Ah, Maine, home of maple syrup, lobsters, L.L. Bean and that other Portland.
In Maine, people not from Maine are said to be “from away.”
According to the Wikipedia spoof website, Uncyclopedia, people from Maine are often “silently cultivating grudges until they erupt into blood-feuds, living without joy until encountering out-of-staters they can baffle with illogic.”
Having never been to Maine, I don’t know if that’s true or not. But after seeing a story last week, it think it might be true – at least for some Mainers.
This season during the state high school basketball playoffs in Maine, you can’t dunk the ball. Well, you can dunk the ball; you just can’t grab the rim while doing it, which is kind of like you saying you can sing, but you just can’t open your mouth.
There has been a rash of technical fouls during the Maine state tournaments because of strict enforcement of Rule 10, Section 4, Article 3 of the National Federation of State High School Associations rulebook that states: “a player shall not … grasp either basket ring at any time during the game except to prevent injury.”
It’s a rule that many fans would be surprised actually exists. That’s because in most parts of the country, officials are very lenient in the enforcement of the rule. In other words, you can grasp the rim, but you can’t hang from the rim.
For example, here’s a dunk by Richland’s Riley Sorn at last week’s state tournament. No technical was assessed.
But here is a dunk in Maine that was assessed a T.
Yeah, pretty ridiculous.
As one Maine official said: “The problem … is we’re the only state calling it this way.”
So why is the rule interpreted differently in Maine?
Well, apparently, it boils down to one old, fuddy-duddy Mainah, for whom the earth’s gravitational pull is so strong that it would make attempting a dunk impossible.
Peter Webb is the head of the Maine Basketball Commission, and he’s oversees officiating at the state tournaments. Basketball officials in the state say it’s well known that Webb wants the grabbing-the-rim rule strictly enforced.
When asked about the technical fouls, Webb said: “Maine just goes by the rule, and I don’t know if other states do or not. It’s not for me to get involved with or to judge the rule. It’s not about me anyway. It’s about the rules that govern the game.”
That sounds like a pretty “from away” answer to me. But there’s one problem with it.
Technical fouls for grabbing the rim were not being issued in the regular season in Maine, just the postseason. Why? Well, Webb does not have the authority over regular-season officiating assignments, just the state playoffs.
So maybe it is about Webb.
Fans in Maine are upset. Players in Maine are upset. Coaches in Maine are upset. Even college coaches.
University of Maine coach Bob Walsh tweeted: “So I’ve been coaching in Maine for four years and was unaware of this issue until now. This is called a technical foul in the state of Maine. We TEACH our kids to dunk the ball when they get to the rim. Guess I shouldn’t recruit Maine kids. Absurd. Change it.”
Well, we don’t have to change the rule – just tweak it a bit. One or two words.
What if we changed “grasp either basket ring” to “hang from either basket ring”? That would disarm Webb and align Maine with the rest of the nation.
In the meantime, at least one Mainer will continue to baffle the rest of us with his illogic.
Tim Martinez is the assistant sports editor/prep editor for The Columbian. He can be reached at 360-735-4538, tim.martinez@columbian.com or follow on Twitter @360TMart.
