Why to follow the rules:

Administrative mistakes have knocked high school basketball teams out of state tournaments in areas I'm familiar with, and places I've never been. Both these errors should have been caught, especially in Jersey.

Shabazz, which had won 56 consecutive games against in-state competition, was forced to drop out of the sectional tournament after state officials learned the team had played its 27th and 28th games at the Essex County Tournament last weekend. State guidelines limit teams that play in three tournaments during the season to 26 total games.

Hopefully both cases are lessons to athletic directors everywhere.