Rules

Rules

This post is about sports, but it may morph into something else…we’ll see.  It was inspired by good fraternity friend “Captain Don” who set me off when he poked the bear.  If you disagree with my rant, blame “Captain Don.”

Rules are made to be broken…or sometimes, Overruled.

Kids need rules, but even kids know how to use them sensibly in their games. 

A close call at first base… “Tie goes to the runner.”

No need for instant replays, a close play goes to the runner, no argument; play on.

Unsure if a catch was made, or a player stepped out of bounds… “Do over.”

No fight, do it over and play on.

Or

“One two three shoot” and the call is decided…play on.

Rules establish boundaries, but there are times where common sense needs to make the decision.

The LA Rams recently won an important NFL football game because the ref missed an obvious call.  It was not a casual miss, it was an egregious WTF miss on two levels.  There was pass interference, and there was also a dangerous helmet to helmet hit.

A missed call cannot be challenged.  That is a good rule.  Without it, coaches would challenge every important play as there is almost always a ticky-tack penalty that could be called on every play.

Too bad the game does not include a “common sense” clause where the head ref could ask for a replay. 

But, “A rule is a rule.”  Sure, if you are a robot, but one thing that sets us apart from robots is common sense.  We should use it.

Last week in a golf tournament once again a “Rule” was allowed to trump common sense.

Rickey Fowler hit a chip shot that slowly trickled off the green.  It picked up steam downhill and bounced into a water hazard.  The grass should have stopped the ball at the fringe edge of the green; I don’t think it was the intent of the course designer to penalize such a shot so severely, but it does happen and the rule is “too bad” it cost you one extra stroke.

What happened next is where a rule should have been ignored based on common sense.

Rickey replaced the ball outside the hazard and left to survey his next shot.  While he was away from the ball, it somehow rolled back into the water and he was charged another penalty stroke.

According to the strict interpretation of the rule, if the ball is at rest and then rolls into the hazard it is another penalty.  But, where is the official that could have stepped in and said, “No, I don’t think the ball was ever at rest.” Or even “That’s ridiculous, do over, drop it again, no penalty.”

Where is common sense when it makes sense?

Yes, it is just sports, and in the long run who gives a damn, but sports are really just life on a field in front of spectators. 

Life demands common sense.  Rules need to be tempered with common sense.  It is why we have a Supreme Court that can say, yes, a law can be interpreted in one way, but if the intent of the law is obfuscated by a situation not anticipated when a law is written, we allow common sense to overrule.

I.E.

We have a right to bear arms, but a shoulder-held surface-to-air missile launcher probably was not envisioned when the Constitution was written.

Rules or laws need to be a guide to be followed in almost every case just so the game (life) can move on, but special extenuating circumstances should allow common sense to intervene.

Of course, then the issue becomes what is common sense? 

I don’t know how to define it, but I know it when I see it.