[Back In The Saddle]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

I'm not sure of this, and I don't have my books from that far back, but when I first started 29 years ago, didn't we have a similar rule. If contact with the backboard caused it to "move" (maybe the word was "vibrate") during a try, then we called a technical foul, even if it was a legitimate attempt at a block? And, again, I'm not sure of this, back then a touch by a defensive player ended the try, so if ball was touched during a block attempt, the try ended, and no matter how much the backboard moved, or vibrated, a technical foul couldn't be called. I can remember coaches questioning a noncall, with me responding, "Coach, the ball was touched." If the defensive player attempted to block a shot, missed the block, and slapped the backboard so hard that it vibrated during the try, then a technical foul was called, but, like today, we couldn't award the basket if the shot missed due to the vibration.

Oh, those were the good old days. Now let me tell you all a story about something called a 28 foot hash mark. Or would you rather hear a science lesson about an anomaly in the space time continuum called a change of status?

BillyMac, sometimes I cannot help but smile when I read your posts.

Two thoughts:

1. Back when you were first starting out, I believe the rules about slapping the backboard and about BI in general were based mostly on the fragility of the peach baskets being used.

2. I had an AAU coach recently question a 5 second call using verbiage clearly indicating his understanding of the rule has not been updated since the days of the 28' mark. While I do remember the existence of the rule, it was from hanging out with my father while he was studying the rules during his officiating career.