Opinions on this........

[parepat]

Originally Posted by Reffing Rev.

I fully expect that my physician uses regularly those books on his shelf, but I don't really want him referencing them while my spleen is sliced open. I might choose a new doctor, and if he suddenly forgets to stich up my spleen, I'll probably find a new doctor too.

Unless, of course, your spleen has a rare genetic anomoly only documented in one study. Now I ask you, as you lie there with the spleen exposed to the world. Would you want your doc to the go the book or "wing it".

So using your analogy...an official who demonstrates a lack of proficiency with the rule book is probably not going to get hired again, and for that matter an official who consults the reference manual on the field, looks like he doesn't know the rule book, and as we all know appearance is reality. So he's probably not getting hired again either.

You propose that rules proficiency and having the rule book available are mutually exclusive. They are not. However, I've never met an official who has never kicked a rule or its application. Faced with a situation where a mistake is made, I am comfortable using any allowable resource to fix my mistake despite the effect it may have on others' opinions of me.