[BillyMac]

Toss a coin, or give the damn ball to the visitors.

Back when we were tossing jump balls several times a game, in three different circles, all of us knew the jump ball rules as well as any other part of the rulebook: before the toss, during the toss, after the tap, on the circle, off the circle, jumpers, non-jumpers, etc. Coaches had set jump ball plays, defensive jumps, offensive jumps, jumps near their basket, jumps near their opponent's basket, etc., and the coaches taught the jump ball rules to their players. Officials used to practice their tossing techniques.

Now, once a game, the tallest players on each team square off against each other, the referee tries to make a decent toss, and the umpire just hopes that nothing "weird" happens because many of us, including me, don't know the jump balls rules as well as we knew them years ago. That's why we have the various myths, like "Hold your spots". I haven't seen a tough jump ball question on an IAABO Refresher Exam in years, that's gotta tell you something.