[QUOTE]Originally posted by Richard Ogg:
As for how I call the game, once the ball is released I allow anyone to reach over the line -- same interpretation for A and B. Once it is touched by a player who is inbounds, the ball is inbounds and I start the clock. From that point, everything seems natural.
I've never seen the situation where a coach will balk at this. It would seem that the only scenario would be on a long inbound pass that stays OOB for most of the flight.
How would you handle a situation where a team is inbounding the ball after a goal and they attempt to pass the ball along the endline to a teammate and a defender reaches across the boundary plane and intercepts the ball while he is still standing inbounds. Would you rule this as a legal play based on the fact that the ball had been released? I don't think so. Part of the strategy of this type of play is that you might be able to trick the defense into committing a T by reaching over the boundary plane to bat the ball. If you subscribe to the theory that once the ball is released it is fair game, then you have, in effect, taken this legal play away from the inbounding team.
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