My season done & question concerning scoreboard preferences
 

Saturday afternoon was the end of the 2009-1010 Basketball season for me. It was fun & entertaining with everything I've learned from on here.

I have a question for everyone. Concerning scoreboard setups, which do you prefer...a scoreboard that shows the most current player fouled with the tea fouls listed, or a scoreboard that has listed the 5 players (per team) in the game that has each players fouls & points listed as well as team fouls?

I am curious as to what everyone's thoughts are concerning the scoreboard preferences are as this last weekend I used a scorebaord that was the latter. Both my wife (CHSLadyEagle) & I have fallen head over heels over the latter design compared to the scoreboard that only shows the current player foul & team fouls (no player points, nor the current players on the court).

As a fan, I love as much information as possible.

As an official, I'm concerned with time, score, and team fouls (not necessarily in that order)

As an official, I just want a scoreboard that lists the total # of fouls on each team, so I know when we need to start shooting free throws. I don't care about the # of fouls on a specific player.

Utmost respect
 

I have an elevated sense of respect for Chseagle. I went to apply for a position as a census taker and flunked!!!
I was not able to count to 308,783,633 within the allotted time.
Congrats Chseagle for surviving the basketball season. Promise us you'll come back next November (and not a minute sooner).
BTW, are you familiar with any discussion boards that may appeal to a Secret Agent Census Man wannabe?

The Census Test isn't that hard to do. It's multiple-choice & very easy to read & understand.

I think I mentioned it before, but this is my 3rd operation for the U.S. Census Bureau. I assisted in 2000 with the Non-Response Follow-Up & Group Quarters operation. So far for the 2010 Census, I've assisted with the Address Canvassing Operation & have just started the Update/Leave Operation.

I'll do what I can to assist next year with basketball but right now it seems like that is questionable. Concerning the 4A Regionals, unless things change I'll probably be helping out next year.

I was wondering what everyone's thoughts were concerning their preferences for the scoreboard setup as both scoreboard setups I mentioned show the number of fouls for both the player & team. The primary difference is that one shows only one player & their fouls with the team fouls, & the other one shows all active players on the court with their fouls, points, & team fouls.

Concerning the scoreboard setup used this past weekend, it also had a built-in timeout/intermission timer & automatically sounded the warning horns when needed. Also the scorebaord showed how many timeouts each time had left overall, on the control panel the full & 30 sec. timeouts were kept track of separately.

I'm just concerned that with a scoreboard like that you won't have time to focus on your primary duties of watching for illegal hairbands and evaluating officials.

I don't have a preference between the two scoreboards. Personal fouls for each player in the game is gravy and more for the fans. As long as team fouls are kept track of, I'm set.

You have some extra $$$ to donate to the area schools?

Do you have different pre-games depending on the type of scoreboard?

I would like a scoreboard that would allow us to show a replay of every play with which a coach disagrees with our call, also automatically showing a printed graphic of the applicable rule. At the end of each replay, the screen would then read, "COACH IS A DOOFUS - AGAIN".

I'm probably going off the norm here but I like the scoreboards that let me know the foul situation for each player on the floor. It does give me the heads up with who has 3 or 4 fouls and that awareness is important to me. However, if they briefly post the individual foul after each foul, 99% of the time I pick up on it and there is never a problem. I know I'm going to get flack for saying it but awareness of players in foul trouble is important to me. However, a foul is a foul.

-Josh

Would have burned out the screen from overuse in the travel ball tournament worked last weekend. One example: Same assistant coach who got T'ed up for dissing partner over a call the night before comes back the next day to complain that an opposing inbounder "switched his pivot foot" and also wanted to know why he couldn't get a timeout as a held ball situation developed. Sigh.

I have to ask, how did it develop?

You realize these two statements are contradictory. Please explain why "awareness of players in foul trouble is important to me." Please don't say you are less likely to call a foul on a player depending on how many fouls that player has at that time.

Is there something wrong with being prepared for the horn to sound indicating 5 fouls?

Here we go...

I'm not going to get into this discussion full-bore (as it's OT from the OP and been discussed many times) but knowing how many fouls each player has allows me to manage the game better. For instance, if I know that #43 just picked up his 3rd foul in the beginning of the 2nd quarter or his 4th in the beginning of the 4th quarter, I will be expecting the coach to substitute that player out. Therefore, I might wait an extra split-second to put the ball in play to allow the coach the time to get someone to the table. If they don't, then I continue as normal.

It's the same reason I put additional focus on looking towards the coach(es) (if I'm opposite the bench) during a close game to see if they are requesting a timeout (after a made shot, turnover, etc). I want to use my knowledge of the game to be prepared for what situations might come about. I don't like to say that I anticipate what the coach may or may not do but knowing what might happen is always helpful.

