My timeout....

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally posted by Mark Dexter
Even though the 1963 rulebook comment states that no delay should be granted, the committee didn't have the cojones to make it a rule or note permanently - therefore it is not a rule.

A more current example is 20/30 second timeouts. Some think that players must stand, but there is no rule mandating this. There was a suggestion in the comments on the changes in 1997-1998 that the players remain standing but this was not made into a rule.

The 1997-98 example regarding twenty second timeouts is not germane to this discussion. As I have stated before, the effect of deleting any section or part of a section from a rule is to change the rule.

Prior to the 1962-63 season, the rules stated that the officials could stop or delay play so that a player could tie his shoe laces. The Rules Committee deleted the sentence in the rules that allowed the officials to stop or delay play for that purpose. Then the Rules Committee, in an editorial comment, specifically stated why the sentence was deleted, and that reason was that the Rules Committee did not want officials to call an "officials timeout" in order to stop or delay play so that a player could tie his shoe laces. Untied shoe laces are not a safety hazard; a player can stop and tie his shoe laces anytime that he wants, and if he wants to stop or delay play to tie his shoe laces, then the play must call a team timeout.

Since the rule book does not state that officials CAN stop or delay play for the purpose of letting a player to tie his shoe laces, the only conclusion that can be drawn is that officials CANNOT stop or delay play for that purpose.
Nor can an official rely on the Elastic Power clasue (R2S3 in both the NCAA and NFHS rule books) for this purpose.

One may not like the rule but that does not give one the right to ignore it. Having said that are there any times when I would stop or delay play so that a player could tie his shoe laces? Yes, this past weekend I officiated the Ohio Special Olympics State Finals and there were a couple of times when we did just that. But, for adult, jr. H.S., H.S. freshmen, jr. varsity, and varsity, college, and AAU national tournament games, I would adhere to how the Rules Committe wants the rules interpreted and the game officiated.