Ball Stuck Under Bridge When Balancing?

[EricH]

If we're trying to balance a seesaw, and I've got my legs down contacting the ground while the seesaw is level, is the seesaw balanced?

If instead of legs I use a mound of dirt, is the seesaw balanced?

What about if I grab a playground ball or three and stick them under?





The seesaw might be leveled, but leveled and balanced are not the same thing. Synonyms? Yes. The same? No. I am typing this while sitting at a level desk, but it has no fewer than 2 points of support. You couldn't make the argument that it was balanced if you tried! (Balance generally tends to imply 1 point of support--see the definitions in Webster's.) Yet, your argument is that a bridge, with 2 points of support (one pivot point and one basketball), should be considered balanced. Remember, wherever the GDC refuses to define a term, they tell you to go to the common definition. They have defined balanced, yes--but they have not defined the support conditions necessary to be balanced. For those, we must go to the common definition. Guess what...

(I'm reasonably sure Tristan will be along shortly to dispute with one of us, or the GDC, or both.)



The other rule I'm going to point you to is [T13] and [T14]. You should have asked the Head Ref as soon as this happened/you discovered it. If you'd raised doubt in the Head Ref's mind, he might have called HQ/the GDC for clarification, and all that. Or he might know the rules better than CD does. Seeing as that apparently didn't happen, you're going to have to deal with one less CP for everyone in the match. And someone might need to post a question on Q&A.