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Originally Posted by Aidan F. Browne
Lets wind the clock back -- it is now the Monday after the first week of regionals... you are on the Game Committee... you decide that two new rules are needed for Tuesday's team update:
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I don't think new rules need to be written I think FIRST needs to demonstrate violations of the rule. What does intentional entanglement look like? What does intentional tipping look like? What is malicious damage? Most people would agree it would be very difficult to quantify what a violation to those rules would be.
FIRST should put together a video of what violations of the "standard rules" look like. Standard rules are tipping, entanglement, damage, destruction, etc. which are included in the game rules every year.
The standard rule set is currently enforced by using personal judgment on the part of the referees. This very easily lends itself to inconsistent calls between referees. Very respected people on this forum disagree as to when a certain rule has been broken. It's obvious that the current system doesn't work.
If referees had an example of what to look for it would make their calls much more consistent. Currently, a referee makes a personal judgment on whether a rule was broken. The video will give them leverage in being impartial, in their minds, as to when it's appropriate to flag a team.
Teams would see the video of violations to the standard rules and have a better understanding why the referees made a certain call. There wouldn't be as much debate as to whether a team was wronged by a referee because it would be less of a personal judgment call and more of a "did this action meet the example" judgment call.
In baseball, it would be tough for an Umpire to call a balk, if he had never seen prior examples of when a pitcher does balk. It's rules where personal judgment is used that need examples in order for them to be enforced consistently.
Aidan, the rule you are asking for is impossible to write. You can't qualify or quantify the spirit of FIRST, you need to see it by example.