The other issue here that Steve doesn't mention is the ability for the team to ask the referee to move scoring objects under the stray object rule. As a referee, there is a lot going on during those 150 seconds, and for the team to ask the referee to move *any* objects "out of the way" directly interferes with the referee's ability to adjudicate other things that may be happening on the field at the same time. (This is especially true where there is one referee per table, like there was at States this year.) The other consideration is what if the referee doesn't do move them at all, or doesn't move them in a way acceptable to the team? Referees are humans too, and make mistakes. I know, because I did, at States. I believe that the stray object rule should *not* apply to most scoring objects (the balls this year are a good example of where the stray object rule probably should apply) and limited cases where pieces come off the teams robot by accident/unplanned. Abuse of the stray object rule should not be an integral part of the teams strategy, IMHO. On Thu, Dec 11, 2008 at 11:50 PM, Steve Scherr <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Final analysis-- > Using one time attachments and leaving them in the field is ALLOWABLE (and perfectly fine, IMHO) > Asking the referee to move or remove dropped attachments is ALLOWABLE > The referee moving the attachments is ALLOWABLE but also NOT REQUIRED. If the ref doesn't > move them, you can consider him/her to be mean, but not unethical or breaking any rules. ______________________________________________________________ To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE YOUR SETTINGS, please visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join or leave the list". If you want to join the VADCFLL-ADMIN-L mailing list - to which FLL administrative announcements will be distributed - visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-admin-l.html and select "Join or leave the list".