Reposted from this weekend's MLS preview, 'cause I still don't get this and would like your feedback:

Fans all season long - heck, make that for all eleven seasons - have been griping about the mercurial decisions made by the referees and linesmen. This week, MLS' disciplinary committee poured some kerosene on that fire with some strange and inequitable punishments for last weekend's shenanigans.

New England fans recall that Shalrie Joseph had to sit out the critical second-leg match against Chicago for a phantom high elbow call against Chicago's Ivan Guererro in the first leg. This week, for pointing that out, coach Steve Nicol got slapped with a $2000 fine for pointing out what a joke this was.

But hold on, it gets better.

Last week, Colorado's Mike Petke karate-kicked FC Dallas keeper Dario Sala in the chest post-game after Sala punched his teammate, Hunter Freeman. Sala got a $3500 fine and was banned for six games, which is absolutely appropriate. Petke, however, got a $500 slap on the wrist.

In the same game. Pablo Mastroeni got a yellow card for an open-handed slap to Simo Valakari. This week, for the same exact transgression, Houston's Ricardo Clark got fined $500. Chivas USA' Juan Francisco Palencia, you may recall, got tossed for the same kind of stuff, but was not fined.

Don't misread me: This isn't about what Petke, Mastroeni or Clark did, it's about an inequitable system. How is it that Joseph, who didn't get a card that day from ref Tim Weyland on the play had to sit out a game, yet a guy who was the second man in on a brawl can suit up Sunday for the Rapids? Is it any wonder fans and players are frustrated?

If MLS really wants to do something about indiscipline, it can start by attacking the root of the problem, and that's the refs. While the players have improved, the refs haven't kept pace, and this needs to change.

The biggest slap in the face is Nicol's fine. I know coaches are supposed to be good soldiers and "respect the game." But when players are being disrespected by a seemingly arbitrary system, coaches and players have a duty to speak out.