I do love a good knapplc-owning-people thread. I have seen too few of these in recent months. Or maybe I just don't lerk as much as I used to.
Except he's not owning anyone since he's convinced it has to be explicitly stated in the manual to be covered in the game. It doesn't, the refs interpret those rules all the time, which is why they try to add the rule interpretations. But they don't cover everything or every situation. I've posted an example from the rules that covers the Martin hit as illegal.
I don't mean to squeeze my way into an argument I have no say in, but hasn't knapplc also shown you AMPLE evidence that Martin's hit could be viewed as legal as well, in the form of exact rule quotations and various videos where no penalties were called?
Perhaps you both should just agree to disagree. Rules are interpreted by refs, yes, which is why there is always the faulty human element involved in the game. It wasn't called, some people think that's the right call and some people don't. I say we straighten our caps and move on.