Chairman, L. W. St. JouHN Vice-Chairman, RaLPpH Morcan Secretary, GEORGE T. HEPBRON Treasurer, A. E. METZDORF
Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1106 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 105 Nassau Street, New York City 97 Elmdorf Ave., Rochester, N. Y.

JOINT BASKETBALL COMMITTEE

Oswatp Tower, Editor

ANDOVER, MASSACHUSETTS

March 30, 1931.

br. F. C, Alien,
Hotel Astor,
New York, I. Y.

Dear Dr. Allen:

Perhaps during the next week or ten days you
have planned to try to forget basketball, but if you are dis-
posed to give the rules a little thought in your spare time,
if any, may I suggest that you be thinking along the lines
of our @iscussions of last week with particular reference
to "legal blocking" and interruptions in the game. I hope
you are planning to be present at the meeting of the rules
revision committee at 10 a. m. , April 10, at the University
of Pennsylvania Club and to give us the benefit of your ideas.
At this meeting we shall probably draw up a statement setting
forth what is legal and what illegal with respect to screening,
posting, positioning, checking, or ‘what have you, meaning

"legal blocking". If you feel disposed to prepare a statement
brief enough for use in the Guide, yet covering the essential
"may" and "may nots", I am sure it will expedite our discussions,

It is evident that we must do one of two things
in the near future relative to blocking: either throw it wide
open and say that only such interference as results in contact
shall be construed as blocking, orfevise a way to cut down
materially the present forms of "legal Blocking", By the way,
as to terminology , I am leaning more and more toward the
use of screening, The dictionary defines "to screen": to
separate or cut off from inconvenience, injury or danger;
shelter;shield;protect;conceal. The noun "screen" is défined
as "anything in the nature of a protective curtain, partition,
or shield". This comes close to covering what we mean by "legal
blocking” and has the added merit of not implying violence,

The subject of whistle-blowing and interruptions
has always been a favobite one with critics of basketball
and we have always admitted that it is a vulnerable spot, yet
not as serious as the critics contend. If it were, basketball
would not be the great game that it is, But there is room for
improvement in this respect. When you and I played the game,