The Canary Letter

[Koko Ed]

So what do you guys think about the yellow card/ red card rule and having to carry the stigma of the yellow card for the rest of the tournament?

[David Kelly]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

So what do you guys think about the yellow card/ red card rule and having to carry the stigma of the yellow card for the rest of the tournament?

I think this is an awesome addition! I'm glad they decided to implement it at all events.

(We should all thank Andy Baker for starting this a few years back at the IRI)

[DCA Fan]

I think it's a good addition, it will be interesting to see how effective it's use is in competition. Hopefully this'll prevent aggressive teams from using potentially dangerous tactics.

[karinka13]

I'm not a big fan, because it's a little vague. I mean, it's then up to the judge if a team is being too rough or not, which is much more subjective than before. Not that I'm saying my team is upset that we can't push people around like crazy. I just think it's less defined than before and open to interpretation.

[Cody Carey]

Yes, It makes it so that one judge's decision is applied to an entire regional, and so that if a team makes one mistake in the beginning of a regional... They are penalized for the rest of it.

[DCA Fan]

Technically it's not a penalty, rather, just a warning to watch for rough behavior. I find it hard that such behavior could occur accidentally. Keep an eye on your robot and if you see a referee making the pinning hand signals (it's hard to miss) back off.

[JamesBrown]

Originally Posted by DCA Fan

Technically it's not a penalty, rather, just a warning to watch for rough behavior. I find it hard that such behavior could occur accidentally. Keep an eye on your robot and if you see a referee making the pinning hand signals (it's hard to miss) back off.

pinning isn't the only cause for a yellow card. also it isn't always cut and dry, things like ramming are largely a matter of interpretation. This rule would have worked better last year with the cut and dry definitions of the bumper zone and the lack of need for teams to have anything extending past the bumpers. this year however, the arms and manipluators will most likely reach well beyond the bumper zone.

[Ian Curtis]

Originally Posted by Cody C

Yes, It makes it so that one judge's decision is applied to an entire regional, and so that if a team makes one mistake in the beginning of a regional... They are penalized for the rest of it.

It's not just "a judge", it's the head ref.

Originally Posted by 9.6.3 <T06>

The Head Referee may assign a YELLOW CARD as a warning of egregious ROBOT or team member behavior. This will occur at the completion of a match, before the field is reset, and will be indicated by the Head Referee standing in front of the team’s PLAYER STATION and holding a yellow card in the air. In the first match that a team receives a YELLOW CARD, it acts as a warning.

On a side note, does anyone find the method of telling a team they have recieved a yellow card rather comical?

[NoSkaOnTheRadio]

Originally Posted by iCurtis

On a side note, does anyone find the method of telling a team they have recieved a yellow card rather comical?

I find it very comical, but millions of soccer fans can't all be wrong, can they ?

my only thoughts on this are that I might feel a little better about this rule if the card only carried over for a set number (for example, 4, matches), to keep teams from playing half-heartedly out fo fear of a DQ.

[haroony341]

what would be considered good defense. how far can you go with out getting a card?

[Al Skierkiewicz]

I like the abillity to shock a team into compliance with the card, but...
Something deep down inside is nagging me about carrying this 'mark' the whole weekend. Any parallels here to the "scarlet Letter"?

[Donut]

What will be interesting is how much the yellow card is used. Depending on the interpertation of rough play, there could potentially be a Regional with a number of robots all with yellow cards. Somehow I think the value of the yellow card will be diminished if 10 out of 30 teams at a regional have one.

[nparikh]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

I like the abillity to shock a team into compliance with the card, but...
Something deep down inside is nagging me about carrying this 'mark' the whole weekend. Any parallels here to the "scarlet Letter"?

I totally agree with you. Though it may seem like a great idea at first glance, it seems restricting marking someone with this 'letter'/'flag' or whatever you may.

Besides, why discourage teams from playing a good defense--yes, people make accidents; but in saying that they basically get one shot and then they're disqualified--that sounds a bit over the edge to me. People make accidents, and I don't think they shouldn't be penalized that much for such things.

Not to mention that I have qualms with such a subjective penalty system.

[Swan217]

Originally Posted by nparikh

I totally agree with you. Though it may seem like a great idea at first glance, it seems restricting marking someone with this 'letter'/'flag' or whatever you may.

Besides, why discourage teams from playing a good defense--yes, people make accidents; but in saying that they basically get one shot and then they're disqualified--that sounds a bit over the edge to me. People make accidents, and I don't think they shouldn't be penalized that much for such things.

Not to mention that I have qualms with such a subjective penalty system.

It's ALWAYS a subjective penalty system! Referees are human, and therefore make subjective decisions. As it has always been, it is up to the referees' discretion as to what counts as a penalty and what doesn't.

The rules have always been there - 10 point penalties, warning, then disqualification. Referees have always handed out warnings to teams to prevent poor strategies. Until now only the team that received the warning, the referee that gave the warning, and the head ref were the only ones to know about them. All this new system is doing is making the warnings more visible to the crowd and the other referees.

This yellow card system is NOT making any new rules. If you haven't received warnings before for an action, you probably won't receive a yellow card now. This will only prevent teams from being warned multiple times without something being done to stop the aggressive behavior. Teams have always had 2 strikes, but it hasn't always been enforced due to lack of communication.

Once again, the rules aren't changing, only the enforcement (and visibility) of them is.

P.S. - Good defense has always been allowed. Agressive defense never has (though some teams get away with it when refs are looking the other way).

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by Cody C

Yes, It makes it so that one judge's decision is applied to an entire regional, and so that if a team makes one mistake in the beginning of a regional... They are penalized for the rest of it.

No, if they make one mistake in the beginning they are not penalized. If they make one mistake at the beginning, then another mistake later you are. Plus they are wiped clean before the elimination matches:

<T09> YELLOW CARDS do not carry forward between qualification matches and elimination matches. All teams move into the elimination matches with a clean slate.