[Mark McLeod]

I need to come to the defense of the head referee at Philly.

While I have no insight into the interaction between either of the alliance captains and the referee on the field, I must say the referee was concerned enough to seek me out in the pits during closing ceremonies to explain the decision of the referee staff. He was also looking for 293 and 834, but they were all already in the stands and I don’t know if he was able to talk directly with them. While we may not agree with his interpretation of the defensive play between 358 and 56, I do respect him for the responsibility he obviously feels, and has undertaken, to make and seek us out to explain such a very tough decision. He made an honest attempt to keep the event safe and the play fair. He and the other referees could not be everywhere or see everything at once, but they made great efforts to do so.

Since I was talking to the head referee in the pits when my team was called up as finalists, I unfortunately missed shaking the hand of each of the referees who worked so hard throughout this event, but I did get to thank the head referee for making this event possible.