old rule question ( before 1980 )
 

I am not sure how far back this goes, I know when I was in school we had it.

You had to push the ball past a line ( I believe it was the 28 ft line ) on the offense every so often to keep teams from stalling.

What was the name of that line or the name of the violation if you didn't do it?

The rule was the lack of action rule. It went away about 1990. I don't remember what we called the line, though.

Just wait till BillyMac gets on...he'll wax on poetically on the rule. :p

If the offense was behind or tied, they had to push it beyond the 28' hash. That was one purpose of that line as I recall. Also, if you broke that line, the 5 second count on a dribble would stop as well, if I recall correctly.

If the defense was behind, they were forced to press.

It actually went away in the late 80's as there was no need for it after the shot clock was implemented.

It was a stupid rule. Officials had to decide at what point to warn the team to play and stop stalling. Far too subjective.

Misty Water Colored Memories ...
 

The line separated the forecourt from the midcourt.

... Of The Way We Were ...
 

We had to yell, "Play ball", and point in the appropriate direction.

The five second closely guarded rule was updated so that the only purpose of the hashmark was to enforce the lack of action rule. I think it was in the early 70s that a dribbler would no longer be able to break a count by advancing the ball past the line.

It was called "Lack of sufficient action".
One of the worst rules ever. Thankfully it ended within a year or two of my starting officiating.

I'm sure it had some official name, maybe what has been stated above, but I remember it just being referred to as the "penetration line". And yes - it was a stupid rule.

It was the Lack of Action rule, as everyone has pointed out.

It went away for the start of the '91-92 school year (I found an article online). BBR pointed out the criteria for enforcing it.

If one of those conditions existed the trail was supposed to start a five-second count. If the defense was behind and didn't come out beyond the 28-foot hash mark (they had to send as many players as the offense had above the hash mark) or if the offense was behind and didn't break the hash mark, a warning was issued. If it happened again a technical foul was charged to the offending team.

Also, if the offense was closely-guarded above the 28-foot mark but managed to back the defender below the hash mark, the five-second CG count would reset. Yes, it was as annoying as it sounds.

Here are some other major changes which went into effect that season:

*Technical fouls on players would count towards their five for DQ as well as towards the team foul total
*The number of technicals needed for a coach to be DQed was reduced from three to two
*The number of team fouls needed to reach the bonus in a half was increased from five to seven (an absolute Godsend)
*A player fouled while shooting a three-point shot would receive three free throws instead of two if the shot wasn't successful
*Requiring a doctor's authorization before a player who an official had determined to be unconscious or apparently unconscious to return to a game

When I tried telling a friend that in my career we had the bonus starting at five team fouls and there was no double bonus, he didn't believe me.

Got a link?

The NFHS rule got rid of the rule in '91-'92. I still think the NCAA got rid of it earlier, since the shot clock was implemented in '85. There was no need for it after that.

I thought the break the count with the hashmark had disappeared when I was officiating the first time.(1976-78) Did it re-appear?

The "Play" mechanic was pretty simple. Never called a T, but uttered the phrase a few times.

Here's the link: Times Daily - Google News Archive Search

I'm pretty sure you're right about the NCAA. NFHS usually made changes a year or two after NCAA. I have videos of NCAA games from prior to '91-92. I'd have to go watch them to see if the LOA rule ever came into play.

It must have. I know I dealt with the LOA and breaking the count with the hashmark when I started freshman/JV ball in '89-90.