Thread: moving screen
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Old Fri Mar 12, 2004, 12:00am
Mark T. DeNucci, Sr. Mark T. DeNucci, Sr. is offline
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Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: Toledo, Ohio, U.S.A.
Posts: 8,044
In the structural engineering profession, a structural engineer is hired to design a building because he/she is the expert in designing buildings not the person who hired him/her. While the structural engineer is ethically required to put his client's needs before his/hers, that does not mean that he/she can ignore good engineering practice or design codes to give the client what he/she wants. If the client wants the building designed in such a way that would violate design codes or good engineering practice, the structural engineer is ethically required to ignore his/her client's desires.

How does the structural engineering example apply to the situation in this post. Simple, the basketball officials were hired by the recreation department because they are the experts in the rules of basketball and the mechanics of basketball officiating, and the recreation department is not. Just because the recreation department wants the game officials to ignore the rules, does not mean the game officials are to follow the recreation department's directive. The game officials have an ethical and professional duty to inform the recreation department that what it wants the game officials to do is in violation of the rules of basketball.

I know that there are officials in this post that thing that what the coach is doing is despicable, but having two players run down the court, shoulder-to-shoulder in front of the dribbler, is not an infraction of the rules. Yes, I know that recreation leagues draw up special rules for their leagues, such as running clock and stopped clock situations, timeouts per game, disqualification for a single unsportsmanlike technical foul, and such. But to attempt to charge a player with a technical foul for doing something that is legal under the rules is just wrong and a misguided attempt to enforce a psuedo sportsmanship rule.
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Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.
Trumbull Co. (Warren, Ohio) Bkb. Off. Assn.
Wood Co. (Bowling Green, Ohio) Bkb. Off. Assn.
Ohio Assn. of Basketball Officials
International Assn. of Approved Bkb. Officials
Ohio High School Athletic Association
Toledo, Ohio
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