Answered: Was this pinning?

[Kennenth]

At a recent competition we attended, a DQ was given to a solely defensive robot for 2 occurances of breaking the pinning rule for more than 5 seconds

We are not intending to challenge the call made by the referee at the event, nor are we complaining about the eventual outcome of the tournament, as the red alliance still advanced through the competition.

However, we do wish to know if the pinning rule was violated for over 5 seconds, and if so, when that occured, so in future games we may be more careful. We realize this is simply a video and a blanket ruling cannot be made without being at the competition in person.

Thanks for your time!

[Karthik]

At a recent competition we attended, a DQ was given to a solely defensive robot for 2 occurances of breaking the pinning rule for more than 5 seconds

We are not intending to challenge the call made by the referee at the event, nor are we complaining about the eventual outcome of the tournament, as the red alliance still advanced through the competition.

However, we do wish to know if the pinning rule was violated for over 5 seconds, and if so, when that occured, so in future games we may be more careful. We realize this is simply a video and a blanket ruling cannot be made without being at the competition in person.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=-EgHDj9LfK8

Thanks for your time!

After watching the video, I noticed two things that need to be addressed.

1. There was no visible violation of the pinning rule in the above linked video. In fact, not only was there no visible instance of 5 seconds of pinning, nothing was shown where it would be warranted to even start a pinning count.

2. The people who can be heard on the video yelling at and badgering the referees need could easily have been disqualified for violating rule <G17> which I have quoted below:

<G17> All teams are expected to conduct themselves in a respectful and professional manner while competing in VEX Robotics Competition events. If team members are disrespectful or uncivil to event staff, volunteers or fellow competitors, they may be Disqualified from their current or upcoming Match. It is important to remember that we are all judged based on how we deal with adversity. It is important that we all exhibit maturity and class when dealing with any difficult situations that may present themselves in both the VEX Robotics Competition and life in general.

We understand that emotions run high during these events. However, yelling at a referee during a match is not acceptable. If someone has as issue with a call being made by a referee, wait until the end of the match and calmly discuss the ruling with them at that time.

Finally, please note that this is our interpretation of the situation based on the presented video. Like you mentioned in your original post, it is impossible to issue a blanket ruling without having seen the entirety of the match in person.