posted Apr 12th, 2005 - The last on-line judging quiz of yesterday's NSL News story surely was a difficult one. Once again and as difficult as it was to find the Majik infringement in round two, it required a sharp eye to detect the Fastrax infringement in round four. The low resolution and small NSL-TV screen does not make it much easier to be a good and sharp judge.

The first comment by a guest in the according topic of the NSL Forum found the right spot: "It's hard to tell. One adder looked keyed a bit fast (3rd page). Two of the stardians (3rd and 4th page) the flash was hidden behind a knee - you could see he was flashing, but separation was not visible. Towards the end there was something uncomfortable to watch, somewhere in a opal."

The infringement was a part of the Side Body - Adder - Opal action on the third page. Team Fastrax did not make it very easy for neither the judge nor any other viewers to detect the infringement. The team did the best thing possible in such a situation by moving on without hesitation.

It is also very difficult to ask for a clear and unanimous judging call for this situation. It is very likely that a maximum judging panel of five members could have come to a split decision. It appears as if there were four different options for a call.

First of all, it is very possible that the infringement could be undetected, and all of the 22 formations within working time would be scoring formations. If a judge saw that something did not look correct on this third page, then there would probably be three options: deny the Adder as a scoring formation, deny the Opal due to a missing total separation, or do both.

The Tail seems to be a little bit hesitant or unsure during the transition from the Side Body to the Adder where the same grips were required in this slot. However, center inside and center outside break the Adder simultaneously. The center inside probably felt both Side Body grips, at least for an instant, made eye contact with the center outside in the complete tail position of the rear cat and keyed the break of the Adder. It is not clear whether the Tail was exactly on the same page in this fast sequence of transitions, and if the Adder was complete or not. There might be a frame or two for a judge who would accept a complete Adder.

The next problem is the following transition to the Opal, the first formation of Block 5. The hesitation or uncertainty in the Adder naturally translated into the next transition, which required a "clearly presented" total separation between the Adder and the Opal.

The three Fastrax members, who were obviously on the same page in this case, moved straight on to the Opal, while the Tail was still somehow figuring out the details of the previous move and the next transition within a minimal timeframe of fractions of a second. However, this ever-so-little hesitancy makes it very difficult to see a clean separation between the Adder and the Opal. Judges could deny the Opal as a scoring formation due to a lack of total separation.

Once again, the whole team moved on with Block 5 (Opal - Opal) without any hesitation. The other three team members possibly did not even know that the Tail had just dealt with a problematic situation. The Tail reacted so quickly and properly that some judges might not have detected the infringement.

The FSL Shamrock Showdown's event judge Richard Schachner was not happy with the situation and deducted one point for this infringement. He had the option of either not counting the Adder as a complete formation or not accepting the total separation between the Adder and the Opal. He decided for one of these two options.

A different judge could have deducted two points, as well. It would be possible to neither accept the Adder as a complete formation nor the total separation to the Opal. Finally, a judge could also accept the whole situation and award all of the 22 scoring points.

One more point was deducted in this round. The videographer of the German national team EADS had problems with the exit in round four. The video angle made it impossible to see a complete Adder after a beautiful Side Body as the exit formation. The transition to the Opal on the hill was questionable, as well. However, the damage for the German team was only one point for the not clearly presented Adder.

The evaluation and discussion of the Fastrax infringement can still be continued in the NSL Forum.