Response from Referee Magazine

[kd0254]

A member of our crew sent out a little email last week with reference to the plays in the March 2007 issue. The jist of what I see problem with is . . . .

Ineligible A7 is hit in the back with the ball at team A's 13 yardline after A1 passes it forward from the A8 towards him. I see illegal touching, but it is the off season so I'll wait for some replies.

The best part is the response my crew member got from referee magazine.

"The first part says A ineligibles can't touch a pass unless it's been touched by B first. In the plays, in (a) A is hit in the back. He didn't touch the ball; it touched him. No foul. In (b) and (c) he attempted to catch the ball; he touched it. That's a foul."

He didn't touch the ball, it touched him, that's a new one to me. We can make the distinction between touch, muff, catch, but Mr. Stern's statement seems very incorrect. Comments?