Clock Operators

[tmagan]

Everyone knows that in the final minute of the second half that a made field goal in the NCAA stops the game clock, it has been that way for twenty years. But seemingly in every game the clock operators fail to stop the clock immediately in the final minute following a field goal. For example, in Friday's Yale/UCONN game, a last second field goal occurred, the clock ran for an extra 1.6 seconds following the goal at 1.8 seconds. I didn't realize it was that difficult to push a button. This necessitates a courtside monitor review, delaying the game. We see this every year in the NCAA tournament. You rarely see this with NBA clock operators. Why does the NCAA and individual conferences have such a difficult time evaluating clock operators?

[Bad Zebra]

Originally Posted by tmagan

...I didn't realize it was that difficult to push a button...

You've never operated a clock, have you? The blame lies not with the operator (usually) but with the equipment. The operator is at the mercy of the quality of the electronics. There is usually a lag between "hitting the button" and the clock stopping. Generally, the older the equipment, the more inaccurate it is. Blame the schools (at whatever level) for not installing state of the art equipment.

By the way, I'm a UConn fan. The clock is not the reason they lost that game.

Originally Posted by tmagan

Everyone knows that in the final minute of the second half that a made field goal in the NCAA stops the game clock, it has been that way for twenty years. But seemingly in every game the clock operators fail to stop the clock immediately in the final minute following a field goal. For example, in Friday's Yale/UCONN game, a last second field goal occurred, the clock ran for an extra 1.6 seconds following the goal at 1.8 seconds. I didn't realize it was that difficult to push a button. This necessitates a courtside monitor review, delaying the game. We see this every year in the NCAA tournament. You rarely see this with NBA clock operators. Why does the NCAA and individual conferences have such a difficult time evaluating clock operators?

You know the clock is supposed to stop after the ball leaves the net right? I don't really think it's an issue of equipment lag, more likely operator lag. The clock guy doesn't know when the ball is going in, and he might wait a beat to make sure he doesn't accidentally stop the clock on a missed shot.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by Bad Zebra

You've never operated a clock, have you? The blame lies not with the operator (usually) but with the equipment. The operator is at the mercy of the quality of the electronics. There is usually a lag between "hitting the button" and the clock stopping. Generally, the older the equipment, the more inaccurate it is. Blame the schools (at whatever level) for not installing state of the art equipment.

By the way, I'm a UConn fan. The clock is not the reason they lost that game.

Only if the equipment is from the 1950's.

[BryanV21]

I think this, and other things, go by the old saying "error on the side of caution". Especially when it can fixed later.

It may be annoying for the viewer, but the bottom line is getting things right, and that's what happens. Hell, if having to wait a minute to get things right were such a big deal, then instant replay wouldn't be in football or baseball.

[Altor]

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

Only if the equipment is from the 1950's.

Scoreboards from the 50s are more likely to have a toggle switch rather than an electronic button to start/stop the clock. Scoreboards that old would likely be more accurate because the switch would break the circuit immediately. Of course, they probably don't have tenths of a second on the clock either.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by Altor

Scoreboards from the 50s are more likely to have a toggle switch rather than an electronic button to start/stop the clock. Scoreboards that old would likely be more accurate because the switch would break the circuit immediately. Of course, they probably don't have tenths of a second on the clock either.

But they're be run by electrical relays which are typically relatively slow. Modern electronics and transistors are always faster....that technology is why you are able to type on these boards. Any delay of the magnitude we're talking about is either broken equipment or operator lag....mostly likey operator lag as broken equipment wouldn't just show up on a couple of baskets at the end of one game.

[APG]

Part of this is the replay rules for each respective code...

NCAA allows the officials to go back and put time on the clock...so you're going to have reviews to put back .1 or .2 or whatever on the clock.

NBA rules do not allow the officials to use replay to put back time on the clock in this situation unless the clock goes to 0.0. As such, there are probably situations where time would be put back on the clock in NBA games.

[RefCT]

Originally Posted by Bad Zebra

By the way, I'm a UConn fan. The clock is not the reason they lost that game.

OT for this thread - how did you like the charge call on Yale with about 1:25 left? Thought it was a definite block on UC.

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by Bad Zebra

By the way, I'm a UConn fan. The clock is not the reason they lost that game.

Was it because the other team scored more points?

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

Was it because the other team scored more points?

ROFLMTO!

MTD, Sr.

[Stat-Man]

Originally Posted by Bad Zebra

You've never operated a clock, have you? The blame lies not with the operator (usually) but with the equipment.

I have to second this. It seems as if every brand or model of scoreboard controller is different. There's definitely not a universal way for starting and stopping the clock.

As my college team's student manager, we participated in a local junior college's summer league one year because our coach knew the junior college's newly-named coach very well. However, they only had a timer for one of the two courts, so I ended up having to run the scoreboard whenever we played on the second court.

Their particular model did not have the usual start/stop switch or buttons. Instead, it had a switch that moved back to its lower position whenever one started or stopped the clock. many times, I thought I had started the clock only to see it not moving or vice versa. (In one of our games, the clock wasn't running for well over a minute before anyone noticed, and we ended up losing that scrimmage on a buzzer-beating layup at the end.)

Having user-friendly equipment, especially at the higher levels, is tantamount. Properly-trained game crew also helps.