Please be advised that without stats reports, we do not have all
skater information for these issues. This is based on memory, and we
defer to actual game tape and/or stats reports for full skater
involvement and jam numbers.
SATURDAY: LA Golden Girls vs. SD Border Patrol
At the start of the final jam for the game, San Diego was up by one
over the LA Golden Girls. In the last jam of the game, LA scored
sufficient points to win the contest.
The announcers declared LA the winner, and LA began their victory
laps. No referees declared a winner for the matchup.
However, in the last jam of the game, V. Lee of the LA Golden Girls
committed a major penalty. She was called for "Major Forearms." The
action called was V. Lee performing a shove to the infield, resulting
in major game impact. This call was corroborated by a penalty referee
and an official.
The referees began pulling LA off the track.
LA challenged the call, the referees were called in to explain, and
the referees were sure that they had seen the penalty occur. The HR
upheld the decision, as the referees were sure they had seen the
infraction.
5.2.4.2.1 Forearms or hands may never be used to grab, hold, or push
an opponent. (W)
Per 2.5.2, there is a very specific procedure for all major penalties
called in the last jam. This was designed to implement consequences
for all last jam major penalties. The chart can be seen in its
entirety here:
Last Jam Major Penalty on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
In this particular case, LA was the Perpetrator, and SD was the
Victim. Resolution for the major penalty is as follows:
All LA points for the jam were nullified.
LA skates down a jammer in the overtime jam.
LA sits any skaters for major penalties (including those issued for
6.2.18, Insubordination to a referee).
SD skates with a full pack.
San Diego called off the jam immediately, as they were leading, and
won the game.
---
SUNDAY: LA Ri-ettes vs. Team Awesome.
Close to the end of the game, Team Awesome was down by five. LA had
two players sitting for a penalty, including the jammer. Team
Awesome's jammer lapped one LA
Blockers/Pivot within the pack. The remaining two LA Blockers/Pivot
began skating at higher speeds to challenge the jammer, and prevent
the jammer from scoring points on them. The jam was called off, and
Team Awesome had appeared to have only lapped one skater, and not the
full pack. No ghost points were awarded, Team Awesome was given 1
point.
However, after the points were awarded (which is one of the first
things that happens in a jam, the Jam Referees report points to
scoreboard), a referee called
that the two LA Blockers/Pivot had exceeded 20 feet. This meant that
Team Awesome's jammer had cleared the full pack.
Per the scoring rules for this tournament, 7.3.10, the jammer is
awarded full points on skaters with a 20 feet penalty as soon as they
clear the nucleus of the pack. Per 7.4.1, the jammer is awarded a
ghost point for any skater in the penalty box as soon as they lap the
pack. This meant that Team Awesome should have been awarded five full points,
regardless of physically lapping only one LA skater.
The scoring chart can be found here:
scoring chart on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
The points were rectified, and Team Awesome received their five full points.
This brings us to the final jam of the game. LA commits a major
penalty in the last jam.
Per 2.5.2, there is a very specific procedure for all major penalties
called in the last jam. This was designed to implement consequences
for all last jam major penalties. The chart can be seen in its
entirety here:
Last Jam Major Penalty on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
In this particular case, LA was the Perpetrator, and Team Awesome was
the Victim. Resolution for the major penalty is as follows:
All LA points for the jam were nullified, leaving the score tied.
LA skates down a jammer in the overtime jam.
LA sits any skaters for major penalties (including those issued for
6.2.18, Insubordination to a referee).
Team Awesome skates with a full pack.
Team Awesome scored one point in the last jam major overtime jam,
reported to the scoreboard.
HOWEVER, during this last jam major overtime jam, Team Awesome committed
two major penalties. Two Team Awesome skaters formed a wall.
Regardless of intent, this wall prevented LA skater Amber Alert from
moving forward. She attempted to break the wall, and did not make it
through.
5.3.9 Skaters may not join arms or hands in a multiple-player block. (W)
5.3.9.1 Skaters may not grasp safety equipment such as wrist guards,
elbow pads or kneepads, or a teammate's clothing or other worn gear,
in a multiple-player block.
Per 6.2.5, this is a Arms/Hands/Forearms Major.
This means that per 2.5.2.6, the following actions happen, with Team
Awesome as the Perpetrator, and LA as the victim:
Full pack and Ghost points (5 points total) are awarded to LA.
All Team Awesome points are nullified.
Game is over.
Winner is declared.
The one point was taken away from Team Awesome, and the score is still
tied. Technically, at this point, the referees by the rules were to
award five points to LA, and declare LA the winner.
However, as these rules were new, both captains elected to effect a
change. This had precedent during the tournament, in an effort to
compensate for "broken" rules, i.e. the ejection threshold being reset
at the half, the threshold being raised, etc. Presumably to avoid
winning the tournament in a visually unsatisfactory (and very
confusing) fashion, both
captains elected to give priority to a tied score game as follows:
2.5.2.1 The Last Jam Major Overtime takes precedence over Overtime due
to a tied score. If the score is tied at the end of the Last Jam Major
Overtime, a standard Overtime Jam will be run.
Both teams skated one final jam at full strength. LA scored, and won
the tournament. However, please be advised that prior to that score,
LA had already technically won the tournament based on 2.5.2.6, as
they would have received five full points, and would have been ahead
by score.
Regardless of how you look at it, LA won the game.
Officials' explanations of the disputed plays from the BotB 
