The Whistle

CARSON, Calif. â€“ Hilario 'Chico' Grajeda watches six games a week, plus every single booking, ejection, disallowed goal and penalty in MLS.

On his stroll around the field, he taps the breast pocket holding his phone to indicate how he gets highlights on the road. Out of uniform â€“ wearing gray slacks and a blazer over a black polyester polo â€“ Grajeda looks dignified in a way men in shorts cannot readily match.

It's June 23, the date of the derby between the LA Galaxy and Chivas USA. MLS refs show up two hours before kickoff and inspect the grounds. By now, they know the venues and where to double check for divots, mounds, poor lining, holes in the netting.

The StubHub Center rarely offers issues.

The crew chatted over lunch at the hotel (â€œpasta, carbsâ€) about the upcoming encounter; they know the last SuperClasico â€œwas ugly, was nasty.â€ It featured four yellows and a red, later rescinded by the Disciplinary Committee.

The two assistants â€“ Frank Anderson and Mike Rottersman â€“ and fourth official Juan Guzman have poured over stats sheets. They studied who commits and suffers the most fouls on each team, who shoots from where, who takes on defenders.

In the bowels of the Hub, along the hallway between the Chivas USA and Galaxy locker rooms, they change into their uniforms in a smaller locker room specifically for referees. It has four areas, connected by a short hallway: an entrance area stocked with water and coffee, two showers, two toilets and the room with lockers and black fold-out chairs.

About an hour and a half before the match they turn off all cell phones. If there's an emergency, the referee liaison, Carlos Hernandez, can make a call.

An hour before the game, the crew kicks out everyone besides Hernandez. Referee assessor Arturo Angeles and Michael Kennedy, referees manager for Professional Referee Organization (PRO), head up to the press box. The four on the referee crew stay to put their game-faces on and warm up.

Soon Grajeda will walk onto the field again, point at the center circle and whistle to begin the game.

The Organization

At one point Major League Soccer had 272 referees in its pool. Now it has 21.

One of the first things Peter Walton, PRO general manger, did when hired in 2012 was trim the number working MLS games. The idea was to identify the most talented in the current crop and give them the necessary reps to develop.

In the 2012 season, U.S. Soccer handed over referee development and assignments to PRO, which works with U.S. Soccer, the Canadian Soccer Association and MLS.

Currently, PRO has nine full-time refs, 11 part-timers and one independent contractor (Kevin Stott, who is approaching his 250th MLS game and has World Cup experience). Over 40 assistants work MLS and U.S. Open Cup matches as well, and there are 10 fourth officials looking to join the referee pool.

U.S. Soccer still runs the referees for the lower leagues. The best ones join the Platinum Group, â€œwhich are 10 or 12 referees or assistant referees that have shown to have great promise,â€ Kennedy told Sporting News.

Since PRO is new, it has yet to cut any referees loose into the lower leagues. However, the 21-man pool is divided into four groups, based on performance reviews. The top group gets the biggest games. The bottom group sits out weekends.

A match assessor (PRO has eight to 10, all part time, and at least one watches each game live) grades each performance out of 100. Reports take four to six hours to compile the next day, according to Kennedy. They include key match incidents, offside calls, substitutions, the technical area, â€œpositive points, fitness, positioning, application of the law, do they work well as a team,â€ Kennedy said.

Kennedy, who refereed from the inaugural MLS season until the end of last year, works under Walton managing the referees. Also on staff are Development Manager Paul Rejer and sports scientist Matt Hawkey.

The full-time referees meet in Dallas' Cooper Center every two weeks. The part-time refs attend once a month. (Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper came up with the Cooper Test, one of the first fitness tests for referees.) Throughout the week, Hawkey sends tailored fitness regimes which includes miles to run each day and specific heart-rates to reach per mile. He monitors each referee's condition from across the country.

â€œEveryone is trying to improve their fitness, which is so critical to getting a good viewing angle,â€ Kennedy said. He pointed out that even a yard difference along the sideline can prevent an assistant from making the correct offside call.

