Quite a bit of overreaction here Doc. Let me preface by saying that I was fortunate to grow up in Europe until 11 and have been in Seattle for the last 30 years so I have a love for both futbol and american sports (my dad is from Boston).
One of the things that happens in Soccer is that so few goals are scored that mistakes are magnified. In football, we see these mistakes all the time on holding calls, PI and so forth but don't complain as much because teams usually have 1-3 downs to overcome the blown calls. Defensive PI is probably the exception because we have all seen calls made that shouldn't be that essentially give the offensive team a TD by putting the ball at the 1.
Actually, baseball is one of the worst. For example, watch any game and see how a bad call on a 1-1 pitch makes a difference on the outcome. If the ump calls a ball a strike because it is "close enough" the odds for the batter on a 1-2 pitch v a 2-1 pitch are extremely significant. If we really cared about getting it right, we would use questec to call strikes and be done with it.
Heck, look at that "HR ball" that the kid took out of the defenders glove a few years back where he clearly reached into the field of play during the WS! It happens and it is the human element of sports.
Look, the US got hosed. I remember earlier in the game when they called us for a foul on almost the exact same play and I told my US buddy to be glad that it didn't take away a goal. :-) That should teach me to open my mouth.
I do believe that FIFA can do some things to improve the accuracy of referees. For one, there should be two linesmen on each side, especially in WC games. this provides the referees with an extra set of eyes to make the right calls. They should also get together to make sure they get the right call, similar to what NBA does when a ref doesn't see the play (tipped balls out of bounds, deflections off the rim, etc).
As a Seattle fan for 30 years, I have similar memories as you with Phoenix/Sonics and Hawks/SteAlers. I agree with Matt that it is part of living in "south Canada". But as for futbol, it really is the beautiful game - even though sometimes they just get it wrong.
MY $.02,
Bilbo
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