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Originally Posted by dlavery
Under the stated rules for YMTC, each of us are to act as the "referee" and evaluate and render a judgement regarding a hypothetical game situation. The situation offered in this example is one in which the questioned behavior takes place off the field. As such, the opinion of the "referee" is irrelevent, as actions taking place off the field (and in particular, outside the event venue) are outside the jurisdiction of the referees. Such violations are to be addressed by the judges (if it involves a possible award) and/or the field manager and/or the senior FIRST representative on site. Under the terms of YMTC we are not taking on any of those roles, therefore, our discussions on this question are moot.
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Do the judges have the will or knowledge to act in this capacity? We already know that we cannot expect the judges to know every aspect of every rule, and I can't be the only one able to imagine a situation where the offense described
wins the team an award:
Bluateam captain, Joey Blue, when meeting with Judges Bill Doesntknowalltherules and Susan Sucessfulbusinesswoman, says, "Well, Judges, we showed up with a poorly functioning right drive train, but after some long hours in the hotel last night, we were able to get it working really well!"
Judges Bill and Susan, duly impressed by Bluateam's extraordinary effort, recommend them for the special judges award for "Going the Extra Mile".
This said, I have to admit that I don't know what exactly goes on behind closed doors in those smoke-filled judge's meetings. Perhaps they are savvy individuals who can see through the smokescreens of well-intentioned youths. Perhaps they're guided by representatives from FIRST who aren't so overworked simply trying to keep the competition going on schedule that they have the time and information to point out this type of violation.