Re: Base of Ball or Edge of Ball??

In article 
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
 "Nixon, D" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Does anyone know if there is a BCA rule as to whether the
> BASE of the ball or the EDGE/horizontal-equator of the ball
> is used to determine whether or not a ball is on, or behind,
> the line?

According to the world/BCA rules, it is the base of the ball that 
matters.

> We have an newguy oaf here who wants to make a big deal out
> of it and our group has been playing under accepted, and posted,
> house rules that the BASE of a ball is used and if the BASE is exactly
> on the foul line then it is considered behind the line for the incoming
> player.

This last part is not correct.  If the base of the ball is on the 
headstring, then it is legal to shoot it.  The "easy" way to 
remember this is that a ball on the headspot is legal to shoot at 
with ball-in-hand in the kitchen.  This comes up in games like 14.1 
and one-pocket.
 
> The newguy claims that the "BOOK" (even though he cannot
> read and has no book) says that if the edge of the ball is behind
> the line then it is considered behind the line.

This is a fairly common modification of the standard rule in 
one-pocket tournaments.  The idea, I think, is to make the game more 
defensive and less offensive, and adding that extra 9/8 inch to the 
kitchen area works toward that goal.  IMO, this modification is not 
necessary, and I think it would be better, even in one-pocket, to 
use the standard rule for the sake of consistency.

$.02 -Ron Shepard