Rules - to follow or not to follow, that is the question

[dtengineering]

Originally Posted by Daniel_LaFleur

I'm sorry Jason, but I have to disagree with you. Allowing teams to play in violation of the rules (even the ones that 'dont give a competitive advantage') is wrong, and sends the wrong message to all teams (that the rules are not for everyone).

No need to apologize, Daniel, because I don't think we are disagreeing! As I concluded my post,

It probably wasn't the call that I would have made, but I can understand why it was a good call to make.

I was merely trying to provide some context that, in my mind, helped me to understand why the decision might have been made to ignore what was clearly a bumper rule violation.

As I have posted elsewhere, I don't think there is such a thing as a minor or insignificant rule, and I'm a big supporter of 100% firm enforcement of all rules (at least at FRC events... I'm a bit more lenient doing VRC inspections). While I was surprised to see this rule not enforced in Seattle, I wasn't offended, worried, or concerned. In the context of the event, I can understand the Lead Inspector's discretion, even if I would have likely made a different call.

(Respecting a decision) != (Agreeing with it)

Jason