Is this fair?

[MikeDubreuil]

Is what happened fair? No, absolutely not.

The job of head referee is the most difficult job in all of FIRST. The head ref holds the most power over how good or bad a FIRST competition is perceived to be. The referee (judge) is given rules (laws) to enforce at a competition. The rules are made by FIRST (legislator) and the rules are meant to be applied by the referee. It is how the head referre applies rules which makes him a good or bad referee. If a referree aplies the rules by the letter than he will be perviced as a bad. If a referee applies the rules judiciously than he will be perceived as a good referee.

This team didn't cause their problem by being inspected late. A minor procedural error by an inspector did not cause this teams problem. It was a bad judgment by a referee that caused their frustration.

Sometimes I like to think FIRST invented gracious professionalism to deal with these situations