kick 'im while he's down

[Anchor]

Originally Posted by just another ref

Yeah, but in this case it really is incidental, isn't it? How is the guy on the floor put at a disadvantage?

The guy on the floor still has that space from floor to ceiling. It is no more incidental than if he had jumped over him while he was standing and his ankle tapped him on the head.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Anchor

The guy on the floor still has that space from floor to ceiling. It is no more incidental than if he had jumped over him while he was standing and his ankle tapped him on the head.

Your premise does not support your conclusion. "incidental" is only partially related to who has the rights to certain space. the player's entitlement to the space only tells you who is responsible for the contact. After that, we have to determine whether it's incidental or a foul.

[bainsey]

My main issue with this whole thing is...

Originally Posted by rsl

I was in situation (2), and was torn between

- wanting to get rid of a player with attitude who just kicked an opponent in the head, and
- not wanting to disqualify a guy on a ticky tack contact.

Either way, you knew that A1 had four fouls. I never count fouls, for two reasons...
*it's the scorekeeper's job, not mine, and
*it can sway your view from being objective, much like it did here.

Let's look at the two options you present:
*"Wanting to get rid of a player:" Be careful. This is something you shouldn't want, but rather something you simply do when necessary.
*"Not wanting to disqualify a guy on ticky tack contact:" A player never gets disqualified on one foul (unless it's flagrant). It takes FIVE fouls, and whether the last one is hard or marginal is irrelevant. Even still, the fact that you knew he had four fouls played with your head.

I can't speak for the play itself, because I wasn't there. It's up to you whether A1 committed a foul, and you can't get involved with how many fouls one has at the time.

[rsl]

Originally Posted by bainsey

Even still, the fact that you knew he had four fouls played with your head.

I don't normally count fouls- I knew this guy had four because he had complained about every call. You are right that I would have been better not to know. In spite of that I did my best to call objectively, but his attitude did affect my decision that this was intimidation (and hence worked to his advantage), rather than purely incidental.

I agree with others here that perhaps it should have been either intentional or nothing.