Essentially, a referee tries to move around the field in a way that creates triangles with the assistant and the ball (and doesn't obstruct traffic). This provides two sight-lines on the play, one from the middle and one from the sideline, to inform any decision.

â€œWe have very good referees â€“ some of them are excellent, some of them are learning,â€ Angeles, who refereed in the 1994 World Cup, told Sporting News. â€œAs far as fitness, they are very fit. â€¦ They have the training, the technology. Maybe we have to learn the game a little bit, maybe. The playing, the intuition. We're not used to that level of thinking.â€

Kennedy talks of a muscle memory. â€œCertain hot spotsâ€ on the field trigger instant referee reactions: long balls, two players coming together, snap shots. â€œRefereeing isn't a science,â€ he said. â€œIt's an art.â€

The main aim of PRO is to raise the level of professional refereeing in the USA and Canada and produce professional-quality refs at younger ages. More tangibly, PRO wants to place a referee in the 2014 World Cup.

The United States supplied a ref to the World Cup from 1982 through 2006. However, no American officiated in the 2010 World Cup. Returning to whistle the most important international tournament in soccer would provide evidence that PRO has improved the talent pool.

The Motivation

A boy, barely a teenager, leaned over the lip of the wall in the StubHub Center and asked the referee for his cards after the game. Grajeda chuckled and assented with a wave.

Not everyone hates referees. Just, you know, most people. In the last several decades, Pierluigi Collina is perhaps the only referee to wriggle his way into the widespread good graces of fans. So why would any sane human want to become one?

The garrulous Angeles lists off several reasons: the satisfaction of completing a match, pride of officiating big games, helping the community, fitness, travel, etc.

Both Angeles and Grajeda fell into refereeing on accident. Angeles, a goalkeeper, showed up for a league meeting at 17 and found himself volunteered to ref the next day.

â€œI became a referee by mistake,â€ Grajeda told Sporting News. â€œI wanted to be a coach, so I ended up going to what I thought was the coaches' clinic, but I was too embarrassed to leave. And then I just went to the classes and before you know it I got a badge.â€

He giggles, telling of his mishap. Despite large biceps and a cut build, Grajeda's voice has a softness, a tenderness to it. He has boyish features and short black hair.

Grajeda started with the U-9s in his hometown of Marin, Calif.

â€œThen you start doing higher level games, some high school,â€ he said. â€œYou get invited to different camps, and you get lucky sometimes.â€

He moved to Dayton, Ohio, in the '90s and joined MLS in 2002, first as a fourth official. Then he ran lines in Columbus. At the time, MLS only flew in a referee and one assistant, so they had to find the other linesman locally. In 2004, he graduated to the center circle.

â€œYou don't start on the line and move to the middle anymore,â€ Mike Rottersman told Sporting News. â€œYou track early on. Well before MLS you've already decided.â€

Since there are twice as many assistant spots as referees, the competition is thinner.

Grajeda is part-time. He works as a nurse in Dayton, Ohio.

â€œI am having a blast,â€ Grajeda said. â€œI enjoy the training, when we meet every month. It's fun, the training is good, even though it's like a military thing.â€ With his three kids grown and out of the house, he runs with his four-year-old black lab, Bella.

He's 45, the age referees previously hit mandatory retirement, but he's one of the upcoming referees in MLS. He was the fourth official in each of the last two MLS Cups. He'll officiate the 2013 MLS All-Star Game on July 31 in Kansas City, Kan.

Kennedy stressed the competitive nature that takes over anyone who rises to the professional level.

Several weeks prior, Grajeda refereed the Cascadia clash between the Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps. CenturyLink Field brimmed with 54,000 fans in attendance.

â€œAs we were walking out â€“ the chills, the goosebumps walking out,â€ Grajeda said. â€œIt was a good feeling. It was like, 'Ooh! I love this.' I don't want it to end anytime soon. It's a good passion. It's not a hobby anymore.â€

The Game

Grajeda whistles to begin the match.

