My post (below) is not in direct reference to bd41flpk's, and Freddy's (do we have a more friendly Forum member?) posts in this thread, but, instead, is more of a general post, in reference to past threads containing statements regarding whether a poster has possession of a rulebook, or not, and whether, or not, one can simply look up the answer on their own, and if not, why not (excluding answers to test questions).
Quote:
Originally Posted by bd41flpk
... having possession of rule books ...
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It is my understanding that this Forum is not only for basketball officials. There's no velvet rope, and bouncer. While most "members" are probably basketball officials, that will have easy access to rulebooks and casebooks, I'm pretty sure that some "members" may be coaches, players, or fans, with limited access to rulebooks and casebooks. The percentage of "guests", who only participate by reading posts, that are not officials, and who might not have access to rulebooks and casebooks, is probably a lot higher than "members".
When I posted this, there were twenty-five "guests" on the Forum, and only two "members". While we have no responsibility to "guests", and nonofficial "members", to provide accurate rule interpretations that most, but not all, can simply look up, doesn't it help the game of basketball if these "guests", and nonofficial "members", have easy access to accurate rule interpretations, and citations, from experts (aren't basketball officials supposed to be the guardians of the game?), like ourselves.
Yes, there is a certain amount of truth to the old adage about "teaching a man to fish". But this is now the twenty-first century, and many now consider the internet, and forums like this, to be a reference, even to those (officials) with access to rulebooks and casebooks, just as all of us old timers once considered only a rulebook and casebook, made out of dead trees, to be a reference just a few short years ago.
Telling a Forum member, who doesn't own a rulebook and casebook, or a non-Forum-member, who may not be a basketball official, who doesn't own a rulebook or casebook, but who may be interested in a rule interpretation, to "look it up" may be helpful only to those who actually own a rulebook and casebook, and would be of limited value to those who don't, especially to those nonmembers "lurking" quietly in the background, who are not "posters". Check the numbers at the bottom of the page. We have a lot of these "lurkers". Telling such a "lurker" that the answer can be found in citation 4-6, and 4.6, is of absolutely no help to many (but not all) "lurkers".
Now can somebody please help me down from this soapbox? It's kind of scary up here, and I don't want to get hurt before the season begins. C'mon Freddy? Give a brother official a hand. You seem friendly enough.