Time Out

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

While requested the TO when white had the ball, you acknowledged it when white had the ball, you blew the whistle. A little bit slow on the whistle doesn't change the fact that you heard it and decided to grant it when white had the ball. White timeout, white ball.

Knowing that the official’s whistle seldom causes the ball to become dead (it is already dead), what if rbruno, for whatever reason (loud crowded gym, poor sightlines, etc.) needed split seconds to mentally (and possibly visually) evaluate the request (possibly turning his head away for a spit second), and then when finally satisfied the request was legal (appropriate head coach) and when he finally (possibly turning his attention back to the players) decided to grant (no whistle needed), white had lost possession of the ball in those split seconds? Or worse, the ball was on it's way out of bounds, or the ball was in midair as a try, or red had possession of the ball?

I won't go as far as to say that Camron Rust is wrong, but I still believe that the rule language is "fuzzy" at best.

5-8-3-A: Grants and signals a player’s/head coach’s oral or visual request for a time-out, such request being granted only when: The ball is at the disposal or in control of a player of his/her team.