Associational Debate

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by johnny d

You cant fault them because by rule they would be correct. Fouls that involve contact while the ball is live are by definition personal fouls.

Yet, by rule, fighting is defined to be a technical foul. And a punch is defined to be fighting. Therefore a punch, without qualification, is a T, by rule.

So you have two rules that contradict. When that occurs, it is usually the more specific rule that takes precedence. I see the definitions of fighting and punching as being very specific as opposed to the very general personal foul definition.

Additionally, does it make any sense at all for the penalty for a somewhat greater offense (swing and hit) to be less severe than the penalty for the less (swing an miss).

Ultimately, it is the swing that is penalized under the T, not the subsequent hit.

All together, I believe the T is the "right" result given the two conflicting rules.