Re: Base of Ball or Edge of Ball??

"Nixon, D" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
> RATCHET;
>
> "It don't"  ?
>
> Then I can, legally, place the cueball just behind the line,
> do a masse' on it, drive it ahead of the line at which time it
> stops, reverses, and comes back to nudge the 8-Ball into
> one of the head/corner pockets????
> No, no, no........    I don't think so, my friend..   But thanks anyway.
>

If you're going to be playing by crazy rules that don't award a penalty on a
scratch, then your "I don't think so, my friend" is sort of ironic.

That being said:

There is a contradiction in rules. Rule 3.10 clearly states that the cueball
must contact a cushion before it comes back in the kitchen:

" He may not shoot at any ball, the base of which is above the head string,
unless he first shoots the cue ball below the head string and then by
hitting a rail causes the cue ball to come back above the head string and
hit the object ball. "

But Rule 3.39

" When a player has the cue ball in hand behind the head string (in the
kitchen), he must drive the cue ball to a point across the head string
before it contacts either a cushion, an object ball, or returns to the
kitchen..."

Combining these two rules makes it unclear. The second seems to say that
there is no specific contact other than a point across the head string
before it returns to the kitchen. That seems to suggest a masse' out and
back in is okay. However, it also say that hitting the cushion within the
kitchen before driving the cueball out of the kitchen isn't okay. Does that
mean that a kick to the side rail that hits the cushion in the kitchen but
contacts the ball out of the kitchen isn't legal? That doesn't seem right
either. On the rare occassion that it's the only shot, I'd like to think
it's within the rules.

IMO, these two rules need to 100% agree. Personally, I don't agree with the
wording of 3.10.

Fred