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Message: [QUOTE="pj, post: 2107491, member: 2524"] By the text of the rule, it was a flagrant foul. The rule states that the call "is not based on the severity of the act"; specifically cited as grounds for a flagrant foul are "contact that is not a legitimate attempt to play the ball or player, specifically designed to stop ... the clock" (which it was) and/or "pushing a player from behind" (which it also was). Rodriguez should have simply reached for the ball with one arm, it would have been a foul and no flagrant. It's true, players have become accustomed to the refs letting them do flagrants at the end of the game, and in some circumstances letting those go adds to the safety of the game. But here the reach in would have been safer than the push. Can't blame the refs for following the rule book, even if it decided the game. [/QUOTE]