Travel violation???

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

I have been slogging (Now I know how other people feel when they read my erudite postings, NOT! ) through JR and NevadaRef's posts and I am suprised that neither of them have given a ruling; they both should become politicians, . Anyway, I am going to toss my hat into the ring.

Let us look at this play, step-by-step:

1) A1 jumps into the air for a field goal attempt, therefore, A1 is now in the act-of-shooting. The act-of-shooting ends when A1 releases the ball for the try. When A1 releases the ball for the try, player control and team control ceases to exist for A1 and Team A respectively.

Note #1: Both NFHS and NCAA Rules define player control as a player holding or dribbling a live ball in bounds.

2) A2 made contact with the ball and knocks the ball completely out of A1's hands.

Question #2a: Did A2's actions cause A1 to lose player control of the ball?

Question #2b: If A2's actions did cause A1 to lose player control of the ball, can A1 recover the ball and start a dribble?

I think that we are getting hung up on the word fumble and I do not think that it is relevant to this discussion because another player touched the ball in a manner that caused A1 to lose player control.

I will go on the record stating that I am sure the play looked weird, but, I will also say that A1 can recover the ball and start a new dribble.

Note to BillyMac: See no maybe, maybe not, .

MTD, Sr.