Quote:
Originally Posted by BillyMac
Too bad it wasn't a Holiday Inn Express.
I got a great night's sleep last night, and when I woke up this morning (looking at the right side of the grass) this was still the NFHS rule:
7-2-1: The ball is caused to go out of bounds by the last player in bounds
to touch it or be touched by it, unless the ball touches a player who is out of
bounds prior to touching something out of bounds other than a player.
Officials, in the past, may have unofficially (wink, wink) interpreted this rule (the rule itself didn't change) differently given a situation involving a choice of calling a possible, close "over the back" foul, or giving the ball to the "wrong" team (everybody's happy, team doesn't get the ball it rightly deserves, but it also doesn't get a close "over the back" foul that it may, or may not deserve). Many officials no longer interpret this situation this way, living in the age of everything being recorded (my neighbor, across the street, just informed me that if I ever suspect that a package was stolen off my front stoop, that she's got a camera aimed in my house's general direction, and that she can check out the situation to help the police).
Officials have never tweaked Rule 7-2-1 in regard to legal "hand to hand in contact with the ball contact". This, and the situation above, are not comparable situations because while "over the back" contact may be illegal in some cases, "hand to hand in contact with the ball contact" has never been illegal. It's like comparing apples to meatloaf © 2018 Raymond.
It's black, or it's white, there's no gray. "Hand to hand in contact with the ball contact" is legal, and Rule 7-2-1 persists in this situation. Ball goes to the team that didn't touch it last. Period. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
The "over the back everybody's happy" situation? Well, that's another story for another time. I'll bring the s'mores.
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I always preferred through the back, it displacement, rather than over the back. Shouldn't penalize athletes that can go and get it unless they actually displace someone in between.
I guess I would be surprised to hear a d1 coach has actually been told, or understands, that if his inside guy goes up to gather with one hand, and someone jumps from behind him and hits his guys hand while it's on the ball, and it goes out, it's out on his guy. I'll ask someone that coaches at that level sometime.