An inverse example is the role of fights in hockey.
Fighting is explicitly disallowed by the rules of hockey. If players get into a fight, one or both players will be penalized. Nonetheless, it is widely held by coaches, players, and fans that fighting is part of the “spirit of hockey”, and so fights still occur with some regularity. This is sometimes for strategic reasons (baiting an important player into a fight in order to get them into the penalty box), and sometimes for personal reasons, to settle grudges, or to punish certain kinds of technically-legal player behavior. Thus, even though the rules don’t allow fighting, fighting is an accepted part of the strategic metagame.
Unfortunately, in the past several years the owners and the NHL have tried to stamp out this practice, as a means to make the sport more “respectable” and (I assume) the avoid something like the concussion controversy that has followed the NFL. All of the long-term fans of the game that I’ve talked to agree that this is a bad idea and they should bring the fights back.
An inverse example is the role of fights in hockey.
Fighting is explicitly disallowed by the rules of hockey. If players get into a fight, one or both players will be penalized. Nonetheless, it is widely held by coaches, players, and fans that fighting is part of the “spirit of hockey”, and so fights still occur with some regularity. This is sometimes for strategic reasons (baiting an important player into a fight in order to get them into the penalty box), and sometimes for personal reasons, to settle grudges, or to punish certain kinds of technically-legal player behavior. Thus, even though the rules don’t allow fighting, fighting is an accepted part of the strategic metagame.
Unfortunately, in the past several years the owners and the NHL have tried to stamp out this practice, as a means to make the sport more “respectable” and (I assume) the avoid something like the concussion controversy that has followed the NFL. All of the long-term fans of the game that I’ve talked to agree that this is a bad idea and they should bring the fights back.