Eric Balash

Ever wonder how much of our lives we spend sleeping or working? Ever wonder how much free time we actually have? My latest viz breaks all of this down. My biggest takeaway is if your waiting for tomorrow, why not do it today? public.tableau.com/profile/eric.b… @tableaupublic @tableau

Missing the World Cup?! Open challenge for this week!!

We have a great collab for Week 13!

@rawby25 Agreed on both comments!!

@ReadySetData I also think USA beats Belgium w/ our Balgon 😉

As a former D1 college soccer ref of 12 years, I watched the Balogun red card through a different lens than most fans. Everyone is yelling about "no intent" but here’s why the crew actually got it right by the literal rulebook. My full Law 12 and VAR breakdown on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/posts/eric-bal… #USMNT #WorldCup

lol you’re gonna hate this but in an aerial 50/50 challenge, both players have an equal right to the space and neither is committing an actual foul under Law 12. A bad injury on its own doesn't automatically equal a red card.  The difference with Balogun is that a physical offense did happen, studs landed directly on a locked ankle joint. Once that specific contact occurs, Law 12 strictly measures the structural danger to the opponent, regardless of it being completely accidental. That's why the rulebook treats them completely differently. Here’s a great explanation that I saw last night: instagram.com/reel/DaSw-skAD…

@ReadySetData Fair. Let me ask this. Hypothetically (not hypothetically) , when a ball is in tbe air and two players incidentally run into each other w their heads down and one player gets a concussion out of it , no fault , no intention …. Endangers players, red card (s)?

@forsak3ndr3ams @sirhlyon Agreed

@ReadySetData @sirhlyon You wouldn’t get nearly the outrage if it was consistently called. It isn’t an thats the issue. VAR has disallowed 10 goals so far this cup and set out plenty of penalties,they should never be discussed as part of the match if they are they’ve failed in their duty,same with refs

Under the official VAR Protocol (Section 4), referees are explicitly instructed to use slow-motion and freeze-frames to determine the "point of contact for physical offences". Normal speed is only required for judging intensity. In this scenario, the official wasn’t looking at intensity but rather the point of contact that “endangered the safety of another player” for Serious Foul Play.

@ReadySetData ? They did not use VAR by the book, they’re supposed to look at the action in real time rather than frame by frame to make a determination

@MikeJensonIII Haha I hear where you’re coming from and i dont like the call at all. I probably wouldn’t have made it myself, but with just trying to understand the logical steps of how he got to the send off, within the specifics of how the rules are written is what I was trying to do here.

@ReadySetData I understand. Horrendous law. So be brutally honest with yourself. How many plays in a game “endanger the safety of an opponent”? If those words are all you care about, all context aside. All that aside, it’s just not true that that play causes serious harm at a high degree.

Ya I hear what you’re saying but in the Laws of the Game and through training, we taught and we know that slide tackles / jumping for a header, etc. can still be done in a safe way, but in this scenario, even though it was “accidental,” the official has to look at the facts and strip away the “vibe” of the game. It’s unfortunate and definitely opens the door for inconsistency across different crews.

@Samwinton99 @hmn_alchemy @ReadySetData @Chels1an So all slide tackles are red card offenses? Any contested header where 2 players knock heads is an automatic red? Are do you have a specific definition of “endangers the safety” that only applies to the specific case of coming down on an ankle?

Agreed to an extent. I wouldn’t say never, but I would agree that having VAR review something like this when tackles like this happen all the time does seem a little extreme for how the game was being played already. It’s a matter of consistency. Messi should’ve been sent off but wasn’t. In this scenario, I was just trying to understand and show how the official arrived at his send off.

@ReadySetData The problem with your analysis is that players are never sent off for a challenge which is totally accidental but endangers and opponent. Although that may be what the rule says, it is never enforced like that unless there is an element of recklessness.

Under the official VAR Protocol (Section 4), referees are explicitly instructed to use slow-motion and freeze-frames to determine the "point of contact for physical offences". Normal speed is only required for judging intensity. In this scenario, the official wasn’t looking at intensity but rather the point of contact that “endangered the safety of another player” for Serious Foul Play.

@ReadySetData By the rule book (FIFA) , VAR is not to be used on plays like this and watched in slow motion or still shots. But in real time. And in real time that is Not a red card. And again , if we are strictly talking by the rule and how it is supposed to be utilized!!!

Buddy, I get the frustration, but you’re confusing the initial foul with how a referee is forced to judge the final contact under Law 12. The defender coming through Balogun's back is a foul. No one is arguing that. If the ref blows the whistle immediately right there, the US gets a free kick and the play is over. But because the whistle didn't blow and play continued, Balogun's studs ended up coming down directly onto the guy's ankle. Under Law 12, a play becomes Serious Foul Play if it "endangers the safety of an opponent". The rulebook doesn't give you a free pass for a dangerous landing just because you were fouled a split-second earlier. Once VAR sends the referee to the monitor, the ref has to look at the isolated point of contact. On the screen, he sees studs planted into a trapped ankle. By the literal text of the rules, that's endangering an opponent's safety, and it's a mandatory red card. It’s an incredibly brutal and unfair sequence, but by the book, that's how the rule is written.

@ReadySetData Buddy, this was extremely embarrassing and discredited everything you may have done as a ref. My goodness. One player here has a clear advantage to the ball. The other player is challenging them coming through them from behind. This is basic stuff buddy.

I don’t disagree with you at all on how it happened. The defender ran through Balogun from his blind side, knocking him off balance, and he landed on the ankle in a tangle of legs. By every common-sense definition, it was completely accidental. But unfortunately, "accidental" or "incidental" are never mentioned in the Laws of the Game, and we can’t use them to judge a foul's severity. I’m just trying to explain the exact step-by-step process of how the official arrived at a send-off under Law 12, no matter how brutal and unfortunate it was for us.

@ReadySetData the defender runs through Balogun from his blind side, Balo never even sees him, let alone makes a challenge He gets knocked off balance from behind and comes down on the guy's ankle in the resulting tangle of legs definition of "incidental contact"

FYI! Major updates coming to @back2vizbasics due to data.world's open community being retired!

What a great way to end the week! Thank you @tableau! Seeing the 2026 stone is a huge reminder of the late nights and hard work. I’m grateful to be a part of this group, but even if you aren’t selected, it doesn’t mean your contributions don’t count. Keep doin what you're doin!

#B2VB Week 10 Challenge is live!

🚨 #B2VB Week 8: Visualizing Rank TC26 is right around the corner! This week we are ranking breweries within a few miles of the San Diego Convention Center. To Join: ✅ Build your viz ✅ Post with #B2VB ✅ Tag us & submit! 🔗 Data: bit.ly/4u6pEVc

Trading dashboards for Hot Wheels! While I am on paternity leave, I've been diving into Hot Wheels collecting with my Dad. He has over 1,000 cars and builds incredible customs. Here's a quick starter's guide: Substack: tinyurl.com/yf6mzt2d Medium: tinyurl.com/s6bh4s6f

We’re excited to introduce Hayden Louie Balash! He arrived on 4/3 and is doing great. Olivia is already a total super mom and we’re having the best time just hanging out and getting used to our new schedule as a family. It’s been a wild week but we couldn't be happier #NewDad

🚨 #B2VB Week 6: Treemaps The Oscars are in the books! This week we are building Treemaps using the 98th Academy Awards results. Practice showing part to whole relationships at a glance. ✅Build your viz ✅Post with #B2VB ✅Tag us & submit! 🔗 Data: bit.ly/4dDx3q2