Midway through the second round qualifying match in the U.S. Open Cup between Bellevue Athletic and the eye-catching name of Sharktopus FC, Sharktopus manager Leo Ohannesian noticed something odd. The Bellevue players seemed a little too friendly with the referee.

"As a passionate soccer coach, I could disagree with the calls," Ohannesian told ESPN. "There were some questionable ones, but there was [other] stuff during the game. They were calling him 'buddy' and by his first name, and I was like, 'That's kind of weird.' I usually refer to the referees as 'sir.'"

After the match, which was won by Bellevue, 4-3, Ohannesian understood better the reason for the familiar tone: one of the Sharktopus players relayed to him that the referee had, at one time, played for Bellevue.

When Ohannesi

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