Tyrone Marshall “Broke the Floor”, and Why Silliness Like This is Good for MLS

By: Daryl | October 6th, 2009

Nice little mini-controversy in Major League Soccer this weekend, with Seattle Sounders beating Columbus Crew 1-0 by [allegedly] digging a hole in the penalty area.

Here’s what we know happened: Crew’s Guillermo Barros Schelotto had a chance to equalize from the penalty spot in the 83rd minute, but dragged his shot wide.

GBS took the blame for missing, but also suggested a possible reason why it happened:

“It’s my fault, I know,” he said. “I feel terrible for the missed penalty. I shoot bad and put the ball outside. They broke the floor before the penalty, but it is my fault.”

By “broke the floor” he means that Seattle deliberately ruined the penalty spot before he could take the kick. How is that possible, you ask? I didn’t see the game so will instead quote directly from The Black & Gold Standard, the Crew blog that has the original story on this:

After referee Ricardo Salazar whistled Jhon Kennedy Hurtado for bodyblocking Eddie Gaven in the box, Hurtado and James Riley undertook a lengthy appeal. Hurtado and Riley remained in Salazar’s face for nearly a minute, keeping the referee occupied. It was the perfect diversion for Sounders defender Tyrone Marshall, who went to the penalty spot and got to work with his cleats. Marshall earnestly dug into the spot as if he were a slugger prepping for a crucial at-bat. He raked his cleats and back and forth, back and forth, over and over again. He jammed his heel into the ground when more force was needed. By the time he was finished, there was barely any evidence left of the white dot. There was a crater in its place.

Here’s the official MLS video of the game…
…which reveals absolutely nothing:

The penalty is around the 3:20 mark, but everything between the ref pointing to the spot and GBS firing wide has been edited out.

The only available evidence exists, again, over at the The Black and Gold Standard, where they took photos of what used to be the penalty spot after the game.

Of curse, GBS should have scored anyway. He knows that. See above. And I’d be tempted to say The Black and Gold Standard was just bitter and grasping at straws, if only blogger Sirk didn’t sound so impressed with what Seattle pulled off:

Some will insist that this is cheating, while others will insist that it was a brilliant piece of gamesmanship. No matter where one stands, one must tip their cap to Seattle for their flawless execution.

If I’m 100% honest, I think this is exactly what MLS needs. A nice bit of controversy.

The reason for the English Prem’s popularity isn’t just the highly paid and technically accomplished players, it’s also the batshit crazy shenanigans that seem to happen every single week, like Adebayor celebrating in front of Arsenal fans, Craig Bellamy slapping a Man Utd fan or – this week – Alex Ferguson calling Alan Wiley a fatty. It gives the football a healthy dose of soap opera and keeps everyone talking. So if Major League Soccer wants to compete with the big boys, then Tyrone Marshall digging a hole in the dirt better be just the tip of the iceberg.