How often do you see this???

[BillyMac]

Jurassic Referee:

Thanks for your response. You are corrrect that opinions and interpretations of rules often go hand in hand, and what we have here is, simply, a difference of opinion. However, for your information, and for the rest of the Forum, we actually agree on several points made in your following quotes:

"advantage/disadvantage generally (my boldface) does NOT apply to violations"

"3-seconds certainly has historically been called along advantage/disadvantage guidelines"

"under certain circumstances (out-of-sight game, etc.), an official may choose to ignore some borderline stuff that might include an actual violation of a certain kind"

"when to ignore something that happens on the court is a skill that is acquired by good officials through experience and that skill can't be taught - it must be learned"

"any obvious violation should never be ignored"

"If it's obvious, it's gotta be called with no exceptions"

"backcourt, obvious FT) should also never be ignored"

I actually agree with you 100% on the seven statements above. The reason why I have been so vehement about this thread is the single word "never" in your statement “advantage/disadvantage was never meant to apply to violations” (June 14, 2006). Never is a very strong word, but I can see from your most recent thread and from your quotes above, that you may recognize some limited exceptions to your statement.

To be honest with you, I really haven't enjoyed this repartee that we have continued over the past few days. I have really learned a lot from the Forum since I discovered it a few years ago, but I have been often "turned off" when some members get too personal, sometimes leading to unprofessional remarks, and at some point in this thread, I thought we were heading in that direction.

I hope that this thread had been beneficial to some officials. I hope that we haven"t confused some new officials who may not be ready for the concept of advantage disadvantage. I also hope that we have sparked some thought about advantage disadvantage and the spirit and intent of the rules for veteran officials and for young officials who may be ready to move up to the next level.

As always, I will continue to look forward to your posts and threads.