Editor,
The end of the great men’s NCAA tournament soccer match Thursday night was a ridiculous spectacle. I could not believe it; we fans were completely in shock. UNM outplayed Portland all game long. At the last second one or both line judges failed to call offside when the Portland forward was obviously offside. That one bad call resulted in the “winning goal.” The UNM defender had correctly executed an offside trap, but then the line judges spoiled the whole game by missing this important event. It’s just not fair. I am a very experienced soccer spectator, both live and on TV. I also played a lot of soccer in my youth. I was sitting in the stands near midfield in the perfect spot to have a good perspective on the offside event. It was quite obvious to me, but no call was made. I think it was more obvious than some of the offside calls that officials have made in professional matches.
These things happen quickly, so how can I be certain it was a bad non-call? I think we need to look at the video of the end of the match again to make sure. Can the Daily Lobo obtain video from this soccer match and examine the end? Could you post just the last minute of the game on the Internet so everyone can see what happened? I think the UNM players at least deserve some proof of what really happened, regardless of the official result.
David Milford
UNM alumnus
