Start the clock....

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by JetMetFan

So NFHS 9-3-2 (No player shall be out of bounds when he/she touches or is touched by the ball after it has been released on a throw-in pass) means the touching isn't illegal? That's where we part company. In that particular instance the touching is illegal and the rule supports that idea.

By the way, if you're going to run time off the clock in the case of a a player catching a throw-in while standing OOB how much time should be run off? There's also nothing in the rules calling for an automatic run-off of, say, 0.3 seconds when a player contacts the ball.

This is a case of a touch and a violation taking place simultaneously. While the rule book doesn't always deal in logic, running the clock in this situation doesn't seem logical.

The clock question really isn't all that different than the situation where the ball is thrown inbounds and is touched inbounds where it is immediately knocked OOB. We all know the clock should have started and then stopped but if no time has elapsed what do you do? Usually...nothing.

The point of the matter is that one official properly indicates that the clock should start and the timer does so. Another official covering the line where the ball is thrown, a moment later, indicates that the clock should stop...and the timer does so. I just don't see where there is an error. Everyone did what they were supposed to do. Short of a rule that says that it is an error to do what you're supposed to do, I see this as just a quirk in the rules and coverages.