USA-Slovenia Ref Gets the Jim Joyce Wikipedia Treatment (Updated 06/19)

6.18.10 12:22 pm by Alex

The last ten minutes of the United States vs Slovenia match that ended just minutes ago will be the talk of the sports world for much of today. If you didn’t see the game, here’s a video of the would-be go ahead goal that was waved off.

Clearly a controversial call. If you’ll remember, a couple weeks ago when MLB umpire Jim Joyce famously blew a call that cost Armando Galarraga a perfect game, his Wikipedia page was vandalized. Since then both Joyce and Galarraga have been commended for their handling of the situations, and ultimately Joyce is in good graces with most baseball fans.

It is doubtful though, that today’s referree, Koman Coulibaly, will face similar redemption. Here are a few screenshots from his Wikipedia page in the moments following the game. Moderators are fighting hard to keep the malicious edits off, but you can browse the revision history here. I’ll add more if I see them:

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Aq’s FAQs 2: Soccer for Americans

6.28.09 9:46 am by Matt

Last time I wrote, I brought NBA referees answers to their most Frequently Asked Questions. Now it’s time to bring my fellow Americans up to speed on soccer in time for Sunday’s improbable FIFA Confederations Cup Final between USA and Brazil.

Q: This is booooooooooring. When are they gonna score?
A: You’re watching soccer on the wrong channel. Watch it on the Spanish channel and tell me soccer isn’t exciting.

Q: Are soccer players magical? It only takes them 30 seconds to recover from catastrophic inuries.
A: Soccer players aren’t magical. Their doctors are.

Q: Is my TV broken? There’s some weird background noise coming out of my speakers.
A:That’s the sound of music! Don’t worry, foreign sports fans are much better singers than Americans. All we have to show for ourselves is that lame tomahawk chop song and the pre-game national anthem. (PS: Can someone tell me why it’s ok that there’s fire in the stands during that first video? That seems dangerous.)

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