PRO assigns matches three weeks in advance, though it only makes them public a week beforehand. That gives referees plenty of time to do research. Grajeda knew the prior derby had been a slog.

â€œWe came in trying to make it really easy, call simple fouls, and just keep it under control really quick, not give them a lot of advantages where players are going to come out and start hacking,â€ Grajeda said. â€œYou could just feel the first couple decisions that are the moment of truth. Then you just feel everything falling into place.â€

In the 18th minute, Grajeda whistled to halt a Galaxy corner after some shoving in the box. He came over and tapped the arms of Dan Kennedy and Landon Donovan before letting the set piece commence.

At the half-hour mark, Oswaldo Minda threw an elbow across Marcelo Sarvas' face. Grajeda pushed his open palms downward, indicating to settle down, but didn't book Minda, who led the league in yellows last year with 13.

â€œYou don't card him there, but you make sure to be a hard-ass on him later,â€ Frank Anderson told Sporting News.

In the 34th minute, the crew made their biggest decision of the night. Robbie Rogers drilled a low shot from outside that beat the goalkeeper, but Robbie Keane blocked Kennedy's view from an offside position.

Anderson, the near-side assistant, held up his flag. Grajeda whistled and went over to discuss the call.

â€œIt was one of those things,â€ Grajeda said. â€œI wanted to make sure there were no deflections from anyone else. I want to make sure everything's clean. I know what he's calling, and he's already telling me.â€

â€œIf we're pulling the ball out of the back of the net, we just want to make sure,â€ Anderson said.

Donovan, naturally, disagreed when Grajeda ruled out the goal and gave him an earful. â€œSomebody's going to be upset, regardless of the decision,â€ Grajeda said.

Donovan ended up supplying the assist on Gyasi Zardes' winner a minute before the half.

The first booking didn't come until the 82nd minute. In the buildup, a Galaxy counter, the Goats fouled in midfield.

â€œI chose to play the advantage and take a risk,â€ Grajeda said. Walter Vilchez eventually ended the play with a tackle deeper in his half. â€œThere was a foul for No. 4 for Chivas, so we booked that one, but not the first one.â€ Grajeda pointed out that in his game a week prior, a physical match in D.C., he would have carded the initial foul. Because this match was less gritty, he chose to take a risk on the advantage.

A booking to Todd Dunivant in stoppage time rounded out the officials' duties. With three short blasts on the whistle, Grajeda called the game to a close and headed back to the locker room.

The Voice

In the clamor and chatter surrounding sports 24/7, one voice remains silent. Players, agents, coaches, team owners, fans â€“ everyone else can moan and gripe publicly. Referees don't talk.

MLS officials have more of a voice than in any other league. Reporters may submit written questions following MLS matches, and the referee can return a written response. Given the formality of the exchange, answers don't tend to be particularly forthcoming or illuminating.

Additionally, the PRO website breaks down calls, explaining the rule and thought processes that went behind specific decisions. It embeds video from MLSsoccer.com. The league's website does something similar, with Simon Borg analyzing the bigger calls of the week in a video feature.

PRO referees know who Simon Borg is. They all use the MLS MatchDay app.

â€œWe open ourselves up to criticism by becoming referees,â€ Anderson said. â€œLike the players, they scrutinize our calls. If you don't want to be scrutinized, if you can't take the pressure, it's not for you. It's all on video replay. It's all there to be digested, talked about.â€

Though they don't participate in the conversation, referees follow along. â€œReferees read a lot,â€ Angeles said.

Peering over referees' shoulders is the Disciplinary Committee. The anonymous five-man panel made up of former players, coaches and one former referee reviews all major incidents, dolling out fines and bans. It has come down especially hard on diving and dangerous tackles.

Do refs like the extra oversight?

