The best referee video...EVER

In the game of soccer, some referees are great, some are good, and as Jason Kreis reminds us constantly, some are terrible. What they usually aren't is drunk.

At least not unless you're in Belarus, where one referee had a few (dozen) too many and actually tried to referee a match. The video has to be seen to be believed:

There is no truth to the rumor that U.S. Soccer is set to hire this ref to do MLS matches starting later this month (at least I don't think there is).

Admit it, you wish they had let him call the game like that (Wait, he actually did call the game like that. WOW).

Share your thoughts, and laughs, on the video below.

Comments

[Christopher]

I don't get it. What's wrong with his back? I've been drunk plenty of times and have never walked around like that...as far as I remember anyways.

[PS]

I see the beginnings of a new Cirque du Soleil show here.

[brett]

scenes from "it's always sunny in philadeplphia" keep swimming in my mind when Charlie gets drunk when he's supposed to be in AA and refs a local boys club basketball game (being coached by the rest of the gang due to community service).... quality stuff

[Jamie Z.]

The good news is he was still under the legal limit in Belarus to drive himself home.

[Dominghosa]

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. i.e. Greatest Show on Earth. (About Philadelphia.) But really, it's very very very good.

[HomeyBoehme]

@Jamie Z - LOL! Does Belarus have a legal limit?

[TCompton]

It looks painful to walk leaning back like that!

[RK]

He looks like the world's worst limbo-er.

[Fumar]

He's walking like that to fake some back pain, so folks don't realize that he's struggling to stay upright. Waht I don't understand is the article says he finished the game, but the video looks like pre-game. Did they take him off the field for a stiff cup of joe and then bring him back out to ref the game?

[KingSnake]

Whooo-ha-ha-ha.

Ha.

Ha.

Hey, here's a unique idea: Put your money where your mouth is. Get certified. Prove you can do it better. Or as well. Or even half as good.

[Betinho]

Is that John Cleese?

[inkedAG]

It certainly was a silly walk, wasn't it?

[Jacob]

That really is straight from Sunny, great call brett.

But for real, that is incredible. When the second guy comes to help and he snaps his hand back, that's great. And I literally laughed out loud, uncommon for me, when he started waving and applauding toward the crowd.

[KungFuSoccer]

Truly bizzare. Too much vicodin for back problem?

[William the Terror]

Those players look really young -- like it's a youth league game. I don't know how they handle the situation in Belarus, but here in the states, one of the dads in the crowd would have taken over as referee. Then a group of angry soccer moms, doubling as agents for MADD, would have castrated the guy on a car hood.

[andy b.]

Maybe if they castrated him, the pain would cause him to straighten out, thus solving at least one of his problems.
That guy was incredible. I don't believe I've seen someone manage to last that long hovering on the very brink of collapse, yet miraculously stay on his feet.
I'd wager he'd hit .22 on the breathalizer.

[aristotle]

My comment would have been exactly like the first comment, made by Christopher. It doesn't make sense. He doesn't look drunk; he looks handicapped or like his back has been severely strained. Since when does being drunk make you just bend over backwards and nothing else?

[SonicDeathMonkey]

The guy was obviously drunk out of his mind, and yet, I bet he still called a better game than Kevin Stott would have.

[Jacob]

Several youtube comments are saying that the referee injured his back somehow and was given/took too much pain medication at half time.

That explains the wooziness and his posture.

[Chosun]

No, according to the article that Ives posted, he was taken to a hospital and shown to be drunk.

[Marc Silverstein]

Good afternoon Ives: What an incredible cheap shot at all referees everywhere. This rather phoney looking video dilutes my respect for you as a journo. And lastly, even if he was drunk and is an alcoholic, where do you or anyone else get off making fun of someone and a possible medically-related disability. And yeah, drug and alcholic addiction is a medical diagnosis. Shame on you Ives.

[Richard]

okay, i was going to let this slip but it's been bugging me so....

granted, this referee did a Bad Thing and should be banned for at least the entirety of next season, if not longer.

but making fun of referees is the sports equivalent of making fun of the handicapped. the reason handicap jokes are not actually funny is that they pick on those least able to defend themselves.

if you wanted to post the video, fair enough, and it would have spoken for itself. after all, most people would find this funny.

it's the gratuitous comments that really irked me. bringing up ref-bashing Kreis, and then snarkily insinuating that perhaps he might wind up in MLS (thus skewering our domestic league at the same time - surely that can't help your credibility with another entity that gets needlessly and unintelligently bashed) was unnecessary.

so good job, finding a way to heap abuse on the only entities in this sport who make the least amount of money, and have the least ability to defend themselves.

not a high point for you, for your usually high-quality blog.

and no, i'm not taking this too seriously, i'm looking at this as a journalist.

for shame.

[brett]

Dominghosa - eek thats what i get when i try to type to fast before leaving work O.o

but it is the greatest show on earth (about anything).... they are actually working on another show (along with IASiP) called "Boldly Going Nowhere"... apparently its a Star Trek Spoof type show, but the gang wont be staring in it... only writing, producing and editing...

[brett]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=p39a63JdrAw

still my fav ref clip... i still think its all a fake... no way he could actually ref a pro game anywhere...