Quote:
Originally Posted by IndySam
Also I have never had to call a foul (in three regionals) against teams employing this strategy. Teams that understand the rules enough to do this also understand that they need to get rid of the balls.
The only time I have called a foul for more than six were on teams that either didn't understand the rules or simply weren't paying attention.
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Wow, you're lucky. I have reffed two events and coached 3. In two reffed events, I have called something like 3-4 instances of G31 (~10 balls total). I suspect most refs keep track the same way IndySam and I do.
In the 3 coached events, I have clearly seen*
well over 10 separate instances--probably close to 25 balls--not called (and others that were called). On webcasts especially, I have seen teams loose matches due to non-calls multiple times. It's a constant issue I've heard numerous other drive team members, spectators and volunteers comment on.
Some of these cases were simply teams not understanding the rules that didn't affect much, but others very clearly provided a strategic advantage (whether or not they understood the rules). This makes FIRST's rationale very difficult for me to swallow.
*I cannot see opposing inbounders well enough when I'm coaching to spot G31s (with all the baskets, diamond plate, drivers, robots, etc in the way). Please don't take this as a slight against teams we've "blocked the slot" on. My mental count certainly never got over 6.