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NF rules state that the officials shall rule on all things not covered by the rule book. Number of fouls is covered and it says 5 and you are gone. That is not a judgement call and certainly nothing can be lost in interpretation because 5 is always 5. Why should I change the rules because one team only brought 5 players. I might look like the bad guy but I will always have the approved rules for the game to back up my decision. Our job is not to make the game as equal as possible. Our job is to apply the rules of basketball to the game. If one team or the other knows and follows those rules better they will benefit but I am not going to change rules or call differently to make it equal. And why would I ever change numbers on a foul. If there were two people that fouled at approximately the same time and one was in foul trouble calling on the one not in foul trouble is one thing. But to call a foul commited by one individual on a teammate in close proximaty that did not foul is simply unethical. Rules are rules. Maybe the reason we catch soo much flack from coaches, parents, and fans is that some of us stick to the rules and others seem to do what seems oppropriate at the time. If the NF wants to change the rule to give me the liberty at a lower level game to allow a player with 5 fouls to continue playing in the spirit of good sportsmanship than I might. Until then lets call it by the rule book.
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