Posted 2011-November-21, 14:44
If you call for *every* irregularity, you'll be finished by tomorrow midnight, possibly. We all know this - which is why the wording of Law 9 has been softened.
But if you "immediately accept" an IB *deliberately*, you are making your own ruling and that is illegal. If you call, and the TD gives you the option, and you accept it, fine. The TD *should* also be explaining what options you have to the table, so that the non-pro players know what options you decided *not* to take.
I believe that they take pros calling the TD badly - people do. Given what I saw in Toronto, pros take non-pros calling the TD badly too (in the two cases I'm thinking of, they did have a point, it was sheer rules-lawyering, and I believe they were being extra-ethical in their illegality; but they were still lazy, they were still wrong, and they were still putting up an example that their lesser followers would follow (without the extra-ethicality) and that is bad for the game in general). There are, in my experience, ways and ways to call the TD; and it is possible to get some opponents on your side with a "look, let's just see what should happen here" (some, I agree, are a Lost Cause; but those are almost certainly the ones that are going to call the TD when you accept the IB!) I guess I'm just upset because there are "helpful experts" in my world who also don't call the TD, and apply the Law as it is written in their memory, but which is either flat-out wrong, or was changed in 1973 if not 1997.
The real answer, as we all (here) know, is to educate the players about the referee nature (as opposed to the police nature) of the TD; and that having the TD at the table when something goes wrong is in the best interest of everybody, including the side who's responsible for the irregularity. Also, of course, to educate the TDs so that they actually rule according to Law.
When I go to sea, don't fear for me, Fear For The Storm -- Birdie and the Swansong (tSCoSI)