Officiating Bacaball

This post will not be an all-inclusive look at a new rulebook. For starters I have no intention of working that hard (right this minute) on behalf of a hypothetical format. What I intend to do in this post is explain the practical changes and the philosophy behind those changes. Think of this then as the early stages of laying a foundation. The rules themselves are largely in place and that part of the process would simply take into account the differences between Bacaball and the current iterations of various tourney formats along with some minor tweaking consistent with the new philosophy.

In my view there is too much emphasis on the punitive elements and too much of that is overkill given the nature of some of the infractions the current rules enforce. More simply put the penalty often doesn't fit the crime. While the rules necessarily define the game so too the way they are enforced. Too often a penalty assessed and justified as redress is in fact a method for altering an outcome. Don't get me wrong. Some infractions deserve harsh penalties but many do not if our singular purpose is to regulate a "fair" game and a final result based primarily on the abilities of the competing teams.
Here's how it will work. Each referee has four flags; white, yellow, orange & red. Unfurled they need not be any larger than say, 8 in. by 5 in. (Any size that is easily seen.) When there is an infraction the ref signals that infraction by briefly waving the appropriately colored flag and making the call which is duly noted at the scorer's table. The first thing the four flag option does is communicate more precise general information to the competing teams and spectators than occurs now. And in providing for more precision it becomes easier to make distinctions between infractions and their corresponding penalties. While removal to the penalty box remains a component of enforcement the focus is altered somewhat by more tightly tieing infractions to the violating player. This is done in a manner similar to soccer (futbol) officials handing out yellow & red cards. In Bacaball it's the accumulation of white flags and/or issuance of a red flag. The result is immediate player suspension(s) lasting anywhere from the duration of the current match to an event suspension. The rationale is that about the worst thing you can do to a player is deny him the opportunity to compete. And that the major impact of assessed penalties should fall on the player(s) responsible for violating the rules.
In current formulation there are a large number of (perhaps) necessary calls that are also, in my estimation, overkill simply because nobody has proposed a reasonable alternative. In Race 2-7 talking on the field after being eliminated is a minor penalty (when enforced--which is perhaps 50% of the time.) In the Bacaball system a first time infraction would merit a white flag in which the white flag denotes a warning that doesn't otherwise enforce an additional penalty--although the accumulation white flags over the course of a match would eventually result in an additional penalty when the limit is reached. Similarly Bacaball would assign a white flag in the first instance of a minor hot gun (along with the elimination of the player) instead of the current minor penalty assessment. The white flag concept allows for more nuanced calls than exist today and more accurately reflect differences in how an infraction more or may not have significant impact on the play of a point.
The goal is to moderate the impact of regulatory rules and/or minor infractions that may not merit the currently assigned penalty while still allowing sufficient deterrence to encourage "fair" play and ultimately apply the steepest penalties to repeat offenders pushing the limits (even in small ways) and those whose infractions unambiguously merit severe penalty. Additionally Bacaball hopes to limit the subjectiveness often perceived in current officiating with the extra tiers of potential calls provided in the two new penalty options. (If you'd like to debate the subjectivity inherent in the system please look here, here, here, here & finally here for the 2009 post series called 'Name That Penalty.'
Additional issues remain like how are the officials trained. How do they most efficiently coordinate on field and in making calls? What are individual responsibilities depending on how officials are working a given match? As a practical matter, for example, I have problems with refs making calls from behind players with hand signals. Or Ultimates gathering the refs for a midfield pow-wow before announcing the most recent penalty called. If ref A calls a penalty and the Ultimate finds the explanation unsatisfactory for whatever reason he should dismiss ref A and call over ref B to determine if ref B saw anything that can help clarify the original call--and so on--until the Ultimate is clear on the call. But at no time should the refs gather prior to a call being made. It looks bad. It looks like CYA and the number one complaint everywhere in the tournament world is poor officiating. This is magnified at the major league level because of the cost and it only makes sense to incorporate procedures that will likely help reduce the incidence of complaints.

That's it, kids. Sure, there's still lots of details to be worked out but the guiding principles are simplicity, transparency & the minimal necessary interference with the play of the game to retain good order and fair play.