Took 7 months for me to ask??

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by ajmc

Trying to use the "Advantage/Disadvantge" umbrella to describe this topic may be the cause of confusion. I don't think there is any (or at least much of an) argument over whether a "chop block", or other safety related personal fouls, should be called regardless of the Advantage/Disadvantage factor. However the issue seems to be more about dealing with contacts that, although perhaps satisfying a technical terminology of a foul, don't measure up to the official's perception of what actually constitutes a particular foul.

Up-thread you mentioned that the definition of "chop block" in the rules includes the undefined, but understandable, word "block", and IIRC the player who face planted and was getting up could cause contact without being said to block. I think this does introduce either an intentionality or advantage factor into the judgement.

Quite a while back I asked whether, under rules similar to Fed's but either prohibiting BBW altogether or restricting it to the immediate line charge, one should be judged to have BBW by deliberately sprawling in front of one or more opponents, as in the "shoe shine" or "Superman" block, and waiting for them to trip over you. (The "shoe shine" gets its name from the instruction given a down blocking TE to give his C a quick shoe shine, i.e. dive with your hands landing near his feet. By doing so you can sometimes delay 2 opponents from penetrating on the back side. The instruction includes a subsequent back roll into the opposing line, but for purposes of the example we omitted that part of the move.) The answer was yes, because even though the opponent was moving and the blocker was stationary, the blocker intended to produce the contact and the blocker's team would gain an advantage by doing to. If that's a BBW, what's the difference between that and the face plant example given in this thread? The criterion must be intent and/or advantage. The face planter did not intend to be blocking the opponent who stumbled over him, and his team could not have expected to gain an advantage, or they didn't get an actual advantage, by his face plant.

Robert in the Bronx