Your words are exactly how I feel. I felt that the
current wording was not "stringent" enough and left a lot of
possibilities for interpretation and for even crossing the limits.
That is why we distributed a clear "interpretation" and "intent"
document. But of course since these documents were not an integral
part of the rule they were largely ignored. I am pushing now very
hard to get these clear "limitations" worded into the rule as an
adjustment at the Paris AGM. I also count on our Umpires and
Referees Committee to continue their efforts in education our
umpires and giving them the confidence to implement the rule as
intended. At the pro Tour Finals in Stockholm some umpires did a
great job and were fully respected by the players. The players do
not mind strict umpires as long as they are fair and CONSISTENT.
Again, thank you for your comments and have a Happy New Year.
Adham
In your Dec. 1 letter to EC and EB you lamented that "some players
have pushed the envelope to the limit". I'm afraid that that is
precisely what you have to expect. Remember what happened when we had
only dark, solid colors? The colors gradually became lighter, so we
had colour cards. And we began to see thin white "piping" around the
collars. We accepted it, and gradually the piping turned into solid
white collars -- and eventually the shirt could be almost any colour
in any pattern.
And you remember when sponge was introduced? We regulated it, and
when players and manufacturers contravened our regulations, we had to
tighten them. Then we tightened them again, several times, and still
Odd Gustavsen is struggling with rubber on the edge of legality.
It doesn't matter what regulation you look at. The player's job is to
get out of it as much advantage as he can, which means "pushing the
envelope to the limit".
If you don't like the service "at the limit", I think that merely means
that the limit is too broad. Since I don't know how the players have
approached or crossed the line of legality, I have no idea what to
suggest, but if you don't like what you see, then you have to tighten
the regulation in some way -- and expect the players to push your new
envelope to the limit. But if you have tightened it suitably, that
limit should still be acceptable.
Have a happy new year.
Rufford
|
