World Cup 2014 is in the books! Congratulations to Germany and Argentina for providing a dramatic and worthy final, and kudos to champion Deutschland. Fans who followed the games know that the officials played important roles, both for the [controversial] calls they made, as well as those they didn’t make. And there were plenty of each to talk about. This week completes my WC 2014 postings, and it is dedicated to the referees and linesmen. One piece of trivia: for some unexplained reason, the color of the ball used in the final was changed. If you looked carefully, the orange stripe [see below] was gone.