 | This is a humorousessay. It containshumorous advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors and isn't meant to be taken seriously. This is not an encyclopedia article or one ofWikipedia's policies or guidelines and may not representcommunity consensus. |
 | This page in a nutshell: Don't try to find stupid loopholes. |
In the 1997 sports comedy filmAir Bud, the film's climax rests upon the titular dog character helping the Timberwolves win a basketball game. It's discovered that there'sno rule explicitly banning a dog from playing basketball, so Buddy joins the team and wins the game. While itis true that dogs are not banned from playing basketball, thereare rules that disqualify most dogs for other reasons.
In public schools, players must sign up, tryout, and be accepted into the school basketball teams before they can play. As Buddy did none of these things, hestill wasn't allowed to play basketball. In professional sports there are even more requirements. In the NBA, for example, players must be at least 19 years old, and most dogs that reach that age are in no shape to play sports. This isn't even mentioning the fact that a dog would never get past tryouts because they are physically incapable of dribbling.
All of this is to say, be careful. While you may be able to skirtsome rules on a technicality, you'll probably get caught up in other rules. Don't try to be aWikilawyer, don't try togame the system, and don't be a stupid dog that thinks it can play basketball.
An alternative interpretation as it applies to Wikipedia is that if you're going to try and abuse the system in a way everyone understands is abuse but isn't technically against the rules, you better be as charming, winsome, and friendly as a golden retriever.