Block? Charge? No call?

[rwest]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

We're mostly in alignment, but I'm saying whether the lean contributed to the fall isn't relevant. To me, if the lean would have caused him to fall without contact, then the contact is incidental. If the contact contributed to the fall, however, then it's a foul even if the contact might not have caused him to fall if he wasn't leaning. Leaning is legal, so he shouldn't be punished (by allowing another player to knock him down) for doing it.

But contact is legal too. This is a contact sport. The only contact we penalize is the contact that causes displacement or provides an advantage or disadvantage. If the player is leaning and the contact is marginal, even though it may have contributed to it, I've got a no call. Otherwise, if the offensive player barely touches the chest of the defender while the player is falling back, I would have to call PC. I'm not going to do that. I doubt you will either. Also, I don't believe the rule book really uses the term lean, but it does say that the player can move and brace for the impact. There are better ways to brace for an impact than to lean. However, leaning is moving so it is allowed. But they lean to draw the foul. That is why we can call ( I haven't done it yet) a T for flopping. It's a HTBT and a judgment call. I don't believe either one of our positions is wrong nor are we that far apart on this. My thing is by leaning the defender is already placing themselves in a disadvantageous position. They are putting themselves in a position to be displaced by the slightest of contact to draw a foul. It has to be more than marginal for me to call a PC. It's one of those things that you know it when you see it or at least we should, if we are refereing the defense.