and the Players Associations were moving quickly Friday and into Saturday. Neither side would publicly confirm or deny any discussions were taking place, until the near unexpected happened. On Saturday night sources confirmed to TSN, the league and players agreed to terms on a new, tentative CBA, pending ratification by the unions players. A league source confirmed the CFLs board of governors must also ratify any potential agreement. Neither side would confirm specific details of the tentative deal, but sources confirmed constructive movement toward a deal started Friday. After TSN Insider Dave Naylor confirmed earlier in the week that players on seven of the leagues nine teams had voted in favour of strike action, and with strike votes set to take place in Calgary and Edmonton Saturday, sources told TSN “back door” discussions through an appointed mediator began Friday morning. Ideas and proposals were passed back and forth without acrimony and without talks breaking down. By Friday night, during a Players Association conference call, a tentative deal began to take shape. The league would hold firm on a $5 million salary cap (2013s salary cap was set at $4.4 million) increasing $50,000 a season, and would not budge on its threshold to renegotiate the salary cap in the third year of a new CBA, set at an aggregate revenue increase of $27 million from the previous year. But the ratification bonus to players would increase to $7,5000 for veterans and $1,500 for rookies.dddddddddddd. And with the union possibly controlling the disbursement of the bonus, and setting a scale for veterans, a six-year CFL veteran could potentially earn $12,000 if the CBA is ratified. The league minimum salary would also rise to $50,000, from $45,000 in 2013. A significant non-financial element also possibly included was the elimination of the option contract year for non-rookies. Sources said the term of the new CBA could be set at either four years, five years or five years plus an option to extend into a sixth season. The current CBA expired May 29, the same day talks broke down after the union countered a league proposal, which included a $5 million cap and $27 million threshold, with a $5.8 million cap and $12 million threshold to renegotiate the cap. The league also rejected another offer from the players earlier this week, which included $5.2 million cap and $18 million threshold. New, positive labour discussions continued into Saturday afternoon before a scheduled conference call between union executives and team representatives. A source close to the discussions said he felt “confident” a tentative deal would be reached by the end of the day, although conceded the debate amongst the players would be “vigorous.” After a four-hour call, the union agreed to take the deal to its players. A league source confirmed the board of governors ratification vote will take place “as soon as possible.” In a joint statement the league and Players Association emphasized: “Further details [about the agreement] will not be made public until these votes have taken place.” ' ' '