[tomegun]

Originally posted by JCrow
I've been thinking about the comments:

1. I can find no record of James Worthy ever calling an illegal TO. I don't know where I got that one! My apologies to Mr. Worthy.

2. I may have been "show-boating" when I refused that T. It was a funny situation. The father Coaching the other Team probably didn't know the League Rules. It seemed like the sporting thing to do at the time. Would I do it again? In a Rec League maybe....in Varsity Competition, I understand the need to be more formal.

There have been many Posts concerning the difference between the "Spirt of the Rules" and the "Letter of the Rules". There are ones on "odd shirts", "dunking in warm-ups", etc. I tend to side more with the people who look at upholding the Spirit of Rules. Here's an example:

Years ago, I read book by Alan Dershowitz. He had a case where two Drug Dealers got into an altercation with a Supplier. Drug Dealer A shot the man in the chest twice with a .45. He then turned to Drug Dealer B and told him to shoot the man so that Drug Dealer B could never rat him out. Drug Dealer B complied and shot the Supplier twice with a 9mm. They were both arrested and charged with First Degree Murder. Dershowitz defended Drug Dealer B and got him an aquital. How? Dershowitz argued foresenically that the Supplier was already dead from Drug Dealer A's two fatal gunshots and as he was DEAD.....Drug Dealer B could NOT have murdered him.

To me, that seemed a terrible miscarriage of justice as I saw Drug Dealer A and B as equally guilty of First Degree Murder. But...it was definitely supported by the the Letter of the Law defining First Degree Murder.

Dershowitz has a brillent intellect. His books are filled with stories about bad people avoiding punishment because he can find a way to show that their deed didn't fall within the specific Letter of the Law. But....after reading them, you wonder how the guy sleeps at night? (He does love basketball so he can't be all bad.)

I tend to think that adhering to the Spirit of a Rule often serves to effect better Justice.

Can you tell us how you are relating that to a game of basketball?