Did I dodge the bait, Mark?

-Josh

Aren't we always prepared for that?

Missed shot, ball ping-pongs around a bit, coach(es) screaming for a TO as two opponents latch onto it near a bench. Of course, after we give it the thumbs-up the coach doesn't want the TO any more.

Tempting thought: Grant the TO, ball AP since you blew it dead without team control.

Nah.

Nothing like knowing it's coming, though. Also, if I know V5 has 4 fouls and I call one on him, I'll double check with the table if they don't hit the horn. My point is that the statements Mark quoted are not mutually exclusive.

+1

Mark thought I was going to say that I wouldn't call his fifth foul if I could help it to keep the star player in the game. I knew where he was going. I'm not a noob around this joint ;)

-Josh

He grew up in Illinois, so he has no appreciation for a solid Iowa education. :)

Oxymoron.

Case in point, Josh.

Isn't that the point that I'm focusing my duties on scoreboard/timer operations instead of uniform rule violations?

Yet another item to add to BillyMac's List of Myths.

Just after unicorns, I believe.

:D

-Josh

So you understand what I'm getting at, I'll quote my son:

"I'm not talking to you." - Li'l Snaqs (4 years old)

Josh,

I can see your thinking concerning coaches bringing in subs for those in foul trouble. I can also see the idea of coaches subbing in players that are better at scoring than those currently on the court.

I noticed that this weekend that the coaches would look up at the scoreboard, notice the player fouls & points & they would make more informed decisions on who they'd sub in.

Concerning the costs of the scoreboards I see the point.

I found out thanks to the AD that asked me if I was still wanting to work the tournament, that all the schools in that league use Daktronics scoreboards that have the same capabilities as those that were in use this past weekend.

At CHS, the scoreboard being used is an All-American Scoreboard that only shows the time, score, team fouls, & the most current player & how many fouls they have.

On the All-American Scoreboard, we have to continually add to the total manually. The Daktronics scoreboards in use this past weekend, automatically added both the player fouls & team fouls in for us after pressing the corresponding buttons.

Also the All-American Scoreboard in use at CHS has a time out timer that if it's used during the game, freezes the scoreboard until the timer reaches 0 nor are the warning horns automatically sounded. (For time outs & intermissions we have to use a stopwatch)

The Daktronics scoreboards we used had the Time Out & Intermission timers as well as the time outs left listed on the scoreboard. The time out timer would count down & at 15 sec. left in the time out would automatically sound the warning horn. The same would happen at the end of the time-out. However, if the teams were ready to start play earlier we could cancel the time out timer easily & continue play.

And, just so you understand (even given that you're from Iowa...):

"So? :rolleyes: " - (Not so) Li'l M&M Guy (15 years old)

:D

:D On that note, I'm going to go home now. <strike>Play nice.</strike>
Oops, I misspelled "shut up."

Or as my son used to say when he was about 12 years old, "I don't have to say anything. It's in the Constitution." :)

You'all come back now, ya hear!
 

He's the official scorekeeper of the CHS Eagles baseball team. Check him out on the Baseball forum. His favorite situation is players batting out of order.

3.048 Meters For You FIBA Guys ...
 

Not with a ten foot pole.

Boy, it's a good thing the metric system isn't prevalent in the land of Steady Habits, Billy. :D

Is This Spam ???
 

Wouldn't this be more pertinent on the Scoreboard Forum?

Hate 'Em ...
 

I can't stand scoreboards that have the home team on the right side. We have just a few in our area and they drive me nuts.

Plus, Penny Is Hot ...
 

Very funny show. I normally don't like situation comedies. I'm more of an hour long police, lawyer, or medical drama kind of guy.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...yTitleCard.png

Why would anyone prefer the scoreboard which shows less information?

Why would officials care about more information?:confused: Whatintheheck do we really care about things like which player has scored how many points?

Don't Care If School Likes Coke Or Pepsi ...
 

We've been told to ignore the possession arrow on the scoreboard. If there's a question about the alternating possession, we use the arrow at the table, the summary in the home scorebook, or try to remember what it should be (we have to keep alternating whistles in our pockets), but we never use the arrow on the scoreboard.

More information, more chance for errors. And, somehow, some coach (or player or fan) will "blame" us if the information is incorrect, even though we don't put it there, verify it, or rely on it.

It amuses me during timeouts. :D

We had one of those fancy scoreboards Monday night and I noticed a few times that the person working the board was slow getting team fouls up on the board. The more geegaws they put on those boards, the harder it is for the (sometimes) already-challenged timer to do his/her job.

I worked the clock once. It's definitely not a non-skilled job if you actually plan on doing it right.

