Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankJ
The touching the operating station exception in G14 is for console safety. Picking up a fallen controller really doesn't fit into this. I agree that there was no competitive advantage, The question is how much leeway do you give the referees in interpreting the rules. My experience with First upper management IE the GDC is they prefer the rules to be enforced literally. My experience with individuals faced with the immediate situational reality varies. We are all human.
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The rules are never enforced literally. The refs always do as they see fit. MaGiC_PiKaChU just stated they played the entire match with a mechanism outside the 15" limit, by G18 they should have been disabled. I watched many matches where bumpers fell off during the match. This should be a foul and a disable by G19-1 (structurally non-compliant). In at least one match, the robot that lost the bumper continued to play, and was scored as being on the batter at the end, even though their bumper was halfway across the field. They won that match by 5 points. It appears to me that the refs give a break to newer or "non powerhouse" teams, and enforce the rules harshly on more established, better built, or "powerhouse" teams.