Mythical myth busted?

[Back In The Saddle]

Though I've read this section of the rules many times, something caught my eye tonight and shook my self-righteous sense of superiority to the core.

We rail here against mythical terms like over the back and reaching in. We laugh at coaches, players, fans, and Billy Packer for using these terms. We lament that their prevalence inspires much misunderstanding of the rules. We'd like to abolish them from the lexicon of the game. We explain to others that these terms don't even exist.

And then I run across this little gem: (NFHS 4-24-2) "It is legal use of hands to reach to block or slap the ball controlled by a dribbler or a player throwing for goal or a player holding it and accidentally hitting the hand of the opponent when it is in contact with the ball."

It looks to me like reaching is, in fact, alive and well in the rules book. OTOH, the book says it's legal (as long as the only contact is with the opponent's hand while it's on the ball), which actually makes life easier. Now rather than telling people that "reaching in is a myth; there's no such rule" I can say, "reaching is legal."

More better

PS. I will continue to laugh at Billy Packer, though. That's only right.