[Chris Hibner]

FIRST made great strides this past season in the penalty department. Before this year, everything was all or nothing - DQ/disable or no penalty what-so-ever.

The yellow card system has its merits, but once again, I feel it is a little too binary. Okay, maybe its tertiary since now there's three options - DQ, yellow card, or no penaly.

I would like to see the point penalties moved over to aggressive play. If you tip a team - 25 pts; if you ram them repeatedly - 10 pts; if you entangle - 10 pts; if you get more than X penalties (or perhaps more than Y penalty points), you're DQ'd. Obviously the point values used here are for illustration purposes only and would need to be thought of a little better.

I think it makes it much easier to call a penalty if the penalty fits the crime a little better. I like the football anaolgy: you're offsides - 5 yards; holding - 10 yards; late hit to the head - 15 yards. The current system in FIRST is: offsides - DQ&forfeit; holding - DQ&forfeit; late hit to the head - DQ&forfeit.

With the current system, its no surprise that the refs like to look the other way - who wants to DQ a team? If the ref can simply throw a flag and take take away some points, I think the calls will be made more frequently. I also like the immediate ramification of the penalty rather than having something carry over to future matches.

Anyway, that is just a thought.