Quote:
Originally Posted by JRutledge
It is no different than the usage of "common to the game" that is used for years.
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No different in the sense of being just as superfluous. NCAA deleted the phrase long ago, then put it back in (while NFL kept it), and to what gain? It's asking the official to rule on the hypothetic, i.e.
could the player with the ball have done
this? Gee, I don't know, how could you tell? Only by judging the firmness of the player's grip, which is what it boils down to. So why don't they just say that?
Even the various codes' use of the concept of "control" of the ball as something possibly distinct (Because why else use a different word?) from "grasp" or "possession" is fishy. Yes, "possession" has a technical meaning to which "grasp" and "control" are only inputs, but the language could easily be simplified.