[Thulium]

Well, if you were to take the rules of the game explicitly, this is the situation that I can see us all being in:

It WOULD be goaltending if your robot were touching the multiplier and a small ball were to contact it on the way down.

Also, you would have to be very careful about how you approached removing your oponent's multiplier. It is possible, especially with those flexible PVC pipes, that you may accidently remove a small ball from their goal while lifting the multiplier. If you were instead trying to grab the multipler, you would then be in danger of grabbing the goal (illegal).

But in the end what it all comes down to is this:
It was clearly stated that the rules this year were to taken more implicitly than explicitly and that the intent of the rule be the main focus. I would play the game as you see logical and I am imagining that the new lenient rules will lead to more lenient, fun stressfree enjoymeent of this thing we call FIRST.