Re: micro
Excellent point Chucky,
I was waiting for someone to point this out. This rule is very much open to the referee's interpretation. I've always assumed that when a ball is bouncing past a defender who is hurried and plays it rashly (thus shanking it), his shank does not rise to the level of "intentionally plays or gains possession of the ball."
The exception to the offside rule to me is talking about clear cases of possession that would result in the "free move the ball out to the blueline" argument that ikestoys has been making.
Add into that the clear probability that an offensive player in an offside position cannot help but affect the decision making of a defensive player under pressure, and I always lean toward giving offside.
Maybe that's just because I'm a goalkeeper who wants offside given in every situation!
Stak
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