[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

If you think that is a bad way to start the second half, I witnessed and even worse situation. And I apologize in advance for the wordy post.

A few years ago I attended a men's college game. It was a league game in a Div. I mid-major. I did not know the three officials officiating the game, but a personal friend was the league observer at the site, the league's supervisor of officials, who is a personal friend was in attendence at the game and was sitting courtside with the observer. Sitting in front of me was an observer from a major conference, who was not a personal friend of mine but we had known each other for a number of years and we were on a first name basis, was observing the entire crew for possible invitations to the major conference's tryout camp the next summer. If anything were to go wrong this was not the game for it to happen. BUT....

The NCAA had used a 40 sec shot clock as an experimental rule that year and this was the first league game of the season for these two schools. When the game started the shot clock was set at 45 sec. Major conference observer asks me if this conference was using a 45 sec shot clock as an experimental rule and I told him that I did not think so. Team A controls the tip, takes the ball down the court and scores. Team B inbounds the ball, takes it down the court and scores. Team A inbounds the ball, takes the ball down the court and when it gets the ball in its frontcourt the horn sounds. The officials stop play and goes to the all three of them go to the Table. The shot clock shows 35 sec on it. After a short discussion, the shot clock is changed to 25 sec and the shot clock is set to 35 sec the rest of the game. Shortly before halftime the league supervisor left his courtside seat headed to the officials' dressing room. I would have loved to been a fly on the wall of the dressing room at halftime.

MTD, Sr.