SPORTS EDITOR: Shun rules and you're dicing with disaster

I'm not sure what's worse - spam on the work e-mail or flyers in the mailbox at home.
They pop up electronically when you least expect them to and the paper variety makes life difficult once it starts overflowing, making even the staunchest log burners weep.
Yesterday I got cryptic e-mail spam that somehow wormed its way in despite the best efforts of the company's choice of virus scanners to filter out some of the stuff that must baffle even hieroglyphic interpreters.
With the slug "sport", it read: "Hello! I am tired this afternoon. I am nice girl that would like to chat with you.
E-mail me at (privacy laws mean I can't divulge her address) only, because I am writing not from my personal e-mail. Don't miss some of my naughty pictures."
I had two options: a) respond to it for a bit of laugh. b) do what I always do - simply delete it.
A laugh is always good, especially during stressful times. It's amazing what the odd micro/macro break can do to alleviate Mondayitis.
But I'm perfectly aware of the rules and, in sync with the house rules, that Big Brother is always watching. A little harmless "naughty" exercise can have dire consequences, even the loss of a job.
So the salacious material and bargain basement discounts on tablets that boost one's libido are a no-go zone.
Love them or loathe them - rules are there to prevent chaos. The bottom line is if you are not well-versed in rules then, consequently, you relinquish any rights to argue any case. Ignorance of rules can never be a defence.
Even golf professional Sergio Garcia paid dearly for not adhering to rules in the US last weekend.
Garcia was disqualified for a boo-boo in the fourth and final major tourney, the USPGA Championship in Oklahoma.
On the third day, the 27-year-old Spaniard was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard - a par four was recorded on the 358m 17th hole when, in fact, he bogeyed the hole.
Understandably, Garcia left the Southern Hills Country Club course in haste without saying boo but his playing partner, American Boo Weekley, conceded that he, not Garcia, had incorrectly written the score on the card.
"It's my fault for putting the wrong score in but it's his fault for not checking it," Weekley, who adhered to the time-worn ritual of keeping his opponent's card during the round, told reporters.
"I said to him: 'Sergio, I put a four but, in fact, you had a five.' He said to me: 'That just puts the icing on the cake'.
In an attempt to rectify the situation, Weekley called Garcia back to the scoring tent after his card had been signed but officials said there was no going back once the players had left the area.
It was the first time the 2007 British Open runner-up had been disqualified from a major in 37 appearances and, without doubt, he'll do everything to ensure it'll be his last.
But what happens when it's children playing netball? The parents of Te Kura Kaupapa Maori O Te Ara Hou nine and 10-year-olds are livid that their children were ejected from last Saturday's final because the coach didn't fill out some pedantic Napier Netball Centre cards.
Is all that red tape necessary? After all, no one's livelihood is at stake.
Administrator Yvonne Gardiner told SportToday that club and school officials are invited before the season starts to a briefing, where packs outlining rules and regulations are handed out.
"This season only two out of 10 schools signed in. I had to quickly post the packages to the teachers. So did they read them?"
It appears some did not or they would have played their matches by the book.
The three match-card rule before semifinals, Gardiner says, prevents teams from bringing in ring-ins.
That the talented Te Ara Hou players, punching above their age group, are heartbroken is lamentable but it seems the blame lies fairly and squarely at the feet of the adult (s) in charge.
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