Big Sky Suspends 3 Men's Officials

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by just another ref

This provokes another question. NFHS rules A1 requests a timeout with time running out in a tie game. Team A has no timeouts remaining. The official definitely hears the request before the buzzer, but the buzzer sounds before the whistle. Nobody has definite knowledge of the time involved, but the request was definitely before the buzzer. What's the call?
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No rules citation, just my opinion:

Regulation is over as there is no definite knowledge of how much time to put on the clock.

[ma_ref]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

No rules citation, just my opinion:

Regulation is over as there is no definite knowledge of how much time to put on the clock.

I gotta say this is probably how I'd handle it, too...but I'm not very confident I'd be right. Assume for a minute that a coach requests a timeout with approximately 3 seconds left. For some reason, the referee fumbles around with their whistle and isn't able to blow it until after the final buzzer (accidentally falls out of mouth; lanyard breaks and whistle goes to floor; etc...). Nobody has definite knowledge about how much time was left when the coach requested the TO. This is exactly the same situation, just perhaps a different reaction time from the ref.

Remember the buzzer does not mean the game is over. It's an audible signal to the officials that time has expired. I'm thinking common sense has to take over, as the referee definitely heard the TO request before the buzzer. In the original situation, I'm thinking you give the TO, and guesstimate the time (1 second, .5 seconds). Again, I'm not even positive this is right, but I just can't ignore the fact that the ref heard the TO request before the buzzer, and that tells me the TO is granted. The real problem comes with the remaining time determination. I can't seem to believe that "definite knowledge" of time supercedes the actual sequence of events.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by ma_ref

Remember the buzzer does not mean the game is over. It's an audible signal to the officials that time has expired. I'm thinking common sense has to take over, as the referee definitely heard the TO request before the buzzer. In the original situation, I'm thinking you give the TO, and guesstimate the time (1 second, .5 seconds). Again, I'm not even positive this is right, but I just can't ignore the fact that the ref heard the TO request before the buzzer, and that tells me the TO is granted. The real problem comes with the remaining time determination. I can't seem to believe that "definite knowledge" of time supercedes the actual sequence of events.

Unfortunately, your "common sense" could put your butt in a sling if you had to justify your call.

NFHS rule 5-10 explicitly says that you can't guesstimate. You can't put any time back on the clock unless you know the exact time to put back on.

[ma_ref]

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

Unfortunately, your "common sense" could put your butt in a sling if you had to justify your call.

NFHS rule 5-10 explicitly says that you can't guesstimate. You can't put any time back on the clock unless you know the exact time to put back on.

I agree with you whole-heartedly, however something just seems wrong about the extreme case I theorized with. Coach calls TO *clearly* before the final buzzer goes off, I gotta believe we somehow give him the TO. There has to be some way around this.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by ma_ref

I agree with you whole-heartedly, however something just seems wrong about the extreme case I theorized with. Coach calls TO *clearly* before the final buzzer goes off, I gotta believe we somehow give him the TO. There has to be some way around this.

Philosophically, I agree with you. Unfortunately, "right" doesn't always equate to "correct" when it comes to the rules.