Anyone in Georgia hear about this??
 

Just got off the phone with a partner that calls in Georgia. There was a V (not sure if girls or boys) contest recently that went 5 OTs. The R reduced the length of each OT period by 1 minute until they reached sudden death in OT 5. Coach naturally complained to the GHSAA and they suspended all 3 officials for one calendar year! My partner is going over tonight to call the replay of the game...and they are replaying the entire game, not just the OT.

Crazy!

I'm in Georgia and hadn't heard of that one. It's amazing what folks come up with, though, when they think they have to.

The only way I can see this as being an issue is if the game in question preceded two other scheduled games (and they were held on a night when there is school the following day). The rule we have is that if there is a doubleheader on such a night the first game has to start no later than 6pm. We've been instructed to shave period time for JV contests to comply with this rule (running clock's not an option - ever).

Since this was apparently a varsity contest, however, I cannot imagine what they were thinking (other than get the flippin' game over).

In some states (OK comes to mind), varsity boys games almost always follow varsity girls games. That way the conferences can do parallel scheduling. So maybe that was the situation here? That said, unless there are conference or state rules that govern this situation, I'm not adjusting anything no matter how long the game goes on. We'll play until the game manager hands me a phone with my commissioner on the other end! :D

I had a 2OT JV boys game recently where the V coach (who's game followed mine) tried to convince me that there was a JV rule that stated the OT period would be shaved off by a minute each OT. I didn't buy it. He just wanted to get his guys going...

I would love to hear how the officials justified this course of action. Did one of them remember an old rule? Maybe a Jr High procedure? Or was this just creativity on their part?

I have to say I'd never have the cojones to try something like that. Rulebook is pretty clear on procedure...if your state doesn't have a specific variation...just keep playing by the book. This seems pretty amazing. Can't say I blame the state for a severe penalty.

A few years ago I was getting ready to broadcast a game not to far from where I lived and the JV game before the varsity game went 2OT. IIRC they ended up playing 3:00 in the 1st OT and 2:00 in the 2nd OT so the game would end and the varsity game could start. IIRC this was done with the consent of the coaches.

"Or At Any Time" ...
 

5-5-3: A quarter(s) may be shortened in an emergency or at any time by
mutual agreement of the opposing coaches and referee. Playing time and number
of quarters for nonvarsity game quarters may be reduced by mutual agreement
of opposing coaches.

I don't know if this was done across all of Oklahoma, but this was actually changed up at my school and the other local schools when I was in high school. We always played after the girls until my junior year, at which point we alternated the order of the games. The issue was that the girls games were so poorly attended that there was fear that someone might perceive the girls followed by boys scheduling to be evidence of an inequity between genders and thus a Title IX issue. I think part of the issue was that the gate was actually divided between the boys and girls programs depending on when the tickets were bought.

Returning to the topic at hand, shortening the quarters is allowed under 5.5.3:

"A quarter(s) may be shortened in an emergency or at any time by mutual agreement of the opposing coaches and referee. Playing time and number of quarters for non-varsity game quarters may be reduced by mutual agreement of opposing coaches".

Given that a coach complained, it doesn't sound like everybody agreed in this situation. This rule also doesn't support a "sudden death period", although I suppose both coaches could have agreed that once one team scored they would then agree to shorten the period at that time to a tenth of a second (the rule specifies the quarter may be shortened "at any time") and then just allow the time to expire. Beyond the OP, I've never seen anything like this and I can't imagine I ever will, but there is at least a theoretical way to do this within the rules withstanding the objection made by those that would would point out that this rule specifies a quarter may be shortened and thus this does not apply to an extra period (which I think is an argument that could be successfully taken up from either side).

Beat me by mere minutes...It appears that we were thinking the same way at the same time.

That said, where do you fall on the last point from my post concerning the differentiation of quarters from extra-periods for the purposes of applying this rule?

I strongly suspect this was done without agreement by opposing coaches (ESPECIALLY the sudden death nonsense)

Many MANY years ago she there used to be preliminary games at the University of Minnesota involving high school teams there would be an occasional sudden death overtime period. The reason for this was that at the time the Big 10 had a rule requiring the floor be cleared and ready for the college game 30 minutes prior to the tipoff of the college game. This was in the 50's by the way. Now with that practice being done it is no longer a problem. By the way these were varsity games.

You guys realize this all occurred due to the officials breaking the second rule of officiating and letting the game go into OT in the first place! :mad:

I absolutely thought about this...I mean it is bad enough to get to 1 OT, but how do you fail 4 more times to get to a 5th OT. :eek:

Back when I played in Jr High, most of our tournaments used a sudden death format once the second overtime period started -- but for most "sudden death" meant scoring 2 points. The only time we reached that stage, the referes and coaches didn't know it was supposed to be SD and we played out the whole thing . . .

Overtime is just an extension of the fourth quarter. The rule would still apply.

Interesting. I called 4A/5A/6A in the OKC metro from 2007-09. Never once saw a boys game go first, though I did hear people talk about the perception of sexism that never letting the girls play last created. Who knows, maybe after I left the movement gained some traction, but it sure didn't while I was there.