â€œI think some do, some don't,â€ Anderson said. He mentioned subtle elbows or stomps that the crew misses from time to time. â€œThey can go back and police the game a little bit more. I think it helps.â€

But Anderson bristled at D.C. decisions when the referee had a clear view. â€œYou're like, 'Hey wait a second. I had a good look at it.'â€

The crew didn't seem particularly uptight about the Disciplinary Committee, perhaps aware that the body is necessary, but none gave a full endorsement.

â€œThere are so many factors for me,â€ Grajeda said. â€œSomething probably happened 20 minutes ago that that particular clip doesn't show, or it didn't show on camera at all. Maybe they were talking smack or something, as players do, and then the incident happens. All the other factors, the Disciplinary Committee doesn't take [into account].â€

Since referees are separate human beings, they unsurprisingly have different opinions.

When asked about technology, Anderson holds out his hands with a device in each. One is a beeper. The other is the battery pack for his headset. â€œWe already have [technology],â€ he said. â€œWe have beeper flags with pagers. We have the radios. This is all technology that helps.â€

On the hilt of the flags assistants wave (and the batons fifth officials use in other leagues) is a button that activates a buzzer strapped to the referee's arm. They use it predominantly when making offside calls. And the four officials are in constant radio communication.

Luddites arguing that technology should not alter the game have already lost.

Do refs want more technological assistance? Again: each has a different opinion.

â€œI think goal-line technology needs to be implemented,â€ Anderson said. â€œA shot from 30 yards away, the A.R. has no chance to get to the goal line to make that determination.â€

FIFA has already approved goal-line technology, and it first appeared in the 2012 Club World Cup. The English Premier League will introduce it starting in the 2013-14 season.

However, Anderson's not a fan of instant video replays, available to officials in the NFL and NHL, among other sports leagues.

â€œI don't think there should be replay,â€ Anderson said. â€œThe beautiful thing about this game is that it's free-flowing: 45 minutes, quick break, 45 minutes. No stop, no break to commercial.â€

Though they all have opinions â€“ some strongly held â€“ the referee crew doesn't seem particularly eager to broadcast any to the world on a consistent basis. Their actions speak for themselves.

Grajeda recently asked his girlfriend how a game was going. She replied, â€œBoring.â€ â€œAnd I said: 'I like boring. It means no controversy, no my name's going to be in the paper.' I like that.â€

The Locker Room

After the match, Angeles holds a brief chat with the crew in the locker room. â€œThe referee after working an MLS game is exhausted and tired and still trying to get the body â€“ bringing it back to its norm,â€ Kennedy says. While they're meeting, three stadium staff members stand outside the door, arms crossed intimidatingly in front of them.

A man walks up with a clear plastic case containing a DVD of the match. One of the guards knocks, and Hernandez pokes his head out to collect the disc.

When Kennedy exits, he bumps into Galaxy associate head coach Dave Sarachan and they begin chatting. Eventually LA GM and head coach Bruce Arena trickles by and joins the conversation. Sarachan and Arena agree that refereeing has improved substantially since PRO began.

â€œI think we have come a loooooooooong way,â€ Angeles said earlier. â€œA long way.â€

Arena, perpetually grumpy, makes sure to add that it still has a considerable distance to go. The chirpier Sarachan offers any assistance if PRO needs a coaching perspective.

Inside the locker room, Grajeda is drinking gatorade. He's back in his blazer.

â€œI liked it. The game was fun,â€ he says between sips. â€œIt didn't feel too bad. It was very predictable. It had a good flow. You could read it really nicely.â€

The group has already discussed any missed calls. Together, they will compile a report on Excel and send it in to New York. â€œWe copy each other when that report is submitted, so there's a backup,â€ Grajeda says.

Soon, Hernandez will pile the crew into a car and drive them to LAX. Grajeda has a red-eye to Dayton. He doesn't mind heading straight home: after games he's on such an emotional high it takes hours to fall asleep anyway. Besides, he has a dog, a job and fitness training waiting for him.

â€œI've always loved the game,â€ he says. â€œI love the game more than anything.â€