[sporticus99]

I was the head ref at the Philadelphia Regional and ultimately it was my decision to DQ 358 in match 1 of the final. I care for the feelings of the kids on 293, 358, and 834, and the intention of this posting is to provide them with a detailed explanation of why I made the call. This is the only posting that I will make regarding the Philly final. I will not respond to questions and I do not want to review any video that you may have.

First, I didn't see the sequence of collisions myself. It was a big field with many moving parts and I was unfortunately watching another part of the field. The sequence of collisions happened on the opposite side of the field from my perspective and 3 of my refs had good views. The sequence of collisions happened early on in the match. When I saw 56 laying on the carpet, I knew I was in a tough spot.

I had 3 choices. Choice 1 was to make no call, which would likely have caused team 56 and their alliance partners to question why there was no call. Choice 2 was to issue a minor 10-point penalty for ramming/tipping/rough-play (Rule G25 was updated to give me the 10-point minor penalty option). Choice 3 was to DQ 358 and award the match to 56 and their alliance partners. Rather than making a rushed decision, I let the match continue. Issuing a DQ in the final means awarding the match to the opposing alliance and the call had to be right.

After the match, we scored the tetras and had a lengthy discussion in the middle of the field. 3 of my refs gave me the same consistent story. In summary, 358 and 56 had a collision and bounced off each other. Right after the collision, 56 made a turn and 358 drove forward again. 358 had a very low front and got underneath 56. 358 continued to push forward and flipped 56.

Several factors went into the decision.
1) The collision happened early on in the match. 56 was effectively disabled for more than half the match. This ruled out the minor 10-point penalty.
2) After the first impact, 56 actually made a turn and this led me to believe that 56 wanted to get away. This was really a very minor factor.
3) After the first impact, 358 drove forward immediately. This led me to believe that the drivers of 358 had the intention of hitting 56. The intention of hitting 56 by itself is entirely OK. I honestly believe that the drivers of 358 wanted to hit 56 low and push.
4) 358 got underneath 56 and continued forward to flip 56. From the 358 drivers' perspective, they could not have seen that their robot had gotten underneath 56. They very likely thought they were just pushing low. My refs along the sideline had the perfect side view. This is a key difference in perspective that I hope you could all appreciate.

In summary, 358 had the intention to hit 56, (albeit accidentally) got underneath the side of 56 with a low front, and continued forward to flip 56 during the early part of a match. It was a tough call to DQ 358.

One of my refs kept a list of trouble-making robots and 358 was not on the list. 358 played clean the whole weekend and it was really unfortunate that an accident had to happen in the final. In real life, when accidents happen, usually multiple sides suffer. In this particular case, team 358 and their alliance partners suffered the brunt of the accident. In a way, the refs also suffered as we were forced into make a tough judgement call in the final. To be honest, I would much rather see a clean match.

As Mark McLeod (coach of 358) alluded to in posting #20, I made an attempt to speak with 293 and 834, but they were not in the pit area when I was able to free myself from my duties.

To the kids on the 293, 358, and 834, I sincerely hope that you can hold your heads high and continue your great interests in science and engineering. Don't let a tough call ruin your season. You should be proud of yourselves for building capable robots. Good luck to you all.

Philly Regional Head Ref


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PS:-I would appreciate it greatly if you could help distribute this to the kids on the losing alliance. I strongly feel that they deserve a detailed explanation from me. Thanks.