Why you don't do a 5 second count in your head

[BillyMac]

Every game, at every level, that we officiate nowadays is on tape, a game tape, a local community cable station, or some parent's cellphone. Every time we're supposed to show a visible count, we had better show it, either five chops, or ten chops. The days of using a mental count, and then continuing the visible chop at number two, or three, have long passed.

[LDUB]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

You're supposed to have a horn after 5 seconds, but if you don't have that horn, can you call the T anyway?

Of course you can. I just had this come up not too long ago. The horn didn't blow at 5 and I had to instruct the timer to sound it at about 7 or 8 seconds....ended up having a T for not having a substitute. The rule is the coach gets 20 seconds to think about who to put in the game, not 15 seconds after the warning horn.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by LDUB

Of course you can. I just had this come up not too long ago. The horn didn't blow at 5 and I had to instruct the timer to sound it at about 7 or 8 seconds....ended up having a T for not having a substitute. The rule is the coach gets 20 seconds to think about who to put in the game, not 15 seconds after the warning horn.

You're right, I can see how what I said may have been confusing. By rule, you can call the 5 second count even if you've done it all in your head. By mechanic, though, you'd better have a visible count.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

You're right, I can see how what I said may have been confusing. By rule, you can call the 5 second count even if you've done it all in your head. By mechanic, though, you'd better have a visible count.

Snaqwells: You're correct. At first I thought you were wrong, that the rule said the count had to be visible, but after I checked, I found that you were indeed correct. Good work.