Rule Changes for Next Season

[jeffpea]

[QUOTE=Texas Aggie]
Third, I've witnessed the wrong time being put on the scoreboard, and on many clocks, there isn't a way to set hundreths of a second. Say you blow (and see the clock at) 3.7 left and it stops at 3.3, and the clock can't be reset except to either 3 or 4. What are you going to do?

QUOTE]

I've had this happen - wanted 12.3 on the clock, but clock could only be reset to 12 or 13. I asked to clock operator to start at :15 and run it down and stop it w/ 12.3 seconds (took a couple of tries, but he got it).

[jeffpea]

Originally Posted by Texas Aggie

Finally, while I haven't tested this and would certainly be willing to try and potentially be proven wrong, I have serious doubts that anyone can precisely see when exactly what the clock had when they blew their whistle. Remember, there is SOME time that went off the clock between the time the event that led to the whistle being blown and the actual blowing of the whistle (not to mention the sound waves traveling, but that's likely trivial enough to ignore). Why not correct back to that time, if the official has definite knowledge?

Reset the clock only when you have definite knowledge. You only call the fouls you see, even if you miss the "first" foul, correct? So only reset the clock to the time you "see". It's not that difficult: "Coach, I'm resetting the clock to the exact time based on definitive knowledge".....

[tmp44]

Is the reseting of the clock really going to be that big of a deal?

I would venture to guess one of the main reasons why this rule has been changed this year. Pa. Class AAAA Championship game a few weeks go. Team A is down one, ball goes OOB and whistle is blown with .6 or .7 seconds left. Clock ran out -- because of lag time officials could do nothing about it. It is this type of situation that the NFHS is changing the rule for, not to add .1 second if an official blows the whistle at 45.4 and it goes down to 45.3 in the 2nd quarter. Bottom line, use common sense guys. If the clock needs to be fixed, then fix it.

[Texas Aggie]

A good non-calling official looks at the game/shot clock immediately after all whistles

I couldn't disagree more. Your focus should be intently on the players.

I agree you should keep an eye on the clock whenever possible, mostly during a transistion, but don't do it "immediately" after a whistle. That's when you'll miss an elbow to the chops.

[Texas Aggie]

I asked to clock operator to start at :15 and run it down

In a playoff game last year (I was watching, not working), they tried to do this exact thing (for 3.6 seconds, I believe), and the idiot clock operator set it for 36 seconds. This was after the operator didn't start the clock properly on an inbounds play, and the officials mistakenly let them replay the entire last 3.6 seconds THREE times.

There was darn near a riot, so you'll see why I'm skeptical about a trial and error approach to clock operations.

I understand this clock business only applies to "definite knowledge," but the rest of my post answers that: how do you know if the clock should read 3.9 or 3.4? I can't agree that an official can have definite knowledge to any real precision.

[refhoops]

I do not beleive this is a big issue if you have clock awareness. Since here in California we have a shot clock, this last season a point of emphasis for me was both shot clock and game clock awareness. Second to last game of season, rivalry game between teams 3 miles apart. Full gym, incredibily load, hard to hear any whissles at end of the game. I am L, home scores with less than 2 seconds to play, I widen out, I am in perfect alignment with clock and visiting coach, he calls a TO with 1.4. I call TO, but nobody hears, home team thinks they have won game, fans storm court. We clear the court, put .8 on clock, explain to home coach that I had definite knowledge and we will put .8 on clock, does not question decision too much, put .8 on clock and play out the game-after 3 timeouts.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by refhoops

I do not beleive this is a big issue if you have clock awareness. Since here in California we have a shot clock, this last season a point of emphasis for me was both shot clock and game clock awareness. Second to last game of season, rivalry game between teams 3 miles apart. Full gym, incredibily load, hard to hear any whissles at end of the game. I am L, home scores with less than 2 seconds to play, I widen out, I am in perfect alignment with clock and visiting coach, he calls a TO with 1.4. I call TO, but nobody hears, home team thinks they have won game, fans storm court. We clear the court, put .8 on clock, explain to home coach that I had definite knowledge and we will put .8 on clock, does not question decision too much, put .8 on clock and play out the game-after 3 timeouts.

What am I missing here?

Your "definite knowledge" on this play was that the TO was called with 1.4 seconds on the clock. Why didn't you just put 1.4 seconds back on the clock? How could you have any kind of "definite knowledge" at all on this play that would enable you to put 0.8 seconds on the clock?

The only real definite knowledge that you have on this play, as far as I can see, is 1.4 seconds.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

What am I missing here?

Your "definite knowledge" on this play was that the TO was called with 1.4 seconds on the clock. Why didn't you just put 1.4 seconds back on the clock? How could you have any kind of "definite knowledge" at all on this play that would enable you to put 0.8 seconds on the clock?

The only real definite knowledge that you have on this play, as far as I can see, is 1.4 seconds.

The coach started the request at 1.4 but the official's whistle blew at 0.8??? If that is the case, the timer could not be expected to stop the clock before the whistle. 0.8 could be the correct time.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

(I had it in the nice little chart form, but the forum keeps rejecting the post for being over the 10000 character limit, so I've cut it down to just the text.)

Ouch, that'll mean MTDSr. will have to really shorten his posts!

[Mrcrash3]

Thank You for the information on the Rule Changes

[bbref3103]

Maybe that is why you are a high school referee and haven't moved up in the ranks. Anyone who is worth there weight knows and has been taught that you refereee the clock as well as the game. Blow whistle -- look at the clock. Do you think that coaches monitor the clock when a whistle is blown? Nope. Especially not in high school. Here is a tip -- get a clock reference when any whistle is blown.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by bbref3103

Maybe that is why you are a high school referee and haven't moved up in the ranks.

Do you mind spelling out what your own personal qualifications are that allows you to look down on the lowly, average high school official?

NCAA D1 official?

NBA official?

Just wondering......

[jritchie]

you can still referee the players as you look at the clock for a split second to get an idea of what it reads....surely as officials we can do both!! I feel this is an important part of "game management", if anything happens, you will know what to do!

[rockyroad]

[QUOTE=bbref3103]Maybe that is why you are a high school referee and haven't moved up in the ranks. Anyone who is worth there weight knows and has been taught that you refereee the clock as well as the game. [QUOTE]

Wow...15 whole posts and and he/she already knows what level everyone works. Pretty good detective work there 3103...and who "referees the clock"?? I ref the defense, I cover the press, I concentrate on the post, I am aware of the clock - but I've never seen the clock foul anyone or commit a violation of any kind, so why would I "referee the clock"?

[JRutledge]

I will say this about the clock. If you attend camps or work around very experienced officials outside of HS, it is common that you will hear about watching the clock. So "3103" is exactly right when it comes to this being a "higher level" philosophy. If you are just a HS official and have never attended a college camp or been exposed to experienced college officials I can see someone not knowing this philosophy about "officiating the clock." As a college official you do have to watch the clock a lot if for no other reason to deal with a shot clock. So you do get in a habit to make sure the clock started properly.

Peace