Almost an early exit

Posted by admin on Mar 10, 2009 in Sports | 0 comments

The Faithful held their breath on Tuesday, Feb. 17 as word spread across campus that the Spartans were going to possibly forfeit their win to UVic due to a line-up violation. At the end of the day though, the Athletic department was handed a $1,000 fine and Coach Scott Allen was suspended from the bench for the next two games against UBC.

A press release from Canada West noted “the University of Victoria Athletics Department drew to Canada West’s attention that Trinity Western had not followed a playing regulation dealing with playoff rosters. A Canada West Complaints Committee supported Victoria’s allegation of a violation by Trinity Western.”

The rule is phrased in such a way that “Conference rosters are frozen with up to 12 players used in opening game of a playoff series, and no new players may be added after declaration of a roster for Game One.” Allen had changed the roster for game two and three and thus had violated the regulation.
However, what went in the Spartans’ favour was that the roster changes did not likely change the outcome of the game. However, whether or not that was taken into account is debatable.

These circumstances have brought up a discussion about this rule. It is entirely possible that Allen did not have knowledge of the rule due to the fact that this is his first year coaching in Canada West and more importantly, Canada West is the only Canadian league to have this playoff regulation.

In all honestly, the decision not to give the win to Victoria was a wise one as this rule has very little importance to the actual game of basketball. Yes, teams should only have a certain amount of players on the bench, but what if one of those players is injured (as was the case with TWU)? The rule prevents a team from replacing an injured player during a playoff series.

We all have certain rules in our various sports that appear to have little use, and this Canada West regulation is one with which we could do without.