[EricH]

Originally Posted by gr8dragon

I may be wrong about this but i do believe that at one regional a team was red carded for intentionally trying to get penalty point while they were in the key/alley, but no other regional has done so(again could be wrong on that). This is just an interesting ruling for this years game and I think falls under the same discussion. Thoughts?

It could fall under the same discussion. More later.

I think you're right about most of what you said above this about coopertition, with the exception that not cooperating with the powerhouses doesn't necessarily give you the best chance to compete; it simply says that in that match they have to beat you to get qual points. (And at that point, all bets are off--you have to do the same thing.) In any other match, it's to your advantage to cooperate, especially if you're going to win.

Back to the red card for intentionally trying to get penalty points: This is a valid ruling, it's a potentially valid strategy, but it's got to be one of the toughest calls a ref has to make. Did the team intend to force the penalty? Intent is one of the hardest things to call. (Actually, I can think of a very "interesting" eliminations strategy if you're at an event where the refs do give red cards for that...) There's a reason for the rules being the way they are; it's a matter of "you can bump to tell them to move, and again if they're a slow learner, but you can't bump just to get the points", and the ref gets the unenviable job of determining if that line's been crossed.