Advantage/Disadvantage

[Mark Padgett]

quote:

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Originally posted by rainmaker:

Yet even as I say that, I feel uncomfortable.
I don't think I'm trying to level the playing field. I agree that the better team should win and the rules should be applied evenly. ("Evenly" is a much better word than "fairly" which is very hard to interpret, in my opinion.) I just can't seem to make it come out even. If I try to be "color=blind" as in the jersey color, it feels as though the very poor team is being penalized for being unskilled. Yet, if I try to take skill level into consideration, I penalize the more skilled tean. And what good do free throws do to a very poor team?

If I sound confused, it's only because I am!!
Perhaps I'm thinking too much....

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It seems as if you're grasping the basic concept of recognizing that "compensating" penalizes the better team and that's absolutely not what we are supposed to do, but you seem to have trouble letting go of the idea of cutting some slack for the poorer team. I know how that is. I had the same trouble at first, but then I realized that the skill levels of the teams are the prime criteria for determining the outcome of the game, and my job was just to point out when fouls and violations occurred, not to "even out" the game by my calls.