And especially so if you're doing a game out in East Podunk and you've got a 15-year old girl armed with a blackberry working the scoreboard......:eek:

And if Snaqwells had open enrolled a mere 15 miles to the south, his Iowa education would have been even more solid. :D

Oh yeah, and as for the actual conversation here. More information is better.

It was bad enough I had to go there for my first job; can't imagine going there for school. And while you're geography is close, it's not quite perfect. :)

I'm spoiled, I guess. Every school in the area has team fouls on the board. It's considered part of the minimum level of information. I have yet to work a HS baseball game without a scoreboard, too.

I did have a first this season. Working a juco mens game, I was told they had no arrow for the table. Rather than get into a pissing match over an arrow in a gym with about 25 spectators and two teams that seemed to be treating the whole thing like organized rec ball, I simply told the crew we would have to remember the arrow. We did.

East Podunk? Aren't they the Fightin' Nimrods? Also, JR there is no blackberry service in East Podunk. They use carrier pigeons which is far more distracting than the blackberries especially when they deficate on the scorebook...

Also, this is the dumbest discussion on an official forum ever. As an official I could give a rat's #$%@ what type of scoreboard hangs on the wall as long as it keeps the time. I am emailing Brad and demanding that he refund the 10 minutes of my life wasted reading this.

I had a difficult time coming up with an actual distance since the school district includes 14 towns.:D

I guess I shouldn't say anything. My district went from Meservey-Thornton to Sheffield-Chapin/Meservey-Thornton, and has now added Rockwell-Swaledale and is called West Fork. :p

Really? The team fouls are unimportant to you? I don't believe that -- either that, or you're just used to not having that information always available.

And nobody forced you to read the entire thread, did they?

Yes, and their crosstown rivals are the West Podunk Fightin' Dieblers. Of course their girls team is the Lady Dieblers.

CMB is much simpler. I used to know all the acronyms for the small schools.

Is there a spot on those fancy scoreboards to credit A2 with a basket he shoots into Team B's goal?

They change every year in these parts....

And sometimes they differ between sports; especially with wrestling, cross country, golf, etc.

No, but there's spot for footnotes to indicate what happened; so A2's grandkids can read about it in 50 years.

Of course they are not unimportant and I work in a major metro are for HS and all my college games have it so it is almost always available on the scoreboard. However, if its not I manage through it by checking with the book when I sense we are getting close. Not that tough really.

My point was a discussion regarding the "type of scoreboard"

And no, nobody forced me to read it... It was an overly sarcastic way of saying, seriously we are talking about Daktronics scoreboards over All American scoreboards as officials?

Lighten up Rich its only basketball.

This thread may be a WOBW, but we did not waste it on scoreboards; this thing went off the rails quickly. :)

NEEDED: Scoreboard Operators Help!

We had trouble with the shot clock needing to be reset to a specific number last night. Lets say that the Game Clock = 1:45 and Shot Clock = 10. Ball is shot and misses ring BUT the shot clock was accidentally reset to 35. We had to:

1. [Set Shot Timer] [6] [ENTER]
2. Hit [Reset] on the Hand Held Shot Timer Remote
3. [Set Shot Timer] [35] [ENTER]

Step #3 is the part that we should not have to do. Having to do it this way really messed up the game b/c there was a quick shot as we were setting the shot clock to 6 and then when it hit the rim the shot clock operator hit the reset button but it went to 6 instead of 35! :eek:

On some scoreboards pushing [Set Shot Timer] once or twice gives you the option to reset the shot clock one time (ex: middle of game mistake) or it resets the shot clock permanently (ex: in between girls & boys). In this gym when you press [Set Shot Timer] twice it gives you the option to set the "Out of Bounds" timer, which of course we are not using!

If you know how to configure the game clock so that we can set the shot clock permanently vs temporarily please let me know.

This is exactly what the board looks like:

http://s1.postimage.org/kil49.jpg

Maybe we should have a poll, Brendan. :D

I think it might be a tie.

What Time Does The Game Start ? Damned If I Can Tell ...
 

We have a few high schools in our area that do not show team fouls on the scoreboard. Just bonus lights. Man I hate working at those schools.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3141/...b14f362f86.jpg

When I played in elementary school we played two different schools that had those old analog clocks. They had a red light that would change the white face to red when time expired. :cool:

After reading the topic about the Boys' Shot Clock Question, I was thinking again about the difference between the scoreboard controls I am trained on now. The Daktronics scoreboard setup that was in use the past weekend would allow us to do time corrections to the tenths of a second. The All-American Scoreboard setup we have to set the time back to the next second up & watch the clock very closely to get it to the tenth of a second needed.

I realized that throughout the weekend, the coaches appreciated the idea of seeing both the player fouls & points scored.

:rolleyes: