[bduddy]

As much as I agree with your post in general, referees do need to be informed when the pedestal does not promptly light up, and saying this politely at a normal voice level probably will not get the message across. I say this having refereed myself. Of course, context is everything.

The bullying of any teams, especially rookie teams, is inexcusable. "Stress" and "competitiveness" and whatever other stupid excuses people come up with are irrelevant. I'd like to see the harshest penalties applied to teams that do this, not teams that fail to get their inspection forms signed off by all the right people.