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BGonline.org Forums
30 second penalty for fast grabbing
Posted By: Jason Lee In Response To: 30 second penalty for fast grabbing (Jason Lee)
Date: Friday, 4 November 2011, at 4:11 p.m.
I want to clarify a few things, lest people thing I'm a clock ogre.
(1) I never want to play a match that's decided by a clock forfeit. If that happened, I would consider it abhorrent. I'm not pushing for these penalties because I think it's going to get me more wins by clock forfeit. I'm pushing for them to get them to stop so I don't have to ask for penalties on my opponents.
(2) I also REALLY don't want to scare away new people. I want to educate people about the rules, which are there for a reason. The fast grab rule is not there because somebody thinks all of our pinkies should stick out when we drink our tea.
(3) Somebody might say to me, "Jason, why so worked up over these little things like fast grabbing and things like that? Can't you just let them go?"
I was once playing in a slow pitch softball league. I got a base hit that wasn't going to be a double (most of my hits are of the non-extra base hit variety). But, when you get a hit, you're supposed to round first and be ready to take second if there's a bobble in the outfield. As I rounded first, I was watching the ball in the outfield and I collided with the first baseman -- the ball was in the outfield, there was no play on me. That's obstruction -- a fielder is not supposed to stand in the way of the baserunner if he is not making a play on a thrown or batted ball. In this case, the umpire correct ruled that I should stay on first, because the obstruction did not prevent me from taking second... I wasn't going to anyway.
The first baseman was rather miffed, and the umpire never explained to him that the whole thing was his fault. I asked the umpire to tell him to be sure to stand out of the way, inside the bag, while the runner was rounding first. The umpire said to me, "Maybe you should just run around him next time."
That suggestion was ridiculous. The first baseman was the one breaking the rules. If I am playing the game the right way, as the baserunner, I should never be looking to see if a first baseman is standing in my way. I'm supposed to round the bag and keep my attention firmly upon the outfielder. I told the umpire that his suggestion was just terrible, because it's the other guy who's breaking the rules.
Same deal here in backgammon. I try very hard to not break these rules, and in my matches, 95% of these infractions are my opponents'. They're in the rules, folks!!! Why am I supposed to bend over backwards for people who are breaking the rules.
TL;DR: Stay out of the way of the baserunners if you're not making a play on a ball.
JLee
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