When I first heard that FC Dallas winger Brek Shea was being suspended for three matches for doing something that didn’t injure someone (a la Rafa Marquez), threaten harm in any meaningful way or spark a full-fledged donnybrook (Rafa Marquez), I thought it sounded a little harsh.
But on second thought, that’s about right. One game for what he actually did – and two more for being a straight-up goofball.
I mean, who kicks the ball at a game official?
Shea did. Flicking a ball at moderate speed at a referee’s assistant when a call didn’t go his way.
The talented FC Dallas youngster didn’t do so to inflict harm; he did it out of frustration. But that hardly matters. You just don’t do something like that, and a U.S. international should certainly know better.
As for FC Dallas, here’s the accounting on this current run of nincompoopery: The club plays six MLS matches in May. If Shea serves the suspension in this time, they will have played every one with either a player ejected (so, a man or two down) or with key members suspended for being previously ejected. Or, of course, for kicking a ball at a referee’s assistant.
If Shea is summoned into Jurgen Klinsmann’s national team (likely, but no slam dunk based on dipped form), he’ll have to serve the three-game ban upon MLS return in about a month.
Here’s the incident:
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