[just another ref]

Tonight we had our sign up meeting. I posed the following question for 5 guys:

A1 has used his dribble. He stands holding the ball. He forgets and pushes the ball to the floor. Specifically when does an illegal dribble violation occur?

a. when it leaves his hand
b. when it hits the floor
c. when it hits his hand for a second time
d. some other time

First guy shrugged. "I don't know. When it hits the floor, I guess."
Second guy said, "I don't know, good question."
The other three guys were in a group. One immediately said, "When it hits his hand." Another shook his head. "No, it would be before that, when it hits the floor." The remaining guy merely nodded. The "hits his hand" guy and the "good question" guy contemplated briefly and then agreed that it would indeed be when it hit the floor.

The thing I got from all these guys was an overriding "never thought about it what difference does it make" sentiment. This supports the idea which someone posted (a hundred posts ago) that if the call is recognized when the ball hits the floor, by the time the whistle sounds, it would most often be back in the dribbler's hand anyway. With all this in mind I am going to pay attention to this call this year and try to notice, if possible, when the official starts to make the call.

No matter how crazy one may be perceived to be by one's surrounding group, there is certainly some degree of security in numbers.