I'll admit that I've been a bit cranky lately, but doesn't anyone
READ the
comments put in the Rules Book when a new rule is published?
These comments elaborate on the thinking of the NFHS committee and are extremely useful in understanding how the NFHS wants these rules enforced.
COMMENTS ON THE 2002-03 RULES REVISIONS
PLAYER WITH BLOOD OR INJURY MAY REMAIN IN GAME WITH A TIME-OUT (3-3-5 & 6): This change permits a player who is required to leave the game for blood or injury to remain in the game if the team calls a time-out
(60 or 30-second) and the situation can be corrected by the end of the time-out. Teams may use successive time-outs to correct the situation if permitted by rule and if adequate timeouts remain. The previous rule had a potentially tremendous impact on the game when a player had blood on the uniform or body (which may not even have been their own) and was required to leave late in the game, without the ability to immediately return. Under this new rule, if a team desires to utilize a time-out and can rectify the situation by the time the ball will be put back in play, the affected player may remain in the game.
Maybe I'm just a bit too sensitive when it comes to people not having a sense of the history of the rules, but with all the work that some of us do posting the prior rulings, it hurts my feelings.
