By Ridge Mahoney, senior editor

REF WATCH: Howls of protest from San Jose players and fans could be heard across the land last Saturday after referee Andrew Chapin disallowed a Quakes goal because of a foul by a Revs player.

Referee assistant Fabio Tovar raised his flag after Brian Mullan tumbled to the ground upon being challenged by Joe Franchino near the right touchline. Craig Waibel received Mullan's pass and played a diagonal ball along the ground to Dwayne DeRosario on the left wing. As DeRosario put the ball in the net the whistle blew.

Because the view of the west sideline is obstructed at Spartan Stadium, thousands of fans on that side — as well as reporters and broadcasters in the press box — couldn't know precisely when Tovar raised his flag. Fans shouted and booed as the San Jose players protested. Chapin may have believed the flag was raised for offside.

Replays showed that Leonard Marshall, the Revs' left back, was close enough to his own goal to negate any offside possibility but Chapin couldn't have known that. Chapin's error was his positioning: He was too close to the right sideline and thus couldn't see both the play and the referee's assistant. As he watched Mullan's ball roll to Waibel, he had his back to Tovar. Chapin didn't see the raised flag until seconds later when he glanced at Tovar as DeRosario received the ball and shot.

Had Chapin known the flag was up for a foul and not for offside, he probably would have played advantage. Several Revs obviously heard a whistle, as keeper Matt Reis waved off the goal, although they too might have thought the play was offside. As it turned out, Franchino was cautioned for his foul on Mullan.

BEASTLY BEHAVIOR: Chapin's sending-off of defender Troy Dayak for an elbow into the face of Joseph later in the match prompted Dayak to rip off his jersey, jump around and pump his arms to charge up the crowd. Nobody does it like ''The Beast.''

The antics will surely lighten Dayak's wallet, as should Landon Donovan's clenched fist-bent arm gesture at Tovar following the Quakes' stunning equalizer in the 94th minute. Donovan was cautioned for his blatant display of disrespect.

KC-LA MELEE: Escaping any disciplinary action was Wizards defender Jim Conrad, who picked up the ball after his team was called for a foul to kill time and also swatted Galaxy attacker Carlos Ruiz in the face as he and teammate Sasha Victorine tried to wrest the ball away.

Referee Hector Tobon cautioned Ruiz but ignored Conrad's behavior as well as that of several other players, including Galaxy midfielder Andreas Herzog, who barreled into the fray as tempers escalated. Expect the MLS Disciplinary Committee to fine perhaps a half-dozen players and ask Tobon why Conrad was not punished.