Question Regarding Delay Of Game Warnings

[BktBallRef]

I'm with Mark and Ron. I would start the five second count.

But 10-3-7a says,
A Player shall not:
Delay the game by acts such as:
a. Preventing the ball from being made live promptly or from being put in play.

I think the rule book answer would be to issue a technical foul. 4-46-3 say "...For interfering with the ball following a goal as in 10-1-5d." I don't believe the spirit and intent of this rule was to give the thrower a warning. Can the thrower can interfere with the ball? He can delay the game by slapping it away, which would result in a T. I would have to agree with the Coach on this one. Then call the T. That should really make him happy!

Someone posted that the clock was running, so the game wasn't being delayed. But what if this is late in a tight game and Team A is down. You would be forced to stop the clock and retrieve the ball. In this case, would you call the technical foul, give a warning, or simply ignore it?